BEHIND BARS
Incest monster Josef Fritzl will STAY in prison after court overturns ruling that would see him freed to nursing home
Fritzl, 88, was pictured smirking after he won his bid to be transferred
EVIL Josef Fritzl will stay locked up in a high-security prison as the decision to move him to a normal jail has been overturned.
The transfer would likely have paved the way for the incest monster, 88, to be freed into a nursing home after developing dementia.
4
4
In January, Fritzl was pictured smirking as he dramatically won his bid to be moved to a regular prison.
The beast hoped it would lead to his release from behind bars after 15 years for crimes including incest, rape, and enslavement.
Fritzl was jailed in 2009 after locking his daughter, Elisabeth, in the basement of his home in Amstetten for 24 years and fathering seven children with her.
He told a court in Austria that he deeply regretted locking his daughter in an underground cellar, and that he had dealt with the crimes “intensely”.
More on Josef Fritzl
A court in the town of Krems an der Donau ordered the transfer on the basis Fritzl, who has changed his name to one that has not been made public, no longer posed any threat.
But today an Austrian court overturned the decision to move Fritzl - and sent the case back to the Krems an der Donau court for a new decision, which is expected in April.
Fritzl has been held in psychiatric detention in a high-security unit at Stein prison since he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
During his trial in 2009, Fritzl pleaded guilty to rape, false imprisonment, manslaughter by negligence and incest.
Most read in The Sun
The sick monster will become eligible for parole this month under Austria's lenient sentencing laws.
Under local laws, inmates deemed ready for parole can be freed depending on their conduct and mental and physical condition.
Josef Fritzl pictured for first time out of prison as incest monster bids for parole after 15 years in jail
Fritzl kept his daughter Elisabeth captive in a newly-built cellar complex, for 24 years, since 1984.
The evil dad drugged and abused his daughter, raped her more than 3,000 times and fathered seven children with her.
The heartless monster did not hesitate to toss the bodies of the children who died at birth into a furnace.
Three of the children were raised in the basement by their mum while another three were brought up by sick Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie.
Fritzl had convinced his wife their daughter had run away to join a sect.
In a cruel twist, he forced Elisabeth to write letters to Rosemarie, claiming she was unable to care for the kids, asking her to raise them.
It was only when Elisabeth's eldest daughter, Kerstin, fell critically ill that her ordeal came to an end in 2008.
In a rare act of mercy, Fritzl allowed Elisabeth to take the 19-year-old to the hospital.
She managed to speak to police revealing the horrors she had suffered throughout the years.
Her first words were "No one will believe me."
Elisabeth’s recorded 11-hour testimony led to Fritzl's sentencing to life imprisonment.
Elisabeth and her children live now under adopted names after going through years of therapy, while Rosemarie, now 84, is believed to be living in a small flat in Linz - around 30 miles from the former Fritzl home.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Meanwhile, Fritzl's physical and mental health has deteriorated.
In January, he penned an apology for his crimes as he tried to prove he is reformed.
4
4
Josef Fritzl's crimes
The twisted dad asked his daughter Elisabeth to help him install a door in his cellar in 1984.
She agreed and moments later she is drugged with an ether-soaked towel, tied up and chained to a bed. She would spend the next 24 years locked up in the hellish prison in Amstetten.
Evil Fritzl went on to rape her over 3,000 times in rat-infested bunker. He would beat and kick her and force her into degrading acts - including re-enacting scenes from violent porn films.
Elisabeth gave birth to seven babies in the cellar with no medical care.
Kerstin, born 1988, Stefan (1990) and Felix (2002) were left to live with their mum in the underground hellhole.
But Lisa, (born 1992) Monica (1994) and Alexander (1996) - were raised upstairs, by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie after he convinced her they were left on the doorstep by Elisabeth.
Alexander's twin Michael died shortly after birth with cruel Fritzl tossing his body in an incinerator. The family's nightmare sees Fritzl threatening them if they dare to escape and punishing them by switching off the electricity.
Their nightmare comes to an end when Kerstin fell critically ill in 2008.
Fritzl allowed Elisabeth to take her to the hospital where she revealed the shocking horrors she had suffered.
Despite trying to argue he was trying to be a protective father, Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison in 2009.
Topics