THE prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance had a burglary tool kit that could unlock any security door, an important witness claims.
Christian B boasted to a friend about the tools, which raise fresh doubts over the official theory that Maddie’s kidnapper clambered in through a window of holiday apartment 5a in Praia da Luz.
German police are said to be “electrified” by the lock pick kit discovery — and are also probing the possibility Christian B used car paint solvent to sedate Maddie.
In an exclusive interview from a secret location, Helge B — now in German police witness protection — told filmmaker Jutta Rabe for The Sun on Sunday: “He came through the door.”
German prosecutors hope to use the lock picks evidence to nail Christian B, who is in jail for drugs crimes and appealing a seven-year sentence for raping a woman of 72.
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Helge B, 52, who met his fellow German a year before Maddie vanished aged three, said he found the kit at Christian B's Algarve home.
The petty criminal had decided to ransack it with friend Manfred Seyferth after learning Christian B was serving time for theft.
He said: “I knew from Christian that he uses tools to break into holiday resorts, hotels and holiday homes to steal from tourists.
“There were passports on the table. There was all sorts of stuff lying around — cameras, suitcases, everything that tourists have with them. I also found a lock pick set.”
Helge B, who kept the kit and told German police about it, added: “You can use it to pick any lock, including security locks.”
The 14 picks, seen by The Sun on Sunday, are black stainless steel.
Each is designed for a specific door type.
They are made by “Dino”, which claims the curved design “ensures easier access into the most restrictive European keyways fast”.
Police in Portugal have always said the man who snatched Maddie broke in through the window and either left through a door with her or climbed back out.
It has been reported that the metal window shutters of the apartment were rolled all the way up, and a curtain was blowing, after little Maddie went missing.
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But when asked how Christian B got into the McCanns’ holiday home, Helge B replied: “Through the door. Easily. He can open any door.”
Insiders close to the German police probe, which was opened when Helge B gave detectives Christian B's name in 2017, said cops believe the window theory is a “red herring”.
A police source said: “The German detectives were electrified by the discovery of the tool kit with the lock picks in it. This evidence is now very important to them.
“It confirmed a suspicion that they’d had for a long time — that Christian B entered the apartment through the door.”
Police believe the front door was less likely to be viewed by the passing public as it is in a recessed area on the opposite side of the apartment facing towards a swimming pool and restaurant.
It is understood that police have also been told Christian B had access to car paint solvent as he had been a mechanic.
Detectives are now looking into a theory that he used it to knock Madeleine out before opening the window from the inside to avoid inhaling toxic fumes.
German public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters named Christian B as the prime suspect in Madeleine’s case in June 2020 and said he had evidence she had been murdered.
Helge B claims he has since been pressed by Christian B's lawyers to retract his statements and has been forced into witness protection for the last four years.
He said: “I immediately contacted the federal police in Germany and they told me to pack some clothes, don’t be followed, catch the next ferry and go to Italy and they would come and take care of me.
“Witness protectors picked me up. They put me in various safe houses and finally in an apartment. I don’t live there now. I had to change location again.”
'She didn’t scream'
His revelations come after he spoke to German tabloid Bild this week to claim Christian B appeared to confess to kidnapping Maddie, telling him after a few drinks: “She didn’t scream.”
He made the admission at the Dragon Festival in the southern Spanish mountain town of Orgiva just a year after she disappeared.
The illegal festival was known for its techno music, boozing and drug taking.
Christian B apparently arrived there in an American campervan he had lived in and used between 2007 and early 2008.
Helge B claims it was not the Tiffin Allegro van police seized a couple of years ago in Neuwegersleben — a German village where Christian B had a weekend pad.
Instead, he insisted the vehicle was a Winnebago.
Helge B believes that if police were able to trace it, they may find traces of Madeleine’s DNA in it.
He said: “Christian B drove up with an American mobile home, a Winnebago, and everyone was just surprised. I have only seen this Allegro in photos from the police, as it was seized on the premises in Neuwegersleben but it was not the same that I saw.”
Several girls’ swimsuits were found in the 30ft red and white Allegro RV Christian B drove between Portugal and Germany.
Cops found the clothes after the seizing the motorhome as part of another investigation.
Neighbours had complained about a smell coming from the yard where it was kept and buried in the ground were USB sticks and other digital media with more than one hundred films and photos of B allegedly abusing children.
Asked if he advised his former friend to tell the truth, Helge B said: “Yes, but he will never do that.
“He’s too stubborn for that. He assumes they can’t prove anything.”
Addressing Christian B directly, he added: “I know what you did and another witness knows it as well.
“So, admit it — you owe it to the girl’s parents. It’s enough with the rumours, lies and whining.”
- Jutta Rabe is a journalist and filmmaker, including for German television channel SAT.1.
