Austrian Fritzl sentenced to life

[Rasputin]

Austrian prosecutor says no evidence that Josef Fritzl had accomplices

VIENNA, Austria — Austrian authorities say their investigation of the man who allegedly held his daughter prisoner for 24 years has turned up no evidence that he had an accomplice.

Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek says 73-year-old Josef Fritzl, also accused of fathering his daughter's seven children, apparently acted alone.

From the start, investigators have said there was no sign that Fritzl had help - even though some have questioned how he could have concealed his alleged crimes for so long.

Sedlacek said today that forensics experts are still examining the windowless underground rooms where Fritzl allegedly held his daughter and several of the children.

The case broke on April 27, and Fritzl's family has been receiving psychiatric care under police guard.

[Rasputin]

Climate change sceptics 'as bad as Fritzl'

AN English bishop has compared climate change doubters to the Austrian child abuser Josef Fritzl.

The Church of English Bishop of Stafford, the Right Reverend Gordon Mursell, said it was hard to imagine a more disgusting crime than Fritzl's, who sealed his daughter in a cellar for 24 years, The Daily Mail reported.

"You could argue that, by our refusal to face the truth about climate change, we are as guilty as he is," Dr Mursell said.

"We are in effect locking our children and grandchildren into a world with no future and throwing away the key."

Authorities say Fritzl confessed to locking up his daughter Elisabeth for 24 years in the cellar below his home in Amstetten, Austria, repeatedly raping her and fathering seven children with her.

Investigators say he told them three of the children were raised in the cellar, three others were brought up above ground and one died in infancy.

DNA tests have confirmed Fritzl is the biological father of the six surviving children.

Dr Mursell, 59, a suffragan or junior bishop, tried to distance himself from the comments on BBC Radio 4's Today program.

"I don't wish to shock people unnecessarily and I am in no way trying to imply that people who ignore climate change are child abusers - of course not," he said.

"I am simply trying to use an analogy to get people to wake up to the consequences of what we are failing to do, because if we don't there won't be a future for our children either."

Dr Mursell has been criticised for his comments by social commentators and climate change sceptics.

[csite]

do they report this stuff in iranian news? if they don't, they should! iran needs some scare mongering to stop its even continuing and growing brain drain.

[Rasputin]

Josef Fritzl's two families struggle to adjust

Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, was held captive by her father Josef, 73, and forced to bear seven of his children. One of the children died after birth and Fritzl hurled its body in an incinerator. He selected three of the surviving ones, Lisa, 15, Monika, 14, and Alexander, 12, to live with him and his wife Rosemarie, 68, while the other three, Kerstin, 19, Stefan, 18, and Felix, five, were confined together with their mother in a purpose-built dungeon in the cellar.

The case was revealed when Fritzl was forced to take Kerstin to a hospital in an unconscious state and suffering from an unidentified illness that caused a multiple organ failure. Doctors kept her into an artificial coma until May 15. She has since recovered and has been reunited with her family.

According to Dr Berthold Kepplinger, the head of the Amstetten-Mauer psychiatric clinic where the Fritzls are being treated, the "two parts" of the family – the children who lived upstairs with their grandmother, and the children who were born and raised with their mother in the cellar – were having a very different "tempo of life".

Dr Kepplinger said: "Things are going too fast for the one part, but too slow for the other. A cloud passing by is exciting to one part of the family, while the others don't even notice it." He added that therapists were working hard to harmonise the two parts of the family and to overcome the differences between them, but reinstated his opinion that keeping the family together was the "right thing" and the wish of everyone involved.

The lawyer for the family, Christoph Herbst, thanked all well-wishers from around the world, many of whom from Britain, who had been sending letters and e-mails of support and said that the Fritzl were looking to reply to each of them once they would be able to. But he re-emphasised that the family would not make any public appearances nor give any interviews in the next few months.

[Rasputin]

Austrian prosecutor says no evidence that Josef Fritzl had accomplices

VIENNA, Austria — Austrian authorities say their investigation of the man who allegedly held his daughter prisoner for 24 years has turned up no evidence that he had an accomplice.

Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek says 73-year-old Josef Fritzl, also accused of fathering his daughter's seven children, apparently acted alone.

From the start, investigators have said there was no sign that Fritzl had help - even though some have questioned how he could have concealed his alleged crimes for so long.

Sedlacek said today that forensics experts are still examining the windowless underground rooms where Fritzl allegedly held his daughter and several of the children.

The case broke on April 27, and Fritzl's family has been receiving psychiatric care under police guard.

[Rasputin]

Josef Fritzl family agrees to take 'new identities'

Austrian authorities have initiated legal procedures to give new identities to Josef Fritzl's entire family after the family's decision to turn down lucrative offers for media interviews.

New identities have been prepared for Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, and the six surviving children she had by Josef, her father, during the 24 years she spent in a home-made dungeon under the family home in Amstetten.

Her six adult siblings and their mother, Rosemarie, 68, have also been offered new identities, the state broadcaster ORF reported.

The various family members and their representatives have been besieged by offers from broadcasters and newspapers - especially British tabloids. Offers are said to have topped a million euros.

Christoph Herbst, the lawyer representing the family, told The Times: “I am receiving many offers from various international media but it is not in the family’s best interest to go public.

"The medical staff in charge of their therapy have emphasised the importance of protecting the family’s privacy which is a prerequisite for their successful recovery. Being exposed in the public is the last thing they need at this stage.”

Fritzl, a 73-year-old electrical engineer and property developer, took Elisabeth captive in 1984 and imprisoned her in his home-made dungeon in the cellar. During decades of sexual abuse he fathered seven children with her, including a baby boy who died three days after his birth and whose body was burnt in an incinerator.

He selected three of the children to live with him and his wife in their upstairs home, while the other three were never allowed to leave the subterranean prison.

Fritzl’s actions came to light only after the oldest child with his daughter had to be taken to a hospital with a mysterious life-threatening condition on April 19. She was put into an artificial coma following a multiple organ failure, but her condition has since improved and she is expected to wake up in the course of the next few weeks.

Elisabeth Fritzl, as well as her other children and her mother Rosemarie, are also recovering well under the care of a multi-expert team of doctors, psychiatrists and therapists in the Amstetten-Mauer Regional Hospital. They are reportedly making a good progress and have been “coming together” as a family during the joint therapy sessions.

Mr Herbst complained, however, that the family were “locked-up for the second time” as they were unable to leave the clinic because dozens of paparazzi photographers and reporters who have “virtually besieged” the hospital since the arrival of the Fritzls on April 27.

Police, firefighters and a private security company officers with dogs are guarding the hospital around the clock following several violent incidents when photographers and TV crews tried to force their way into the building where the family are being treated.

Mr Herbst said: “The children who grew up in the cellar and had never daylight are incredibly curious about everything and would like to go out and experience the outside world. They have never felt rain or fresh air. But they are forced to stay in their ward because of the many paparazzi that have literally besieged the hospital.”

[Rasputin]

Josef Fritzl family thank public for support ‘in difficult times’

Vienna The family of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter and fathered a family with her, have thanked the public, in a touching written statement, for the support that they have received (Bojan Pancevski writes).

Elisabeth, and her children, aged 5 to 18, and Mr Fritzl’s wife, Rosemarie, 68, wrote the comments on a poster complete with hearts, a rainbow, smiling faces and outlines of their own hands. It reads: “We would like to express our gratitude to all of you for sympathising with our fate. Your empathy is helping us to cope in difficult moments. We hope that we will be able to return to normal life soon.”

Mr Fritzl, 73, kept his daughter Elisabeth, 42, in a concrete bunker under his home and produced seven children during a decade of sexual abuse. The case was revealed when his eldest daughter Kerstin, 19, fell ill and had to be taken to a hospital on April 19.

[Rasputin]

Fritzl worked alone: prosecutor

Austrian authorities say their investigation of the man who allegedly held his daughter prisoner for 24 years has turned up no evidence that he had an accomplice.

Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek says 73-year-old Josef Fritzl, also accused of fathering his daughter's seven children, apparently acted alone.

From the start investigators have said there was no sign that Fritzl had help - even though some have questioned how he could have concealed his alleged crimes for so long.

Sedlacek said that forensics experts are still examining the windowless underground rooms where Fritzl allegedly held his daughter and several of the children.

The case broke on April 27, and Fritzl's family has been receiving psychiatric care under police guard.

[Rasputin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/world/2009/03/090316_nh_fritzl_trial.shtml

[Rasputin]

Josef Fritzl trial: Engineer pleads guilty over baby's death in Austrian cellar

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian engineer who held his daughter Elisabeth captive in an underground prison for 24 years, today admitted he was responsible for the death of one of the seven children he fathered with her.

In a surprise move on the third day of his trial, the 73-year-old calmly pleaded guilty to all of the charges against him, including negligent homicide and enslavement. He had already admitted four of the charges against him – incest, rape, coercion and false imprisonment.

Fritzl told the judge and jury: "I plead guilty to all the charges in the indictment." He also changed his plea from partial to full guilt on the rape charge and referred to what he called "my sick behaviour".

Asked by the judge, Andrea Humer, why he had decided to change his plea, Fritzl indicated it had been due to Elisabeth's detailed statement over the past two days.


Fritzl expressed regret that he didn't bring the ailing infant out of the cellar and get medical help. "I don't know why I didn't help," he said. "I just overlooked it. I thought the little one would survive."

The case was adjourned until tomorrow morning. The eight members of the jury, assisted by three judges, will decide the sentence after closing statements. Fritzl is likely to spend the rest of his life in jail.

Unlike the first two days of his trial, Fritzl today entered the courtroom with his face uncovered. He was shielded by 10 police officers and again wore a mismatched grey suit with a blue shirt. Cameras were not permitted to film this time.

Fritzl had originally pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder through negligence. The prosecution argued that Fritzl was responsible for the death of one of his biological children, a twin boy called Michael, who died shortly after being born in the cellar in 1996 due to severe breathing problems.

Fritzl had previously admitted burning the child's body in an incinerator in his back yard, but had denied he was responsible for its death. The surviving twin, Alexander, was one of three of Elisabeth's seven children who "appeared" above ground at the Fritzl's house in Amstetten, west of Vienna. Alexander was the last of the three children to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie.

For the first two days of his trial, Fritzl had also denied that he enslaved Elisabeth in the purpose-built, windowless cellar he constructed under his own home.

The jury has been told that Elisabeth was imprisoned under Ybbsstrasse 40 at the age of 18. Her father lured her into the cellar on 29 August 1984 by putting a cloth over her nose and mouth and dragging her into the cellar. He then secured a chain around her stomach so she could not escape. The next day he raped her. As she bore his children over the next 24 years, he repeatedly raped her in front of them, the court heard.

Christiane Burkheiser, the prosecuting lawyer, described the cellar as Fritzl's "playground", where he used his daughter like a "toy".

The Austrian daily Kurier reported that Elisabeth was physically present in the courtroom yesterday. Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, declined to comment but said there were people in the viewing gallery whom he did not recognise.

[Rasputin]

Josef Fritzl offered counselling 'to cope with trial'

The 73-year-old, who fathered seven children with Elisabeth while she was trapped in a dungeon beneath the family home, has been at the centre of global attention this week.

Described by his counsel Rudolf Mayer as "scared" before his trial at St Poelten in Austria, Fritzl has done his best to hide from the media.

Flanked by police officers as he entered the court, the 73-year-old consistently held an A4 blue file in front of his face over the first day and beginning of the second day of his trial to avoid the waiting cameras.

Around Wednesday lunchtime, he finally dropped his guard and photographers in court were able to capture the first picture of Fritzl since he was brought to trial.

The four man, four woman jury trying him for murder and slavery listened to harrowing evidence from Elisabeth as she outlined the extent of the abuse meted out against her at the hands of her father.

She was spared the ordeal of coming to court and recorded 11 hours of interviews describing her torment which started in 1984.

Her testimony is so disturbing that the tape is being played in short excerpts of around an hour at a time to prevent them becoming traumatised.

The eight jurors heard how Fritzl forced his daughter to fulfill his sexual fantasies after making her watch pornographic films.

In her pre-recorded evidence, Elisabeth, now 42, said Fritzl would bring boxes of sexually explicit videos into the cellar and then order her to re-enact certain scenes.

The rape sessions would last for hours and Elisabeth eventually stopped resisting because she knew her life was in danger if she did not co-operate, the court was told.

In the tapes, Elisabeth alleged that Fritzl had ignored her ailing newborn son Michael in 1996 and then disposed of the child’s body in a stove after he had died.

Fritzl is being asked to reply to the allegations made in each segment of the tape.

The self-confessed incest rapist is being held at St Poelten prison, next to the court, and its vice president Erich Huber-Gunstofer said his most famous incumbent was being offered psychiatric support.

"He is being offered psychiatric care to help him through the ordeal of the trial," he said.

"He can watch television because he has access to TV in the communal areas and he can also read the daily newspapers.

"He has told us that he doesn't want to exercise in the yard during the trial but he can do afterwards if he wants to.

"He has two people to protect him at all times. They don't discuss the trial with him but we are offering him therapists and he does share a cell with two other inmates.

"There is no special treatment for Josef F."

Much of the trial, which is expected to conclude on Thursday or Friday, is being heard in camera and Fritzl's lawyer was forced to defend Austria's legal system.

"You have to understand the law and how it works," he said. "You cannot hear all the evidence in open court."

Mr Mayer said the victims needed to be protected and that he was at a disadvantage by not being able to ask Elisabeth questions because her evidence is pre-recorded.

"It means I don't have the opportunity to ask the victims questions directly while they are giving evidence so I am limited too, but this is to do with the rights of the victim."

Fritzl has admitted rape, incest, false imprisonment and coercion, but has denied a charge of slavery.

He also denies murdering one of the children he fathered with Elisabeth, who was 18 when her ordeal began.

Her evidence is the backbone of the prosecution case, but the trial will also hear from expert witnesses including one who must help determine whether Fritzl let the baby die, and another who will testify about electronic locks on the doors to the cellar.

The jury will not hear from Fritzl's wife Rosemarie, 69, who has refused to give evidence.

She claimed in police interviews that she knew nothing of what her husband was doing in the soundproof bunker, purpose-built by Fritzl to use as a prison.

[Rasputin]

Austrian Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter in a cellar and fathered her seven children, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Fritzl, 73, was found guilty of all charges against him, including rape, incest, murder and enslavement.

He showed no obvious emotion at the verdict, telling the court that he accepted it and would not appeal.

The court ordered that Fritzl should serve his life sentence in a secure psychiatric facility.

The judge said he could speak to his lawyer but he shook his head. Then he was led out of court with an impassive face.

Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said outside the court after the verdict: "He showed in his confession that he realises the dimension of his crimes and offences and as such the verdict is the logical consequence."

The life sentence was handed down for the murder by neglect of one of the children, who died soon after birth.

The jury unanimously accepted prosecutors' arguments that the child could have survived if it had received medical care denied by Fritzl.

The defendant first denied murder and enslavement but changed his plea to guilty after seeing testimony from his daughter.

Co-ordination centre

The BBC's Bethany Bell at the court says there has been an enormous amount of media interest in the trial, and its twists and turns have been enormous.

At the time of the first details of this case, no-one could grasp the extent of this man's crimes, she says, and Austria still has to come to terms with it.

Court officials said Fritzl would initially return to St Poelten jail, where he has been held in custody.

He will then be sent to a co-ordination centre, where it will be determined how dangerous he is and whether he is able to undergo therapy, before going on to the psychiatric facility.

He could in theory be released from the facility if he is deemed to be cured of his illness and would serve the remainder of his sentence in a normal prison.

In this case he will be eligible for release after 15 years.

'Limit the damage'

The Austrian imprisoned his daughter in a cellar under his house for 24 years and repeatedly raped her.

The daughter and three of the children were kept captive in the cellar until the case came to light in April last year, when one of them became seriously ill and was taken to hospital.

In his surprise confession on Wednesday, Fritzl admitted murdering by neglect one of newborn twin boys his daughter gave birth to in 1996, having failed to arrange medical care for the ailing infant.

The other three children were raised in the family home by Fritzl and his wife, after he told people that his daughter had abandoned them and joined a sect.

The daughter and her six surviving children been recovering from their ordeal in a psychiatric clinic and at a secret location.

Addressing the jury before the verdict, Fritzl said: "I regret from the bottom of my heart what I've done to my family."

"Unfortunately I cannot undo what I did. I can only try to limit the damage done as best as I can," he said.