Fritzl prepares to die in prison

JOSEF FRITZL, a 73-year-old Austrian who locked his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, expects to spend the rest of his life in jail, his lawyer said yesterday.

Fritzl goes on trial in a provincial court on March 16 for the murder of a child who died shortly after being born in the cellar, as well as five other charges, including incest.

“He is 73-years-old. The [length of] the sentence is of no importance to him,” Fritzl’s lawyer Rudolf Mayer said, adding that his client expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Fritzl has not appealed the charges. He will plead guilty to the charges of deprivation of liberty, rape, incest and coercion but will contest the murder charge, Mayer said.

Josef Fritzl is not a “sex monster,” Mayer said, referring to media headlines, and “loved [Elisabeth] in his own way”.

State prosecutors say Fritzl could serve 10-15 years or a life sentence in prison. The trial’s verdict is expected on March 20. Fritzl is being held in custody in St Poelten, about 80km west of Vienna.

Fritzl lured his daughter into the cellar of his house in Amstetten in 1984, drugging and locking her up for most of her adult life, according to police. He claimed she had disappeared to join a sect.