Father Confesses to Imprisoning Daughter for 24 years; Fathering her 7 children

[yby1]

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/father-confesses-to-imprisoning-daughter/20080427123809990001

This story is absolutely horrifying. I don't believe that the mother didn't have a clue what was going on. :mad:

[PinkMartini]

:eek: WTF? This has got to be the most bizarre news story I've heard in awhile...

3 of the children were living with grandparents. wouldn't that mean the grandparents knew what was going on? So how could the mother not know that her husband fathered 7 children?

[phoenics]

Oh I feel sick.

[Niobe]

3 of the children were living with grandparents. wouldn't that mean the grandparents knew what was going on? So how could the mother not know that her husband fathered 7 children?

That's what I'm wondering. :confused:

This is one of the most screwed up things I've ever heard, period. 3 of those children have never set foot outside of that basement. What kind of physical condition are they in? :(

[diam124]

This story may be one of the strangest (and saddest) I've ever heard. One article I read said that the kids still living with their mother had literally never seen the light of day. I can't even comprehend that.

[Adaya]

I was so confused when I heard this last night. At first, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. It's just so bizarre.

[Ericka_Jarett]

This is one of the most screwed up things I've ever heard, period. 3 of those children have never set foot outside of that basement. What kind of physical condition are they in? :(

This is how it came to light, one of the kids was seriously ill and needed to be hospitalized. That's how they came out of the basement.

This whole story is bizarre and sickening.

[sewhappy]

The story I read is that the grandfather (sicko) told his wife that his "missing" daughter had dropped three of those kids off at the door step because she couldn't care for them. When one of the basement kids became ill, he told her the same story.

Honestly, I just want to throw up now.

[Scooter]

That is one of the most horrific family stories I've ever heard. Especially the cremation of the baby who died. That space is so small, too. Ugh.

Here's an article that does a better job of explaining how this story came to light & the rest of the facts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7371043.stm


Here's another article, from the BBC: Source: Hope for the children of the cellar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7370889.stm)

The Austrian children locked in a cellar with their mother since birth have been through an experience that is hard to imagine.

But experts say the psychological damage they have suffered could be less severe than you may think

The two boys - aged 18 and five - and their 42-year-old mother Elisabeth F are said to be receiving medical and psychological treatment. The 19-year-old girl, Kerstin F, is in a coma in hospital for reasons that are unclear.
Slightly more uplifting! It talks about the effects on the children who were locked in with their mom, and how they might be able to mostly recover from this.

[Ericka_Jarett]

I can imagine the kids didn't miss much, since they never knew the outside world. The mother it has to be somewhat shocking, never seeing the light of day and knowing what she missed in the way of the sun, trees, flowers and such.

[diam124]

I wonder what the heck they did down there all day. I kind of doubt that they had access to a tv or anything.

[Ericka_Jarett]

actually according to the story, they had a tv. There was a plea for the mother of the teen to come forward. She saw it on the tv and asked her father to let her go to her child who is in a coma in the hospital. Then the dad confessed to what happened.

[Katie1]

What I don't get is, the man had enough of a conciense to bring the comatose girl to the hospital rather than letting her die. He had enough of a conciense to let the mother go to her daughter in the hospital. Seems a little out of character for someone who is amoral enough to do this to his daughter.

I wonder if he was ready to end this since he is getting old and he knew he may not be able to care for them in the basement much longer?

[LeslieR]

I think I'm going to throw up. That is just unreal. It has a whole Flowers In The Attic feel to it, doesn't it?

[imagirliegirl]

I don't see how his wife had no clue. Seriously, when the neighbor's kid is having a full blown scream session, I can hear him if I don't have the TV on and I'm in the right room. No way in hell could children be living in my basement without my knowledge.

[laura]

What kind of person would accept that story about the kids showing up out of nowhere at face value? I don't buy that the wife had no clue, either. She might not have known the horrific details, but she had to know something was amiss.

[Ummm]

the cellar is supposed to be sound-proof.

a very bizarre story indeed :(

[Ericka_Jarett]

I don't see how his wife had no clue. Seriously, when the neighbor's kid is having a full blown scream session, I can hear him if I don't have the TV on and I'm in the right room. No way in hell could children be living in my basement without my knowledge.

The reports I have read, said that the basement was very deep and totally soundproof. You could scream as loud as you wanted and no one would hear you. Plus having no windows would help with that aspect. Then the door having a lock that no one but the dad could use because of the code.

The mom had to be both heart-broken in the story her hubby said about the kids and her not being able to care for them, but then also sickened upon finding out that here it is, her own daughter was in the basement of their home for 24 yrs.

[Scooter]

What kind of person would accept that story about the kids showing up out of nowhere at face value? I don't buy that the wife had no clue, either. She might not have known the horrific details, but she had to know something was amiss.
I agree.

Besides that, the wife must have been unaware that her husband was molesting their daughter for 7 years before he even locked her up. I can't buy that, either. Something is up with that wife. And who knows what he was doing with the 3 grandkids that lived with them. :(

[Ericka_Jarett]

It does seem strange. Of course we don't know how he may have abused his wife either. He is an extremely sick man.

[Annette]

This story made me sick to my stomach. I hope he rots in jail for the rest of his life.

[Mrs. M.]

The local news reported that he apparently took vacations to Thailand several times, up to 3 weeks long. How did that work with supplying the people in the basement - did he just leave them enough food or did he have help?

Thailand is also a known destination for child sex tourism...

What if he ever got arrested or something happened to him - the daughter and kids would've starved being that only he had the access codes.

[Kanga]

I don't buy it that the wife didn't know anything either. How do you not know about a basement in you house? I can't see knowing that you do have the basement yet never going down there. How was he bringing food and things down there without the wife knowing? How did he get the sick child to the hospital without her knowing? It doesn't add up in my mind.

[PinkMartini]

What if he ever got arrested or something happened to him - the daughter and kids would've starved being that only he had the access codes.

Can you imagine if that had happened? Years in the future, once someone decided to tear down the house and they found that??? :Shudders:

[yby1]

AMSTETTEN, Austria (CNN) -- DNA tests have confirmed that Josef Fritzl fathered six children with his daughter, whom he kept imprisoned under his home for 24 years, police in Austria said Tuesday.

Authorities have said that a seventh child, also apparently fathered by Fritzl, died shortly after birth.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/29/austria.cellar/index.html

[Mrs. M.]

I think it's odd that CNN is using their full names. The local media only put the initial. The kids have to live with that name, does it have to be splattered on the front page?

I also don't understand why they chose the crappiest newspapers to quote. The ones the reporter is holding are the lowest boulevard press.

I don't buy it that the wife didn't know anything either. How do you not know about a basement in you house? I can't see knowing that you do have the basement yet never going down there.

I think it is a multi-apartment house, and the basement was soundproofed. Still, is seems the wife was in some major denial or something (Stockholm syndrome?)

[imagirliegirl]

Even if the apartment/basement was soundproofed, I'm still incapable of believing she had no idea.

Gee honey, why do you spend so much time in that basement? Why is it locked? Why can't I go down there? Those might just be a few of the questions you would hear in my home...

[Kanga]

Even if the apartment/basement was soundproofed, I'm still incapable of believing she had no idea.

Gee honey, why do you spend so much time in that basement? Why is it locked? Why can't I go down there? Those might just be a few of the questions you would hear in my home...



That's what I was getting at. I would assume that wife was abused as well and either was too afraid of what his reaction would be if she asked, or has learned not to question what he says and just do as she's told. And also, aren't some of the kids older, as in teens? Wouldn't they question the same thing?

[tinkerbelljenny]

Gee honey, why do you spend so much time in that basement? Why is it locked? Why can't I go down there? Those might just be a few of the questions you would hear in my home...

Yep. If my husband said not to go down there, guess where I would go the first second he left the house? I mean come on, he went away to another country for vacation and she never was curious what was down there? Why is he bringing food down there and going down there every night. This whole story makes me sick and disgusted, I am so angry that this happened to this woman and her kids. Did he molest all the other kids? Did he rape the daughter in front of the kids? I am so angry and so sick over this story, I just can't get it out of my head.

[maxandmolly]

We're not talking about an "average" wife and woman. Women who grow up to marry men like this are likely to have suffered their own abuse as children. Then they grow up and seek out abusers as partners. If this were true for her, and she was accustomed a life of abuse, especially a domineering and controlling man, well, if he said don't look down there, she may not have. Sure it's easy to say "How could she have not known?"-and no abuse as a child excuses allowing to happen to your child-but it's just not that simple.

[Scooter]

We're not talking about an "average" wife and woman. Women who grow up to marry men like this are likely to have suffered their own abuse as children. Then they grow up and seek out abusers as partners. If this were true for her, and she was accustomed a life of abuse, especially a domineering and controlling man, well, if he said don't look down there, she may not have. Sure it's easy to say "How could she have not known?"-and no abuse as a child excuses allowing to happen to your child-but it's just not that simple.

Of course chances are she was abused as a child. I doubt anyone would disagree with that or be surprised there.

However, if we're talking about the black and white fact of did she know something suspicious was going on or not, then yes it really is that simple. Yes she knew something was up, or no this was all a complete shock. I just don't think he could have spent all those years sneaking food in, spent all that time in the basement, brought those other kids into the house, etc etc and that she never had a suspicious thought cross her mind.

[maxandmolly]

What I am saying is, she may have been/be so conditioned not to ask questions, not to let those thoughts enter her mind, that it really might have been a complete shock. The sheer ignorance that would require is foreign to the rest of us, but it's definitely possible.

[tinkerbelljenny]

What I am saying is, she may have been/be so conditioned not to ask questions, not to let those thoughts enter her mind, that it really might have been a complete shock. The sheer ignorance that would require is foreign to the rest of us, but it's definitely possible.

What about the 3 kids that were living with her?? In all those years they never wondered why their grandfather was bringing food downstairs? Never wondered why Grandpa spent so much time down there? I know kids can be nosey. Even as a kid if my dad swore to me to not do something or go somewhere, I sometimes still did even though I knew I would get punished if my dad found out. And I recently heard that the neighbors and or friends knew that nobody was allowed down in the basement except the Grandfather, I just find that so bizarre. If I went over to somebody's house and they told me that nobody ever goes down in the basement besides the grandfather I would find that really strage but maybe that is normal in other countries, who knows. I just am so upset and sick over this story. I just pray that he didn't molest all the other kids.

[ManteoChik]

I totally don't buy that the wife didn't know anything about this.

I think its ludicrous for anyone to believe that she couldn't know. Come on, a basement with a reenforced door and electronic code that only he could open? That screams "I'm doing something horrendous, or, I've got an extensive gun collection".

This is such a sad, horrible story. I hope that man get the shit beat out of him every day for the rest of his life.

[emmjay]

I thought it was an apartment building that the guy owned/lived in, and it was the basement for the whole building?

My mom and I were talking and we still thought the mother must have known SOMETHING was going on. I'm sure she never thought it was as horrific as it turned out to be, but at least enough to want to investigate. I still can't even wrap my mind around this. What kind of person could do that? And the poor children who never were allowed out of the basement - 18 yrs old and never seeing the sun? It is incomprehensible.

I think justice would be for the other prisoners to torture this man for 24 years just as he did to his daughter, but he will probably just be killed in prison.

[diam124]

Has anyone read how old the 3 "free" grandchildren were when he brought them to live with him and his wife? I wonder if they remember being in the basement with their mom?

[Ericka_Jarett]

diam- one of the articles had a timeline and they all were pretty young when they were taken upstairs

[IrishEyes]

Josef Fritzl began building the cellar 6 years before seizing daughter.

Story here (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3876396.ece).

[Kanga]

where he sexually abused her as she gave birth to seven of his children.

:eek:

[Red'sGirl]

The fact that he started building the cellar 6 years earlier means that he had been planning it since she was 12! Or when was she taken down there? I thought she was 16 when he abducted her, so since she was 10. This is all really horrible.

[Niobe]

The fact that he started building the cellar 6 years earlier means that he had been planning it since she was 12! Or when was she taken down there? I thought she was 16 when he abducted her, so since she was 10. This is all really horrible.

She was either 18, or had just turned 19 when he took her down there, so she would have been 12/13 when he started building it. I know at least one article I read said he started abusing her sexually when she was 11. It sounds like he had planned this so that he could lock her up once she was an adult, so the authorities wouldn't be involved in her disappearance. :(

[phoenics]

God.

[ManteoChik]

I read an article that said he spend a year in jail for molesting someone (niece, neighbor, old woman??). How did the woman and children get food and things?

[Mrs. M.]

I read an article that said he spend a year in jail for molesting someone (niece, neighbor, old woman??). How did the woman and children get food and things?

This was in the 1960s, before he locked her up.

Here's a creepy thing - 22 years ago, they found a young woman murdered in an area where he lived and police say that she looked a lot like his daughter did then. That case was never solved.

[Renee34]

They say that he will plead insanity. I can't even comprehend any of this happening. Very, very sad!

[phoenics]

This was in the 1960s, before he locked her up.

Here's a creepy thing - 22 years ago, they found a young woman murdered in an area where he lived and police say that she looked a lot like his daughter did then. That case was never solved.

Wow that is creepy.

[imagirliegirl]

This story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080507/wl_afp/austriacrimeincest_080507164903) is special. He's not a "monster" because he didn't kill them.

Fritzl, 73, claimed credit for having saved the life of his daughter and added: "I could have killed them all. Then there would have been no trace. No-one would have found me out."

See! He's a hero! :rolleyes:

Seriously, why can't they just take him out back and shoot him? Ick.

[tinkerbelljenny]

I can't stop thinking about this story. Every time I read or hear something new regarding these poor kids and their mother locked up I start to cry. This story haunts me.

[miaclear]

A nice update on a horrible story....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/11/austria.fritzl/index.html

[Chimichanga]

that is a nice article. I mean, it was so nicely written - not drudging up what happened, but really focusing on how she is doing and how the family is coping and moving forward.

So glad to hear the oldest girl is doing okay :)