An important witness spoke in the rape trial against Christian B., who is also a suspect in the Maddie case. “I have never felt such fear,” the woman from Ireland said on Wednesday in front of the Braunschweig regional court about a night about 20 years ago in Portugal. The perpetrator came into the room via her balcony and woke her up. He knew her name and said: “Don’t scream, otherwise I’ll kill you,” the 40-year-old woman reported, sometimes in tears.
The man tied her up and raped her several times. He filmed part of the attack with a video camera he brought with him. According to the witness’s description, her tormentor let go of her at some point and disappeared over the balcony. She then managed to free herself and get help.
The Irish woman is considered an important witness in the trial against the 47-year-old German because she is the only known of three alleged rape victims. Witnesses claim to have seen two other acts on videos – but these films have disappeared and possible victims could not be located. The defendant is also accused of two cases of sexual abuse of children. According to the prosecution, the crime scenes were all in Portugal.
The trial arouses great international interest primarily because B. is also suspected of murder in the case of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007. Maddie is always a marginal topic in Braunschweig, but is not officially the subject of the current negotiation. With regard to this complex, the public prosecutor’s office repeatedly emphasizes that the investigations are continuing. The defendant remains silent about the allegations in the current proceedings. It is the presumption of innocence.
