Madeleine McCann latest – Chief suspect Christian B ‘has network of pals who’ll provide alibi for night Maddie vanished’
THE Madeleine McCann prime suspect has a “number of people” willing to provide an alibi, a source has said.
Convicted rapist Christian B was named by German prosecutors in 2020 but they have yet to build a case against the 44-year-old.
Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from her bed while on holiday with her parents and family friends at a resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.
A new witness claims to have been with him around that time and also insists he was calm while she was with him.
She also claims they were stopped by police who reported no suspicious activity.
But now The Sun can reveal she is one of “multiple witnesses” who Christian B will turn to if quizzed again over the Maddie case.
Read our Madeleine McCann live blog for the latest updates...
Does the Netflix documentary claim she is alive?
Yes – the doc believes the young girl is still alive.
It suggests that people traffickers abducted the three-year-old in Portugal in 2007 – as a top child protection cop insists the 12-year mystery will be solved.
The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann features 40 experts and key figures in the case, some of whom argue she was taken to another foreign country.
Jim Gamble, the top child protection cop in the UK’s first Maddie investigation, says: “I absolutely believe that in my lifetime we will find out what has happened to Madeleine McCann.
“There’s huge hope to be had with the advances in technology. Year on year DNA is getting better. Year on year other techniques, including facial recognition, are getting better.
“And as we use that technology to revisit and review that which we captured in the past, there’s every likelihood that something we already know will slip into position.”
Christian B currently locked up
Christian B was identified as the prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance in June 2020.
He is serving a seven-year sentence in prison for raping a 72-year-old American woman in the Algarve in 2005.
Police officers are also investigating Christian B’s alleged involvement in three other cases.
The first of the three offences is the rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan in Praia da Rocha on the Algarve in 2004.
He is now locked up at Oldenburg prison near Bremen where he has been reportedly kept in solitary confinement.
Brit cop lived next door to Christian B
A Brit cop lived next door to prime Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B.
It was reported in 2020 that the Portuguese home of the unidentified Scotland Yard detective was alongside the isolated villa in Foral where Christian B lived in 2007.
Neighbours had urged police to search it after the three-year-old British child vanished from her holiday apartment a 30-minute drive away.
The Sexta 9 show reported bizarre facts about Christian B, 43, including him chasing sheep while drunk and exposing himself to kids.
It quoted a neighbour talking about the policeman but did not make clear if he was retired or still living in the house.
Christian B was booted out of Portugal TWICE for child sex crimes
The convicted paedo was sent to Germany for the first time in 1999 after spending four years on the run in the Algarve.
He then served a two-year sentence for sexually abusing a child before returning to the tourist hotspot.
But in 2017, Christian B was extradited back to his native Germany for a second time to serve a 15-month prison sentence for sexually abusing a child and possession of child abuse material.
The 43-year-old had been caught exposing himself at a kid's playground just a 30-minute drive from where Madeleine vanished in Praia da Luz in 2007, the reports.
But the serial offender, who lived in Portugal on and off for around 22 years, was never put on the sex offenders register in the country.
Witness DOESN’T recognise Christian B as mystery man carrying toddler
Former business executive Martin Smith and his family made a statement to cops saying they saw a man carrying a young pyjama-clad girl the night the toddler vanished in 2007.
Martin, his wife and two kids were holidaying in Portugal at the same time as the McCanns and claim they saw a man aged around 35 to 40 with a youngster in pink and white PJs down a quiet street around 150m from the beach near the complex where Maddie was staying.
Irishman Martin, made a statement along with his wife Mary, daughter Aoife and son Peter saying the man they saw was Caucasian and around 5ft 7in to 5ft 9in in height.
He helped compiled an e-fit of the man in 2008 but the image was not made public until 2013.
But when asked if Christian B fitted the man he saw, Martin told the Sunday World: “I cannot add to the statement I gave police six years ago. This all happened 13 years ago.
“I have seen the pictures and coverage this week (of Christian B) but everything I could say I said in my statement to police. I don’t recognise this man.”
‘New clues and indications’
The documentary team from Sat.1, made up of ex-investigators and journalists, say they collected “many new clues and indications” that Christian was behind the incident.
Editor-in-chief Juliane Ebling said: “The sad story of Madeleine McCann is a story that has many German facets.
“The case is being tried at the Regional Court of Braunschweig, as the German Christian B. is the main suspect.
“In his environment there are many German women and men who can describe individual details surrounding the crime.
“Jutta Rabe has researched shocking material in Germany, Portugal and England over the past months, which heavily incriminates Christian B.”
Kate and Gerry's marriage nearly broke down
Shortly after Madeleine vanished, Kate said their marriage nearly broke down as she withdrew into herself.
She stopped reading, playing music or even having sex with her husband Gerry.
And the couple were gripped by the fear that a paedophile may have taken their daughter.
Writing about that period in her autobiography, Kate said: “Tortured as I was by these images, it’s not surprising that even the thought of sex repulsed me.
“I worried about Gerry and me. I worried that if I didn’t get our sex life on track our whole relationship would break down.”
Kate went on to credit Gerry’s understanding and the couple’s resilience for the endurance of their marriage.
They remain together to this day, despite the stresses of intense media scrutiny on their lives.
Explained: Who are Kate and Gerry McCann?
Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry are both practising Catholics who met in Glasgow in 1993.
Kate became a GP after studying medicine at the University of Dundee while Gerry has been a consultant cardiologist since 2005.
The couple got married in 1998 before having their first child, Madeleine, in 2003.
They also have twin children, a boy and a girl, who were born in 2005 and live in Rothley, Leicestershire.
Kate and Gerry had been married for nine years when Madeleine disappeared on the night of May 3, 2007.
Where is the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz?
The apartment is on the edge of travel firm Mark Warner’s Ocean Club resort.
The Ocean Club is one of several tourist sites in the popular holiday town.
It is located close to the larger town of Lagos, about an hour’s drive from Faro airport.
In February 2017 the apartment was sold to a British gran for £113,000 – half the asking price.
Police have recorded thousands of potential sightings of missing Maddie since 2007.
The key dates in Madeleine’s disappearance?
- May 3, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann leave their children asleep in their holiday apartments while they eat eat a nearby Tapas restaurant. At 10pm Kate finds Madeleine missing.
- May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is quizzed by cops and named an “arguido” or formal suspect.
- August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine.
- September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”.
- September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.
- October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview.
- July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of both Robert Murat and the McCanns, and shelve the investigation.
New witness
Convicted rapist Christian B was named by German prosecutors in 2020 but they have yet to build a case against the 44-year-old.
Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from her bed while on holiday with her parents and family friends at a resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.
A new witness claims to have been with him around that time and also insists the was calm while she was with him.
She also claims they were stopped by police who reported no suspicious activity.
But now The Sun can reveal she is one of “multiple witnesses” who Christian B will turn to if quizzed again over the Maddie case.
14 years since the disappearance
Madeleine disappeared over 14 years ago on May 3, 2007, when her family, from Leicestershire, on holiday in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, Portugal.
Parents Gerry and Kate left their three kids, including toddler twins Sean and Ameliesleeping in their apartment while they dined at a tapas bar 120 metres away.
When Kate returned to check on the kids at about 10pm that evening, she found Madeleine was not in her bed and was missing.
In September of that year, Gerry and Kate, both doctors, were sensationally named as “arguidos” by Portuguese police.The following summer the McCanns were cleared by investigators in Portugal who declared they had exhausted all avenues in the case.
Madeleine's parents 'have hope' following Cleo's discovery in November
In November, Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry revealed that they “have hope” they will find their daughter after missing Australian toddler Cleo Smith was found alive and well.
The tot, dubbed “Australia’s Maddie”, vanished from a campsite but was found unharmed 18 days later.
Kate and Gerry had been following the case of the missing four-year-old which had some striking similarities to their own daughter’s disappearance.
Her discovery has given the McCanns newfound hope that their daughter could still be alive after vanishing over 14 years ago.
Operation Grange still running
The top police unit, codenamed Operation Grange, are still operating in an "active" phase of their investigation.
A source told the : "The Met Police's Operation Grange is still running this as a missing person's investigation.
"Clearly the Met have more open thinking than the German authorities have at the present.
"Madeleine's parents have always said if they are presented with hard proof she has died they will accept it.
"But the fact Operation Grange still exists and still gets funding shows the Met still thinks there is still work and investigation to be done."
Could Russians be behind it?
The TV investigators are also said to have found evidence other suspects may have snatched Madeleine.
A Portuguese source said: “The new information is pointing towards the fact two Russians could be behind it.”
It throws doubt on claims by prosecutors they have solid information incriminating jailed rapist Christian B.
The German investigators are said to have "concrete proof" Madeleine is dead, and claim Christian B killer her soon after snatching her.
But The Sun revealed last year that they actually have “nothing concrete”.
Five-year probe
German prosecutors named Christian B as their prime suspect in June 2020.
But it emerged they had actually started investigating him at least three years before that.
Now after around five years of intensive detective work, they still do not have enough evidence to being charges.
Mr Wolters said: "We did not take the decision to go public lightly.
"Since then we have found a lot more pieces of the puzzle, but I cannot reveal what they are.
"We are making progress and have the same number of investigators working on the case, but we don't yet have enough to charge the suspect."
Mystery man
Holidaymakers, Mary and Martin Smith saw a man carrying a child matching Madeleine’s description at around 10pm 500 yards from the apartment.
She was described wearing pajaymas and seemed to be sleeping in his arms.
The Irish couple told police he was heading towards the beach, did not look like a tourist and did not seem comfortable.
Martin later said that, after seeing TV footage of Gerry, he was “60-80% certain” he was the man he saw in Praia da Luz.
In October 2013 two e-fits were released to coincide with a BBC Crimewatch show. His identity has never been revealed.
'Ruled him out years and years ago'
Meanwhile the Sun can reveal Portuguese cops remain “convinced” Christian B had nothing to do with Maddie’s disappearance.
“Officers in the Algarve have long believed German cops are trying to pin this case on the wrong person,” the source added.
“Detectives in Praia da Luz ruled him out years and years ago – not least because his story about where he was and what he was doing checked out.”
The list of theories goes on (Continued…)
- In the 2019 Netflix documentary The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, investigators point out that the coastal resort of Praia da Luz would make it easier for traffickers to escape on a boat and travel to North Africa. The resort is also only 90 minutes drive from the border with Spain.
- A local resident in the Netflix film pointed out that the Algarve has many wells, some of which are 100ft deep. They suggested Madeleine could have wandered out of the apartment and fallen to her death.
- Parents Gerry and Kate have been forced to confront rumours around their daughter’s disappearance, with the couple vowing to fight “tooth and nail” if they are ever prosecuted over leaving their children alone.
- In July, 2017, Madeleine parents failed in their bid to silence ex Portuguese cop Goncalo Amaral‘s over his claims they faked their daughter’s kidnapping to cover up her death.
The list of theories goes on
- In June 2020, it was revealed that a German prisoner was the prime suspect in the case, with evidence showing he was in and around the Praia da Luz area at the time.
- Investigative journalist and ex-police officer Mark Williams-Thomas believes Madeleine left the apartment in search of her parents.
- Ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral has claimed MI5 helped cover-up Madeleine McCann’s body after her parents accidentally killed her.
- Veteran investigative journalist Danny Collins believes the toddler could not have been snatched from the room. He is convinced she left the apartment in Praia da Luz looking for her parents before being abducted and possibly sold to gypsies.
- Former Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton says the “most likely and credible scenario” for Madeleine’s disappearance is a targeted kidnap by child traffickers – possibly to replace some grieving parents’ own dead child.
Where were the first five sightings?
1. ALGERIA: October 2008: A man reported he had seen a blonde girl with a British accent, who looked liked Madeleine, with a dark-skinned Algerian family who were “acting suspiciously”.
2. ANDORRA: Details not made public.
3. ARGENTINA: June 19, 2007: A man took a photo of a girl “identical” to Madeleine. Sighting later ruled out.
4. AUSTRALIA. July 26, 2015: A suitcase containing the skeletal remains of a fair-haired young girl was discovered next to a motorway in Wynarka, near Adelaide. Pathologists said she would have died in 2007. There was speculation that the body was Madeleine’s after a cop said it did not match descriptions of any missing children in that country. But the victim’s DNA did not match Madeleine’s.
5. AUSTRIA: July 2008: A couple at a hotel in St. Valentin claimed a girl resembling Madeleine cried “Help me!” in English as a man dragged her away.
"Disturbing and dirty"
Described as "disturbing and dirty" by eyewitness Gail Cooper, this suspect was seen near the McCann's apartment building days before she vanished.
The British grandmother, Gail was staying with her family close to the McCann family in 2007.
Documentary will feature new evidence
The documentary team from Sat.1, made up of ex-investigators and journalists, claim they collected “many new clues and indications” Christian was behind her disappearance.
Editor-in-chief Juliane Ebling said they have “shocking material” in Germany, Portugal and England over the past months, which heavily incriminates Christian B.
Most recent developments
Earlier this month, prosecutors rebuffed claims the case against Christian B is about to collapse.
A team led by an ex-detective claim to have discovered the sex predator was “30 minutes away” from the resort in Praia da Luz.
Portuguese cops 'convinced' Christian B had nothing to do with it
Meanwhile the Sun can reveal Portuguese cops remain “convinced” Christian B had nothing to do with Maddie’s disappearance.
“Officers in the Algarve have long believed German cops are trying to pin this case on the wrong person,” the source added.
“Detectives in Praia da Luz ruled him out years and years ago - not least because his story about where he was and what he was doing checked out.”
