Incest Dad: I Knew It Was Wrong

Josef Fritzl Says "I Must Have Been Crazy" For Holding My Daughter Captive For 24 Years

(AP)  Josef Fritzl said he knew it was wrong to hold his daughter captive in a locked cellar for 24 years but said he tried to care for her and their children by bringing them flowers, toys and books, according to comments published Thursday.

"I constantly knew, during the entire 24 years, that what I did was not right, that I must have been crazy because I did something like this," the Austrian magazine News quoted Fritzl as saying through his lawyer.

The lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, confirmed Thursday to The Associated Press that Fritzl made the remarks during a series of conversations with him at a prison in St. Poelten, west of Vienna, where he is being held in pretrial detention.

Since the case came to light last month, Fritzl has confessed to locking up daughter Elisabeth in 1984, repeatedly raping her and fathering her seven children. He said three of the children were raised in a cellar in his home in Amstetten, never seeing the light of day; three were raised above ground by him and his wife, and one died in infancy.

Charges have not yet been filed against him.

"I tried as best I could to care for my family in the cellar," Fritzl said in the published comments.

"When I went into the bunker, I brought my daughter flowers and my children books and stuffed animals," Fritzl said, adding that he would watch adventure videos with the children while Elisabeth cooked their favorite meals.

"And then we'd all sit at the kitchen table and eat together," he said.

Fritzl's double life began to disintegrate when Elisabeth's oldest child, a 19-year-old woman, was hospitalized with a severe infection.

Unable to find medical records for the woman, doctors appealed for her mother to come forward. Fritzl accompanied Elisabeth to the hospital on April 26.

In other comments published by the News, Fritzl said he grew up an only child in "humble circumstances" and that his mother, whom he "admired very much," threw his father out of the house when he was 4.

"She was the boss at home, and I the only man in the house," Fritzl said of his mother.

Fritzl also said he considered good behavior and decency important, and that Elisabeth had stopped following rules when she hit puberty.

After locking her up, Fritzl said he repeatedly thought about letting her go but was scared about being arrested and having people find out what he had done.

"With every week that I held my daughter captive, my situation got crazier ... it's true, I thought repeatedly about whether I should let her go or not," he said.

Fritzl, who always wanted to have a large family, said he was happy about the children Elisabeth bore him. To prepare her for labor, he brought her medical books, towels, disinfectants and diapers, he said.

"Elisabeth was, of course, scared of the delivery," he said.

[rainbowseer]

He and his lawyer have been using the word "crazy" an awful lot, trying to set up an insanity plea.

I hope whoever hears this case will realize, the key words are: "I constantly knew, during the entire 24 years, that what I did was not right" and yet he did it anyway out of fear of being caught, that is oh-so-very sane.

[rainbowseer]

He and his lawyer have been using the word "crazy" an awful lot, trying to set up an insanity plea.

I hope whoever hears this case will realize, the key words are: "I constantly knew, during the entire 24 years, that what I did was not right" and yet he did it anyway out of fear of being caught, that is oh-so-very sane.

[kingnebo]

I don''t know the answer for him, I wouldn''t waste a dime on his rehabilitation, I only hope there is
plenty of help for the victims and that their wounds can somehow be healed, God help them....

[deuelpete]

I am a christian and I am not praying for him. He knows what he has done is wrong. He sinned againist them and he sinned against God Almighty, lock him up and throw away the key. I''d like to see him die for what he has done to his daughter and their children togather. But it will never happen. Shirley Cooper

[rushman71]

"I Knew It Was Wrong"
Duh, duh, duuuuh!!!

[kaelinda]

The father should be caned with 24 lashes of split bamboo, and then should be castrated. Not just neutered - men with vasectomies can still have ***. I mean castrated - cut off all his male organs and let him use a catheter through which to urinate. Some would say that''s too harsh a punishment... those folks don''t know the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad life that daughter and her three children are going to have to live for the rest of their lives. He has dehumanized them, and even the experts aren''t sure they can ever be humanized again!

[ranger1948]

He knew it was wrong but continued to do it for 24 years. I would think that shows he was capabl;e of knowing right from wrong. I don''t know what defense he plans, it just seems like he is looking for sympathy from the public. What i don''t get is he is only facing 10 to 20 yars in prison for multiple kidnapping and rape charges. Did he molest the children he bore. Just seems like their laws must be pretty light in his country. I would think h would be facing life without parole. How can they fix what he has done to his daughter and especially to the children she bore him ? I don''t think he is going to find any sympathy in this lifetime.

[stn_sage]

It looks like his lawyer doesn''t like him much either or honors the lawyer-client privilege relationship!

It looks like the insanity plea is ''dead''! What the German legal system does with this guy is up to them!

I think he deserves whatever nasty punishment they have to give him!

All you people out there who thinks that this guy is
just ''misunderstood'' and your going to pray for him, well---you go right ahead, because this sicko really needs your prayers!

[brianbwb-2009]

"Incest Dad: I Knew It Was Wrong"

That eliminates the insanity defense, put two in his head.