Dirty, Smelly And Clutching A Bible.. How Evil Paedophile Just Walked Into Our Trap

Italian cops tell of dramatic arrest plot

- Dan Warburton And Hannah Roberts And Martin Fricker

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner walked into a police trap clutching a BIBLE.

The convicted pedophile was seized by armed officers in Milan while on the run from his home country Germany.

The bizarre arrest took place in 2018 and was 43-year-old Brueckner’s last moment of freedom.

Italian officers yesterday told how the man suspected of kidnapping three-year-old Madeleine from a holiday flat in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007 cut a “pathetic figure”.

Lieutenant Andrea Papa, part of the city’s elite murder squad, said: “When we arrested him we could see the surprise on his face – he was really worried.

“He seemed like someone who lived on the streets. He was unshaved and his clothes were dirty. He smelled bad.

“He was in jeans, trainers and a military jacket. He had no phone or money, just a Bible and a business card with his lawyer’s number.

“He seemed pathetic. We even felt sorry for him and gave him a bottle of water.”

Now Colonel Michele Milli , commander of the crime-hardened squad who usually deal with Mafia horrors, says it has “touched their soul” to learn Brueckner is being linked to the McCann case. Police pounced on the German – who also has two convictions for abusing young girls – after a fake appointment which was set up for him to collect a fresh passport was set up at the German consulate in Milan.

Brueckner had first turned up there on September 19 asking for new ID documents.