


The convicted pedophile accused of murdering young Madeline McCann appeared in German court Friday to face unrelated charges for a slew of sex abuse crimes — but his trial was postponed after less than 10 minutes when his defense attorney exposed a court clerk’s “radical” social media posts.
Christian Brueckner, 47, who is on trial on two counts of rape and three of sexual abuse, made his first public appearance in four years in the Brunswick court.
Brueckner entered the room hand-cuffed, wearing a gray jacket covering a purple button-down shirt and dark pants,
But his public appearance proved to be short-lived, after his lawyer, Dr. Sebastian Fuelscher, began the trial proceedings by attempting to discredit Britta Thielen-Donckel, who serves as a lay judge.
Fuelscher pointed to social media posts in which she wrote “Kill the b—d” and “Kill the devil,” in reference to the Brazilian president, whom she also accused of torturing animals, according to the Irish Sun.
The attorney argued the “radical” comments made her unsuitable to carry out her role as a lay judge, a jurist who collaborates with trial judges — participating in deliberations and assisting in rendering verdicts and deciding sentences.

He also cited Thielen-Donckel’s work as a child psychologist, as a potential source of bias in the case.
“Such a lay judge has no business participating in a fair criminal trial,” Fulscher said.
The trial judge adjourned the hearing to consider the request, only to return 40 minutes later to remove Thielen-Donckel from the panel.
Court was then adjourned until next Friday, as authorities search for a replacement lay judge.
Speaking about the ouster of the lay judge, Brueckner’s attorney Phillip Marquort explained: “We got the names of the lay judges two weeks ago and researched them.
“We found the comments from one of them and told our client, and he was very happy to hear what we had found out,” the attorney said, according to the Daily Mail.
“He told us to make an argument for it and the judge accepted it. Our client was delighted with the outcome,” he noted, adding that Thielen-Donckel “should not be a judge.”
The attorney also spoke about the effects solitary confinement has had on his client.
“It’s been very stressful for him,” Marquort said. “He’s been in solitary confinement for two years, so it’s physically and mentally tough.
“He is in isolation, no company, so it’s hard. He is not in good health.”
Brueckner is accused of three rapes and two sexual assaults on children in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Prosecutors have said that at some point between 2000 and 2006, he tied up and raped an elderly woman in her vacation apartment in Portugal.
He is accused of beating the victim several times with a whip and recording the incident on video.
Brueckner also allegedly tied a German-speaking girl aged at least 14 to a wooden post in the living room of his residence in Praia da Lux, allegedly beating her with a whip and forcing her to perform oral sex.
In June 2004, prosecutors say, Brueckner raped Irish mom Hazel Behan, tied her to a table and whipped her.
In separate cases in 2007 and 2017, Brueckner is accused of exposing himself to girls aged 10 and 11.
He is already serving a seven-year sentence for raping an elderly American woman in 2005, and if he were convicted of the rape and sexual assault charges, Brueckner would likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
But officials are hoping that by securing a conviction, he will offer information on the death of McCann in exchange for a more lenient sentence, according to the Daily Mail.
Brueckner was named in June 2020 as the man responsible for McCann’s abduction and disappearance while on vacation with her parents in Portugal in May 2007.
He has not yet been charged in the case, and his layer said he is hoping for a fair trial on the rape and sexual assault charges.
“What needs to be made clear is that these charges have nothing to do with Madeline McCann, and that now, almost four years since he was named as the suspect, there has been no update from the prosecutors,” Fuelscher told the Daily Mail.
“He has not been charged with anything in relation to the McCann investigation, and I haven’t even been given access to the files in that case, and I have no idea what the evidence is against him.
“It is only the public prosecutor’s office that believes they have the right person,” he added.
The lawyer also told German newspaper Bild there is a “witch hunt” against his client, but said: “I am convinced there can only be an acquittal.”
With Post wires.