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Josef Fritzl cracks as daughter faces him in court
Dave Hill in St Poelten18 Mar 2009
JOSEF FRITZL finally cracked when he realised his daughter had come into the court where he was on trial for raping and imprisoning her for 24 years, it was revealed today.
Elisabeth Fritzl, now 42, slipped into Room 119 as her harrowing videotaped account of her suffering in an underground dungeon was played to the jury.
It is thought her presence caused him to dramatically change his plea today and plead guilty to all charges, saying: "I am sorry." He said he suddenly realised "how cruel I have been".
The 73-year-old Austrian suddenly admitted the murder of one of the seven children he fathered by his daughter after denying it for two days.
Rudi Mayer, Fritzl's lawyer, said he believed he realised his daughter was watching him, adding: "I don't know it but my client was changed, his mind, his behaviour. I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of that led to him changing his plea and making this confession." Elisabeth had not been due to give evidence personally and had not seen her father since his arrest in April last year.
Fritzl, a control freak and convicted rapist, also pleaded guilty to the enslavement of Elisabeth. She was 18 in 1984 when she was lured into the cellar and imprisoned in a series of chambers he had built beneath their home in the town of Amstetten.
He stunned the court today, telling the panel of judges he had had a change of heart. "I declare myself guilty to the charges in the indictment," he said. He went on to admit what he called "my sick behaviour". Asked why he had changed his plea, Fritzl replied: "When I saw the video tapes I realised for the first time how cruel I was to Elisabeth." But he insisted that the death of his three-day-old son Michael in the cellar was an accident. "I don't know why I have not seen the baby would have needed help. All I can say is that it was not planned," he said.
The infant, one of twin boys, had developed breathing difficulties and Fritzl denied him medical treatment despite the pleas of Elisabeth. Prosecutors claimed it was "murder by negligence".
It is understood that a childbirth expert who gave evidence yesterday said Michael could probably have been saved if he had been taken to hospital immediately.
Fritzl incinerated the body in a wood-burning stove in 1996 and scattered the ashes of the child in the garden of his home.
He is now likely to spend the rest of his life either behind bars in jail or else in a secure psychiatric hospital. He is expected to be sentenced tomorrow.
A psychiatrist who spent hours with Fritzl compiling a 30-page report into his personality told the court today that the former building engineer would always pose a danger to women.
Fritzl did not bother to hide his face behind a binder today as he had done for the last two days when led into the courtroom in St Pölten near Vienna. He had previously admitted incest and pleaded "partially guilty" to rape.
He admitted "massive coercion" - a charge relating to the threats he made against the family he kept prisoner underground that he would kill them if they tried to escape.
"He shut (Elisabeth) away in the cellar and made her totally dependent on him, forcing her into sexual acts and treating her as if she was his own property," his charge sheet read.
It is estimated he raped Elisabeth 3,000 times. For the first nine months she was fastened by a leash to the wall.
Elisabeth and her six surviving children are at a secret location in Austria still receiving counselling and treatment almost a year after their release.
Kerstin, 20, Stefan, 19, and six-year-old Felix lived underground with their mother in the windowless, soundproofed rat-infested chambers. The children had never seen sunlight until their release last year.
Lisa, 18, Monika, 16, and Alexander, 13, - Michael's twin brother - were taken to live upstairs in the house because Fritzl feared he was running out of space in the dungeon. He told his wife Rosemarie they had been dumped on the doorstep by the "missing" Elisabeth who had joined a cult.
Fritzl, who is on suicide watch in his cell, has effectively reconciled himself to never coming out of either a prison or a secure mental hospital again.
His fragile psychiatric state means he will almost certainly be confined to a secure mental hospital when he is sentenced - probably tomorrow.
After the change of plea and the psychiatrist's testimony, officials adjourned the trial until tomorrow morning.
Legal experts say the jury will still have to deliver a verdict despite Fritzl's guilty pleas, although his confessions are grounds for a lesser sentence. The verdict and sentence for Fritzl are expected tomorrow after the prosecution and the defence give their closing statements.
Mr Mayer, said he had not been aware of Fritzl's change of heart before today's session. "He didn't discuss it with me," said Mr Mayer.
Reader views (25)
For daveb: You may have noticed that is why civilised countries use a sophisticated justice system that is not dictated to by any religion. Thank goodness.
- Real, London, 19/03/2009 08:59
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the man did a horrible & pure evil crime to his doughter.
he should be bunished severly for what he did in 24 yrs in secrecy.
- Dadir, london uk, 19/03/2009 02:27
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Daveb - I take it that's why the church condones sex abuse? So long as you repent, it's fine?
- Emily, London, 18/03/2009 22:42
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No amount of repentence can make this greusome act any less severe...animals can't become humans by saying 'sorry' !
- Sj, London, 18/03/2009 21:00
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The fact that the daughter had the strength to face this monster shows how strong people can be. I just wish all the children peace and happiness.
- Riki, Luanda, Angola, 18/03/2009 17:53
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Mickeyinlondon, well said. He didn't stop because he was sorry, only because he was caught.
- Melodie, Montreal, Quebec Canada, 18/03/2009 17:41
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Daveb you can;t be serious-let anyone who's "sorry" go free? As for his so-called repentance, I think the last part of the story gave the key "his confessions are grounds for a lesser sentence". This is about saving his own skin.
- Pam, Michigan, USA, 18/03/2009 17:34
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I only pray that Elisabeth finds strength to carry on and not give up. God knows her pain and will make it to where the rest of her life and her children's lives are feeled with joy and true happiness.
- Cynthia A Ruckett, Baytown, Texas, 18/03/2009 17:10
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Simon, London - Would you be so flippant if it was your family?
Fritzl isn't mad, just wicked, base and depraved. He should be incarcerated in a public glass cell. He shouldn't have been allowed to cover his face in court. The shame he felt is nothing compared to the ruin he caused his poor family. What chance do they have of a normal life? When he's jailed, I hope he is alive for every year he kept them imprisoned.
- Sonia M., st albans, herts, 18/03/2009 17:08
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His wife never found his movements unusual - I find that more than hard to believe.
- Hilary, Germany, 18/03/2009 16:45
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The man should be punished, not "treated". Treatment is what you do when someone is sick with a view to making them better. In this man's case he is never going to be released and for the appalling crimes he committed he deserves to be punished so he feels genuine remorse for what he did. He should be placed in solitary confinement with no special treatment, visitors or anything for the rest of his days.
- James Frankcom, Shoreditch, London, 18/03/2009 16:19
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Perhaps he should be imprisoned in a cellar without light for the rest of his life.
- Ola, London, 18/03/2009 15:58
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Fritzl should be made to spend the rest of his days in the same conditions as he kept his daughter and her children. He is not mad, he is too cold and calculating to be mad. His treatment of his daughter and her children was well planned down to hte last act of indecency.
- Fran Davies, CArshalton, Surrey, 18/03/2009 15:53
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He knew full well what he was doing for 24 years; he was a bully and thug; he loved every minute that he violated his daughter; never once in 24 years did he stop; until he was forced to stop; and had he not been stopped; Elizabeth would have died in that hell hole; and raped constantly until she was dead; or he died first..
Like all cowards and rapists; they blame their up-bringing for the animals they are; which is a complete fallacy aimed at fooling the psychiatrists and the courts into feeling sorry for them; and hoping they will get a lenient sentence because they claimed they were also abused etc.
People that have been abused and know the pain would not inflict that pain on another person.
Say what you like; but until those of you stop looking for excuses for all abusers; they will continue to play you all for mugs you are.
There are even more out there today all over the world; doing far worse; and we as a society, do very little about it.
They are even in Governments and Authorities; and the Police forces; maybe that is why it is happening so often.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 18/03/2009 15:47
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This person is not normal. Community need to council and put him to lucrative location(jail)
- Ikungasya Fugara, Zimbabwe, 18/03/2009 15:40
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Is it me or does he bear an uncanny resemblance to an MP who likes to impersonate cats, while wearing a red cat suit?
- Simon, London, UK, 18/03/2009 15:20
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As hard as I try to search my christian heart I am afraid that I find no compassion for this man .. him being allowed to spend the rest of his life in a nice prison cell or even more comfortable mental hospital is appalling to me.It seems to me that he created his prison long ago when he removed that first shovel of dirt from under his house....put him in it...
- Sarah, alaska, 18/03/2009 15:17
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if he's said sorry then i think he should be let go, in the eyes of god all sins are forgiven if you repent
- Daveb, london, 18/03/2009 14:35
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The poor man. Lets give him a Do Over button like the one Hillary Clinton gave the Russians. Then he can use it to stay out of jail and "work for understanding of alternative lifestyles"
- Trunk, US, 18/03/2009 14:11
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Even a murderer and rapist can say sorry these days but not Gordon McDoom.
- Masher, harrow, 18/03/2009 13:20
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Probably just sorry he got caught.
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx, 18/03/2009 13:15
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To be honest, the sentence was always a bit moot - most of the charges were open-and-shut, and he clearly was highly unlikely ever to be released regardless of what happened. So the only real question is whether he spends the rest of his life in a normal prison or a psychiatric hospital.
And I'd be surprised if it wasn't the latter, as you can't possibly call someone like Fritzl sane in any meaningful sense of the term.
- Michael, London, 18/03/2009 12:41
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i don't think he is "mentally ill". He did what he did over an extended period of time with planning, calculation and determination
- Sej016, Reading UK, 18/03/2009 12:08
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This is awful and sad, i hate that man he should b left to live n suffer
- Jesse Munoru, Nairobi,Kenya, 18/03/2009 11:42
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What comment could you possibly make about this man? Mentally ill - how could any normal person do what he has done? Life in prison - he's had his life and stolen his daughter and her children's lives.
- Barbara, Sydney, Australia,, 18/03/2009 10:14
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