« Today's Daily Word - Friday, March 20, 2009 | Main | Ninja detained for questioning in murder case »
March 20, 2009
Life behind bars for man who fathered 7 kids with daughter
Austrian Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter in a cellar and fathered her seven children, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Fritzl, 73, was found guilty of all charges against him, including rape, incest, murder and enslavement. The court ordered that Fritzl should serve his life sentence in a secure psychiatric facility.
Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said outside the court after the verdict: "I would say that the verdict was a logical consequence of a confession. Of course if you have 3,000 cases of rape and 24 years of being kept in a cellar, it is evident that there can only be a punishment or verdict like this one."
The life sentence was handed down for the murder by neglect of one of the children, who died soon after birth.
The defendant first denied murder and enslavement but changed his plea to guilty after seeing testimony from his daughter. The verdict is final and irreversible, as neither the defence nor the prosecution is contesting it.
Fritzl, who will be kept under suicide watch, will be sent to a co-ordination centre, where it will be determined how dangerous he is, before going on to the psychiatric facility.
Fritzl's daughter could also bring a civil case against her father, adding that there was no limit to the damages she could request.
The Austrian imprisoned his daughter in a cellar under his house for 24 years and repeatedly raped her. The daughter and three of the children were kept captive in the cellar until the case came to light in April last year, when one of them became seriously ill and was taken to hospital.
The other three children were raised in the family home by Fritzl and his wife, after he told people that his daughter had abandoned them and joined a sect.
.