Austrian Monster Dungeon Dad-Josef Fritzl Found Guilty and Gets Life In Prison

Austrian Monster Dungeon Dad-Josef Fritzl Found Guilty and Gets Life In Prison by a jury in Austria. They  found Josef Fritzl guilty of raping and imprisoning his daughter for more than two decades and sentenced him to life in prison.

(pic) Josef Fritzl, 73, arrives for sentencing at the courthouse in St. Poelten, Thursday, March 19Th, 2009.

It was the maximum sentence for the most serious charge that Josef Fritzl faced…one count of murder. He allowed one of his incest babies, Michael, that he fathered with his daughter, to die shortly after birth, with out medical attention.

The eight member jury returned a unanimous verdict on all counts. Fritzl, dressed in a gray suit, blue shirt and dark tie, stared blankly ahead and showed no emotion as the jury delivered its verdict. He was expecting the inevitable.

Fritzl plead guilty to all charges on Wednesday, but Austrian law still requires a jury to return a verdict.

He will soon be moved to a detention facility for mentally abnormal offenders. There psychiatrists will evaluate him and decide on what his therapy will be. Until then, he will remain in a two person cell in St. Poelten.

The man who kept his crimes a secret for 24 years until he was exposed in 2008.

Fritzl told the court, “I am deeply sorry with all my heart for what I have done, but I cannot go back and change it.”

The jury found the 73 year old Josef Fritzl guilty of incest, rape, enslavement and false imprisonment of his daughter Elisabeth. Also he was found guilty of two assault charges and murder in the death of the baby boy, Michael, one of twins, which died 66 hours after birth.

Fritzl initially pleaded not guilty to murder, enslavement, and one of the assault charges, and partly guilty to rape. He surprised everyone, including his own lawyer by changing his plea Wednesday, to guilty as charged.

Prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser urged the jury Thursday to return a murder conviction. She called Fritzl’s admission of guilt a ploy. She stated to the jury, “This was not a confession by the accused. It was a change in strategy.”

The victim, his daughter, Elisabeth Fritzl also wanted her father to be convicted, said her lawyer, Eva Plaz.

Court officials report that both sides accepted Thursday’s verdict and Josef Fritzl refused the option to appeal. He could be considered for parole in 15 years, when he would be 88, said court spokesman Franz Cutka, but the Ministry of Justice will decide whether to allow his parole.

Fritzl’s lawyer revealed Thursday that the daughter, Elisabeth had been in court Tuesday, the second day of the trial. Defense attorney Rudolf Mayer said the elder Fritzl noticed his daughter’s presence in the final hour of viewing Elisabeth’s videotaped testimony.

Mayer said he was not disappointed with the verdict because it was a “logical consequence” of his client’s admission of guilt. He said life in prison is a “very just sentence.”

“In my eyes, no man is a monster, regardless of what he’s done,” Mayer told the BBC. “He’s always a human, regardless of what he’s done.”

Elisabeth and the remaining children never saw daylight and Fritzl would go away for long periods, leaving them without food. To punish them…sometimes Fritzl turned off the power in the cellar for up to 10 days.

In addition, Elisabeth was often sexually assaulted in front of the children.

In regards to the baby, Michael, Fritzl admitted Wednesday that he was in the cellar when the baby was born. He noticed the child was breathing heavily, he said, but he did not think the baby would die and decided not to seek help.

Fritzl told the court he was probably responsible for the child’s death and pleaded guilty to his murder. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge but said he changed his mind after hearing Elisabeth’s videotaped testimony.

The prosecution said Thursday that Michael struggled for 66 hours before dying of respiratory problems. They said Fritzl knew what was happening but was indifferent.

Elisabeth and her children now have new identities and are in a secret location. Asked at a news conference why other family members have not testified, officials said they did not wish to.

I disagree with Mayer, Josef Fritzl is a monster and “he” should never be able to see day light again.

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