CHRISTIAN B has been named an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case – but he is refusing to co-operate with authorities.
Christian B, 43, was told he is now an 'arguido' in Portugal in his German prison cell on Thursday morning according to an insider.
The 44-year-old was handed a document informing him he was being made an arguido over the British youngster’s May 3 2007 disappearance from her Algarve holiday apartment.
He was then quizzed with a barrage of questions after Portuguese prosecutors made him a formal suspect in the unsolved crime
The convicted rapist was asked: “Where were you the night Madeleine McCann disappeared?”
He was asked to account for his whereabouts the night Madeleine vanished as her parents ate tapas nearby with friends, Portuguese sources said.
German authorities acting on behalf of Portuguese prosecutors also asked him: “If you weren’t by the apartment she disappeared from that night, where were you?”
Sources close to the case in Portugal also revealed the suspect answered none of the questions put to him during his jail interrogation, retaining the right to silence afforded him by his new ‘arguido’ status.
It is the first time he has faced a formal quiz over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
It comes after it was revealed the convicted rapist travelled between Praia da Luz and Germany in a camper van for several years before Madeleine vanished.
It is now understood that investigators are focusing their forensic work on the vehicle.
Read our Madeleine McCann blog below for the latest news and updates…
- Joseph Gamp
What is 'arguido' status in Portuguese law?
In Portuguese law, an arguido status can be a preliminary move ahead of an arrest being made or charges brought.
The Metropolitan Police continue to treat Madeleine's disappearance as a missing persons inquiry.
- Joseph Gamp
Suspect could be flown to Algrave for formal questioning
The Portuguese move paves the way for him to be flown from Germany to the Algarve for formal questioning but there are not thought to be any immediate plans to try to quiz him in Portugal.
A spokesman for Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office, asked about the future of the probe led by a prosecutor based in the Algarve resort of Portimao, said: “The investigation is proceeding, with the inquiry not having a final conclusion yet.”
- Joseph Gamp
Official statement from the DIAP
A written statement issued by the Portimao section of the Faro Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution (DIAP) said: “As part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, a person was made an arguido on Wednesday.
“The person was made an arguido by the German authorities in execution of a request for international judicial cooperation issued by the Public Ministry of Portugal.
“The investigation is led by the Portimao section of the DIAP in Faro with the assistance of the Policia Judiciaria police.
“The investigation has been carried out with the cooperation of the English and German authorities.”
- Joseph Gamp
Forensic work on Christian B’s van
It has been revealed that the convicted child rapist travelled between Praia da Luz and Germany in a camper van for several years before Madeleine vanished.
It is now understood that investigators are focusing their forensic work on the vehicle.
- Joseph Gamp
What is an ‘arguido’?
Christian B was told yesterday he was now an ‘arguido’ in Portugal in his German prison cell according to an insider.
An “arguido” – normally translated as “named suspect” or “formal suspect” – is someone who is treated by Portuguese police as more than a witness but has not been arrested or charged.
Detectives invoke arguido status on someone as a preliminary to an arrest being made or charges brought, but that does not mean arrests or charges automatically follow.
- Joseph Gamp
Christian B confirmed as official suspect
PORTUGUESE detectives last night confirmed convicted child rapist Christian B as an official suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
The Portuguese prosecutor’s office confirmed “a defendant was appointed this Wednesday”.
Christian B, 43, was told he is now an ‘arguido’ in Portugal in his German prison cell yesterday morning according to an insider.
An “arguido” – normally translated as “named suspect” or “formal suspect” – is someone who is treated by Portuguese police as more than a witness but has not been arrested or charged.
A Portuguese source added: “The legal grounds for making [Christian B] an arguido include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.
- Milica Cosic
Key pieces of evidence linking Christian B to Madeleine’s disappearance
GERMAN prosecutors believe convicted paedophile Christian B snatched Madeleine McCann as he was named an official suspect in Portugal.
Following a lengthy investigation by authorities in Portugal, Germany and the UK, there is now potentially crucial evidence that could solve the world's most famous missing child mystery.
As they search for the missing piece of the jigsaw, prosecutors are faced with a series of potential clues that link the German with the tot's disappearance.
- Bombshell 'alibi'
- 'Russians in the frame'
- 'Shocking new evidence'
- Madeleine 'still alive'
- A five-year probe on the current suspect
- Christian B's secret cellar and sinister factory
- Suspect Christian B facing other charges
Read the article in full here.
- Milica Cosic
Explained: Are Kate and Gerry still together?
Shortly after Madeleine vanished, Kate said their marriage nearly broke down as she withdrew into herself.
She stopped reading, playing music or even having sex with her husband Gerry.
And the couple were gripped by the fear that a paedophile may have taken their daughter.
Writing about that period in her autobiography, Kate said: "Tortured as I was by these images, it's not surprising that even the thought of sex repulsed me.
"I worried about Gerry and me. I worried that if I didn't get our sex life on track our whole relationship would break down."
Kate went on to credit Gerry's understanding and the couple's resilience for the endurance of their marriage.
They remain together to this day, despite the stresses of intense media scrutiny on their lives.
- Milica Cosic
Who are Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann?
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry are both practising Catholics who met in Glasgow in 1993.
Kate became a GP after studying medicine at the University of Dundee while Gerry has been a consultant cardiologist since 2005.
The couple got married in 1998 before having their first child, Madeleine, in 2003.
They also have twin children, a boy and a girl, who were born in 2005 and live in Rothley, Leicestershire.
Kate and Gerry had been married for nine years when Madeleine disappeared on the night of May 3, 2007.
Kate and Gerry McCann being interviewed 10 years after their daughter Madeleine McCann went missingCredit: Press Association
- Milica Cosic
Madeleine's parents were once 'arguidos'
Parents Gerry and Kate McCann left their three kids, including toddler twins Sean and Amelie, sleeping in their apartment while they dined at a tapas bar 120 metres away.
When Kate returned to check on the kids at about 10pm that evening, she found Madeleine was not in her bed and was missing.
In September 2007, Gerry and Kate, both doctors, were sensationally named as "arguidos" or "suspects" by Portuguese police.
The following summer (2008) the McCanns were cleared by investigators in Portugal who declared they had exhausted all avenues in the case.
- Milica Cosic
15 years since Madeleine disappeared
Maddie vanished in 2007 while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal – triggering the most high-profile missing persons case in history.
On May 3 this year, it will be 15 years since Madeleine disappeared from her family holiday.
- Milica Cosic
Christian B’s lawyers deny he’s charged
CHRISTIAN B's lawyers denied that he was charged in the Madeleine McCann case after detectives yesterday made him an official suspect.
The 44-year-old was named by German prosecutors as the man ‘responsible’ for Madeleine’s kidnap and murder in June 2020.
The convicted rapist, 44, was yesterday classed as an 'arguido' or 'formal suspect' by Portuguese police.
However, his lawyers denied that he was charged over her disappearance.
Friedrich Fuelscher, Christian B's lawyer, said: "The step taken by the Portuguese authorities should not be overrated.
"I assume that this measure is a procedural artifice to stop the statute of limitations threatening in a few days."
Portugal's Policia Judiciaria and the Attorney General's Office have yet to make any official comment.
- Milica Cosic
What are the key dates in Madeleine’s disappearance? (4/4)
- November 2018 – UK police are re-examining a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents. They are also looking at whether her disappearance was the result of a kidnapping or burglary gone wrong.
- June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted
- June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers, according to a bombshell local media report.
- August 2019 – A DNA expert in the US offers to analyse samples to provide an investigative lead.
- June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo, in a huge breakthrough in the 13-year investigation.
And now, last night Portuguese detectives confirmed convicted child rapist Christian B as an official suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
What are the key dates in Madeleine’s disappearance? (3/4)
- January 31, 2017 – Portugal's Supreme Court rules against Kate and Gerry McCann's £418,000 libel claim. The court claims freedom of expression laws protect Detective Goncalo Amaral's claims in the book.
- March 11, 2017 – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September.
- September 28, 2017 – British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe alive until March 2018.
- November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria as they tried to find a "woman in purple" they wanted to speak to.
- May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted.
- September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office amid fears the cash will run out by the end of the month.
- November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
- November 2018 – Former detective David Edgar, who once helped search for Madeleine, says she could still be alive and imprisoned, with "no idea who she is". He believes she is being kept against her identity in a "lair" and could even still be in Portugal.
What are the key dates in Madeleine’s disappearance? (2/4)
- July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launch its own investigation into Madeleine's disappearance. They claim to have "genuinely new" lines of inquiry and identify 38 people of interest including 12 Britons.
- 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.
- April 28, 2015 – Detective Goncalo Amaral is ordered to pay Kate and Gerry McCann £209,000 each in damages by a court in Lisbon over claims made in The Truth Of The Lie and bans further sales of the book.
- October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine's disappearance from 29 to four.
- Milica Cosic
What are the key dates in Madeleine's disappearance? (1/4)
- May 3, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann leave their children asleep in their holiday apartments while they eat eat a nearby Tapas restaurant. At 10pm Kate finds Madeleine missing.
- May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is quizzed by cops and 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, Sean and Amelie.
- 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, and shelve the investigation.
- July 24, 2009 – Detective Goncalo Amaral alleges that Madeleine died in her family's holiday flat the day she went missing in a book called The Truth Of The Lie. In a documentary for Portuguese television he claims there was no abduction and the McCanns had hidden her body.
- May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine's eighth birthday, Mrs McCann publishes a book about her disappearance. Scotland Yard launches a review into the case after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May, supported by Prime Minister David Cameron.
- April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive. A new picture is released, showing what she might look like as a 9-year-old, and they call on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police say they have found no new material.
How old would Madeleine McCann be now?
Madeleine would have turned 19 on May 12, 2022.
In April 2012, UK cops released a computer generated image of Madeleine showing what she would look like aged nine.
In 2019 updated age progression images were uploaded on social media but Kate and Gerry said the images of Madeleine are bogus.
Kate and Gerry warned the new fake images were neither "commissioned nor endorsed" by them or Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange team.
Explained: When did Madeleine McCann disappear?
Madeleine vanished 13 years ago on May 3, 2007, when her family, from Leicestershire, were holidaying in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, Portugal.
Parents Gerry and Kate left their three children – including toddler twins Sean and Amelie – sleeping in their apartment while they dined at a tapas bar – 120 metres away.
When Kate returned to check on the kids at around 10pm that evening, she discovered that Madeleine was not in her bed and was missing.
In September of that year, Gerry and Kate, both doctors, were sensationally named as "arguidos" by Portuguese police.
The following summer the McCanns were cleared by investigators in Portugal who declared they had exhausted all avenues in the case.
When did Christian B become a suspect?
Christian B, who is in his 40s, became a suspect after allegedly confessing to kidnapping Madeleine while sitting in a German bar on the 10th anniversary of her abduction.
Why closing the case is 'out of question'
A Lisbon-based lawyer, who asked not to be named, said: "Police and prosecutors in Portugal will be acutely aware of the time limits hanging over the Maddie case.
"Our statute of limitations brings with it the probability that within a matter of weeks, the person responsible for her disappearance may never be brought to justice in the country where she vanished even with an arrest and confession."
Closing Maddie's case 'out of the question'
Portuguese police sources said closing their long-running ‘cold case’ review was “completely out of the question.”
Madeleine McCann’s family’s lawyer Rogerio Alves warned in July 2020 Portugal’s 15-year limit on prosecutions meant there was less than two years left to take action against Christian B, who German authorities were treating as their chief suspect.
- Milica Cosic
Suspect could be flown to Algrave for formal questioning
The Portuguese move paves the way for him to be flown from Germany to the Algarve for formal questioning but there are not thought to be any immediate plans to try to quiz him in Portugal.
A spokesman for Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office, asked about the future of the probe led by a prosecutor based in the Algarve resort of Portimao, said: “The investigation is proceeding, with the inquiry not having a final conclusion yet.”
- Milica Cosic
Suspect remains silent
Christian B stayed silent after being informed of his new status and declined to be questioned as part of the criminal procedure.
It is not yet clear who informed him but it happened after a formal international letter of request issued by Portuguese authorities to their German counterparts.
- Milica Cosic
Portuguese to continue to investigate Maddie's disappearance
Madeleine vanished aged three from her family apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007.
And the news yesterday comes after Portuguese police said they would continue to investigate Maddie's disappearance as the Met Police ended its probe.
The source said: “The legal grounds for making Christian B an arguido include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.
“But it is obviously linked to the fact that the Portuguese authorities want to keep their options open with the 15-year deadline looming.”
- Milica Cosic
Official statement from the DIAP
A written statement issued by the Portimao section of the Faro Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution (DIAP) said: “As part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, a person was made an arguido on Wednesday.
“The person was made an arguido by the German authorities in execution of a request for international judicial cooperation issued by the Public Ministry of Portugal.
“The investigation is led by the Portimao section of the DIAP in Faro with the assistance of the Policia Judiciaria police.
"The investigation has been carried out with the cooperation of the English and German authorities.”
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