For five crimes

Maddie’s alleged murderer to stand trial from Friday

The public prosecutor's office assumes that Christian B. murdered Maddie. However, he has been charged with other crimes in Braunschweig (Germany).

(Bild: AFP/ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE, AFP, krone.at-Grafik)

The Braunschweig district court in Lower Saxony, Germany, is in a state of emergency. The court is preparing for a trial that is attracting worldwide media interest. Why? Because the defendant is also the main suspect in the Maddie McCann case. The then three-year-old English girl disappeared from an apartment complex in Portugal in May 2007 and no trace of the child has been found since.

The trial starts on Friday and numerous reporters, including from England and Portugal, have announced their attendance. The 40 seats reserved for the media in courtroom 141 are in high demand.

This is not about Maddie McCann, probably the best-known missing persons case. But it is about the man who the investigators consider to be an urgent suspect. Christian B. has a relevant criminal record; the 47-year-old native of Würzburg is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Lower Saxony for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005.

Should the accused be found guilty, the sentence would range from at least five years to 15 years in prison.

Ein Sprecher des Landgericht Braunschweig.

The trial that is now starting is about three further serious rapes and two acts of sexual abuse against children - partly documented in video recordings that the accused is said to have recorded himself.

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"If the defendant were to be found guilty, the sentence would range from a minimum of five years' imprisonment to 15 years," a Brunswick court spokesperson told the "Krone". Christian B. is presumed innocent, but the accusations made by the public prosecutor in the 100-page indictment are terrible. And give an insight into the extremely high criminal energy of the alleged perpetrator. In view of the possible fate of little Maddie, the incriminated acts simply give goose bumps.

Indictment in five crimes
All five crimes now charged took place in Portugal between 28.12.2000 and 11.6.2017:

1. In the first fact, the accused allegedly surprised a 70- to 80-year-old woman in her vacation apartment before 2006. According to the public prosecutor, B. tied her up, raped her and then whipped her. A video bears witness to the crime.
2. Also before 2006, Christian B. is said to have tied a teenager to a wooden post in her house. He then whipped the victim and forced her to perform sexual acts. A video exists.
3. In June 2004, the accused allegedly gained access to a young woman's apartment at night via the balcony. The victim was raped several times at knifepoint and in front of the camera and also whipped.
4. On April 7, 2007 - a few weeks before Maddie disappeared - B. allegedly ambushed a child on the beach and forced her to perform sexual acts.
5. In June 2017, the accused allegedly masturbated in front of a child at a public festival in the Algarve.

According to reports, Christian B.'s lawyers are seeking an acquittal on all charges. 30 trial days are currently scheduled for the eagerly awaited trial.