Fritzl is suspected of having begun abusing his daughter Elisabeth in 1977 when she was 11 years old!! At 15, Elisabeth started a training course to become a waitress. In January 1983, she ran away from home and, together with a friend from work, went into hiding in Vienna. She was found by the police within three weeks and returned to her parents. After her return, the abuse by her father continued, according to Elisabeth. She rejoined her training course and, upon completion in summer 1984, was offered a job in the city of Linz.
On 24 August 1984, Fritzl lured her into the cellar of the family home by asking her to help him carry a door into the basement.He is alleged then to have drugged and handcuffed her. Elisabeth stated that she was initially handcuffed to a column and left alone for two days. Afterwards, she was later attached to a leash so that she was able to go to the bathroom. He kept her imprisoned and repeatedly raped her, until the events of April 2008.
The day after Elisabeth’s disappearance, her mother filed a missing person report. In September 1984 a letter appeared, in Elisabeth’s handwriting, telling her parents and the police to stop searching for her. The letter was postmarked in the town of Braunau. It stated that she was living with a friend and was tired of living with her family, warning her parents not to look for her or she would leave the country.
Fritzl told Elisabeth that she would be gassed if she tried to escape.Technicians have not yet found out if this was more than an empty threat.Three of the seven children born by Elisabeth were taken upstairs to live with Josef and Rosemarie, who adopted Lisa and became Monika’s and Alexander’s foster carers, with the knowledge of local Social Services. Officials said that nothing appeared to be suspicious about the family, and that Fritzl “very plausibly” explained how three of his infant grandchildren had appeared on his doorstep. Amstetten’s local governor, Hans-Heinz Lenze, later commented that the children had received regular visits from social workers, who never heard any complaints or noticed anything to arouse their suspicions.
After his arrest, Fritzl denied some of the allegations made against him. He admitted to ruling by fear and said that it was sufficient to tell Elisabeth and the children that they should not meddle with the dungeon door or otherwise they would receive an electrical shock and die.
The cellarThe Fritzl property in Amstetten consists of an old building dating from around 1890 and a new building, which was added after 1978, when Fritzl applied for a building permit for an “extension with basement”. In 1983, building inspectors visited the site and verified that the new extension had been built according to the dimensions specified on the building permit. Unknown to them, however, Fritzl had created additional room illegally by excavating space for a much larger basement and concealed it by erecting walls. Around 1981 or 1982, according to his statement, he started to turn this hidden cellar into a prison cell and installed a washbasin, a toilet, a bed, a hotplate and a refrigerator. In 1993, he added more space by creating a passageway to a pre-existing basement area under the old part of the property, which nobody knew of apart from him.
The concealed cellar was soundproofed and consisted of a long corridor and a number of small open cells, connected by narrow passageways: a storage area, a basic cooking area and bathroom facilities, followed by two sleeping areas, which were equipped with two beds each. It covered an area of approximately 60 m2 (650 sq ft). The ceilings were no more than 1.70 m (5.6 ft) high.
The hidden cellar had two access points: a hinged door that weighed 500 kg (1,100 lb) which is thought to have become unusable over the years because of its weight, and a metal door, reinforced with concrete and on steel rails that weighed 300 kg (650 lb) and measured 1 m (3.3 ft) high and 60 cm (2 ft) wide. It was located behind a shelf in Fritzl’s basement workshop, protected by an electronic code known only to Fritzl, which he entered using a remote control unit. This door led to a 5 m (5.5 yd) long corridor that was followed by another door and a second electronically secured door giving access to the living area of the captives.
In order to reach the door to the hidden cellar, five locking basement rooms had to be crossed. To get to the area where Elisabeth and her children were held, eight doors in total would need to be unlocked, of which two doors were additionally secured by electronic locking devices.
Life in the cellarIn 1984, Elisabeth was imprisoned in the hidden cellar and lived in a
single windowless room, first on her own and later with her children, until 1993, when Fritzl enlarged their prison from 35 m2 to 60 m2 (380 sq ft to 650 sq ft). Fritzl apparently visited her roughly once every three days to bring food and other supplies. He has admitted that he had sex with her many times and against her will, and that he wanted to have children with her. Elisabeth was to give birth to seven children during her 24 years in captivity, and did not see the sunlight once.
The captives had a television, radio, and video recorder at their disposal and were provided with food cooked on hot plates, clothes, and paper and glue for drawing and entertainment; drawings were hung on the bathroom wall in the cellar. The children were taught to speak by Elisabeth.
According to his sister-in-law Christine, Fritzl would go into the cellar every morning at 9 a.m., apparently to draw plans for machines, which he sold to firms. Often he stayed down there for the night — his wife was not even allowed to bring him coffee. A tenant, who rented a ground floor room in the Fritzl house for 12 years, said he heard noises coming from the cellar but Fritzl passed it off as noise emanating from the gas heating system.
Investigation
On 19 April 2008, Kerstin, Elisabeth’s eldest daughter, fell unconscious, and Fritzl agreed to seek medical attention. Elisabeth helped Fritzl carry Kerstin out of the dungeon and saw the outside world for the first time in 24 years. She was then made to return to the dungeon where she would remain for a final week.Kerstin was taken by ambulance to a local hospital (Landesklinikum Amstetten) and admitted with life threatening kidney failure. Doctors were able to find in Kerstin’s pocket, a note, written by her mother, asking for medical assistance. Fritzl later arrived at the hospital and discussed Kerstin’s condition and the note with Dr. Albert Reiter.Medical staff found aspects of the story to be puzzling and alerted the police on 21 April, who then broadcast an appeal via public media for the missing mother to come forward and provide additional information about Kerstin’s medical history.The police then reopened the case file on a missing Elisabeth. Fritzl repeated his story about Elisabeth being in a sect, and presented what, he claimed, was the “most recent letter” from her, dated January 2008. It was postmarked in the city of Kematen, in order to give the police a false lead.
The police then contacted Manfred Wohlfahrt, a church officer responsible for collecting information on religious sects. His investigation resulted in the police concluding that the sect might not even exist. Elisabeth’s letters seemed dictated and oddly written. The news covered some of these issues and Elisabeth watched the story, as it progressed, on the television in the dungeon. She pleaded with her father to be taken to the hospital.
On 25 April, Fritzl released Elisabeth from the cellar along with her sons Stefan and Felix, bringing them upstairs. Fritzl told his wife that Elisabeth had decided to come back after a 24 year absence. Governor Lenze told ORF that Fritzl had telephoned him and thanked him and the social services for looking after his family during his granddaughter’s, Kerstin, illness.Fritzl and his daughter Elisabeth went to the hospital where Kerstin was being treated on 26 April 2008. Following an anonymous tip off reporting that the two were present in the hospital, the police detained Elisabeth and her father in the hospital grounds and took them away to a police station for further interrogation.
Elisabeth did not provide police with more details until they were able to reassure her that she would be safe from her father and her children would be looked after. She then revealed the details of her father’s crimes. Fritzl was arrested on suspicion of serious crimes against family members, facing possible charges of false imprisonment, rape, murder by negligence, and incest. The following day, Elisabeth and her children were taken into care.
Fritzl confessed on 28 April to having imprisoned his daughter in a windowless cellar for 24 years and being the father of her seven children. Police said Fritzl had told investigators how to enter the basement prison through a small hidden door, opened by a secret keyless entry code. Fritzl’s wife, Rosemarie, had, apparently, been unaware of what had been happening to Elisabeth. It is believed she assumed, due to the letters in her handwriting, that her daughter had run away from home to join a religious cult.
On 29 April, it was announced that DNA evidence had confirmed that Fritzl is indeed the father of all of his daughter’s children.
Later, Fritzl’s defence lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said that, although the DNA test proved incest, evidence was still needed for the other allegations. “The DNA traces are clear and this would prove the incest but the rape has not been proven at all, let alone the enslavement and the murder that have been talked about. Nothing has been proven there… We need to reassess the confessions made so far.”
In their daily press conference, Austrian police said on 1 May that Fritzl had forced Elisabeth to write a letter, the previous year, indicating that he may have been planning to release her and the children. In it, she wrote that she wanted to come home but “it’s not possible yet”.Police believe Fritzl intended to pretend he had rescued his daughter from her fictional sect.In the same press conference, police spokesman Franz Polzer said the investigation would probably last a few months, as police plan on interviewing, at least, 100 people who had lived as tenants in the Fritzl apartment building in the previous 24 years.
Investigators have only been allowed to work in the cellar for an hour at any given time, due to the lack of oxygen.
Josef Fritzl’s statement
The Austrian weekly News obtained a statement that Fritzl had made to his lawyer Rudolf Mayer in which he said that he “always knew during the whole 24 years that what I was doing was not right, that I must have been crazy to do such a thing“, yet “it became a normal occurrence to lead a second life in the basement of my house“. Regarding his treatment of the family he had with his wife, he stated “I am not the beast the media make me to be“. Regarding his treatment of Elisabeth and her children in the cellar, he explained that he brought flowers for Elisabeth and books and cuddly toys for the children into the “bunker”, as he called it, and often watched videos with the children and ate meals with Elisabeth and the children. Fritzl decided to imprison Elisabeth after she “did not adhere to any rules any more” when she became a teenager. “That is why I had to do something; I had to create a place where I could keep Elisabeth, by force if necessary, away from the outside world”. He suggested that the emphasis on discipline in the Nazi era, during which he grew up, might have influenced his views about decency and good behaviour. The chief editors of News Magazin noted in their editorial that they expected Fritzl’s statement to form the basis of the defense strategy of his “top lawyer” Mayer. Critics have said his statement may be a ploy to prepare an insanity defence.
Key events
The sequence of key events, in this case, is, as follows:
28 August 1984
Fritzl lured his 18 year old daughter, Elisabeth, into the basement and imprisoned her.
1989
The first child, Kerstin, was born, who was to live in the cellar until 2008.
1990
Stefan was born. He, too, was to stay in the cellar until 2008.
1992
Lisa was born. In May 1993, when she was nine months old, she was discovered outside the family home in a cardboard box, allegedly left there by Elisabeth, along with a note asking for the child to be cared for.
December 1994
The fourth child, ten-month-old Monika, was found in a stroller outside the entrance of the house. Shortly afterwards, a phone call was made to Rosemarie, apparently, from Elisabeth. The caller asked Rosemarie to take care of the child. However, it is assumed that Fritzl was able to use a recording of Elisabeth’s voice to make the call. Rosemarie reported the incident to the police, expressing her astonishment that Elisabeth knew of their new and unlisted phone number.
May 1996
Elisabeth gave birth to twins. One died after three days and Fritzl is alleged to have removed his body from the cellar and cremated it. The surviving twin, Alexander, was taken upstairs when he was 15 months old. He was “discovered” in circumstances similar to those of his two sisters.
December 2002
Felix was born. According to a statement by Fritzl, he kept Felix in the cellar, together with Elisabeth and her two eldest children, because his wife was not able to look after another child.
19 April 2008
Fritzl arranged for the critically ill 19 year old Kerstin to be taken to a local hospital.
25 April 2008
Fritzl released Elisabeth from the cellar along with her sons Stefan and Felix, bringing them upstairs. Fritzl told his wife that Elisabeth had decided to come back after a 24 year long absence.
26 April 2008
After an anonymous tip off during a visit to the hospital, Fritzl and Elisabeth were taken into police custody where she revealed her decades long imprisonment during questioning.
Elisabeth and her children
After being taken into care, Elisabeth, five of her children and her mother were housed in a local clinic where they were shielded from the outside environment and received medical and psychological treatment. A local government official speculated on the need to give members of the Fritzl family new identities but emphasised that it was a choice for the family to make.Due to their lack of exposure to sunlight, the former captives are extremely pale and cannot endure natural light. They are reported to have vitamin D deficiencies and are anaemic. They are likely to have underdeveloped immune systems, although it is yet to be determined whether their immune systems have suffered permanent damage. According to her doctors, daughter Kerstin is in an artificially induced coma but her condition is no longer life threatening.She is still seriously ill and remains at another hospital.
Two weeks after the start of the treatment, the clinic head, Berthold Kepplinger, said that the family members needed to stay at the clinic for several more months, and that Elisabeth and the two children, held captive in the cellar, required further therapy to help them adjust to the light after years in semi-darkness. They also needed treatment to help them cope with all the extra space that they now had in which to move about.
On May 14, 2008, a poster created, by Elisabeth, her children and her mother, at the therapy facility, was displayed in Amstetten town centre, to thank local people for their support. “We, the whole family, would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your sympathy at our fate,” they wrote in their message. “Your compassion is helping us greatly to overcome these difficult times, and it shows us there also are good and honest people here who really care for us. We hope that soon there will be a time where we can find our way back into a normal life.”The case has provoked headlines around the world causing attention to be focused on the town.
Rosemarie’s children:
Rosemarie, jnr, 47. Now living 35 miles from the family home – and the secret chamber – in Linz. She has visited Elisabeth and her children in the clinic they now live in.
Doris Henikl.
Left home when she married. She and her family would join parents, Josef and Rosemarie, at family reunions and go on holiday together. This week she visited the her foemerly incarcerated sister.
Harald Fritzl.
He also left home to get married. Friends say he has tried to support his sister Elisabeth in her hour of need. He also joined the annual family holidays and celebrations.
Gabrielle Fritzl, 37.
She lives with her partner and child near Amstetten in a small chalet-style home. A sign outside reads: “Reporter nicht erwunscht” – reporters not welcome.
Josef Fritzl jnr, 37
Gabrielle’s twin brother. Still lives at home in Ybsstrasse. Amstetten, with his parents, Josef and Rosemarie, and Elisabeth’s three “upstairs children”.
Ulrike Pramesberger, 50. The married teacher lives in Bad Goisern, in the foothills of Alps. Her impressive home is a detached chalet-style property set in extensive grounds in the countryside.
Elisabeth Fritzl. Now 42 but looks 20 years olderReunited with mother and three children forced to give up at Amstetten-Mauer Landesklinikum psychiatric hospital.
Elisabeth’s children:
Kirsten, 19.
She spent entire life underground. She has been left undernourished and light deprived.Her teeth are nearly all gone and she has kidney failure. Now on life support with total organ failure, doctors fear she may not live.
Stefan, 18.
The 5ft 7in teenager is destined to walk with a stoop for life due to living in 5ft 6in cellar. Has been given an aquarium similar to one he had underground to aid recovery.
Felix, 5.
Youngest of incest kids. Has spent his entire life underground and never saw the daylight until now. Shockingly, he can walk, but prefers to crawl. Clings to his mum and a teddy.
Lisa, 16.
The first of three to be taken in by her unsuspecting grandmother. She has led a near normal life, excelling at music and maths. Described by pals at catholic school as “bubbly and funny”.
Monika, 14.
One of the upstairs children, she has suffered heart condition from early age which required surgery. Doctors are investigating if it is connected to her incestuous birth. She is reportedly a talented musician.
Alex, 12.He celebrated his birthday last week with the brothers he never knew existed. He served as an altar boy and is remembered as a kind boy who ran errands for the grandmother he called “Mami”. He plays the trumpet.
Michael, Alex’s twin.
He struggled with breathing and died shortly after Elisabeth gave birth alone. Fritzl, who could face a murder charge, threw baby’s corpse on an incinerator in the garden.
How can this kinda beast still living here in any part of this world. I’m not sure what’s the action taken to Josef now but the only thing I can think of is Death Sentence. Nothing else is a reasonable action taken to him. No one should ever give him any chance to live anymore while he himself don’t even let his own daughter to live happily and even his kid who died shortly after birth. He KILLED his own child ! An innocent child waiting to come to this earth and his own father just killed him. Please. Don’t ever forgive this FUCKER!!!!!!!! And I wish that the police would suggest that Elisabeth and her kids who spent their life underground, to kill this fucker who ruined their life. They deserve to revenge.
