How Madeleine McCann case went from verge of nailing top suspect to brink of COLLAPSE… all on whim of one key witness
WHEN a former pal of prime suspect Christian B made a damning statement on Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, German cops thought they were on the verge of a breakthrough.
More than 15 years on from the tot vanishing, the world is still gripped by the mystery and it remains one of the most baffling cold cases of all time.
Madeleine went missing on May 2, 2007, while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
Her parents Kate and Gerry were dining nearby with friends when she disappeared from her bedroom, nine days before her fourth birthday.
It sparked frenzied speculation over what happened, with her mum and dad initially made “arguidos”, or suspects by Portuguese cops.
Soon after she disappeared, police issued a description of a man from the night of her disappearance who was spotted “possibly carrying a child”.
But more than a year on in July 2008, cops were no closer to cracking the case and ended their investigation.
Then in 2011, then-PM David Cameron demanded the Met launch a two-year case review.
At the end of the two years, detectives revealed they had identified “persons of interest” and opened a formal probe.
The following summer, in-depth searches were carried out in Praia da Luz and four suspects were quizzed but later released.
A decade on from her disappearance and several bouts of false hope later, Madeleine’s parents were told in 2017 that the Home Office would give an £85,000 grant to continue the probe for a further six months, taking the total cost to £11million.
But it proved further heartache for Kate and Gerry as the case remained no closer to being solved.
By 2019, however, German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters confirmed his team’s work was “connected with Madeleine”.
The following June, they revealed German sex offender Christian B was their prime suspect and they had “strong” evidence against him.
Prosecutors have since been determined to prove that the convicted sex offender was the one who snatched and possibly killed Madeleine.
They believe he initially planned to rob the holiday apartment before he “moved on to a sexual motive”.
The fiend is a prolific burglar, who has previous convictions for sex crimes against young girls.
Christian B has been linked with the disappearances of several children over the past 25 years, including that of a six-year-old boy in Portugal in 1996 and a five-year-old girl in Germany in 2015.
In May cops from Portugal and Germany scoured the Arade Dam near Silves, 31 miles from Praia da Luz, for clues.
Cops have hit several dead ends trying to nail Christian B – but his former friend came forward with damning claims that became the cornerstone of the German force’s probe.
German Helge B was a criminal pal of drifter Christian B when they lived in the Algarve around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.
He told cops he was chilled by Christian B’s alleged dark confession when the pair met at a music festival in Spain a short time after the tot vanished.
As the pair discussed the case over beers, Christian B was said to have coolly confided: “She didn’t scream.”
The convicted rapist and child sex attacker clearly implied he had taken Madeleine, Helge B told cops.
But the case was left hanging by a thread as sources close to the German probe say their key witness was “wobbling” and threatening to stop helping.
Sources close to the investigation warned he could soon back out and refuse to support his claims in court.
A German source told The Sun: “Word is that Helge B is about to withdraw his evidence.
“He was paid a huge sum to repeat his statement in a German newspaper and now he’s pulling the plug.
“It just goes to show you what type of people you are dealing with — and their credibility as witnesses.”
Helge B’s move could be the final blow in the stalling bid to bring Christian B to court for the suspected abduction and murder of Madeleine.
McCann probe prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said he was unaware of Helge B’s suspected change of heart — but insisted his statement would still carry weight.
He said: “Anyone who has said something must be measured by it. Witnesses are subject to the duty of truth — they have to testify. You can’t just choose something like that.”
But sources say German cops were warned months ago about Helge B.
Insiders have told The Sun how German officers were told long ago about Helge B’s “flakiness” – and that their reputation is now “shot to bits”.
One source close to the investigation even revealed some Portuguese officers even nicknamed the star witness “Helge Bulls****er”.
He said: “Helge B is someone the Portuguese officers have known about for a long, long time. But he was discounted as a credible witness ages ago.
“He was always seen as a Walter Mitty character who would talk ‘BS’ all the time hence the nickname.
“They warned the Germans he was a bit of a fantasist and that he was ‘flakey’ and how he’d say what you wanted to hear. But, for some reason the German detectives latched on to him.
“They’ve pinned pretty much their entire case on his evidence, despite being warned he wasn’t to be trusted. Now, with him looking to back out, their credibility has been totally shot to bits.”
The insider said German cops likely held onto Helge B’s account as they have no other leads.
The source added: “The biggest problem in all of this is that the German cops have nowhere else to go right now.
“There are no new leads and no evidence they have. Without this guy it’s curtains.”
German prosecutors, however, claim the case “is still on” against Christian B.
Hans Christian Wolters told The Times: “In Germany a witness has to appear in court, he has no choice.
“And if he has already testified, the statements that he has made can of course also be introduced in the trial.”
Christian B’s lawyer Friedrich Fulscher declined to comment.