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Imprisonment, Incest Trial Begins

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 17, 2009

ST. POELTEN - An Austrian who fathered seven children with a daughter he held captive for 24 years refused to speak to her for years, coming into the squalid cellar only to rape her, often in front of the youngsters, a prosecutor said Monday.

Wearing a mismatched gray suit and hiding his face behind a folder as the trial began, Josef Fritzl pleaded guilty to incest and false imprisonment but denied enslaving his daughter, Elisabeth, or murdering her newborn son. He pleaded only partially guilty to additional counts of rape and coercion.

Fritzl, 73, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the negligent homicide charge, which stems from the death of a 2-day-old boy who investigators contend might have survived if he had gotten medical care. Incest, by contrast, carries a one-year sentence.

Three of the youngsters grew up in the underground room in the town of Amstetten, west of Vienna, never seeing daylight. The other three were brought upstairs to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, who was led to believe they had been abandoned by Elisabeth when she ran off to join a cult.

Police say DNA tests prove Fritzl is the biological father of all six surviving children.

Fritzl could get 20 years in prison if convicted of enslavement and up to 15 for a rape conviction.

The Associated Press

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