AN IMPASSIVE Josef Fritzl waived his right to appeal yesterday after receiving a life sentence for locking his daughter in a cellar under his home for 24 years and allowing one of their seven children to die there.
The 73-year-old told an Austrian court yesterday he had pleaded guilty to all charges against him to “limit the damage” to his daughter Elisabeth and other family.
“I regret from the bottom of my heart what I’ve done to my family,” said Fritzl, who now faces at least 15 years in prison. “Sadly I cannot undo what I did.” State prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser urged the jury to ignore this apparent show of regret. “Don’t be fooled as Elisabeth was 24 years ago,” she said.
In August 1984, Fritzl drugged his daughter and locked her in a hidden cellar beneath their home. There, he raped and beat her, impregnating her at least nine times. Elisabeth gave birth to seven babies in the cellar, one of whom died shortly after birth in 1996.
After Elisabeth’s disappearance, Fritzl said she had joined a cult, returning on three occasions to leave newborn babies on their doorstep.
His deception was revealed last April when his eldest “cellar” child became ill and was hospitalised.
After contesting some charges at the opening on the trial on Monday, Fritzl changed his plea to guilty on all counts. He agreed his negligence led to the death of baby Michael.
Former Fritzl neighbours in Amstetten gave a mixed reaction to yesterday’s verdict, the maximum for murder by negligence.
“I would lock him up in a cellar until the end of his days so he can feel what it was like,” said one woman, who asked not to be named. “No words can describe what he did.”