Imprisoned Incest Victim ‘Locked Up For Enjoying Herself’…
Friday, May 9, 2008Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags:the evil that men do
Apparently, Joseph Fritzl, locked his daughter up because she was enjoying too many nights out, according to an Austrian newspaper.
Austrian incest victim Elisabeth Fritzl was imprisoned for 24 years by her father because the then 18-year-old was reportedly enjoying too many nights out.
Shortly before she was locked in a cellar in 1984, Elisabeth wrote a series of letters to her friends, which have been published by Austrian publication the daily Oesterreich.
The notes paint a picture a normal teenager, writing about her daily life, her hobbies and a drunken night out with friends.
But her father Josef Fritzl disapproved of her social life and used it to justify locking up his outgoing daughter, another Austrian paper claimed.
“She did not obey any rules, she hung around in dodgy bars all night, drank, smoked,” he allegedly said.
“That’s why I had to provide, I had to create a place, in which I could keep Elisabeth away from the outside world, by force if I had to.
“I grew up under the Nazis, drills and discipline meant a lot at the time. I probably adopted some of this, unconsciously of course. But I’m no monster,” he said, adding that he had agonised over whether to free her.
“My situation became crazier with every week that I held my daughter captive. I considered again and again whether I should let her go or not,” he told his lawyer.
Fritzl denied the abuse had started when Elisabeth was 11. “That’s not true. I’m not a guy who abuses young children,” said Fritzl.
“It began later, much later. Not until she was ‘downstairs,'” he added. “The truth was, I wanted children with Elisabeth.
“I was happy about the kids. It was nice for me to also have a real family in the cellar, with a wife and a couple of children.”
He described the dungeon – 55m square – with no fresh air or natural light – as a typical household.
“I watched action films with them (the children) on the VCR while Elisabeth cooked our favourite dishes,” he said.
“Then we all sat down at the kitchen table and ate together.”
Fritzl said they celebrated Christmas and birthdays underground when he would sneak in Christmas trees, cakes and presents into the dungeon.
In August 1984, weeks before she vanished, Elisabeth wrote in a letter: “I like to listen to music and daydream. But if life is only made of dreams, well, I don’t know.”
She also spoke of her plans to leave home and move in with her sister after completing exams.
“When you get this letter, it will all be over. I’ll give you my new address as soon as I’ve moved,” she wrote in a letter to a friend in May that year, according to the daily Oesterreich.
It was a move she would never make – as she was forced into an underground chamber just weeks later, where she would be repeatedly raped by her father.
Isn’t it strange how people who commit such acts never feel as if they’ve done anything wrong?
I want him to suffer in prison. And I mean really suffer. If it was up to me, he’d live on bread, water, and daily beatings. Unfortunately, he’ll probably be left in solitary confinement for his own safety, living in relative luxury.
loonigrrl
May 9
10:31 am
This is so horrifying and sickening. And the size of the room? What about the children? Where did they go when he was raping her? No where. They were right there too. It’s disgusting.
I read a news article that suggested he had been planning her imprisonment since she was about 11 or 12 because that was around the time that he had some work done on their house and had the secret basement built. Not sure if that’s true, but from what I’ve heard the basement was even kept from the floor plans.
I don’t even know what an appropriate punishment would be. Solitary confinement? Life in prison? It’s just not enough.
Nathalie
May 9
10:52 am
I live in Germany, Austria’s neighbor to the north/west, and this story is all over the news. It’s all people talk about at the stores, the restaurants, between friends. And everyone asks the same thing: how could it have gone on for so long?!
As you said, he probably won’t suffer. Vicious old turd.
AztecLady
May 9
12:16 pm
What is getting me sicker by the day is that it would seem they are aiming for insanity defense. “The Nazis made me do it!” (paraphrasing wildly, people) was mentioned, as well as “I was addicted to her, I brought her flowers, I must have been crazy.”
Nathalie
May 9
1:29 pm
Azteclady, I know. They’re maintaining he *must* be crazy to do something like this. And to his own daughter, etc.
As if people need to be crazy to do sick things to the vulnerable.
I hope someone staples his balls to the wall.
Hey, I can dream, right.
Anne
May 9
1:42 pm
He’s one sick puppy, that guy. I hope they butt fuck the hell out of him in prison.
Shiloh Walker
May 9
1:52 pm
Gee…. if he considered it so much, maybe he should have done so.
Sick bastard.
Jade James
May 9
2:05 pm
Agreed! Then strung up by the balls to die a slow, torturous death.
Ann Aguirre
May 9
2:18 pm
I read one article where he complained that the press coverage was too “one-sided” and that he’s not such a bad guy. I’m paraphrasing here:
“I didn’t have to treat them so nicely. I could have killed them all anytime I wanted and nobody would have ever known anything about this. I’m the one who got medical help for my daughter.” (The one who is now in a coma with respiratory trouble)
I can only gape at that sentiment. If not for him, none of this would have happened! Why in the world does he think he’s worth commending because he didn’t actively slay anyone? Good God. He burned a baby in a trash incinerator, a child who didn’t receive proper care, I would assume because the mother was forced to give birth ALONE in a dungeon. Christ.
Capo
May 9
2:25 pm
You can’t believe a word this sicko man says. Unfortunately, Nathalie is probably right in that he won’t be made to suffer or even know a punishment close to fitting his crimes.
katiebabs
May 9
2:31 pm
Sick bastard. Cut off his balls and set him on fire.
Puppet Truth
May 9
2:36 pm
The guy repeatedly violated a minor, and his own child. In the states, in prison, they don’t take kindly to that, he would be someone’s bitch within a day, and dead a month later. I hope Austrian prisons are as severe.
Cindy
May 9
3:52 pm
With a dull, rusty knife.
Nonny
May 9
3:57 pm
Normally, I’m not terribly crazy on the death penalty because of cases where innocents have been convicted and put on death row. But, here, I have to agree with my grandmother: “Some people just need killing.”
Anon76
May 9
5:28 pm
I truly hope he is sent to prison and they do a “Jeffrey Dahmer” on him. Meaning what the inmates did to Dahmer, not what he did to others.
I’ve spent my whole life praying my stepdad will live forever (he has MS). I want him to rot in his own body.
Harsh? You betcha. But a 6’3″ man punching a 6-year-old in the nose, and then making her clean up the blood spot on the carpet ALLOWS me to be harsh. (And this wasn’t his only f-up.)
This guy in the article, well he should suffer. And I’m not ashamed to say so.
kirsten saell
May 9
5:44 pm
Yeah, MS or ALS would be the perfect cosmic justice for that guy. It’s shitty to see nice people get these diseases when there are so many more deserving candidates out there.
Anon76
May 9
6:15 pm
Yeah, Kirsten, ALS would be a fine judgement for that guy. My MIL had it, and it wasn’t pretty.
I’m not a witch, but I often have trouble with pure evil people like this guy sucking on my tax dollars. I don’t think he deserves death, at least not yet…bwahahaha
Robin
May 9
7:03 pm
I don’t know about Austria, but in the US, the standard for insanity comes from the 19th century M’Naghten test (which most states use) and has been incorporated into federal law as follows: “the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts.” So insanity requires the inability to understand the act’s wrongfulness, which is a pretty high standard to meet.
As for the Nazi party, there has been a lot written on the sexual beliefs of the Nazis, and expansive sexual experimentation and practices were not uncommon or discouraged, as long as they were engaged in by the Aryans. So that part of his “defense” doesn’t surprise me at all (i.e. in his mind he was making her “pure” even as he was violating her).
Bernita
May 9
7:22 pm
Robyn, as I understand application of the McNaghten rules ( used in Canada, also), the fact that he took great and devious pains to hide their imprisonment is proof of mens rea.
But who knows what criteria Austrian courts rely on.
Robin
May 9
7:38 pm
Even the US had relaxed the standard somewhat, until, that is, the assassination attempt on Reagan. Now we’re (mostly) back to M’Naghten. But yeah, under the M’Naghten standard, it’s difficult to see an absence of knowledge and intent. I didn’t realize that Canada used that standard, too (I have very mixed feelings about the application of M’Naghten).
Gail S
May 9
9:12 pm
This just horrifies me. I truly wish there were some way to scoop out all the pain he caused his daughter out of her brain and force him to experience it himself. Complete with the physical pain and despair and horror. That *Might* be enough. The lack of remorse is what really gets to me…
Tracy
May 9
10:24 pm
He didn’t like that she was socializing so much so he locks her in a dungeon and violates her for 20 years?!?!?!?! The guy deserves a punishment so severe that I can’t even think it up!
Sick doesn’t even describe this guy. He’s beyond sick.
Capo
May 9
10:31 pm
And the evil really showed when he told one of his former renters years before that his house would someday be famous. He knew he was doing wrong and proud of it. He’s not ill, he’s evil.
Sam
May 10
4:23 pm
O.k., the sick bastard is now 73. That means he was born in 1935.
Austria was annexed in 1938. So, while scary things may have been happening, he was an infant/toddler. The war ended in 1945, so he was 10 when it was over.
As for the discipline etc., The History Place (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/hitleryouth/hj-prelude.htm) says the following about kids Fritzl’s age and the Hitler Youth: “Little boys aged 6 to 10 were allowed to hang around the older boys and participate informally.” (emphasis mine)
So, while drills/discipline/scary shit were happening, he was *probably* not involved to the point that it would warp him so drastically. I’m hoping no one buys that excuse.
Note: I know it was an awful time, and I’m sure he was affected, I just don’t think it would have been enough to make him ‘insane’ (if that is the defense he’s going for).
I’m with many others in believing there isn’t anything bad enough that can happen to him.
Sam
Anne Rainey
May 10
4:33 pm
I have daughters and this makes me want to throw up. Children are a precious gift and when that gift is used and abused, then the abuser deserves the harshest punishment. Too often the abuser is treated with kid gloves because of his or her heartbreaking past. There is no excuse acceptable. Ever. Period.
The bottom line, children deserve to be protected. In this case, since the abuser is the parent, it’s our job to protect her by sentencing him to death for his immoral deeds.
We hear it all the time. A pedophile who has been to jail multiple times. There should be no ‘multiple’. Abuse/rape a child, you don’t deserve to live.
I’ve heard of thieves who’ve gotten more jail time than a child molester. That’s seriously messed up.