Police in Portugal have re-opened an unsolved rape case linked to the German suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
A 37-year-old Irish woman Hazel Behan has told authorities she believes her attacker may have been Christian B.
He was living in the area at the time and has been convicted of a similar crime.
Hazel Behan, who has waivered her anonymity, was just 20-years-of-age when she was raped by a man in her apartment at Praia da Rocha – just 30 minutes from Praia da Luz.
Speaking to The Guardian in June, Behan says “her mind was blown” when she read how Christian B attacked a 72-year-old American woman in 2005.
She says the planning, tools and tactics used all bore similarities to her own awful experience in 2004.
Behan, who then worked in Portugal as a holiday kiddie rep, says the man spoke English with a German accent, had piercing blue eyes, a distinctive birthmark on his thigh, and was about 6ft 1in in height.
The assailant wore a black leather mask for the duration of the attack and threatened her with a machete.
Behan’s told the British media outlet that her attacker seemed to have planned meticulously before the rape: “he had worked everything out, he had a plan and was very deliberate. He consistently cleaned his hands, and repeatedly changed condoms.”
In the weeks running up to the attack, Hazel was suspicious that someone had been in her room. She notes that money had gone missing and that furniture had been moved around. “I now know my attacker had… been stalking me in the period leading up to the attack”, she said.
Police have since collected their own archived files and relaunched their investigation, despite previously destroying once vital forensic evidence.
Lawyer Serafim Vieira says the evidence was destroyed due to a judicial order as "no suspect was found, [meaning] the forensic evidence was no longer needed."
