Madeleine McCann Suspect Christian Brückner 'Unable to Sleep' as He's 'Convinced' Someone Will 'Try to Kill Him' After Prison Release

Now that Christian Brückner, who prosecutors believe abducted British toddler Madeleine McCann, is freed from German prison, his life looks a little bit different.

The Sunday Times writer Rob Hyde spent 48 hours with him, sharing details about what is going through his head.

Hyde, who has been a freelance journalist in Germany for two decades, got a tip he "would appear in the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office early the next morning to confront Hans Christian Wolters — the prosecutor who has become the public face of the McCann investigation," the article reads.

Following his release, Brückner "spent hours in a homeless shelter before the town helped him into a flat."

"When he tried to buy a Sim card, the shop reportedly alerted the media; footage was circulated and journalists camped outside. Online forums lit up with supposed sightings near schools. Flyers with his face on them were distributed in communities, warning the elderly and parents to be vigilant. Each time, renewed attention forced the authorities to move him for his own safety," Hyde writes.

When Brückner arrived at the prosecutor's office, he said into the intercom, “My name is Christian Brückner and I would like to speak to Mr Wolters.” He was let in, accompanied by two police officers.

“I want my life back!” he told an official as he demanded compensation for what he's been through.

While chatting with Hyde, Brückner said he's in "constant fear" of being attacked ever since he's made headlines.

He's technically free — for now — as police still don't have enough forensic evidence needed to charge him. He's also being monitored from Wiesbaden and any travel requires permission.

"Two things were immediately clear from hours in his company. One was the way he picked apart allegations: he knew in granular detail what witnesses had said and would explain, with fierce intensity, why each account was wrong. The other was a raw paranoia. He has spent more than two years in near-solitary confinement during pre-trial detention, and the physical effects are visible in his diminished muscles. He also says that he finds it hard to organise his thoughts," Hyde writes.

He continues, "At times he could be affable — self-aware, mocking, rehearsing lines before answering. Yet he remained convinced that the BKA and Wolters were out to destroy him. He was eager to claim he was a patsy, part of a massive, spectacular cover-up by the BKA and Wolters. And he said that because he has proof which could expose all this, the BKA was very likely to assassinate him — possibly even within a few weeks."

For now, Brückner lives on state benefits: "about €1,000 a month if he refuses a flat, dropping to €550 if he accepts state housing. He sometimes sleeps in cheap hotels and the rest of the time he beds down in hostels — unable to sleep because he is convinced that someone will try to kill him. On this, he may have a point," Hyde writes.

Brückner was released from a German jail on September 17 after serving a sentence for an unrelated crime — the rape of a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal in 2005.

Investigators believe Brückner worked in the Algarve for years and is behind McCann's disappearance. He spent time in the Praia da Luz area between 2000 and 2017 and had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.

An associate claimed to have found videos at Brückner’s house showing sexual violence. Witness Helge Büsching is convinced the known criminal was involved in the abduction, telling British ITV News that the suspect told him McCann “was not screaming” when she was taken from her bed.

“I want Christian go behind bars for this, for the case of Madeleine McCann. This was him; I am 100 percent sure,” Busching said. “He can say I am innocent. I know what he was doing; I saw it with my proper eyes. I know he’s dangerous man.”