| Fritzl case | |
|---|---|
 Reporters in front of the Fritzl family home | |
| Location | Amstetten, Lower Austria |
| Date | 1977 – 26 April 2008 |
Attack type | Kidnapping, rape, child abuse, torture, slavery, child murder, filicide, infanticide |
| Weapons | Various |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Victims | Elisabeth Fritzl and her[a] children |
| Perpetrator | Josef Fritzl (later Josef Mayrhoff) |
| Motive | Sexual obsession and desire to control Elisabeth Fritzl |
| Verdict | Pleaded guilty |
| Convictions | |
| Sentence | Life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 15 years |
The Fritzl case emerged in 2008, when a woman named Elisabeth Fritzl (born 6 April 1966) informed investigators in the city of Amstetten, Lower Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl (born 9 April 1935). Fritzl had assaulted, sexually abused and raped his daughter countless times during her imprisonment inside a concealed area in the cellar of the family home.[1][2]
The incestuous rapes resulted in the birth of seven children.[3] Three remained in captivity with their mother; one died shortly after birth and was cremated by Fritzl;[4] and the other three were brought up in the family home upstairs by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie, after Fritzl convinced her and the authorities that they were foundlings.
Fritzl was arrested on suspicion of rape, false imprisonment, manslaughter by negligence and incest by Austrian police one week after Elisabeth's eldest daughter, Kerstin, fell ill in the cellar and was taken to the hospital by Fritzl himself. In March 2009, Fritzl pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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daysindarknesswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Incest father Fritzl to be charged with murder of baby he threw in". Evening Standard. 4 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.