Madeleine McCann chief suspect Christian Brueckner ‘had an ACCOMPLICE’

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner had an accomplice in the kidnap and murder of the British youngster in the Algarve in 2007, Portugal’s top investigative TV show will claim.

Reports have suggested investigators are looking for a German drifter who lived near to Praia da Luz at the time the three-year-old vanished from the McCann’s holiday apartment.

And now Portugal’s Sexta As 9 show will reveal on Friday night that detectives do believe Brueckner had help snatching the youngster from her bed, sparking a global manhunt. 

Christian Brueckner (left), the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann (right), had an accomplice, a Portuguese TV show is set to claim

The man is thought to have lived near the Barragem da Bravura reservoir (pictured) which was once searched by police, though local reports suggest they never went in the water

In a preview of the show, Presenter Sandra Felgueiras says: ‘German detectives have confirmed the suspicion that Christian Brueckner had an accomplice.’ 

In another part of the preview, Brueckner’s lawyer Friedrich Fuelcher attempts to defend his client, saying he has been made a scapegoat by investigators.

He accuses German prosecutors of making bold statements about Brueckner’s guilt and Madeleine’s alleged murder, based only on the ‘flimsiest evidence’.

Fuelcher also attempts to rubbish the state’s main witness, Helge Brusching, saying that he is a convicted criminal and cannot be trusted.

But prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters is seen hitting back, telling Ms Felgueiras that he has substantive evidence that Madeleine McCann is dead. 

The video also shows Felgueiras giving pictures of Brueckner’s former girlfriend Nicole Fehlinger to a witness who lived in the Algarve at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. 

The TV claim comes amid reports that detectives want to talk to a German drifter who is believed to have been a former friend of Brueckner.

The drifter lived in a camper van near a remote reservoir nine miles from Praia da Luz., called Barragem de Bravura.

The man – who is wanted by German prosecutors – is thought to be a German drifter who lived in the Algarve with Brueckner (pictured, a camper van that Brueckner used)

Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment where she was staying in Pria da Luz in Potugal in 2007 (file image) and has not been seen since

The area was searched in the days after Madeleine’s disappearance.

But local news reports said police spent only two hours there and the lake was not searched by police divers.

A note handed found in Praia da Luz claimed that Madeleine’s body had been dumped at the Barragem da Bravura reservoir.

The message was written in Portuguese and was handed to police a year after she disappeared.

Christian Brueckner, who is currently in jail on drugs offences, lived in ramshackle cottage just 15-mintues-drive from the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz from where Madeleine McCann went missing in May 2007.

Mobile phone evidence places Brueckner in the tourist village on the night the youngster disappeared.

He has been linked to a series of 25 break-ins throughout the resort and has been convicted for the rape of an elderly American tourist in the resort, although the sentence has still to be confirmed.

Bruecker has been convicted of a string of sex crimes, including the sexual assault of children.