Christian Wolter, Sexta às 9, June 19 2007

In publishing what we deem to be important in Sandra Felgueiras’ programme “Sexta às 9” aired on RTP1 at June 19 2020, we will skip its first part which we consider to have simply been the “making-of-a-monster” clutter, aimed at driving in the message that it was Christian Brueckner who killed Maddie, even though up to now, we have seen absolutely no evidence whatsoever to sustain this claim.

Joana Morais had the unthankful task of summarising it, starting in the following tweet:

https://twitter.com/JoanaAMorais/status/1274090668474982400

We would like to thank and recognise Joana's effort.

The blog will only be publishing what we consider to have been the most relevant parts of the programme, and we will start with the interview – with a few minutes before it to contextualise – with the German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters.

We would like to call to the attention that Sandra Felgueiras addresses Hans Christian Wolters in English – meaning what we publish is a transcription and not a translation – and that he replies in German. In the programme his replies are subtitled and it’s those that we have translated.


In English:

Sandra Felgueiras: The German police say Christian Brueckner was around here and that he made a suspicious phone call for half an hour, then immediately after he would have gone in through this window. But the PJ never detected not even a fingerprint, nor even evidence of burglary, so this lead was devalued, but it is now possible to try to make a compatibilization. At the time, in 2007, about 600 samples were collected. Samples were almost all irrelevant because it was not possible to detect any compatibility and besides they were collected after the tracking dogs entered the apartment. But in these samples there is one of saliva and one of blood, samples that may be decisive now for testing whether or not Brueckner was at the scene of the crime.

Duarte Nuno Vieira (Former President of the INML): If there is a suspect whose DNA has also been typed, it’s enough compare the results of the typing on this suspect, it is not necessary to repeat it in all those samples because the result of what is detected in the samples already exists.

SF: It’s only needed a DNA sample from this suspect...

DNV: It’s only needed a sample of any new suspects that exists to be compared.

SF to Hans Christian Wolters: Can I ask you if you have already requested those samples in order to see if there’s a match between Christian Brueckner and those samples?

Hans Christian Wolters [subtitled]: I only heard about it this morning and I can't comment at the moment because we don't want to present any data, that is, we don't want to say what we have already investigated or what we still intend to investigate. So I can't say anything.

SF (voice over): An exclusive interview with the German prosecutor investigating the Madeleine case, statements that "Sexta às 9" knows are being called into question by the PJ itself. Sources close to the Portuguese investigation guarantee that the German authorities have already received all the genetic profiles collected in the Madeleine case. It is certain that so far, the German evidence is not enough to accuse Brueckner of Madeleine’s homicide, which can only mean that they have not yet obtained a positive DNA comparison.

CW: [subtitled]: At the moment, our evidence is not enough to accuse or arrest him. Although we have strong evidence, it’s still not enough to accuse him.

SF: In order to have a conviction we need to have a body or we need a DNA sample, so I ask you do you want to make excavations here in Praia da Luz, where Christian Brueckner used to live?

CW [subtitled]: Of course, a body always facilitates the investigation because it is possible to prove without a doubt that someone has died, but I ask for your comprehension to the fact that I cannot say what we still want to investigate in Portugal. Or if we may have already investigated in the past in Portugal. Whether the results of the investigations provided by the Portuguese authorities are sufficient, or what the Portuguese authorities have given the English police. At the moment, I don't want to comment on that.

SF: Your conviction is that Madeleine is dead?

CW [subtitled]: Yes ... We have the conviction that Madeleine was killed.

SF: But that comes because of Christian Brueckner’s profile, by what you know about him?

CW [subtitled]: It has nothing to do with the profile; it is rather from these clues, from what we have been investigating. In the last two years we have collected a lot of evidence and it was from this knowledge, from this evidence, that we ended up concluding that the girl was killed. I still can't for now advance what evidence it is in concrete.

SF: Are you sure that the man that received the phone call at 7:30, close to Ocean Club was Christian B?

CW [subtitled]: We assume [literal translation: partimos do princípio/we depart from the principle] he used this mobile phone but we don't know who he spoke to. It would be very useful if we knew that, and it would help to develop the investigation.

SF: And you have any lead to know who was the other man or the other person that call him that evening?

CW [subtitled]: Until the last appeal we made, we had no indication of who it might be. But I cannot tell you if witnesses have appeared since the appeal. And at the moment I have no results in this regard.

Serafim Vieira (Brueckner’s lawyer in 2006): In my process, the numbers that I have are neither those two.

SF: Why haven’t you interrogated Christian Brueckner till now?

CW [subtitled]: The suspect’s interrogation in Germany happens usually at the end of the investigation and this has to do with the following... In the interrogation, we have to accuse the suspect of something. We have to tell him what we know to see how he reacts. And this only makes sense if we do not disclose to the public, nor to the media, nor to the suspect the concrete evidence we have.

SF: Do you believe that he could have committed this crime alone?

CW [subtitled]: I can't evaluate it. I have no concrete information about that.

SF: Which kind of crimes is Christian Brueckner suspect of concerning Madeleine McCann case?

CW [subtitled]: We are only investigating the suspicion of homicide.

*****

The original:

Sandra Felgueiras: A polícia alemã diz que Christian Brueckner estava por aqui e que realizou um telefonema suspeito por meia-hora, logo a seguir terá entrado por esta janela. Mas a PJ nunca detectou nem uma impressão digital, nem sequer provas de arrombamento, pelo que esta pista foi desvalorizada, mas agora é possível tentar uma compatibilização. Foram recolhidas na altura, em 2007, cerca de 600 amostras. Amostras quase todas irrelevantes porque não foi possível detectar qualquer compatibilidade e além disso foram recolhidas depois dos cães pisteiros terem entrado no apartamento. Mas entre essas amostras há uma de saliva e outra de sangue, amostras que podem ser decisivas agora para testar se Brueckner esteve ou não no local do crime.

Duarte Nuno Vieira (Ex-presidente Instituto Medicina Legal): Se houver um suspeito a quem seja tipado também o ADN, basta comparar os resultados da tipagem neste suspeito, não é preciso repeti-lo naquelas amostras todas porque o resultado do que é que se detectou nas amostras já existe

Sandra Felgueiras: Só é preciso uma amostra de ADN deste suspeito…

DNV: Só é preciso uma amostra de qualquer suspeito novo que exista para ser comparado.

SF to Hans Christian Wolters: Can I ask you if you have already requested those samples in order to see if there’s a match between Christian Brueckner and those samples?

Hans Christian Wolters [legendado]: Só soube disso hoje de manhã e não posso pronunciar-me de momento porque não queremos apresentar quaisquer dados, ou seja, não queremos dizer o que já investigámos ou o que ainda pretendemos investigar. Por isso, não posso pronunciar-me.

SF (voz off): Uma entrevista exclusiva do procurador alemão que investiga o caso Madeleine, declarações que o “Sexta às 9” sabe que são postas em causa pela própria PJ. Fontes próximas da investigação portuguesa garantem que as autoridades alemãs já receberam todos os perfis genéticos recolhidos no âmbito do caso Madeleine. Certo é que até agora, as provas alemãs não chegam para acusar Brueckner do homicídio de Madeleine, o que pode significar apenas que ainda não conseguiram uma comparação positiva de ADN.

CW: [legendado]: De momento as nossas provas não chegam para o acusar nem para o prender. Apesar de termos provas fortes, ainda não são suficientes para o acusar.

SF: Sandra Felgueiras: In order to have a conviction we need to have a body or we need a DNA sample, so I ask you do you want to make excavations here in Praia da Luz, where Christian Brueckner used to live?

CW [legendado]: É claro que um corpo facilita sempre a investigação porque assim é possível provar sem dúvidas que alguém morreu, mas peço a vossa compreensão para o facto de não poder dizer o que ainda queremos investigar em Portugal. Ou se poderemos já ter investigado no passado em Portugal. Se os resultados das investigações facultados pelas autoridades portuguesas são suficientes, ou o que as autoridades portuguesas deram à polícia inglesa. De momento, não quero pronunciar-me sobre isso.

SF: Your conviction is that Madeleine is dead?

CW [legendado]: Sim… Estamos convictos de que Madeleine foi morta.

SF: But that comes because of Christian Brueckner’s profile, by what you know about him?

CW [legendado]: Nada tem a ver com o perfil; é antes a partir destes indícios, do que fomos averiguando. Recolhemos nos últimos dois anos muitas provas e foi a partir deste conhecimento, destas provas, que acabámos por concluir que a menina foi morta. Ainda não posso para já adiantar que provas são essas em concreto

SF: Are you sure that the man that received the phone call at 7:30, close to Ocean Club was Christian B?

CW [legendado]: Partimos do princípio que ele utilizou este telemóvel mas não sabemos com quem falou. Seria muito útil se soubéssemos isso, e ajudaria a desenvolver a investigação.

SF: And you have any lead to know who was the other man or the other person that call him that evening?

CW [legendado]: Até ao ultimo apelo que fizemos não tínhamos nenhum indício de quem pudesse ser. Mas não lhe posso dizer se, desde o apelo, já apareceram testemunhas. E de momento não tenho nenhum resultado a este respeito.

Serafim Vieira (advogado de Brueckner em 2006): No meu processo os números que eu tenho não são nenhum desses dois.

SF: Why haven’t you interrogated Christian Brueckner till now?

CW [legendado]: O interrogatório ao suspeito acontece na Alemanha habitualmente no fim das investigações e isso tem a ver com o seguinte… No interrogatório, temos de acusar o suspeito de algo. Temos de dizer-lhe o que sabemos para ver como reage. E isto só faz sentido se não divulgarmos nem ao público, nem aos media, nem ao suspeito as provas concretas que temos.

SF: Do you believe that he could have committed this crime alone?

CW [legendado]: Não o possa avaliar. Não tenho informações concretas sobre isso.

SF: Which kind of crimes is Christian Brueckner suspect of concerning Madeleine McCann case?

CW [legendado]: Apenas estamos a investigar a suspeita de homicídio.