Madeleine McCann suspect's friend makes bombshell confession: 'I will never speak to the state police'
Christian Brueckner is on trial for a seperate offence in Germany
Getty/PA
A friend of the key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has said he will never cooperate with the police.
Ralph H, a former close friend of chief suspect Christian Brueckner, is being investigated as detectives think he could have vital information about her vanishing.
Convicted paedophile Brueckner is on trial in Germany for an alleged series of unrelated sexual offences against five women and young girls.
He has constantly denied involvement in the disappearance of the toddler in 2006, despite a friend of him testifying in court that he was "100 per cent certain" that Brueckner was the culprit.
One incident captured on film included Brueckner hitting a naked old woman with a rulerREUTERSIt has been claimed that the German equivalent to the FBI, the BKA, wanted to talk to Ralph H about the missing girl. However, in a a blow to the ongoing investigation he made a categorical refusal.
He told reporters: "I will never speak to you, I will never speak to the police. I will never speak to the state police, I will never speak to the BKA."
A detective confirmed: “We urgently need to speak to this man in connection to his relationship with Christian Brueckner. We must find him to ask him about missing Madeleine McCann. He (Ralph) is not at home, he doesn’t answer the phone, he’s apparently disappeared.”
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters previously said: “He’s a neighbour who could be interesting to talk to."
LATEST FROM THE TRIAL OF CHRISTIAN BRUECKNER
Apartment 5A in Praia Da Luz in Portugal, where McCann went missing
PAOne neighbour said: "Ralph definitely knows everything about Christian Brueckner’s life. That’s why the police are so keen to speak to him."
Brueckner had rented a small blue house at the Kennelblick allotment garden for three years close to where 56-year-old Ralph H lives
German investigators believe Christian Brueckner abducted and murdered Maddie, though no charges have been filed against him.
He is on trial in Braunschweig charged with three rapes and two counts of sexual abuse of children in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Brueckner faces up to 15 years’ jail if convicted but could be free in less than two years if acquitted when his seven-year 2019 rape sentence ends.
The prosecutor told the court that a former prison cellmate of the defendant recalled how Brueckner had privately admitted to having committed two rapes.
One of the victims was a US tourist. The other alleged victim was not identified.
The trial continues in Germany.
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