- The trial of Christian B. - Lawyers criticize expert witnesses
In the trial against Christian B., who is also suspected in the Maddie case, an expert testified about possible connections between two rapes and faced harsh criticism from the defense. The head of the operational case analysis (OFA) at the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Harald Dern, stated that there are similarities between the two crimes in Portugal that are very rare. He referred to a rape that the defendant is said to have committed in Portugal in 2004 against an Irish woman, and drew parallels to the rape of a 72-year-old American woman for which the 47-year-old German was convicted by the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court in 2019 and is still in custody. The 63-year-old expert explicitly did not say that the 47-year-old is also the perpetrator in the first case, but he came to the conclusion in his analysis that there is a lot to suggest a common perpetrator behavior. Such behavior patterns are extremely rare, and there are striking similarities, according to the BKA expert.
Expert: Similarities in the course of the crimes
His task from the court was to investigate whether the two crimes might be connected. The BKA investigator sees similarities in the course of the crimes. In addition, it was not about sexual gratification for the perpetrator in both cases, but about the exercise of violence. It is a fact that both crime scenes were in Portugal, at the Algarve, just like the four other cases currently on trial - two rapes and two cases of sexual abuse of children.
47-year-old also suspected in the famous Maddie case
However, the process against the multiple convicted sex offender is in the spotlight because he is suspected in the famous missing person case of Maddie. The three-year-old Madeleine "Maddie" McCann disappeared without a trace from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007. German investigators believe that Christian B. kidnapped and killed the girl. Investigations into this complex are still ongoing, but it is not part of the current trial. In principle, the presumption of innocence applies until a final conviction.
Defense doubts expert's results
On Thursday, the defense cast significant doubt on the expert's findings before the criminal chamber. In their view, the trial will soon end with an acquittal.
The expert testified that the rape committed by the defendant against an Irish woman in Portugal in 2004 shares striking similarities with another rape of a 72-year-old American woman, for which the defendant was convicted. The defense questioned the expert's conclusions, suggesting that the trial may end with an acquittal due to their doubts.
