News You Can Lose: Josef Fritzl Pleads Guilty To Incest, Not Guilty To Murder

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who has haunted your nightmares since he was accused of impregnating and torturing his teen daughter and her children over a period of 24 years, has pled guilty to incest, but not to murder.

The trail against Fritzl began today in Austria, where chief prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser said Fritzl treated his daughter as property and led to the death of one of their children due to negligence. Fritzl, 73, kept his daughter, Elisabeth, locked in a narrow basement without heat, hot water, natural sunlight or fresh air for the majority of her life. He repeatedly raped his daughter, causing her to give birth to seven children. Of the seven, three were allowed to live upstairs with Fritzl and his wife, who has claimed not to have known of her daughter’s kidnap or abuse. Three of the children remained in the basement with their mother, one, a twin, dying shortly after birth. Elisabeth is said to have asked her father to provide help for the baby, who has having difficult breathing, but he ignored her please.

If found guilty of murdering the baby, Fritzl will face a lifetime in prison. The other charges of incest, rape and coercion carry a maximum sentence of 15 years - nearly a decade less than his daughter’s undeserved imprisonment. 

Said Burkheiser in her opening statements:

[The defendant] showed no sign of regret or any consciousness of wrongdoing.

Josef Fritzl treated his daughter as his property, he made her completely dependent.

He decided what kind of food was brought into the dungeon. He decided when food was brought. And food was also often scarce.

He used her as a toy.

For the record, Fritzl also pleaded not guilty to enslavement. He was admitted to having had a troubled upbringing  in Nazi Germany, with a “waste” of a father and a mother he lusted after as a child. 

Fritzl admits incest but denies murder [Sky News]