A monstrous father who kept his daughter as a slave could soon be released from prison.
Austrian-born Josef Fritzl kept his daughter imprisoned underground for 24 years.
Elisabeth fell victim to horrific abuse at the hands of her own father when she was just 11 years old.
At the age of 18, Fritzl asked for his daughter’s help to hang the final door on a cellar he’d been building for the purpose of holding her captive.
He held an ether-soaked cloth over her mouth and locked her in the cellar.
Elisabeth’s mother reported her missing after discovering she had vanished, though this wasn’t the first time Elisabeth had attempted to run away.
Fritzl took advantage of this, fabricating a story that she had fled to join a cult. To make his lie more convincing, he forced Elisabeth to write a letter confirming his claim, which authorities accepted as the truth.
While trapped in the cellar, Elisabeth suffered relentless abuse at the hands of her father, who r**ed her repeatedly.
The years of horror resulted in her giving birth to seven of his children.
Three of the children remained in captivity with their mother, while the other three were left outside the family home with notes claiming Elisabeth was unable to care for them.
Believing the deception, Elisabeth’s mother, Rosemarie, and Fritzl took them in and raised them as their own.
Tragically, one newborn passed away just days after birth. Rather than seeking medical assistance, Fritzl incinerated the infant’s body—a crime that later resulted in a charge of negligent homicide.
Not only was Elisabeth r**ed by her father, but Fritzl also beat her and forced her to reenact p****graphic acts in front of her children.
He would punish her and the three children by switching off the power for days at a time and threatened them with electrocution if they tried to break out of the cellar.
When she was 42 years old, Elisabeth managed to escape her enslavement.
The catalyst for a series of events that led to Elisabeth’s escape began when her 19-year-old daughter, Kristen, became critically ill.
Fritzl took her to the hospital and doctors became suspicious after seeing Kristen’s condition. She was deathly pale and her teeth were in a terrible state.
The media made appeals for Elisabeth to come forward, believing she had been the one to neglect and abuse her children.
Eventually, Elisabeth managed to persuade her father to let her leave the cellar.
As Fritzl aged and his health declined, he finally agreed.
He took Elisabeth to the hospital, claiming she had suddenly appeared on his doorstep—just as he had falsely stated about her children years earlier.
Authorities quickly separated Elisabeth from Fritzl, initially threatening her with child abuse charges. It was then that she revealed the horrific truth about the years of torment she had endured.
In 2009, Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of r**e, incest, enslavement, and negligent homicide.
He was placed in an institution for mentally disturbed prisoners.
In January 2024, however, a court ruled that Austria’s most notorious criminal could be transferred to a regular prison.
The ruling came about due to Fritzl’s ‘progressive dementia’ and physical frailty.
He was deemed as being ‘no longer likely to commit a criminal offense with serious consequences’ and was therefore seen as someone who doesn’t need to be kept in a psychiatric unit.
This could have paved the way for Fritzl to be released from prison into a nursing home, but that decision was overturned by the Vienna Higher Regional Court in March.
Now, though, Fritzl’s lawyer, Astrid Wagner, has stated that she plans to submit a parole application in March and remains optimistic about his release, arguing that his advanced age and frail health mean he no longer poses a threat to society.
Wagner told the Mirror: “If the court rejects it we will appeal and given his condition, I believe he will be released by next year.”
In an interview with The Sun, Fritzl said: “I miss my family very, very much. I am sure that we are going to be reunited and I think they are going to forgive me for what I have done.”
Elisabeth was given a new name following the trial. She still lives in Austria with her six children.
