Austrian mobster Josef Fritzl – who fathered seven children with his daughter while locking her up as a sex slave for 24 years – could soon be freed after being deemed no longer a threat to the public, according to reports.
Fritzl, now 88, received a life sentence in 2009 for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment and enslavement of his daughter Elisabeth in the basement of his home in Amstetten — as well as manslaughter for the death of one of the seven children he gave birth to.
Under the terms of his sentence, Fritzl will be eligible for parole this year – and his release could come after a psychiatric report determined he was “no longer dangerous,” UK’s Metro reported.
“I am already in the process of getting a conditional discharge for him,” Fritzl’s lawyer Astrid Wagner told local newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
“If the application is approved, which I assume it will be, I want to make sure he gets a place in a home for vulnerable people,” he said, according to the Mirror.
Josef Fritzl. 88, the notorious Austrian prisoner who fathered seven children with his daughter while holding her for 24 years as a sex slave, may soon be released after being deemed no longer a threat. EPA
It is unclear when a final decision will be made.
Heidi Kastner, a forensic psychiatrist from the University of Linz, spent a year preparing the report concluding that the country’s most notorious prisoner no longer poses a public threat.
He said he could be moved through the regular prison system at Krems-Stein prison as part of the first step toward release – most likely to a nursing home to live out his final years.
Fritzl appeared confused, often talking to TV, believing he was a pop star and discussing family visits that never happened, the report said, citing local media.
He also reportedly suffered several falls behind bars and required a walker.
Elisabeth Fritzl at the age of 16.
Fritzl’s crimes were first discovered in April 2008 after he took one of Elisabeth’s children to hospital with a life-threatening illness.
Of the seven children born to her daughter’s repeated abuse between the ages of 18 and 42, three remained in captivity with her and one died shortly after birth.
Police photo of the basement where Elisabeth and her children were held. ABACAUSA.COM
The others were raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, after he claimed they had appeared on their doorstep.
Elisabeth, who was given a new name after the trial, now lives with her six surviving children in an undisclosed community referred to as “Village X” in the Austrian countryside, the Mirror reported.
Josef Fritzl arrives in court for a hearing on March 19, 2009. AFP/Getty Images
The children – now aged between 17 and 31 – sleep in a room with the door constantly open after undergoing weekly therapy sessions to help them cope with the trauma of the dungeon.
In 2009, a year after she escaped from captivity, Elisabeth found love with Thomas Wagner, a bodyguard 23 years her junior who had been assigned to protect her, according to the outlet.
Elisabeth and one of her daughters, Lisa, at the age of 14.
“This is a clear proof of love being the strongest force in the world,” said one of his psychiatrists.
“With her doctor’s approval, she has stopped psychiatric therapy while she gets on with her life – learning to drive, helping her children with their homework, making friends with people in her area,” the expert said.
“He lost the best years of his life in that cellar. He is determined that every day that remains for him will be filled with activity,” added the psychiatrist.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
