Josef forced her to go back to the chamber, where she stayed for a final week. Kastner points to his ability to block out the parts that didn't fit his version of the truth. After the birth of the fourth child, Josef allowed enlargement of the prison from 35 to 55-meter square(280 to 590 sq ft). What I learned was astonishing." As far as Elisabeth’s mother was concerned, she knew nothing about the events that happened right under her feet and Josef also backed her story. With Daisy Beaumont, Josef Fritzl, Elisabeth Fritzl, Rosemarie Fritzl. By then, he was working as a salesman - he would tell his wife he was going away for a few days, then later phone her from his office downstairs pretending to be in a hotel. Josef Fritzl, father of Elisabeth told the policeman who came to his house asking questions about his daughter that he had no idea where she would go, but it is more likely that she joined a religious cult, something she had talked about previously doing. Josef Fritzl 10 Years On: My Conversations With a Monster . He would spend some nights in the basement occasionally, but his wife wouldn’t worry, after all for them he was a hard-working guy and was thoroughly dedicated to his career. The judge rejected the argument of diminished responsibility and found Sutcliffe guilty, Robert Napper trial, 2008The crime The murder of Rachel NickellThe psychiatrists Professor Donald Grubin and Dr Natalie PyszoraPsychiatrists's verdict Napper had a "toxic" combination of paranoid schizophrenia and Asperger's syndrome, said Grubin. She said: "I don't know where I'm heading now. An article in The Independent in March 2010 stated that Elisabeth and her children recovered very well despite living in hell like situation for so long. Saturday interview 'Do I feel sorry for Josef Fritzl? It feels too simplistic to talk of "evil", but Josef Fritzl said he always knew there was an "evil streak" inside him. "I do. As crimes go, few can be as horrific as Fritzl's. Discover amazing horror stories, conspiracy theories, Murder Mysteries, Alien Life, Unsolved Mysteries, latest breakthrough Science news, and much more on Bugged Space ! It was soundproofed and there were no windows. The couple had three sons and four daughters including Elisabeth. Photograph: Rudi Froese/Anzenberger, t feels too simplistic to talk of "evil", but. Evil is a fascination for us, she says, "it helps focus all the evil outside on a specific person. The first of many which he had forced Elisabeth to write while in his captivity. "One of these women turned around and confronted him and he never did it again." But the brutality ended in 2008 when one of the children in the cellar fell ill. On 19 April 2008, Kerstin fell ill and surprisingly Josef agreed to seek medical attention for Kerstin, the eldest daughter fell unconscious. Josef Fritzl was born on 9 April 1935, in Amstetten, Austria. Evil is human." Her mother was locked in prison by her father. Elisabeth and her children were taken to a police station for questioning. According to Kastner, Fritzl believed he was providing a "normal" family life, full of acts of kindness. British newspapers, particularly, haven't been able to resist the idea that Fritzl is the product of some warped Austrian psyche. Josef would shut off their lights or refused to deliver food for days at times to punish them. Hij had een harde jeugd door de combinatie van de Tweede Wereldoorlog en de nasleep hiervan die schaarste veroorzaakte, en zware mishandeling door zijn moeder. There was no word from Elisabeth, for weeks, and everyone assumed the worst. During the night of April 27, Elisabeth, her children and her mother Rosemarie were taken into care and it was announced on April 29, that DNA evidence confirmed Fritzl as the biological father of his daughter’s children. Between 1992 and 2002, Fritzl fathered her seven children. He served a prison sentence for this rape in 1967, something the authorities didn't take into account when Elisabeth went missing and when they allowed him to adopt her children. Jarenlang woonde ze in de kelder van haar ouderlijk huis in het Oostenrijkse Amstetten, terwijl haar papa Josef Fritzl meer dan 3.000 keer bij haar kwam om met haar seks te hebben. "He knew he couldn't do that if he grew up down there, not attending school. ... Psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner, who carried out interviews with Fritzl last year, gave an hour-long testimony to the court. The couple had three sons and four daughters including Elisabeth. ", Does she feel sorry for Fritzl? The letter was postmarked Braunau, claimed that Elisabeth was tired of living with her family and was staying with her friend, she wanted her parents not to look for her or she will leave the country. The rapes began a day later. He said he wanted a clean slate." "His house of cards has come down, he has lost everything. Rosemarie Fritzl, 69, has changed her name and moved to a new town. A small part of me does' Published: 20 Mar 2009 'Do I feel sorry for Josef Fritzl? Josef Fritzl was born on 9 April 1935, in Amstetten, Austria. Does Kastner? "Also, it was his notion of having a family.". He always suffered from the feeling she never liked him. He saw her as his wife, not his daughter. HE WIFE of Josef Fritzl spoke for the first time today of her torment. He didn't say he acted the way he did because of his childhood. Officials said that Fritzl “very plausibly” explained how his infant grandchildren had appeared on his doorstep. She nods. At age 15 Elisabeth completed her education in Austria and after that, she started a course to become a waitress. He told me that whenever they needed something - money or something - it was always Rosemarie who went to ask, because she would never give him anything.". His health is rapidly declining and he doesn’t want to live anymore as he rots in the prison for torturing his daughter. It's important that you do because if you don't, you get cynical and it changes you in a way you wouldn't want to be changed. His mother's father, a domineering man, was married to a woman who could not have children; he had affairs with other women, then forced his wife to adopt his children (Josef Fritzl's mother was one such child). "It's not an Austrian specific to lock someone up, to rape your daughter. She had to interview him alone six times before producing her report, in which she concluded he was sane enough to stand trial. Kastner says that at first, Fritzl knew what he was doing was rape, "then he convinced himself that it was a mutual relationship". But Josef Fritzl wouldn’t forget. They paid a massive amount for the renovation of the house and named the project “bury the past” and now rent it out the ten flats for between £347 to £700. She refuses to say if she has met Elisabeth. "Ordinary.". The property was bought by Herbert and Ingrid Houska for just £140,784 in 2016. Yet Josef Fritzl wouldn’t overlook. ", Theoretically Fritzl, 74 next month, could apply for parole in 14 years, but his lawyer said he expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. By Allan Hall for MailOnline Updated: 12:07 … "You would imagine, but he had this ability to block things out. Fritzl would follow women in the park, walking behind them, his hand in his trousers, masturbating. The children enjoy playing games, being outdoors and spending time with mother and grandmother. He called an ambulance, claiming that he had a note from Kerstin’s mother explaining her condition. "Maybe. ... Fritzl said in a prison interview that it was "normal" to have a family in the cellar. He was getting older and finding it difficult to maintain this life and there was another turning point - for whatever reason, Fritzl became attached to the youngest child, Felix, soon after he was born and decided Felix would inherit his business and properties. Then, it began, the years of assault, rape, and sexual abuse. Every time, the child would be swaddled neatly and accompanied with a note allegedly written by Elisabeth, claiming that she couldn’t take care of the baby and was leaving it with her parents to keep the baby safe. The family received regular visits from the social workers, who never saw or heard anything which aroused suspicions. Shockingly, the social services never questioned the appearance of the children and allowed the Fritzl’s to keep them as their own children. She adds that "even he has some limits of wrongdoing and killing is not in his repertoire. I once interviewed a doctor who treats rape victims, who not only sees hundreds of women every year, but also around 700 children. All rights reserved ©️ Bugged Space – 2019, Meet Andrea Yates; The Mother Who Murdered Her Children By Drowning Them One-By-One in The Bathtub, Nurse Caught on Video Laughing As Elderly Veteran Begged For Help and Died. But not Josef, and he made that very clear to his daughter. If you want to exercise power and break somebody's will, it is more gratifying to break a strong person's will than someone who is broken easily." "She was as stubborn and strong as he was. "To me, [his childhood] is part of the explanation but you can't explain it to the last drop," says Kastner. It happens all over the world.". He doesn’t want contact with others, and altogether it looks as though he has resigned himself to dying.”. Verwoest gezin Fritzl moet anoniem verder 20 maart 2009 , 9:47 De meeste hoop op herstel is er voor Felix die mogelijk dankzij zijn jonge leeftijd het drama beter achter zich kan laten. But on April 26, 2008, he released Elisabeth for the cellar for the first time in 24 years. The entrance corridor was just 83cm (2½ft) wide; none of the ceilings was higher than 1.7m. "The more subjects you have, the greater power, the greater realm," says Kastner. Over the next two hours, she told the story of how her father kept her as a prisoner for 24 years. After his arrest he admitted that he repeatedly raped her, which resulted in Elisabeth giving birth to seven children during her captivity. As expert witness for the prosecution, Kastner first met Fritzl last May, in prison. It had a metal door that was operated by a number code only he knew. Do we really need to know, for instance, that Elisabeth was raped 3,000 times, or that she suffered injuries from the instruments her father used? He did this after watching his daughter's harrowing video testimony, and after Elisabeth, who is now 42, had attended the courtroom in person. She fell in love with her bodyguard, Thomas Wagner – who is 23 years younger than her. Kerstin, Stefan, and Felix remained in the cellar with their mother for the duration of her imprisonment. All the children recovered and developed relationships with each other and the three children that were sent upstairs slowly began to recognize Elisabeth as their mother. She told me that even after all that, she still has faith in human goodness. We may do well to remember that in Sheffield last year, a British man was convicted for repeatedly raping his two daughters, whom he kept virtual prisoners, fathering nine surviving children. But the basement where Elisabeth was imprisoned is still not in use to prevent it from becoming a shrine to other perverts. I am very glad it's definitely over. Why Elisabeth? "He is human. Was that why he changed his plea, I ask Kastner. Another, Michael, died of respiratory problems three days after birth, having been deprived of all medical help; his body was incinerated by Josef Fritzl on his property. She now lives with her six surviving children in a tiny hamlet in the Austrian countryside, which also cannot be identified and only referred to as “Village X.” The house is kept under constant CCTV surveillance and patrolled by security guards, any stranger caught luring the premises will be picked up by the police within minutes. Kastner says she doesn't know if he had already been abusing her - she had run away from home as a younger teenager - but she says he had her in mind. Elisabeth forgave her mother for believing her father’s story, and the mother and daughter started visiting each other more. As far as the rest of the Fritzl family was concerned, Josef would head down to the basement every morning at 9 a.m. to draw plans for the machines that he sold. Elisabeth Fritzl fell in love with the bodyguard who was assigned to protect her after spending 24 years locked in her father’s rape dungeon. In 2008 kwam Elisabeth Fritz letterlijk boven de grond. For the next 24 years, the inside of the clear would be the only thing Elisabeth Fritzl would see. The investigation about the whereabouts of Elisabeth would run cold and the world would forget about the missing girl. "I don't know why I did that but it turned out to be a good decision. Here she talks about how his mind works - and how the case affected her, 'Do I feel sorry for Josef Fritzl? He raised doubts about the existence of the group Josef described. Police questioned Kerstin for a week and asked locals for any information about her family. "He brought her pictures of them playing by the pool in the sun - the contrast with her life couldn't have been greater. The rats, the damp, the dark, the lack of air, the fear that if they tried to escape the door was rigged to kill them. He has totally withdrawn himself and barely leaves his cell. Kastner's phone rings and she has a quick conversation. He chose to exercise it and for that he is guilty, but what he is inside, he didn't choose." For Elisabeth her father was a monster, for the first two years he left her alone, keeping her captive. After police officers completed the interview, Josef Fritzl aged 73 was arrested on 26 April on suspicion of serious crimes against family members. Josef took the children upstairs to live with his wife. The absence of dental care and the rotten teeth spat out into the sink. Suzanne Capper died in Withington Hospital on 18th December 1992, from multiple organ failure, which was caused after she was…, Advertisement Jennifer Daugherty was a 30-year-old American woman with the mental capacity of a child, and because of her mental…, Yadav raped so many women that according to the people living in the slum, "a rape victim lives in every…, Advertisement Junko Furuta was a 17-year-old girl when she was kidnapped, she went through hell for 44 days before death…, Advertisement On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith trapped her 3-year-old son Michael and 14 months old son Alex into her…, In 1999, Luis Garavito admitted to the rape, torture, and murder of 138 boys and teenagers, but the real number…, Advertisement “He(Joseph Jr.) was a sacrifice, I was to murder three million people on the planet earth, and he was…, "Hey, fellas! Janet ♦ 04/25/2013 ♦ 87 Comments. "He would stop by windows that were open and listen to people having sex," says Kastner. Elisabeth’s relationship with her mother was harder to repair as she found it difficult to believe that her mother had no idea about what happened in the cellar. Instead, he moved on to other acts. The Fritzl case emerged in 2008, when a woman named Elisabeth Fritzl (born 6 April 1966) told police in the town of Amstetten, Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl (born 9 April 1935).Fritzl had assaulted, sexually abused, and raped her numerous times during her imprisonment inside a concealed area in the basement of the family home. Fritzl visited Elisabeth in the hidden chamber almost every day, or a minimum of three times a week. That he was in control the whole time, she says, with meticulous attention to details, signals that he was not mentally ill. What Kastner calls his "criminal career" began when he was a young man. Voorpagi­na Elizabeth Fritzl en kinderen verlaten kliniek. I suggest to Kastner that it must have been stressful to keep his double life for so long. She said: "I don't know where I'm heading now. It is not known for how long Josef Fritzl intended to keep his daughter as a prisoner in the basement. It isn't hard to see that in forcing his wife, Rosemarie, to adopt three of his children with Elisabeth, claiming they had been abandoned on their doorstep, Fritzl was repeating his family history, but Kastner says he never made that connection. For someone as practically minded as Fritzl, the arrival of children could have been dangerous, but his need for control was too strong. she repeats to herself. He married at age 21, to a 17-year-old Rosemarie. Josef Fritzl. But this time police contacted a church officer Manfred Wohlfahrt who was an expert on cults. Josef Fritzl. The police reopened the case of Elisabeth’s disappearance. Kastner says she "wouldn't be surprised" if he committed suicide. Whether Josef finally felt the pressure of had a change of heart regarding his daughter’s captivity, no one will ever know. If Austria has a problem - and indeed Britain - it is that it is so normal to have a family ruled by a domineering father, and where violence against women is an everyday occurrence. It could have been part of it." She was the fourth of Fritzl's seven children and, according to Kastner, the one who was most like him. Een miljoen voor interview met Josef Fritzl. Hij was enig kind, zijn vader verliet het gezin in 1939 en sneuvelde in 1944. He doesn’t believe that he’s done anything wrong at all, and still believes that it’s a failure of Justice and that he’s been wrongly locked up. ", Peter Sutcliffe trial, 1981The crime The murder of 13 womenThe psychiatrist Dr Hugo MilnePsychiatrist's verdict Sutcliffe was a "classic schizophrenic" who was told by the voice of God to kill prostitutesJudge's verdict Under cross-examination Milne conceded "Perhaps I have been duped", but went on to say, "I still do not accept that he is acting". Josef Fritzl is to undergo DNA testing to see if he is the killer of three women whose murders have remained unsolved in Austria. That's the one that's bad; we're the good ones. But when they lost all hope, a letter arrived from Elisabeth, claiming she had grown tired of her family life and ran away. There is always this double-sidedness, this sadistic streak, of what he did.". After Fritzl was jailed for life in 2009 he changed his name. Elisabeth told the police that Fritzl raped her and forced her to watch pornographic videos, which he made her reenact with him in front of her children in order to humiliate her. He would have barbecue parties in his garden and he said, 'You wouldn't have thought I would be able to have parties with them just under the garden there, but I never thought about them'." 18-year-old Elisabeth Fritzl went missing on August 28, 1984. De Oostenrijker Josef Fritzl heeft woensdag erkend schuldig te zijn aan alle aanklachten die tegen hem zijn ingebracht. How? Fritzl told investigators how to enter the basement chamber through a small hidden door, which opened by a secret keyless entry code. Josef told Elisabeth and her three children who remained with her in the basement that they would be gassed if they tried to escape. Interview 'Do I feel sorry for Josef Fritzl? She is fiercely clever, and quick with a wry laugh. On 28 August 1984, when Elisabeth turned 18, her father lured her into the basement of their family home, saying he needed help carrying a door. I don't know if he raped other women as well - he didn't say - but it is quite possible." "He said that it was hard to control," says Dr Heidi Kastner, the forensic psychiatrist who interviewed him at length. He once brought handfuls of snow to the cellar to show the children what snow was, and he would bring Elisabeth photographs of her three children who were living upstairs (ever practical, they had been chosen according to which child needed most medical care). Kastner nods. After coming home she rejoined the waitress course and finished it in 1984, and was offered a job in nearby Liz. "But I think he was angry towards her. Kastner says she feels the closed way in which the trial was handled was right. Elisabeth pleaded with her father Josef Fritzl to be taken to the hospital. "He said he brought Christmas trees and an aquarium," says Kastner. Copeland was a paranoid schizophrenic, said CummingJudge's verdict The judge sentenced Copeland to six life sentences, commenting: "Nothing can excuse or justify the evil you have done", Tony Martin trial, 2000-2001The psychiatrist Dr Philip JosephThe crime Shot dead a burglarPsychiatrist's verdict Abuse as a child had left Martin with a personality disorder which may have led him to believe he was at risk of being "violated" by the burglarJudge's verdict 18 months after being jailed for life, Martin had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughterHolly Bentley, Psychiatrist Heidi Kastner has been alone with the Austrian rapist and killer six times, interviewing him on behalf of the prosecution. He was re-fitting a door to the newly renovated cellar and needed help carrying it. "He was very ..." she searches for the word. He added that the other inmates do not want anything to do with Austria’s most infamous convict. Rosemarie Fritzl, 69, has changed her name and moved to a new town. No one came forward, as there was no family to take care of her. For me like for Elisabeth there is no forgiveness. ", You have to wonder what it does to us, too, that we have gobbled up the facts of this case so voraciously. A tenant who rented a ground-floor room in the house for twelve years claimed to hear noises from the basement, which Fritzl explained were from the “faulty pipes” or the gas heating system. Over just three and a half days this week, Fritzl was tried and found guilty on all counts of a crime that went on for 24 years - imprisoning his daughter in a bunker under his house in the town of Amstetten in Austria, repeatedly raping her and fathering her seven children, and of causing the death of one of the children, Michael, soon after he was born by failing to get him medical help. In January 1983, she ran away from home and went into hiding in Vienna with a friend from work. There are plenty of people who have abusive childhoods who don't go on to imprison and rape their children. "It sometimes makes me very sad. Josef made stories about how he discovered the children, the stories often involved finding children on bushes near the home or on the doorstep. How about this for a headline for tomorrow's paper? He was taking evening classes and would walk home late at night. "That is nonsense," says Kastner. This story gained worldwide attention five years ago, and I told the family’s life of hell here. It's not in his mind to have these singular moments; he wants continual power." Elisabeth helped him carry out her daughter out of the chamber and saw the outside world for the first time in 24 years. I got that from the Fritzl case“. According to Josef’s sister in the law, Christine, Elisabeth enjoys spending her time shopping, driving, and taking frequent showers, Elisabeth even passed her driving test without much difficulty. After Elisabeth held the door in place while Fritzl fitted the door into the frame, he held an ether-soaked towel on her face until she was unconscious, then threw into the newly built chamber. There's a long pause. It does something to you." Elisabeth and her children had a television, radio, and video cassette player. day four; Reporter along with Woldrich Christa Fritzl interview SOT - He stole her whole life. ", Kastner says he never considered himself "a monster", and says it is dangerous to label people as such. Voorpagi­na Proces Fritzl begint 16 maart. What was it about Fritzl that made him do that? "It's a cliche, but he did not fit that cliche," she says. No one is allowed to meet them, the village X is filled with villagers and every villager contacts police if they note anything suspicious. He was assigned to guard her and the six surviving children. When she interviews a criminal, she usually starts with their childhood, but with Fritzl she started with his mother's. He was not caught in 24 years, and for all police knew he was planning to continue for another 24. Josef visited Elisabeth in the hidden chamber almost every day, he would go down to the basement every morning at 9 a.m. to draw plans for the machines that he sold.