Madeleine McCann disappearance: Christian Brueckner boasted about burglary kit that could ‘open any door’

Madeleine McCann. Photo / File

The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case had a burglary kit that ‘could unlock any security door’, a witness claims.

Helge Buschling, a former friend and sometimes accomplice to Christian Brueckner, has told police the suspect boasted about owning the tools.

He says Brueckner used the tools to “break into holiday resorts, hotels and holiday homes to steal from tourists”.

After Brueckner was arrested for theft, Buschling and an accomplice ‘ransacked’ Brueckner’s home and found “all sorts of stuff lying around”, including passports, cameras and the lock pick set.

The 14 picks are black stainless steel, with each designed for a ­specific door type. This allows “easier access” to European doors “fast”.

Portuguese police sources say Christian Brueckner refused to respond to questions put to him on their behalf by German officers.

Buschling, who is in protective custody, told a filmmaker that Brueckner would have “come through the door”, not a window, as previous theories suggested.

“He can open any door”, Buschling said.

Buschling was the first person to give police Brueckner’s name in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance in 2017.

Police in Portugal have always said the man who snatched Maddie broke in through the window of holiday apartment 5a in Praia da Luz, and either left through a door with her or climbed back out.

German police are “electrified” by the lock pick kit discovery – and are also looking into the possibility Brueckner used paint solvent to sedate Maddie that night.

Sources have suggested the suspect opened the window in Maddie’s room that night to let the fumes from the solvent out. German police have said the window was a “red herring”.

According to a police source, “this confirmed a suspicion that they’d had for a long time” that Brueckner came in the front door.

Police believe the front door was less likely to be viewed by passers-by as it is in a ­recessed area on the opposite side of the apartment facing towards a swimming pool and restaurant.

The Sun reported that Christian Brueckner allegedly told Buschling that the 3-year-old “didn’t scream” shortly after she went missing in 2007.

This detail was revealed in a series of letters written by Brueckner.

British, Portuguese and German investigators are still piecing together what happened on the night when the little girl disappeared from her bed in the southern Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007. She was in the same room as her brother and sister — 2-year-old twins — while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.