The disappearance case of Madeleine McCann has been handed a major blow after a problem arose with a key witness potentially risking a breakthrough.
Helge Busching has intestinal cancer and is not expected to live long, a close friend told he court during the trial of Christian Brueckner in Germany.
Brueckner, a convicted sex offender, is the lead suspect in the case of the missing toddler.
Busching is the prosecution’s key witness in the current trial, which is unrelated to investigations into McCann’s disappearance.
Brueckner is accused of five counts of sexual assault in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Busching, 53, allegedly found home-made tapes in Brueckner’s home in 2006.
The videos reportedly showed the convicted sex offender raping two women.
Busching described details of the tapes in court on Wednesday, claiming Brueckner wore a balaclava but took it off to reveal his face.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
The footage no longer exists and the police have never seen them.
Busching also told the court that Mr Brueckner hinted to him during a meeting in 2008 that he had been involved in McCann’s abduction.
He claimed the German sex offender told him “she didn’t even scream”.
Michael Tatschl, another witness in the case, confirmed Busching’s cancer diagnosis yesterday.
He told Sky News: “When we spoke... on the phone, we discussed general things including his cancer.
“It’s pretty bad. He got his diagnosis just a couple of months ago.”
Tatschl separately described his relationship with Brueckner as “friends and partners in crime”.
He said that he saw a whip, several pairs of handcuffs and a balaclava in Brueckner’s home.
