MADDIE MCCANN SUSPECT WALKS FREE
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
3.9 • 7.6K Ratings
🗓️ 1 November 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Christian Brückner, the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, has been released from a German prison. He served a seven-year sentence for a separate and unrelated rape conviction. He is now under strict supervision, including an electronic ankle monitor, having had his passport surrendered. Although he is free from prison, German prosecutors still consider him the prime suspect in the McCann disappearance and will continue investigating the case.
German national Christian Brueckner was named a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann.
Brueckner, 44, had been is currently serving a 7-year prison sentence in Germany for raping an elderly American woman in 2005. Three-year-old Maddie went missing from a vacation rental while on a family holiday in Portugal.
A Portuguese prosecutor in Braunschweig, Germany, has been pursuing a case against Brueckner since June 2020.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Darryl Cohen - Former Assistant District Attorney, Fulton County, Georgia, Defense Attorney, Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC, www.ccealaw.com
- Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital
- Greg Smith - Special Deputy Sheriff, Johnson County Sheriff's Office (Kansas), Executive Director of the Kelsey Smith Foundation, www.kelseysarmy.com
- Charlie Lankston - FeMail Editor, DailyMail.com, Twitter/Instagram:@charlielanks
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:04.8 | Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. |
| 0:11.3 | I cannot believe this. |
| 0:14.8 | What is wrong with the system? |
| 0:19.3 | The primary, the soul, the chief suspect in the kidnap and I believe murder of three-year-old |
| 0:28.9 | Maddie McCann has walked free. |
| 0:33.0 | Oh, oh, the words just stuck in my throat like a lump of coal. |
| 0:38.8 | Walk free? |
| 0:41.1 | I'm Nancy Grace. |
| 0:42.6 | This is crime stories. |
| 0:43.7 | I want to thank you for being with us. |
| 0:47.5 | UK police say the 49-year-old suspect remains the primary suspect in the disappearance of little Maddie McCain. |
| 0:58.2 | But for reasons I don't understand, the suspect, Christian Bruckner has walked free. |
| 1:09.4 | I can't believe it. This guy has been the chief suspect since 2020. Dear Lord in |
| 1:20.1 | heaven, please make this not so. Okay, why do I think Christian Bruckner murdered three-year-old Maddie McCann? |
| 1:28.9 | This is why. |
| 1:29.9 | What happened to Maddie? |
| 1:33.0 | Joining me an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now. |
| 1:37.3 | High-profile lawyer joining me out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, |
| 1:40.6 | former prosecutor of felony crimes just like this one. |
| 1:44.0 | Now defense attorney Daryl Cohen. |
| 1:46.8 | Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist, joining us also from the Atlanta jurisdiction. |
... |
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