Josef Fritzl: Austrian Incest Dungeon Children Refuse to Testify
By Andreas Sam - (Telegraph UK)
The children of the Austrian incest offender Josef Fritzl and his daughter have refused to testify against their father, a development that could cause a further set-back of the case against him.
Fritzl, 73, has confessed to imprisoning his daughter Elisabeth, 42, in a cellar dungeon beneath his home in the town of Amstetten for over 24 years, and fathering seven children with her. One of the children died at birth in 1997 and Fritzl burned his body in an oven.
His daughter Elisabeth has completed her testimony against him and reportedly reinstated her earlier statement given to police, in which she accused him of rape and abuse and for indirectly causing the death of her newborn. But her two adult children, whose testimonies were supposed to be included in the charges, are said to have refused to give evidence, in accordance with their rights guaranteed by Austrian law.
“It is not clear when or if the two adult children will be questioned. It now appears possible that they could use their right not to make any statements,” said the prosecutors’ spokesman, Gerhard Sedlacek.
Fritzl, a retired engineer and property developer, selected three of his children with his daughter – Lisa, 15, Monika, 14 and Alexander, 12 – to live with him and his wife Rosemarie in their upstairs apartment, while the other three siblings – Kerstin, 19, Stefan, 18 and Felix, five – were left to dwell with their mother in the dank cellar never seeing the light of day.
Prosecutors want to use the testimonies of Kerstin and Stefan to reinforce the basis for the charges against their father. Fritzl is facing charges of manslaughter for the baby that died, as well as rape, abuse, incarceration and incest.
But prosecutors admitted that the first two charges would be very difficult to prove due to lack of forensic evidence. Austrian law, unlike British law, does not allow for cumulative sentences, and Fritzl could only effectively be handed over one sentence.
That means that he would be facing only up to 10 years in prison, if prosecutors fail to solidify the charges of manslaughter and rape.
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There should be enough to do the job. More would be nice but no point in pushing. They have been through enough. In a God fearing and just world he would be dead by now.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:09 pmNo worldly punishment will ever compare to what an angry God will do to this piece of trash. He has a special place in hell waiting for him.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:17 pmSlow death is what this puke deserves. Fortunately for him that will never happen in this life. The next life? Well, now that is another story…Justice is slow in this life or non-existent. In the next life it is swift and permanent.
His future tormentors are licking their slimy chops at the prospect of this scumbag dropping down to see them someday soon.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pmMay they NEVER have to attend a parole hearing.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:47 amMy daughter turned 32 yesterday. She’s the Greatest Gift I’ve ever received. Fritzl deserves the worst punishment man can hand down to him.
July 19th, 2008 at 6:01 amI heard about this case from a friend and just couldn’t believe that it would be possible to pull this off. I am not surprised that the guy hasn’t tried to off himself considering he has a selfish need to satisfy his own perverse desires. Now he is going to seek sympathy from the psychiatric community. Though I am am certain that many a doctor would love to study this guy, this is ridiculous! There is only one treatment that, though will not make up for the pains that he has inflicted, is suitable for this creep, long, slow torment in this life and eternal torment in the next. These poor children as well as their mother are scarred for life and yet it is possible that this guy will get sentenced to a hospital? As for the mother, I understand that, while it may be possible for a man to deceive someone or “blind” them for a time, 20+ years? No way! He was doing construction under that house. Heck if someone taps a pipe in my basement I can here it three floors up. I understand that he did a good job of sound proofing but vents have to exit somewhere. A question that keeps bugging me is why the kids didn’t attempt to overpower him at some point and force him to unlock the door or get certain extremities removed, slowly… Then again, I can’t even imagine the mental drama that was being droned into their minds.
Sorry if this bounces all over, this just really bugs me. I am just sad that with his age, and our current social standards, this monster will never receive a just punishment in this life.
August 4th, 2008 at 9:26 am