COPS homed in on the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case after he told a pal in a pub: “I snatched her.”
German prosecutors yesterday said they believe Madeleine is dead and know how she died after being abducted by Christian B — a rapist with a 22-year history of child sex abuse offences.
The rapist, 43, is said to have staked out the McCanns’ holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, for four days before three-year-old Madeleine was snatched in May 2007.
He is in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in the Algarve resort in 2005.
The rapist's alleged confession led to the latest breakthrough, but Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry’s hopes of finding her alive were yesterday dealt a crushing blow.
German public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters announced at a news conference that they are assuming Madeleine is dead.
He said: “The public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder.
“From this you can see that we assume that the girl is dead.”
He added: “With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he’s already serving a long sentence.”
The suspect was jailed last year for a rape in the same Algarve resort where Madeleine vanished.
He was identified as a prime suspect in the 13-year case on Wednesday night — and new details and photos emerged yesterday of the serial sex offender.
'B' is alleged to have confessed to kidnapping Madeleine while sitting in a German bar on the 10th anniversary of her abduction.
VIDEO OF HIMSELF 'RAPING A WOMAN'
He and a pal were watching a TV news report on the case in 2017 when he allegedly said he knew what had happened to her.
He is also said to have boasted that he had “snatched her.” He is also alleged to have shown to a witness a video of himself raping a woman.
It is said to have led to him being convicted and jailed for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman at Praia da Luz.
The suspect drew short in his alleged confession of saying he had killed Madeleine.
Her parents Kate and Gerry are still clinging to the hope that she may yet be found alive. However, German cops said they believe they know the method used to kill her – though they did not specify how she may have died.
More than 400 calls with new potential information have flooded in on the suspect since an appeal was made on Wednesday night.
Experts said B matched the profile of a Jimmy Savile-style “paraphiliac”, who targets victims of all ages.
Pictures emerged last night showing smirking Christian B sidling up to unsuspecting shot girls at a pub in Germany.
The pock-faced drifter was seen cuddling a small dog in a Cuban-themed bar in Hanover and sneering at a friendly bar girl.
In another shot he can be seen drinking Becks in an ill-fitting suit as he nears another shot girl in August 2011.
The snaps emerged from a Facebook profile appearing to belong to the suspect, whose interests include classical composer Wagner and the mobile game Candy Crush. B had lived in the small village of Praia da Luz for 12 years after initially fleeing to Portugal to escape from police.
MYSTERY CALL ON NIGHT MADELEINE WAS ABDUCTED
Cops have revealed he received a mystery half-hour call on his phone in the village just over an hour before Madeleine’s abduction on the night of May 3.
German police said he is suspected of committing burglaries in hotels and holiday homes in the area as well as dealing drugs.
British cops have issued photos of a Jaguar car and a battered VW camper van the suspect was allegedly living in at the time of Madeleine’s kidnap.
Police have appealed to the public to come forward with information about the vehicles or the call.
HUNT FOR PRAIA PAL
POLICE are trying to trace a woman who lived with chief suspect Christian B in the resort of Praia da Luz.
The pair stayed in a property owned by a Brit, who has asked to remain anonymous.
But he confirmed the couple split before B abandoned the home in 2006.
British and Portuguese police have asked him for help with background information.
The man said: “My wife and I moved back to UK in 1992.
“The house was lent out to friends and friends of friends to maintain occupancy, look after the land and pay bills. The house was occupied for a time by what seemed like an ordinary young couple.
“We met in person when passing through on family holidays to the Algarve.
“Later, we found the man’s girlfriend had parted company and returned to Germany.
“In 2006, my neighbour told me the house had been left ramshackled and abandoned.
“We reported the disappearance to police and discovered he may have been arrested.”
B, who has not been officially named by police, returned to Germany in 2007.
He was investigated by Portuguese cops in 2008 over Madeleine’s disappearance but was ruled out. He was named again in 2013 after an appeal for info by the Met Police’s Operation Grange team. The Met said they received “significant” new information about him from a witness in 2017 following a 10th-anniversary appeal.
German cops have taken over the lead role in the investigation.
Federal police crime investigations boss Christian Hoppe said there is concrete evidence – but not quite enough to charge him with murder and abduction.
If B is charged, it is almost certain he will face trial in Germany where citizens are tried for crimes committed abroad.
Jim Gamble, a senior child protection officer in the UK’s first police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, said it was the first time in 13 years “when I actually dare to hope”.
INITIAL INVESTIGATION WAS BUNGLED
He told the BBC News Channel the “circumstantial evidence” released by police made the new suspect a “really significant person of interest”.
Mr Gamble said the man was only being made public now as it was a “painstaking” process which began from “a point of chaos” after the initial investigation had been “bungled”.
It remained unclear last night why B was eliminated as a suspect in 2008.
But questions have been raised over why it had taken so long for serial sex offender B to emerge as the prime suspect.
Ex-Met detective chief inspector Mick Neville, who visited Praia da Luz to investigate Madeleine’s disappearance with The Sun, said: “It has to be asked why this man has only just become so prominent in the enquiry?
“We are told that he has previous convictions for having sexual contact with girls and was known to be living and driving around Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing. Surely he should have stood out in a small Algarve village?”
The Met is still treating the case as a missing person’s inquiry as there is no “definitive” proof she is dead or alive.
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