Strollerderby : austria

UPDATE - Josef Fritzl Sentenced To Life In Psychiatric Institution

Brett Singer — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:35:00 GMT

UPDATE: Josef Fritzl has been sentenced to life in a psychiatric institution. While onthe surface this seems like justice has been served, The Scotsman says that the ruling means he could be free in 15 years if a doctor says he's been cured of whatever they decide is wrong with him. Basically, Fritzl is eligible for parole in 15 years. It's not a big chance, but it could happen. Which would be bad. The Scotsman's Stephen McGinty does say that, "It is likely...that [Fritzl] will die in prison," since he is 73 years old.

Earlier posts follow.

*-*-*-*-*

Josef Fritzl's daughter Elisabeth testified against him on Tuesday, according to CNN. Thankfully, it was by videotape. Elisabeth and the children she had as a result of her father's abuse are living in an undisclosed location with new identities.

How do you go on after something like that? I'm amazed and oddly impressed that Elisabeth has the strength to go on living, much less testify against her father. Of course, I imagine she would like nothing more than to see him go to prison for the rest of his life.

The case has become a major media event in Austria, with crowds gathering in and out of the courtroom. Press has been barred from certain parts of the trial, including Elisabeth's testimony.

*-*-*-*-*

CNN is reporting that Josef Fritzl will plead guilty to rape and incest on Monday. He will not plead guilty to charges of "murder, enslavement and assault." Fritzl's lawyer says that his client "expects to spend the rest of his life in prison." Um, yeah, that sounds right. That said, the charges he's pleading guilty to carry relatively short prison terms -- five to fifteen years for rape, one year for incest. The biggest is the murder charge, which, as discussed below, some experts think will be tough to prove. I guess it's a good thing that Fritzl will definitely be found guilty of something, although if he goes to jail for only a couple of years, that would be tragic.

Original post follows.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Josef Fritzl, the man who kept his daughter locked in the basement for more than 20 years and impregnated her multiple times, is finally going on trial.

Disturbingly, he may spend only 15 years in jail. Or less.

According to London's Times Online, the "Austrian incest monster" is about to stand trial for "murder, incest, unlawful imprisonment and enslavement." Fritzl thinks that he could receive less than 10 years in prison.

He may be right. Some lawyers feel that the murder charge, which is based on the fact that he allowed one of the children he had with his own daughter to die, won't stick. That leaves rape as the biggest charge, which under Austrian law carries a 15 year sentence. Parole, good behavior -- he could be out in five years.

I know that everyone is entitled to a defense, but the one that Fritzl and his lawyer are offering is almost as disturbing as what he did. Fritzl is "claiming that his daughter was having sex when she was barely out of her teens. She smoked. She took drugs. She drank. He wanted to save her." His lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, says of his client: "He is not a monster. He loved his daughter in his own way." The father also says that he took good care of his "captives", citing the fact that the bird he bought them lived as evidence of good air quality in their underground prison. (This is at least consistent with the insane statements he made last year.)

As a quick reminder, Fritzl kept his daughter Elisabeth in the basement, along with some of the children they had together. Three of them were allowed to live upstairs -- the "upstairs children". The cellar was equipped with soundproof walls. Elisabeth was forced to write a letter saying that she had run away and joined a cult. This was a well thought out crime. Fritzl says that he is "not normal," but that's as close as he's come to an apology.

Making matters worse, prosecutors may cut a deal that will allow Fritzl to choose the prison where he serves his short sentence. One that lets him sing in a choir and take cooking lessons. When he gets out, he wants to go back home and live with his wife.

According to the Times, many feel that this situation could have been avoided if social workers had done their jobs. That may be the case, but the idea that this monster could get off with a light jail sentence in a country club prison is horrible. Not as horrible as what he did. But it's pretty close.

Source: timesonline.co.uk

Image: BBC

Boy Finds Spider Monkey in Backyard - Video

Woman Trades Two Kids For Bird

Teen Dad's Father Wearing Halloween Mask In Public

Should These Parents Be Charged With Murder?

92-Year-Old Delivers Baby

Parents Say Hospital Took Son's Organs Without Consent

The Best and Worst of 2008

Austrian incest mom speaks out

Brett Singer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Remember Josef Fritzl, the human monster who locked his daughter in the cellar and got her pregnant multiple times? She's speaking to the press now, and while you know her story is a horrible one, the details are still chilling.

Elisabeth Fritzl, who was locked in an Austrian basement for almost 25 years and bore seven children by her father, says he raped her three times a week.

Josef Fritzl also regularly threatened to abandon her and three of her children in the cellar, leaving them to starve if they didn't follow his commands, Elisabeth said in her first public comments, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

This went on for 24 years. Other than mass genocide, I have to say that this might be the most horrendous story of all time. It's certainly in the top 10. Back when we first posted this story, commenter SussLW said, "Rather reminds me of some early V.C. Andrews novels, actually, which were also disturbing, but at least they were works of fiction." Indeed.

Source: UPI, via Madeline's excellent Morning News, which you should be reading if you aren't already

image: BBC

Principal Regrets Forcing Kids to Look at Bag of Poop

Mayor Wants Paroled Child-Killer Out Of Town

Morning News: More Sex, Some Drugs, and Rockin' Oil

Grand Theft Auto player saves family

Dad And Autistic Son Tread Water Overnight After Being Swept Out To Sea

The Gruesome Origins of Five Fairy Tales

Disturbing Origins of 5 Nursery Rhymes

Important news stories depicted by five year olds

Monster dad's daughter is awakened from coma

Brett Singer — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT

It's Friday the 13th, which seems like a good day for a story like this one.

Kerstin Fritzl, the incestuous daughter of Austrian lunatic Josef Fritzl, was awakened from an artificial coma this week. According to Reuters, "Doctors put her into an artificial coma after she suffered from cramping fits due to oxygen deficiency and kidney problems and was brought from the prison cellar to hospital by Fritzl."

The case is still being investigated by Austrian authorities, who are looking into charged Fritzl with "coercion, rape, incest and the death" of one of the children he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth. He has "admitted incarceration and incest"; I'm not sure how the Austrian legal system works, therefore I don't know if that admission is equal to an admission of guilt.

Now this is a tricky sentence: "Austrian media reported that Kerstin might have been reunited with her mother, her grandmother and her siblings who are all cared for at the hospital." What I think it means is that Kerstin was reunited with her mother, Elisabeth, who is also her sister. Her grandmother is also her great-grandmother… is that right? It's a little confusing.

If you've forgotten the details of this story consider yourself lucky, but if you want to refresh your memory, click here.

images: BBC

Woman Finds Frozen Siblings While Searching for Pizza

Madeline Holler — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:29:00 GMT

Ugh! Between the Austrian father/grandfather dungeon master and this little bit of nastiness out of Germany, you gotta wonder what the hell was going on in Europe in the early '80s.

While the 18-year-old daughter of a German couple was searching for frozen pizza in the family deep-freeze, she came across not one, not two, but THREE bagged up and frozen babies, who turned out to be her siblings.

She confronted her mother and they all went to the authorities, who are now investigating. Apparently, the mother -- a rather corpulent, zaftig woman -- had been pregnant and given birth several times without anyone in the family knowing.

Why the mother kept the pregnancies and births a secret, whether they were born alive, and why she froze them are still unanswered questions.

Satan upset at how he's been portrayed in the media

Brett Singer — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Well, not Satan specifically. But kind of.

Josef Fritzl, or "Incest dad" as CNN calls him, told his lawyer that he is unhappy at the picture of him that has been painted by worldwide media outlets. Apparently Fritzl told his attorney, "I'm only being portrayed as a monster and not as someone who committed monstrous acts."

Oh! Because you might be a nice guy who just happens to have committed an insanely vile act. Repeatedly. For over 20 years. Sort of a "Hitler liked dogs and children" kind of thing. Okay.

Fritzl also says that he "must have been crazy," because he knew what he was doing was wrong. "I tried as best I could to care for my family in the cellar…When I went into the bunker, I brought my daughter flowers and my children books and stuffed animals," Fritzl said, adding he would watch adventure videos with the children while Elisabeth cooked their favorite meals. "And then we'd all sit at the kitchen table and eat together."

Considering that the kids only speak in grunts, that must have been some dinner table conversation. Then after dinner he would go upstairs and continue to keep them locked in the basement. But he's no monster.

It actually gets worse from there – he first locked up his daughter (the one he fathered seven children with) when she hit puberty and stopped "following orders," and even makes a vague attempt to blame his actions on an unhappy childhood.

It bears repeating that even Howard Stern said there was nothing funny about this story. (The best I could do was "somebody's not getting a Father's Day present," which isn't very good.) The more we find out about this thing, the more disgusting it gets.

image: BBC

Cellar Dad Update: Dungeon Kids Only Speak In Grunts and Gurgles

Cole Gamble — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:01:00 GMT

Brett originally brought you the story of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who fathered three children with his daughter and kept the whole lot of them locked in a cellar for 24 years. Now comes word what that kind of severe psychological damage can do to people.

The kids, 19, 18 and fives years of age were reportedly “wide-eyed and mouth opened” to see human faces other than their own for the first time in life. The kids believed the outside world was “heaven” after their mother told them “heaven is up there.” Kirsten, the 19-year-old girl, was found missing most of her teeth and now lies critically ill in a hospital.

Authorities say the boys, Felix and Stefan, were shocked by the sudden exposure to sunlight and spoke to each other in an invented language of grunts and gurgles.

"When they want to articulate what they say in order for us to understand them, they do make an effort - presumably out of politeness. But it does cost them a lot of energy, “said Inspector Leopold Etz. Words truly do fail. I hope this is not a story that gets forgotten for the next thing. I want to know how these kids, including Kirsten provided she survives, adjust to life in the real world. Can one ever real fully acclimate after such an experience?

Images: BBC

The face of evil: Cellar Dad revealed

Brett Singer — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Austrian Police have released a photo of Josef Fritzl, who has now confessed to keeping his daughter, and the children he fathered with her, in the cellar of their home for 24 years.

I mean, ouch.

The BBC has a bunch of coverage on this story, reporting that DNA evidence backs up the charges, a timeline of the events of the case going back to 1984, and an analysis of the possible psychological effects the whole being-kept-in-the-basement thing can do to a person. One London pediatrician is quoted as say, "It is possible that if you eat a good diet, you won't necessarily need much sunlight." Oh, OK.

Here's a shot of the cellar, which has "a concealed network of windowless chambers."

This story is so horrible that Howard Stern actually said there was nothing funny about it. If he can't come up with a joke, I don't know who can.

Man kept his daughter in basement for 24 years

UPDATE: Dungeon Kids Only Speak In Grunts and Gurgles

images: BBC

Man kept his daughter in basement for 24 years and got her pregnant 6 times

Brett Singer — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Just when you think you've heard it all, there's a story like this one.

An Austrian man kept his daughter in the basement of their home for 24 years. During that time, he had a sexual relationship with her that produced " at least six children." The situation was discovered when one of their daughters, now 19, was hospitalized. After a DNA test hospital officials discovered that the man who brought her to the hospital was not only her grandfather, but also her father.

The man, 73 years old, is being identified as "Josef F." The daughter, Elisabeth F., is now 42; she was 18 when her father dragged her into the basement. Apparently Josef's wife – Elisabeth's mother – was unaware of what was happening. Three of the children that Josef and Elisabeth had together lived with their mother in the cellar, the other three lived upstairs. Josef told his wife that Elisabeth, who had been legally "missing" since 1984, had left the children on their doorstep.

Neighbors are shocked. I'm a bit nauseous.

The video report points out that all of this is "alleged" rather than proven; police are investigating.

There are more details that are actually hard to read, much less summarize. Read it at CNN.com, but be warned: it's rough stuff.

The face of evil

image: CNN.com