DETECTIVES have found an email account linking Christian Brueckner to the death of Madeleine McCann, a court heard today.
Detective Titus Stampa told a court the German FBI had identified two email accounts linked to the paedophile.
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But said he had no clearance to discuss one because it was “related to the killing” of the tot.
Maddie disappeared in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve coast in 2007 while on holiday with parents Kate and Gerry, of Rothley,Leics.
The second account Brueckner used for swapping vile child sex abuse images with other online creeps, the court heard.
But incredibly it had ALL of the messages deleted from the first half of 2007 - the time Maddie vanished.
Read more on Maddie
Detective Stampa refused to confirm if the “murder” account contained any “photos”.
But he said investigators were also in possession of a hard drive related to the “murder” which he was not allowed to discuss.
The detective told the court: “An external hard drive is also belonging to the killing case - and I am not allowed to talk about it.”
Asked about the account used for swapping child sex abuse images, Detective Stampa said: “I can remember that things were ‘massively’ deleted in the inbox.
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"There was nothing in there from January 2007.”
The revelation offered the first glimpse into the physical proof that has led German investigators to believe Brueckner kidnapped and killed Maddie.
I throttled Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Breuckner when creep flashed a child in park, hero dad tells court
Prosecutors have publicly spoken about their belief and referred to proof - but have refused to reveal what form it takes.
It emerged after smirking Brueckner arrogantly fist-bumped his lawyer as he walked into court today.
Key Maddie witness Helge Busching told the court he waited until 2017 to report Brueckner because he “didn’t trust” Portuguese police.
Asked about sex torture videos he uncovered of Brueckner, Mr Busching claimed he feared Portuguese officers would have thrown them in the bin.
Mr Busching said: “I didn’t send them anonymously to the police in Portugal because I didn’t trust Portuguese police.
“They would have thrown them away. They wouldn’t have known what to do with this and they would have thrown them away.”
Earlier a cop who lived next to Brueckner’s abandoned factory lair, in Germany, told the court she had such a “bad feeling” about him that she privately began recording his comings and goings.
Police officer Katharina Schmidt, 47, told Braunschweig regional court she and her partner Steve Meyer, 40, lived next to the former box factory site owned by Brueckner – and tipped cops off about his hideout.
Last month, during his trial, a Met cop told the court of the moment he took the call-in that "solved" the Maddie mystery.
DC Mark Draycott told judges inGermanyhe listened to a bombshell voicemail on May 18, 2017 from a drifter naming Brueckneras the man who snatched the toddler.
The cop said: "I rang the number and spoke to a man I now know to be Helge Busching.
"He gave information in relation to the Madeleine McCann investigation."
Madeleine McCann's disappearance
MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 - and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearance.
More than 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates:
May 3, 2007 -Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm
May 14, 2007- Property developer Robert Murat is 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
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
May 12, 2011- On Madeleine's eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case
April 25, 2012- Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive
July 4, 2013- Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine's disappearance
October 24, 2013 - Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found
November 27, 2013- Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together
October 28, 2015- Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine's disappearance
March 11, 2017-The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000to continue from April until September
September 28, 2017- British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probegoing until March 2018
November 2017-Cops moved the search to Bulgaria
May 2018- Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of£150,000 is granted
September 2018- Anextra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office
November 2018- More funding, thought to be inthe region of £150,000 is granted
November 2018- UK policere-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartmentto look for her parents
June 2019- Another round of funding,believed to be £300,000 of government cashis granted
June 2019- Portuguese police areprobing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers
June 2020- New prime suspectrevealed as a German paedoChristian Brueckner
April 2022- Brueckner formally made an "arguido"
May 2023- Policesearch remote Algarve reservoirBrueckner called his "little paradise"
TheScotlandYard cop told how he travelled to Greece to interview the key witness - before later bringing him to the UK to make a formal statement.
Witness Busching has told previously how during a conversation about Maddie, Brueckner let slip: "She didn’t scream."
But asked to reveal what evidence cops were given that the rapist snatched and killed Madeleine, the British cop refused to answer.
He said: "I can’t talk about it. I have no approval to talk about it."
Meanwhile, the convicted paedo used his rape trial to whinge about not getting enough cheese in prison.
He moaned of getting just one slice and also only being served toast.
His lawyer also claimed Brueckner has “not been able to shower for three days” — and that the water in thecourtshowers was cold.
Irish holiday rep Hazel Behan gave evidence against him in May.
The court heard that the 40-year-old "knew" Brueckner was the man who raped her by his "piercing blue eyes".
Ms Behanrecognised him in photos released when he was linked toMaddie's disappearance.
She claimsBrueckner— wearing a mask — tied her up and raped her three times in 2004 after climbing onto her balcony, also in the Algarve.
Ms Behan, fromDublin, told the court in Braunschweig,Germany: “I remember he had piercing blue eyes. That’s how I recognised him in the paper.
“As soon as I saw his eyes they made me sick.”
She added: “I remember he had the most piercing blue eyes - I don’t know if it’s because he was dressed all in black but I remember they stood out."
The mum-of-three, who waived anonymity, wept as she gave the evidence - seen as crucial to keeping Brueckner behind bars so he can face Maddie charges.
She told how she reported the attack topolicebut plain-clothes cops followed her - with instructions to find out if she was “a slu*t”.
They also told her to “go home” to Ireland, claiming she could ruin the reputation of tourism in the resort and threatened her friends “might lose their jobs”.
Judge Ute Insa Engemann forced Brueckner to let her look closely into his eyes — to see if they matched Ms Behan's description.
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Brueckner is on trial for a string of rapes and indecent exposure charges, uncovered during the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. He denies the claims.
The case at Braunschweig regional court continues.
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