Witness at McCann suspect's trial in Germany describes graphic videos
A witness in the ongoing high-profile trial of Christian B in German court has described discovering graphic and incriminating videos after stealing them from the defendant's home.
B, a 47-year-old German national, is the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of 3-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann in Portugal. He is currently on trial in the central German city of Braunschweig for unrelated serious sex crimes.
The man has never been charged in McCann's disappearance, although investigators remain convinced that he is the most likely culprit.
The 53-year-old witness on Wednesday told the court that he broke into B's home and stole a car, diesel fuel, video cameras and tapes in 2006, while B was being held in jail for theft.
The defendant is referred to as Christian B under German court privacy rules, although he has been fully named in the foreign press, which has extensively covered the case.
The witness said he watched the videos, which in addition to a lot of party and tourist scenes, included very graphic recordings of the apparent rape of an older woman and a young girl.
The older woman, described as between 70 and 80 years old, could be seen tied to a bed and screaming at a masked man, according to the witness.
Shortly before the end of the movie, the man sat on the bed and took off his mask.
"You could recognize him, he was looking into the camera," said the witness, referring to B.
In the second video, the young girl could be seen tied to a pole and, according to the witness, could be heard telling B: "Hi Christian, you know what this is. This is rape."
The witness testified that he later sold the stolen cameras, but he could no longer say what happened to the videos.
In the trial, B is accused of three rapes and two cases of sexual abuse of children in Portugal, all of which date to between December 2000 and June 2017.
He has an extensive criminal record and is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for a prior conviction for another rape of a woman in Portugal.
Investigators also believe B is the culprit in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, although he has not been charged in that case.
McCann vanished from a vacation resort in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, in May 2007. The case made headlines around the world and has been the subject of steady media coverage in the United Kingdom.
