Austrian Dad Pleads Guilty After Daughter's Incest Testimony
The Austrian father accused of locking up his daughter in a dungeon for 24 years and repeatedly raping her has pleaded guilty to all counts, including enslavement and the negligent homicide of one of their seven children.
Josef Fritzl pleaded guilty after his daughter, Elisabeth, testified about her ordeal via videotape, Reuters reports. Fritzl’s lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said he was completely surprised by the plea and it may have been motivated by the videotaped testimony. The murder count stemmed from the death of an infant who died after suffering breathing problems.
A court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr Adelheid Kastner, said Fritzl had been an unwanted and unloved child and wanted to have someone who belonged to him, the BBC reports. She recommended that he be sent to a psychiatric facility for criminal offenders for the rest of his life, according to the Independent.
“Fritzl has made it clear that he has a wicked streak, which is like an almost unstoppable flow of destructive lava,” Kastner testified, according to the Independent account.
