Chilling smirk for Maddie question

Suspect grins and stays silent when asked if he snatched youngster

- BY MARTIN FRICKER

ONLY Christian Brueckner knows whether or not he snatched Madeleine McCann, but the German paedophile remained silent yesterday.

And when confronted by this reporter, he flashed a chilling smirk as he left a courtroom.

We asked: “Do you know what happened to Madeleine McCann?”

But the grinning sex offender just stared straight ahead and said nothing.

German investigators believe Brueckner abducted and killed Madeleine in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

But they appear no closer to charging the convict, who is nearing the end of a seven-year jail term for rape.

He was hauled before judges in Lehrte, Germany, yesterday over a shock rant in March last year when he branded jail staff “a laughing stock”.