Prosecutors are '100% sure' convicted Christian Brueckner 'murdered Madeleine ...

Prosecutors are '100 per cent sure' convicted paedophile and rapist Christian Brueckner 'murdered Madeleine McCann.'

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said investigators were 'confident' they had the right man and had sufficient evidence to charge over the 2007 disappearance. 

Brueckner is currently being held in a high security prison in Oldenburg, near Bremen in northern Germany, where he is serving time for separate offences. 

Investigators are hoping to bring charges against the 44-year-old next year after taking time to gather as much evidence as possible before the case goes to court.

Madeleine McCann disappeared aged three from a holiday apartment in Portugal while on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann; her two-year-old twin siblings; and a group of family friends and their children.

'We're confident we have the man who took and killed her,' Wolters told the Mirror. 

'It is now possible that we could charge. We have that evidence now. But it's not just about charging him – we want to charge him with the best body of evidence possible.

'When we still have questions, it would be nonsense to charge rather than wait for the answers that could strengthen our position.'

Wolters said the investigation would continue 'as long as there are leads or information for us to pursue.' 

He said evidence includes phone analysis placing him at the Ocean Club when Madeleine went missing and an alleged confession Brueckner made to a friend. 

'It is circumstantial evidence – we have no scientific evidence,' Wolters said. 

'If we had a video of the act or a picture of Madeleine dead with Brueckner on camera, we wouldn't have had to make a public appeal. But we only have circumstantial evidence.'  

But he admitted prosecutors have no proof Madeleine is dead, any idea how she died and no evidence linking Brueckner to her alleged murder. 

'We have no body and no DNA but we have other evidence. Based on the evidence we have, it leads to no other conclusion.   

'I can't tell you on which basis we assume she is dead. But for us, there's no other possibility. There is no hope she is alive,' he said.