In 2009, Josef Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment and classified as highly dangerous. Fritzl is now working with his criminal defense attorney towards his release.
Josef Fritzl on the last day of his trial in Sankt Pölten in 2009. At that time he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ho New / Reuters
Josef Fritzl kept his daughter in a basement for years and apparently raped her thousands of times. For this he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Austria in 2009 and sent to an “institution for mentally abnormal criminals”. Because Fritzl, the 73-year-old trained electrical engineer, was considered highly dangerous. The media called him “The Monster of Amstetten”.
Today Fritzl is almost 89 years old, dementia and physically frail – and is fighting to live in freedom again. On Thursday he achieved a “partial success” in court, as his defense lawyer Astrid Wagner announced.
A panel of three judges at the Krems regional court decided that Fritzl should be transferred from the prison system to the normal prison system under certain conditions. As a condition, Fritzl had to attend psychotherapy. There would also be a ten-year probationary period. According to the court spokesman, the decision is not yet legally binding. The public prosecutor could still appeal.
Fritzl had hoped to be released completely as a result of the new report. In the meantime, he has served the 15 years in prison that are a prerequisite for early release. The forensic psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner also found in a new report that Fritzl no longer posed a danger. However, the responsible court decided against it for “general preventive reasons”. And this lets all those who never want to see Fritzl free again breathe a sigh of relief.
24 years in prison
Fritzl’s atrocities began in 1984 with a “vague idea,” as Fritzl wrote in the book “The Abyss of Josef F.” describes. A thought “like a small, lost leaf whirling across the asphalt of the street before being carried away by the wind.” A leaf that Fritzl grabbed from the gust of wind and held on to for years.
Fritzl converted his basement into a 60 square meter prison, lured his eldest daughter into the basement on August 28th, drugged her, locked her up and raped her – every other day, according to statements from his former defense attorney. For over 24 years.
He fathered seven children with her.
Three of the children had to live with their mother in a cramped, windowless dungeon.
Fritzl and his wife adopted three newborns. In return, Fritzl had his daughter write a letter in which she explained that she had joined a cult and could not take care of the child. Fritzl placed the letter next to the infant on his own front door. And repeated the procedure twice.
One baby died shortly after birth.
The wife wanted nothing to do with what was happening beneath her home. And the authorities didn’t notice anything either.
Fritzl wants to see his family again
That only changed in 2008, when one of the children was allowed to leave the dungeon. The granddaughter, 19, was seriously ill and Fritzl was persuaded to take her to the hospital. A doctor became suspicious and informed the police. And they were looking for the supposedly missing daughter. A week later, Fritzl released his daughter and her children. He was arrested soon afterwards.
Josef Fritzl’s case interested the media worldwide. Hundreds of journalists traveled to Austria for the trial.
Ho/Reuters
He went on trial in March 2009. Hundreds of journalists traveled to Austria for the “trial of the century” and reported how Fritzl confessed before a jury in a summary trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment. For murder by omission, rape, deprivation of liberty, aggravated coercion, slavery and incest.
Fritzl has been in the Stein prison since his conviction. He must remain there at least until the decision becomes final. Fritzl’s lawyer is already planning further applications. The goal is Fritzl’s freedom: she will continue to fight for her client’s early release. And what does Fritzl want? A few months ago he told the British tabloid “Sun” that he missed his family very much. “I firmly believe that I will see her again one day.”
This almost sounds like a threat. But it seems unlikely that there will be a reunion. Elisabeth and her adult children live under a new identity in an unknown location. Fritzl’s wife divorced him. Fritzl’s home in Amstetten was foreclosed on and converted into an apartment building. The first thing the new owner did was to have the basement rooms filled with concrete.