Woman Claims Christian Brueckner Assaulted Her Years Before Madeleine McCann disappearance

Hazel Behan alleges that the man suspected in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Christian Brueckner, sexually assaulted her in 2004.

An Irish woman has come forward with a disturbing account, claiming she was violently attacked by Christian Brueckner in Portugal three years before Madeleine McCann vanished from the same area. Hazel Behan, who was 20 years old at the time, says the assault occurred in 2004 while she was on a working holiday in Praia da Luz.

The Night of the Attack

Behan recounted the harrowing experience to 60 Minutes,stating that she was asleep in her apartment when she was awakened by a man calling her name. “I laid in bed and I fell asleep, [when] I was woken by somebody calling my name,” Behan said.

She immediately sensed something was wrong. “I thought I was going to die,” behan admitted to Tara Brown.

“He stood above me with the knife so I just thought he was going to just chop my head off. That sounds so dramatic but that’s exactly what was going through my head.”

According to Behan, the masked assailant, whom she believes was Christian Brueckner, dragged her through the apartment, raping her multiple times. She says he wielded a knife, struck her with a whip, and set up cameras to record the assault.

After the attack,the man fled,leaving Behan to grapple with the trauma. “Whether he killed me physically or not, spiritually, I was gone. I was done that day. I didn’t exist anymore,” she said.

Examination and Identification

Behan reported the crime to Portuguese police,but she felt the investigation was inadequate. “The apartment was essentially how I had left it. The bloody sheets were still on my bed. My fingernails were still on the bed. they never collected them.”

She also claimed that police seemed more interested in discrediting her. Behan said “in the weeks that followed, they followed me, just to see if I was a slut, to see how I behaved”.

Years later, when UK police released a photo of Christian Brueckner in connection to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, Behan recognized him as her attacker.

Legal Proceedings and Aftermath

Behan pursued her allegations against Brueckner in a German court, providing a detailed account of the assault. tho, the court acquitted 48-year-old Brueckner, citing insufficient evidence.

Despite the acquittal, Behan remains convinced that Brueckner is the man who attacked her and believes that the failure to convict him was due to the flawed investigation. She believes that McCann’s disappearance was a consequence of the Portuguese police’s shortcomings.

“I believe he’s the person who took her. I believe he’s the person who carried out crimes on me. If they had investigated my crime, I believe that Madeleine would still be at home with her parents,” she said.

Brueckner’s Current Status

Christian Brueckner is currently serving a 7-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman and is scheduled for release in september.