Josef Fritzl can be released to regular prison, court rules – in move that paves way for nursing home transfer
Josef Fritzl – who kept his daughter captive for 24 years, raped her thousands of times, and fathered seven children with her – can be moved to a regular prison, a court has ruled.
The 88-year-old Austrian – who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 for crimes including incest, rape, and enslavement – has been in psychiatric detention in a high-security unit at Stein prison.
However, a three-judge regional court in northern Austria, ruled on Thursday that Fritzl, who now has dementia, can be moved to a regular prison as he no longer poses a danger.
The ruling, which paves the way for him to be released from prison into a nursing home, overturned an earlier decision from 2022 when his request to be moved to a regular prison was rejected.
Josef Fritzl is escorted back to a prison after his hearing. Pic: AFP/Getty
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Who is Josef Fritzl?
According to the Austria Press Agency (APA), Fritzl will have to attend regular psychotherapy and undergo psychiatric evaluations during a 10-year probation period at the prison.
The verdict is not yet legally binding and prosecutors have 14 days to submit an appeal, APA reported.
Fritzl’s lawyer, Astrid Wagner, told The Associated Press: “In summary, the court has come to the conclusion that it is indeed the case that he is no longer dangerous.”
Ms Wagner said she planned to submit such a request next year for Fritzl to be released from prison altogether.
‘Monster of Amstetten’
Fritzl became known as the “monster of Amstetten” after the northern Austrian town where he locked up his then 18-year-old daughter in a sound-proofed basement of his house in 1984.
The house in Amstetten, Austria – where Fritzl kept his daughter captive for 24 years. Pic: Reuters
Over the next 24 years, he repeatedly raped her and fathered seven children with her, one of whom died.
He claimed she had run off to join a cult, while Fritzl’s wife, who lived on the second floor of the home with the rest of the family, was allegedly unaware of what was going on in the basement, according to Austrian authorities.
Dungeon-like basement chamber
Fritzl had already been sexually abusing his daughter since she was 11.
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His crimes were revealed after his daughter re-emerged from the dungeon-like basement chamber in 2008 when one of his children with her became critically ill.
After Fritzl took the child to the hospital, police issued an appeal for the mother of the child to come forward.
The house where Josef Fritzl kept his daughter locked in a cellar. Pic: AP
Fritzl thought family would forgive him
Fritzl released his daughter from the cellar and the police were alerted to her reappearance, and she told them she had been held captive for more than two decades.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement, and the negligent homicide of one of his infant sons.
In 2023, Fritzl claimed in an interview that he thought his family would “forgive” him for his crimes and he would be “reunited” with them.
Fritzl’s daughter and her children have since taken on new identities.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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