austria: man locks up daughter for 24 years and has 7 children with her!
brainofme
Posts: 231
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/28/austria.internationalcrime2?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
Austrian cellar case man admits abduction and incest
A 73-year-old Austrian today confessed to imprisoning, beating and sexually abusing his daughter in a windowless cellar for 24 years, during which time he fathered her seven children.
Josef Fritzl admitted to forcing his daughter Elisabeth into the basement of the family's home in Amstetten, north-west Austria, on August 24 1984, when she was 18.
Franz Pölzer, the head of the criminal investigations unit in the province of Lower Austria, said Fritzl had admitted abduction, incest and abuse.
Holding up a picture of Fritzl, at a press conference, Pölzer said: "This man led a double life for 24 years. He deceived everybody. He deceived his wife and the legal system."
After initially denying the crime, Fritzl later admitted locking up his daughter, beating and sexually abusing her, and fathering her seven children, Pölzer said.
"Even the most experienced members of the criminal police found it shocking."
Fritzl is expected to appear in court later today. Police released several photos showing parts of the cramped basement cell where Elisabeth and her children were kept.
It included a thick soundproofed door, a small but brightly decorated bathroom, and a narrow passageway leading to a tiny bedroom.
Earlier, a police spokesman said 42-year-old Elisabeth was "psychologically extremely disturbed", but that her version of events was "completely believable".
She claimed her father had abused her since she was 11. "In her own words, she was continuously abused by her father," the spokesman said.
She said she had borne seven children by Fritzl, including twins, one of whom died after only three days in 1996. He admitted removing the body from the cellar and burning it.
Police said many questions remained in the case, which is reminiscent of that of the Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch, who was abducted, aged 10, on her way to school in 1998 and locked in a windowless cell before escaping in August 2006.
Today, the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard said in an editorial: "The whole country must ask itself just what is really, fundamentally going wrong."
Police said Fritzl, an electrical engineering technician by training, had told investigators how to enter the basement prison through a small hidden door, operated by a secret code which only he had known.
"There was a shelf with plenty of cans and containers, and behind the shelf was a door made of reinforced concrete, secured electronically and running on steel rails," Heinz Lenze, a local official, told Reuters.
Yesterday, Pölzer told the broadcaster ORF that there were a number of rooms in the cellar.
"There is … one room to sleep in, one to cook, and there are also sanitation facilities," he said. The APA news agency said some of the rooms in the cellar were no more than 1.7 metres (5ft 6in) high.
Fritzl's wife, Rosemarie, had been unaware of what happened to Elisabeth.
It is believed she assumed her daughter had disappeared voluntarily after a letter in her writing to her parents said they should not search for her.
The drama began to unravel last weekend when Elisabeth's 19-year-old daughter, Kerstin, who lived in the cellar, was left at a hospital with a life-threatening illness.
A search for Elisabeth increased in urgency as Kerstin's condition worsened.
The plight of the mother and children was discovered on Saturday night when Elisabeth and her father appeared together at the hospital.
They were taken to the nearby police station, where he was arrested for sexually abusing his daughter and holding her captive.
Kerstin is said to be in a critical condition, suffering from an unknown illness, in the intensive care unit of Krems hospital.
Pölzer said Elisabeth "gave the impression of being in an extremely disturbed psychological state" and was "in a bad way physically".
She had agreed to speak to police only after being assured that she and her children would never again have contact with her father.
They said it appeared that when Fritzl imprisoned his daughter in 1984, he had given the impression that she had left home of her own will. She remained on the Interpol missing persons list.
Police investigators at the time were of the view that she might have become a member of a sect.
On various occasions between 1993 and 2002, Fritzl claimed his daughter had left three children on his doorstep along with notes asking him to look after them.
Authorities gave the couple permission to become foster parents to what were assumed to be their grandchildren.
But, according to police, Elisabeth had given birth to the children, along with four others including the one that died, in her cellar prison. Her father had removed the children.
Of the six children - three boys and three girls aged between five and 20 - five-year-old Felix, Stefan, 18, and Kerstin lived with their mother in the cellar. They never saw sunlight and received no education.
"She taught them how to speak," Pölzer said, adding that Josef had provided food and clothing, but the children never received any professional medical care.
DNA tests will be carried out in the next few days to confirm that Josef fathered the six children, but the spokesman said: "All indications point to the fact he did."
Forensic scientists were searching the cellar yesterday, while others combed the grounds of the house.
"There are things that you just don't want to see," a policeman at the house said. "The fewer pictures you have in your head, the better."
One neighbour said Fritzl had been "inconspicuous" and "always greeted us in a friendly way".
Another said she had often seen Rosemarie with her grandchildren. "She is really very nice, taking the grandchildren to school - but we knew nothing of what was really going on," she added.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314289,00.html
Cellar Abuse: Latest Developments
Updated:16:21, Monday April 28, 2008
Officials are giving a news conference after an Austrian man allegedly confessed to holding his daughter captive in a secret, windowless cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children.
Officials at news conferenceElisabeth Fritzl, 42, told police her father, Josef Fritzl, 73, lured her into the basement of their block in 1984 and drugged and handcuffed her before imprisoning her.
Three of her children, aged 19, 18 and 5, had been locked up in the cellar with her since birth and had never seen sunlight, police said.
Here are the key points so far. Refresh for latest here.
:: Josef Fritzl's wife never knew what was going on in the cellar because he was very authoritarian and whatever he said was adhered to. Everybody abided by that.
:: Police do not think there are any more cellars.
:: Fritzl managed to keep up with web of lies to his other children. Nobody dared to go against the father's word.
:: None of the children in the cellar would have tried to overcome their captor.
:: The case came to light after the eldest of the children, 19-year-old Kerstin was admitted to hospital this month with serious health problems.
:: Doctors looking for background information stepped up efforts to find the mother and the whole horrific story came to light when Fritzl allowed them to establish contact with his daughter.
:: It came as a complete surprise to the 19-year-old daughter when the possibility to escape arose.
:: She recognised it was impossible to flee before. People would have not heard her scream in the cellar. Door only opened by security code.
:: Police appeal for people who have any information about the case to come forward.
:: Fritzl brought in food under cover of darkness.
:: Three children who were born in the cellar never saw daylight:
:: Three other children were brought up by their grandmother, Fritzl's wife, when they were just one-year-old.
:: Fritzl also confessed to burning the body of one baby which died at birth
:: Josef Fritzl has lived at the property for 73 years.
:: Store room particularly well protected and difficult to access.
:: The accused has not given his motives yet.
:: The cellar was meant to fulfill just their basic bodily needs. A TV was also made available.
:: There were rooms with beds where children who born who had to spend their time there.
:: It is a very private area and police do not want to make photographs available of these rooms out of personal respect to the victims.
:: These rooms were so small and only left just enough room to live.
:: Only a week ago did Josef Fritzl let the children out of the cellar for the first time in 24 years.
:: This terrible case knows no comparisons. Police are under a lot pressure to clear up this case.
:: Fritzl seems like very dynamic character who has managed to conceal all of this from all his other family members.
:: Nobody realised what was going on.
:: Fritzl admitted being the father of the seven children and said he did not tell anyone else about it.
:: DNA tests have admitted he was the father.
:: It is clear the main accused did not grow his own food and must have got it from somewhere to feed the children. Where did her go for it?
:: Josef Fritzl can be held by police for 14 days and then they will have to apply for extention.
:: He led a double life for 24 years.
:: Police found out about this by coincidence.
:: Patients were unconscious and needed intensive care. They were taken to the A&E department.
:: People in the cellar are in a bad condition.
:: Elisabeth has a serious health condition.
:: Case is tragic as one of Elisabeth's children died.
:: Eldest daughter has big problems mentally and physically.
:: Five years have passed since last child was born.
:: Fritzl managed to conceal this from everybody and he cheated everybody.
:: He pressured her to keep her there and sexually abused her over many years.
:: Fritzl will be sent to court for what he has done.
:: Daughter now has serious condition, her health has deteriorated.
:: This man has shown himself to be willing to co-operate with authorities and police have been questioning him about why he locked his daughter in the cellar.
:: Facts are hair-raising.
:: Case is mostly cleared up.
:: First time something of this size has happened.
Austrian cellar case man admits abduction and incest
A 73-year-old Austrian today confessed to imprisoning, beating and sexually abusing his daughter in a windowless cellar for 24 years, during which time he fathered her seven children.
Josef Fritzl admitted to forcing his daughter Elisabeth into the basement of the family's home in Amstetten, north-west Austria, on August 24 1984, when she was 18.
Franz Pölzer, the head of the criminal investigations unit in the province of Lower Austria, said Fritzl had admitted abduction, incest and abuse.
Holding up a picture of Fritzl, at a press conference, Pölzer said: "This man led a double life for 24 years. He deceived everybody. He deceived his wife and the legal system."
After initially denying the crime, Fritzl later admitted locking up his daughter, beating and sexually abusing her, and fathering her seven children, Pölzer said.
"Even the most experienced members of the criminal police found it shocking."
Fritzl is expected to appear in court later today. Police released several photos showing parts of the cramped basement cell where Elisabeth and her children were kept.
It included a thick soundproofed door, a small but brightly decorated bathroom, and a narrow passageway leading to a tiny bedroom.
Earlier, a police spokesman said 42-year-old Elisabeth was "psychologically extremely disturbed", but that her version of events was "completely believable".
She claimed her father had abused her since she was 11. "In her own words, she was continuously abused by her father," the spokesman said.
She said she had borne seven children by Fritzl, including twins, one of whom died after only three days in 1996. He admitted removing the body from the cellar and burning it.
Police said many questions remained in the case, which is reminiscent of that of the Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch, who was abducted, aged 10, on her way to school in 1998 and locked in a windowless cell before escaping in August 2006.
Today, the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard said in an editorial: "The whole country must ask itself just what is really, fundamentally going wrong."
Police said Fritzl, an electrical engineering technician by training, had told investigators how to enter the basement prison through a small hidden door, operated by a secret code which only he had known.
"There was a shelf with plenty of cans and containers, and behind the shelf was a door made of reinforced concrete, secured electronically and running on steel rails," Heinz Lenze, a local official, told Reuters.
Yesterday, Pölzer told the broadcaster ORF that there were a number of rooms in the cellar.
"There is … one room to sleep in, one to cook, and there are also sanitation facilities," he said. The APA news agency said some of the rooms in the cellar were no more than 1.7 metres (5ft 6in) high.
Fritzl's wife, Rosemarie, had been unaware of what happened to Elisabeth.
It is believed she assumed her daughter had disappeared voluntarily after a letter in her writing to her parents said they should not search for her.
The drama began to unravel last weekend when Elisabeth's 19-year-old daughter, Kerstin, who lived in the cellar, was left at a hospital with a life-threatening illness.
A search for Elisabeth increased in urgency as Kerstin's condition worsened.
The plight of the mother and children was discovered on Saturday night when Elisabeth and her father appeared together at the hospital.
They were taken to the nearby police station, where he was arrested for sexually abusing his daughter and holding her captive.
Kerstin is said to be in a critical condition, suffering from an unknown illness, in the intensive care unit of Krems hospital.
Pölzer said Elisabeth "gave the impression of being in an extremely disturbed psychological state" and was "in a bad way physically".
She had agreed to speak to police only after being assured that she and her children would never again have contact with her father.
They said it appeared that when Fritzl imprisoned his daughter in 1984, he had given the impression that she had left home of her own will. She remained on the Interpol missing persons list.
Police investigators at the time were of the view that she might have become a member of a sect.
On various occasions between 1993 and 2002, Fritzl claimed his daughter had left three children on his doorstep along with notes asking him to look after them.
Authorities gave the couple permission to become foster parents to what were assumed to be their grandchildren.
But, according to police, Elisabeth had given birth to the children, along with four others including the one that died, in her cellar prison. Her father had removed the children.
Of the six children - three boys and three girls aged between five and 20 - five-year-old Felix, Stefan, 18, and Kerstin lived with their mother in the cellar. They never saw sunlight and received no education.
"She taught them how to speak," Pölzer said, adding that Josef had provided food and clothing, but the children never received any professional medical care.
DNA tests will be carried out in the next few days to confirm that Josef fathered the six children, but the spokesman said: "All indications point to the fact he did."
Forensic scientists were searching the cellar yesterday, while others combed the grounds of the house.
"There are things that you just don't want to see," a policeman at the house said. "The fewer pictures you have in your head, the better."
One neighbour said Fritzl had been "inconspicuous" and "always greeted us in a friendly way".
Another said she had often seen Rosemarie with her grandchildren. "She is really very nice, taking the grandchildren to school - but we knew nothing of what was really going on," she added.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314289,00.html
Cellar Abuse: Latest Developments
Updated:16:21, Monday April 28, 2008
Officials are giving a news conference after an Austrian man allegedly confessed to holding his daughter captive in a secret, windowless cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children.
Officials at news conferenceElisabeth Fritzl, 42, told police her father, Josef Fritzl, 73, lured her into the basement of their block in 1984 and drugged and handcuffed her before imprisoning her.
Three of her children, aged 19, 18 and 5, had been locked up in the cellar with her since birth and had never seen sunlight, police said.
Here are the key points so far. Refresh for latest here.
:: Josef Fritzl's wife never knew what was going on in the cellar because he was very authoritarian and whatever he said was adhered to. Everybody abided by that.
:: Police do not think there are any more cellars.
:: Fritzl managed to keep up with web of lies to his other children. Nobody dared to go against the father's word.
:: None of the children in the cellar would have tried to overcome their captor.
:: The case came to light after the eldest of the children, 19-year-old Kerstin was admitted to hospital this month with serious health problems.
:: Doctors looking for background information stepped up efforts to find the mother and the whole horrific story came to light when Fritzl allowed them to establish contact with his daughter.
:: It came as a complete surprise to the 19-year-old daughter when the possibility to escape arose.
:: She recognised it was impossible to flee before. People would have not heard her scream in the cellar. Door only opened by security code.
:: Police appeal for people who have any information about the case to come forward.
:: Fritzl brought in food under cover of darkness.
:: Three children who were born in the cellar never saw daylight:
:: Three other children were brought up by their grandmother, Fritzl's wife, when they were just one-year-old.
:: Fritzl also confessed to burning the body of one baby which died at birth
:: Josef Fritzl has lived at the property for 73 years.
:: Store room particularly well protected and difficult to access.
:: The accused has not given his motives yet.
:: The cellar was meant to fulfill just their basic bodily needs. A TV was also made available.
:: There were rooms with beds where children who born who had to spend their time there.
:: It is a very private area and police do not want to make photographs available of these rooms out of personal respect to the victims.
:: These rooms were so small and only left just enough room to live.
:: Only a week ago did Josef Fritzl let the children out of the cellar for the first time in 24 years.
:: This terrible case knows no comparisons. Police are under a lot pressure to clear up this case.
:: Fritzl seems like very dynamic character who has managed to conceal all of this from all his other family members.
:: Nobody realised what was going on.
:: Fritzl admitted being the father of the seven children and said he did not tell anyone else about it.
:: DNA tests have admitted he was the father.
:: It is clear the main accused did not grow his own food and must have got it from somewhere to feed the children. Where did her go for it?
:: Josef Fritzl can be held by police for 14 days and then they will have to apply for extention.
:: He led a double life for 24 years.
:: Police found out about this by coincidence.
:: Patients were unconscious and needed intensive care. They were taken to the A&E department.
:: People in the cellar are in a bad condition.
:: Elisabeth has a serious health condition.
:: Case is tragic as one of Elisabeth's children died.
:: Eldest daughter has big problems mentally and physically.
:: Five years have passed since last child was born.
:: Fritzl managed to conceal this from everybody and he cheated everybody.
:: He pressured her to keep her there and sexually abused her over many years.
:: Fritzl will be sent to court for what he has done.
:: Daughter now has serious condition, her health has deteriorated.
:: This man has shown himself to be willing to co-operate with authorities and police have been questioning him about why he locked his daughter in the cellar.
:: Facts are hair-raising.
:: Case is mostly cleared up.
:: First time something of this size has happened.
Vienna, Austria 2006
Munich, Germany 2007
Munich, Germany 2007
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
24 years....im only 22....a whole lifetime.....fucking hell i am genuinely lost for words
I'm sure he will get some "prison justice" once inmates find out what he did.
Hail, Hail!!!
How true.
I love those hair styles though
http://inthepresenttense.blogspot.com/
i think i would happily pull the trigger if allowed
naděje umírá poslední
Happily, eh?
Anyway, what good would that do?
naděje umírá poslední
I know! I just can't wrap my head around how this could happen. How could a person be so cold and cruel...to his own daughter and then the children she had?? It's beyond me.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
yup. after reading this story, this is the one time were I would actually kill a person. he needs to die a very painful death.
Edit* I just read what you wrote, Mr. Smith.
the family lived in the top floor (there are 3 floors in the building), and they rented out the lower floors...
so the wife wasnt down there much apparently....still tho - 24 years? HOLY FUCK.
i need to think about my exams instead of this craziness but i cant get it out of my head!
Are they for real?
It seems to me he had the best fate of this whole group.
I think I wish I had not known about this.
She was quiet, submissive and afraid like good wives should be?
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
i would light the match
yup, with a smile on my face. fuck em. put down like a rabid dog. and i hate guns
what good would it do? your kidding right...
Natascha Kampusch.
she has a tv show now i think. Kidnapped aged 10 and held for 8 years. when she escaped the police tried to arrest the captor, but he ran for it, and committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. as far as i can remember she had some stockholm syndrome after the whole thing....
at least her captor took her outside (even on holiday)...
whole thing is so bizarre
Nope, I'm not kidding.
Anyway, I'm not at all surprised when stories like this surface. Just listen or read the reactions of some people. Suddenly people become smiling murderers, people admit they'd happily torture a person...
I can understand these feelings of hatred, of loathing... I feel them too. I just don't think that becoming what you hate or loathe will help at all.
Will killing this man give this woman back 24 years of her life? Will it erase their memories of these horrible events? Will the children suddenly become happy normal people because he's dead? No.
That's just my opinion, though.
naděje umírá poslední
I agree with Collin.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
15 years....vs 24....
maybe they should bump his sentence up to 25 years for some bittersweet justice?
Edit: come to think of it (and seeing as i dont support the death penalty)...are there any thoughts out there as to which is worse:
(1) sentencing him to die in jail
or (2) what he did to his children
:eek: 15 years??!! i don't care how long this sicko is going to live for, i say we give him life imprisonment with men who have anger issues
its only reported on news, so i have no idea if that number is gospel or not. but its nuts either way.
how bout 100 years? with men who have anger issues AND sexual offenses records like he does?
on the otherhand, there is the risk he might enjoy the imprisonment and raping?
in the other thread i've posted rather violent way on how we should punish him, i don't want to close this thread therefore, i will say that who knows he might enjoy being raped....but i'm sure he won't enjoy if he's the punch bag and a human toilet in the prison.
hell, i hope this is not to explicit for this child friendly message board