Elisabeth Fritzl confronts Austria's dungeon dad rapist Josef Fritzl in court

Agence France-Presse
March 19, 2009

THE woman held in a dungeon and repeatedly raped by her father has reportedly faced her abuser in court - just hours before he changed all his pleas to guilty.

While officials have refused to confirm Elisabeth Fritzl attended the hearing, her father's lawyer has said the presence of his victim would have "really shaken him up".

Josef Fritzl dramatically changed his plea last night to guilty of murder and slavery during the 24 years he held his daughter captive and forced her to bear seven children. The 73-year-old Austrian said his change of heart had come after seeing the video testimony of his daughter about her ordeal in a dark, damp bunker where Fritzl raped her at will.

But the Kurier newspaper reported that Elisabeth, now 43, also made an unexpected appearance in court while her father was being questioned.

"I plead guilty to the crimes I've been charged with," Fritzl told the court in the northeastern town of Sankt Poelten, about 60km from Amstetten, where the family lived. "I'm sorry." The retired electrical engineer had earlier admitted incest, rape and sequestration but denied murder, for which he faces a life prison term, and enslavement.

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Asked by judge Andrea Humer what caused him to change his plea, Fritzl replied: "My daughter's videotaped testimony." Defence lawyer Rudolf Mayer said he was "completely surprised" by Fritzl's plea change.

'Shaken'

He declined to confirm if Elisabeth had been in court, but said there were people in the viewing gallery whom he did not identify.

"If Elisabeth were in the courtroom then I think that this would have really shaken him (Fritzl) up," he said. Fritzl admitted the murder of a baby son, a twin, who died shortly after being born in the soundproofed cellar.

Responding to questions from the judge, Fritzl said he should have taken seriously the fact that the infant was breathing poorly and tried to get the boy to a hospital quickly.

"I was hoping the little one would survive but I should have done something. I don't know why I didn't help. I just lost sight (of the issue)," he said in a low voice.

Fritzl's abuses only came to light last April when he took his eldest child with Elisabeth, 19-year-old Kerstin, to hospital after she became seriously ill.

New life

Elisabeth and her six children, three of whom were incarcerated from birth, are now living in an undisclosed location under new identities.

Three of the children were raised above ground by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie after he told people that Elisabeth had abandoned them and joined a sect. Police say Rosemarie had no knowledge of her husband's actions.

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This causes me to ponder so many things. What order in the births were the twins? Did the other children know the baby died? Did Fritzl take Kirsten to hospital because he cared she was ill or because he didn't know what to do with a full grown woman's body, if she died?

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What did the other children go through when Fritzl came back to get Elisabeth when professionals at hospital demanded to speak to the girls mother)? Did they wonder if they would ever see the two again?

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Is Rosi in contact with her daughter and grandchildren? Previous articles state that Elisabeth and her six children have been relocated. Does this mean she now has the three children who were raised "above ground"?

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How could this sick s.o.b. operate for so long, first imprisoning his mother, then his daughter, etc with no one knowing? Surely Rosi knew about the Fritzl's mother in the attic. It is almost overwhelmingly too much to read about, much less to have lived. I hope the best for Elisabeth and her children.