- Josef Fritzl, convicted for heinous crimes
- Court allows transfer to prison
- Daughter and children with new identities
Slaughtered to life in prison in 2009 for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement, and the negligent homicide of one of his infant sons, the 88-year-old Austrian was labeled the “monster of Amstetten” after holding his daughter captive in a cellar for twenty-four years.
A court of law has ruled that Josef Fritzl, who held his daughter captive for twenty-four years, raped her thousands of times, and fathered seven children with her, may be transferred to a standard penitentiary.
Since 2009, when he was sentenced to life in prison for crimes including incest, rape, and enslavement, the 88-year-old Austrian has been held in psychiatric detention within a high-security facility at Stein Prison.
A regional court in northern Austria, composed of three judges, declared on Thursday that Fritzl, who has been diagnosed with dementia, can be transferred to a regular prison because he no longer poses a threat.
The court decision facilitates his release from incarceration and placement in a nursing home. It reversed a prior ruling from 2022 that denied his appeal for a transfer to a conventional correctional facility.
Fritzl, according to the Austria Press Agency (APA), will be required to undertake psychiatric evaluations and attend regular psychotherapy sessions throughout his ten-year probationary period at the prison.
According to the APA, the verdict is not yet legally binding, and prosecutors have fourteen days to file an appeal.
Astrid Wagner, the attorney for Fritzl, confirmed to The Associated Press. “In brief, the court has determined that he is, in fact, no longer a threat.”
Ms. Wagner stated that she intended to submit a similar request for Fritzl’s release from prison the following year.
“The Monstrous Amstetten”
Fritzl took the moniker “monster of Amstetten” in 1984, the name he gave to the northern Austrian town of Amstetten. Where he imprisoned his 18-year-old daughter in a soundproof cellar of his residence.
He repeatedly raped her for the next twenty-four years and bore seven children with her, one of whom passed away.
He asserted that she had fled to join a cult, whereas Austrian authorities claimed that Fritzl’s wife, who resided with the rest of the family on the second floor of the house, was unaware of what was occurring in the cellar.
Dungeon-like chamber in the cellar
Fritzl had abused his daughter sexually since she was eleven years old.
His crimes were uncovered in 2008 when one of his children entered the dungeon-like subterranean section with her. At that time, his daughter had become gravely unwell.
After Fritzl took the baby to the hospital, police urged the mother to come forward.
Fritzl believed his family would pardon him.
After Fritzl freed his daughter from the crypt, she told police she had been kidnapped for twenty years.
For incest, rape, coercion, fraudulent imprisonment, enslavement, and the negligent homicide of one of his infant sons, he received a life sentence in 2009.
Fritzl said in a 2023 interview that his family will “forgive” and “reunite” him despite his mistakes.
Since then, Fritzl’s daughter and her children have adopted new identities.
