Clothes and rope from a villa where Christian B raped a US woman in 2005 were not DNA tested, so he was not caught until 2017The villa is a short stroll from the Praia da Luz apartment where Madeleine was snatched in May 2007.
The case was mothballed amid a catalogue of errors by Portuguese police with the attacker still at large.
Christian B, 43, was finally arrested over the rape in 2017 and convicted in December after German police reinvestigated and did DNA tests on a sample of body hair from the villa.
The villa, called Casa Jacaranda, was only a ten-minute stroll from the apartment in Praia da Luz where Madeleine, three, was snatched in May 2007.
After her disappearance Portuguese police failed to seal off the McCann family holiday apartment for almost 24 hours.
It led to a crime scene contamination by up to 50 people. Cleaners washed bed sheets and ash from officers’ cigarettes was found in evidence samples. The 2005 rape inquiry was abandoned after just five months.
A red T-shirt which was ripped up by the attacker and stuffed in his victim’s mouth was not DNA tested. Neither was nylon rope used to tie her hands.
Madeleine was just three when she went missing in Portugal
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Madeleine was just three when she went missing in PortugalCredit: PA:Press Association
Clothes and rope from a villa where Christian B raped a US woman in 2005 were not DNA tested
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Clothes and rope from a villa where Christian B raped a US woman in 2005 were not DNA testedCredit: Rex Features
Official documents show Carlos Farinha, then Director of the Judicial Police’s Forensic Science Laboratory, wrote in a letter dated November 28, 2009: “We have learned by telephone that the examination is no longer necessary.
“We are therefore cancelling the tests and returning the material sent to us for analysis.”
Three weeks ago German cops said they have evidence Madeleine is dead and identified Christian B as the prime suspect in her abduction.
Kate and Gerry McCann say they have not been officially told there is evidence their daughter is dead.
