Austrian Josef Fritzl Gets Life Sentence

73-Year-Old Convicted Of Murder By Negligence, Rape And Imprisonment In Incest Case

(CBS/AP)  A jury has convicted Austrian incest father Josef Fritzl of homicide and sentenced him to life imprisonment in a secure psychiatric facility.

Fritzl also was convicted of enslavement, rape, incest, forced imprisonment and coercion for holding his daughter captive for 24 years and fathering her seven children.

Fritzl accepted Thursday's verdicts and waived his right to appeal.

The homicide count, "murder by neglect" in German, was the most serious of the charges against 73-year-old Fritzl, and the jury gave him the maximum punishment allowed by law.

The verdict brought a dramatic end to a case that has drawn worldwide attention.

Prosecutors had urged the jury to hand down a life sentence for Fritzl and not to show mercy just because he pleaded guilty.

In a weak and shaky voice, Fritzl told the court Thursday: "I regret it with all my heart. ... I can't make it right anymore."

Prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser called for the maximum punishment in her closing arguments in Fritzl's trial in St. Poelten, west of Vienna. She urged the jury to think about his daughter Elisabeth's nearly quarter-century ordeal as it considers how much time he should serve.

"Don't be duped like Elisabeth was 24 years ago," when Fritzl took her captive in a cramped, rat-infested dungeon he built beneath the family's home.

The eight-member jury began deliberating at midmorning. Verdicts and sentences were expected Thursday afternoon in the case, which has drawn worldwide attention.

Fritzl, 73, pleaded guilty Wednesday to all the charges against him, including homicide for the death in captivity of an infant boy. Prosecutors contend the ailing newborn might have survived if Fritzl had arranged for medical care.

"Any amateur could have determined that the child was in the throes of death for 66 hours," Burkheiser said, arguing that Fritzl should be locked up for the rest of his life for refusing to intervene and save the baby's life.

Fritzl also has pleaded guilty to enslavement, rape, incest, forced imprisonment and coercion.

Eva Plaz, a lawyer for Elisabeth and the other victims, urged the jury not to lessen Fritzl's sentence just because he pleaded guilty. In Austria, guilty pleas can be a mitigating factor.

Fritzl's pleas "were not a confession," Plaz said.

Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, did not argue that Fritzl was innocent - even telling the court at one point that Fritzl raped his daughter 3,000 times. But he said Fritzl had been plagued with guilt for the past 24 years, and he asked the jurors to take a hard look at the homicide charge.

"Look closely at murder," Mayer said, referring to the homicide count - literally "murder by neglect" in German. "In my opinion, that's not what it is," he said.

The Associated Press normally withholds the names of victims of sexual assault. In this case, withholding Elisabeth's name became impractical when her name and her father's were announced publicly by police and details about them became the subject of publicity both in their home country and around the world.

Mayer confirmed Thursday that Elisabeth had been in the courtroom earlier this week, and he said Fritzl decided to stop contesting the homicide and enslavement counts after viewing her 11-hour heart-wrenching videotaped testimony.

Elisabeth, the prosecution's key witness, is 42. She was 18 when Fritzl imprisoned her in the squalid cell he built beneath the family's home in the town of Amstetten, where he raped her for years, sometimes in front of the children.

Elisabeth and her six surviving children, who range in age from 6 to 20, have spent months recovering in a psychiatric clinic and at a secret location. Prosecutors have described her as a "broken" woman.

Police say DNA tests prove Fritzl is the biological father of all six surviving children, three of whom never saw daylight until the crime was exposed 11 months ago.

The three other children were brought upstairs to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, who was led to believe they were abandoned by Elisabeth when she ran off to join a cult.

Psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner told the court Wednesday that Fritzl has a serious personality disorder and would pose a threat to others if freed. She recommended that Fritzl serve his sentence in a special prison for psychologically deranged criminals or a ward for abnormal criminals in a regular jail.

[madden19]

I am so deeply against the death sentence, but in this case this man deserves the man penalty. And not America's form of the death penalty, no pain and suffering and it must be humane; but a very slow, painful death. This case brings tears to my eyes just thinking about how one of God's creatures could possibly do this to another one of God's creatures, especially his own flesh and blood! He raped her what was it, 6,000 times i think i saw? That poor woman. There are so many brutal crimes that happen that make me feel that the criminal should rot in jail and deal with the guilt. But honestly, I do not think this man will EVER feel guilty. If he didn't feel guilty during those 24 years of holding her prisoner, then he never will. Plus life in prison?! He's 70. He'll die in what, less then ten years? Make him suffer, make him die, torture the sob.

[batchitcrazy]

This is why the death penalty should be instated EVERYWHERE. Pieces of trash transcend barriers.
Posted by scydka
--------------------------------
I agree. In those instances where the crime is so hidious and the guilt of the person(s) is without doubt, justice should be met swiftly and with due haste. No lawyers appeal. Straight to the block.

[batchitcrazy]

It sounds to me more like a bomb shelter than what you and I would consider a "basement". Well insulated and securely locked.
Posted by rrozsa at 1:32 PM : Mar 19, 2009
..............................................
It was windowless with several very small rooms. The entire thing was soundproof. The daughter did not know she was even in the basement of her own home and he threatened to pump in gas if she ever tried to escape or make noises.
The door to this prison was carefully hidden and electronically locked.
This was all thought out by him well in advance. He knew exactly what he was doing.
This person is evil. He should be executed for this.

Aside to "Posted by robinhooded45 at 10:47 PM : Mar 19, 2009"
just why are you making assinine comments about this? Grow up. This is a personal tragedy for the family and you can only make sick jokes.
To the people who say he will be on the streets in a few years. NO he will not. He is facing multiple sentences for his crimes. After completeing these sentences he will be transfered to a secure mental institution for further incarceration behind locked doors.

[rrozsa]

No visitors or neighbors ever saw or HEARD anything unusual in that house - in 24 years? I'm thinking that perhaps a few more people (her mother and any others who lived there) should be charged with something. How could you NOT know something like that? In 24 years, did no one else in the family EVER go to the basement? I just don't understand it...
Posted by justcurious777 at 7:20 AM : Mar 19, 2009

======

It sounds to me more like a bomb shelter than what you and I would consider a "basement". Well insulated and securely locked.

[jackp32]

There is no such thing as a life sentence in Austria. He will be released in a few years.

[jackp32]

In reality, there is no such thing as a life sentence in Austria. The most vile of criminals given a life sentence are eventually paroled and many return to a life of crime. Austria is a liberal European country who believes in treating hardened criminals and murderers with love and kindness instead of firmness and certainty in sentencing. This guy will be out in a few years no matter what that sentencing judge said. Look out people in Austria.

[jenkins501]

Oh God, no matter what you do to him, his daughter lost 24 years of her life. There is no way to give that back to her. She will live with those memories forever. May God bless her and her children and give them all strength to somehow get through this nightmare.
Her children all 7 and her were robbed by a crazy man. You can't tell me his "wife" knew nothing of this. I hate her too.

[scydka]

Great, now the people of Austria can pay for his meals and shelter.

This is why the death penalty should be instated EVERYWHERE. Pieces of trash transcend barriers.

[Book_Reader_Girl]

In a weak and shaky voice, Fritzl told the court Thursday: "I regret it with all my heart. ... I can't make it right anymore."

Yeah right. I certainly believe that 100%. What complete BS! He only regrets that he got caught. This was not some random act. This was a calculated move to enslave his daughter.

[justcurious777]

What I want to know is - how on earth did his wife/her mother NOT know what was happening? C'mon, she and three children LIVED in that basement for 24 years - did they never make a sound - no crying babies, no noise from her even when she was being raped or giving birth to 6 kids? AND his wife/her mother RAISED three of Elisabeth's 6 children - just blindly believing that her daughter had left on them on her front steps.

No visitors or neighbors ever saw or HEARD anything unusual in that house - in 24 years? I'm thinking that perhaps a few more people (her mother and any others who lived there) should be charged with something. How could you NOT know something like that? In 24 years, did no one else in the family EVER go to the basement? I just don't understand it...