An Austrian who fathered seven children with a daughter he locked in a cellar for 24 years pleaded guilty on Wednesday to enslavement and murder.
The windowless space had no heating, no hot water, no sunlight or fresh air, but it was Elisabeth Fritzl’s home and that of her children for 24 years.
Elisabeth Fritzl, the Austrian woman who was held hostage in a cellar by her father for 24 years, has begun to tell her story to prosecutors.
The family of Austrian incest father Josef Fritzl has been able to enjoy outdoor activities and even leave the clinic where they are staying.
Psychologists experienced in helping the victims of sexual abuse and prolonged isolation say that great care will need to be used in trying to bring some normality to the lives of Elisabeth Fritzl and her children. Elisabeth ”may have been compliant because she had her children to protect,” said Lesley Perman-Kerr, who is in private practice in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
”Astonishing” and ”moving”, were the words used by psychiatrists on Tuesday to describe the scene as Elisabeth Fritzl and five of her children were reunited for the first time. The meeting followed years of separation after three of the children fathered through incest by Josef Fritzl were ”chosen” to live above ground.
DNA tests showed that Austrian Josef Fritzl, who raped his daughter and kept her prisoner in a windowless cellar for 24 years, was the father of her six surviving children, police said on Tuesday. Fritzl has confessed to imprisoning his daughter Elisabeth in the cellar beneath their two-storey home and fathering seven children by her.