Josef Fritzl Is The Monster of Amstetten

Discovery and Horror

On the 19th of April 2008, Elisabeth’s eldest daughter Kerstin falls sick. Unconscious and unresponsive, Elisabeth pleads with her father to get medical attention for her daughter. Surprisingly, he agrees, and with Elisabeth’s help he carries Kerstin out of the dungeon. It is the first time either of the women have been outside in decades. Elisabeth is then forced to return to the dungeon while Kerstin is taken to hospital in an ambulance. She has kidney failure. Fritzl arrives at the hospital later with another note, again written by Elisabeth. Doctors were suspicious of both Fritzl story and his manner so on the 21st of April, they alert the police.

This is when Fritzl’s story began to fall apart. Experts poked holes in his reasoning that Elisabeth had joined a cult, and the police noted that her letters were oddly written and appeared dictated. Fritzl could see that everything was collapsing, and he goes into damage control.

On the 26th of April 2008, Josef Fritzl released his daughter, Elisabeth and her two remaining children from the cellar. He tells his wife that Elisabeth decided to return after her long absence, and he thanked the police and social services for helping to look for her. His wife, though surprised, believes him. She will go on to claim that she had no idea of what was happening in her own basement, and refuse to testify at trial.

The final blow is laid after Elisabeth goes to the hospital with her father and police detained them both for questioning. Initially, Elisabeth refuses to answer the police’s questions. Eventually, after promised that she would never have to see her father again (a promise they upheld throughout the trial), she began to tell her terrible story. For two hours, she tells them of the horrors that had been experienced by her and her children at the hands of Josef Fritzl. He is arrested the same night.

Justice

Josef Fritzl confessed that he had kept Elisabeth imprisoned in his basement for 24 years and fathered her children. DNA tests later confirmed this. His trial lasts four days, and he is found guilty of murder by negligence (of his son/grandson Michael), enslavement, incest, rape, coercion and false imprisonment. He will spend what is left of his life behind bars, and be forever known as the ‘Monster of Amstetten.’

Could there be anything more evil than this?