Austria
Josef Fritzl on his family: “I think they will forgive me”
Josef Fritzl in court
© HELMUT FOHRINGER/ / Picture Alliance
Josef Fritzl kept his daughter in the basement for 24 years, raped her and fathered several children with her. In an interview he now says that he believes his family will still forgive him.
From 1984 to 2007, Josef Fritzl locked his daughter in a basement in his home in Amstetten, Austria. During this long time he raped her several times and fathered a total of seven children with her. In 2008 it finally came to light what he had done to his family because one of his children/grandchildren became seriously ill and required medical treatment in the hospital. A year later, Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment with committal to an institution for mentally abnormal lawbreakers for murder by omission, severe coercion, incest, rape and imprisonment.
In March of this year, the higher regional court in Vienna examined whether Fritzl, who has since adopted a different name, could be transferred from the high-security prison for criminals with mental illnesses to a normal prison. There the 87-year-old could have hoped for an early release. However, the court ultimately decided against it because he still suffers from a mental illness.
“Incest Monster” gives an interview
Now the Austrian, who is being held in Stein prison, spoke to the British tabloid “Sun” about how he was doing in prison. He gets along well most of the time, Fritzl stated. He drinks coffee and cocoa in the morning, eats two eggs and toast. He takes vitamin C tablets every day and drinks a lot of water because he had read that people could live to be 150 if they eat healthily and exercise. His personal goal: “Become 130, that’s my plan,” says Fritzl.
“I miss my family,” he also says, adding that he would like to meet his grandchildren at some point: “I think they will forgive me,” he believes. Fritzl, who is said to suffer from dementia, also wants to join reconcile with his ex-wife, from whom he has been divorced for 11 years.It remains to be seen whether his illness is responsible for these very optimistic assessments.