Father confesses to 24 year abuse
Updated on 28 April 2008
The man who abused his daughter and fathered six children with her, confesses to a 24 year trail of abuse in the cellar of a house in Austria. Keme Nzerem reports.
Josef Fritzl has confessed to the most heinous of crimes - imprisoning his daughter in a secret cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children.
The victim, known as Elizabeth F, lived in a makeshift basement containing a living room, kitchenette and bathroom for half her life. The entrance was hidden behind shelves, a secret code was needed to open the reinforced concrete door.
Its walls stand just inches apart, the ceilings just at just five and a half feet - there's barely enough room to stand up.
Background: timeline and key facts
A timeline of key dates and events leading up to the discovery of a daughter who had been held captive for 24 years by her father and who had given birth six times by him.
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Neighbours, and apparently even his wife thought Josef Fritzl was a respectable retired engineer. But over the weekend they saw Mr Fritzl bundled into a police car for abducting Elizabeth when she was 18.
29 Ybbsstrase, is the family home. But what no-one knew is beyond the front door door lay a secret cellar, where since August 28th 1984 Elizabeth was a captive, drugged and handcuffed - who went on to bear seven children by her father.
Three of those children were also kept with Elizabeth locked away from the world behind those walls, apparently never seeing the light of day until their release. Elizabeth, Josef told the world, had run away.
Austrian police have released the following handout provided by the Security Administration of Lower Austria. It shows the hidden bedroom at the house and hiding place, where a father imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and had seven children with her, in Amstetten, Austria
(Credit: Getty)
Austrian police have released the following handout provided by the Security Administration of Lower Austria. It shows the hidden bedroom at the house and hiding place, where a father imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and had seven children with her, in Amstetten, Austria
(Credit: Getty)
Fritzl Family Tree
73-year-old Josef Fritzl was married to Rosemarie - between them they had four or five children. But then Josef went on to have seven more children with Elizabeth.
Three were kept with Elizabeth in the cellar - the oldest, 19-year-old Kirsten, Stefan who's 18 and the youngest five-year-old Felix
Three others, Lisa (16), Monika (14) and Alexander (12), lived normally in the house above with their grandparents, who claimed they'd been abandoned by their mother.
Which leaves one more child - according to Elizabeth, a twin to Felix born in 2002 who only lived for a few days, and who's body was burned by Josef.
Twenty four hours since this extraordinary story became public the details are still being pieced together. When one of the hidden children - Kirsten - fell badly ill, she appeared with a note seemingly from Elisabeth asking for her to be cared for.
However the hospital wanted to talk to the mother to find out more about her medical condition. When Joseph brought Elizabeth out of her hiding place, reportedly telling Rosemarie their "missing" daughter had returned, she was pale and malnourished.
Elizabeth agreed to tell police the truth about her secret prison after they assured her she'd no longer have to see her father, and her children would be looked after.
"We now know that a mother didn't abandon her child. But was herself held captive for 24 years in a cellar by her father, and furthermore, was the victim of sexual abuse... that led to this woman bringing six children into the world in captivity. They all apparently share the same father." - Franz Polzer, head of Lower Austrian Bureau of Criminal Affairs:
By the time Josef Fritzl confession forensic police had already discovered a padded cell in the rooms below his apartment. They believe there may be more to the grim complex. Neighbours looking on are incredulous.
"One of the children went to primary school with my son. I only know the grandmother and she seemed to me very caring. I admired her because her grandchildren were dropped off at her door and she cared a lot for them." - Herta Gabriel, local resident
Josef Fritzl's children are now in care. His daughter Elizabeth is described as "very disturbed" - she's understandably having trouble talking to police about her ordeal.
