Man who kept his daughter in the basement for 24 years is “no longer a threat” after 15 years, says lawyer

A man who held his daughter captive for 24 years, between the ages of 18 and 42, raped her 3,000 times and fathered seven children with her, could be transferred from an institution for the criminally insane to a prison, where he could apply for release.

The 88-year-old, who is widely known as Josef Fritzl but now goes by a new name, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the special unit in 2009.

He was convicted of incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement and the negligent killing of one of his young sons.

If transferred to a regular prison, he could apply for early release on parole 15 years after his conviction.

An expert opinion on Fritzl’s health is currently being obtained to determine whether he can be transferred to a regular prison, said a spokesman for the Krems Regional Court. The Austrian Kronen Zeitung was the first to report on the report.

According to a new psychiatric report, Fritzl, who suffers from dementia, no longer poses a danger to the public, reported Austrian public broadcaster ORF.

A court spokesman said it was unclear how long such an assessment would take, but estimated it could take anywhere from weeks to several months.

In the event of a transfer to prison, Fritzl’s lawyer could, in a second step, file an application for early release.

His lawyer told the Bild newspaper that she had already prepared such an application. The aim is to have the man transferred to a nursing home.

When his daughter was 18, Fritzl locked her in the basement of the family home. Three of the seven children he fathered with her lived with her until they were released in 2008.

Fritzl and his wife took in the other three surviving children after Fritzl claimed that his daughter gave birth to them and then abandoned them to join a religious cult.

He burned the remains of the seventh child, who died shortly after birth, in the oven of the house.

In an interview after his arrest, he stated from his prison cell that after the kidnapping he saw no way out because he had fallen into a “vicious circle” from which he could no longer escape.

He also revealed the gruesome details of the life his daughter and three of her children had to endure for so long in a windowless basement without natural light or adequate medical care.

“I grew up in the Nazi era and that meant respect for authority and the need for control. I suppose I have adopted some of those old values,” Fritzl said in the interview, which was published in the Austrian media.

Fritzl’s dungeon was hidden behind the shelves of his basement workshop.

Inside, a narrow, five-meter-long corridor led to a small cooking and bathroom area with a shower. There was running water and electric light.

The dungeon was divided into cells, some of which were no more than 1.70 m high. The only ventilation was through a pipe. The prisoners never saw sunlight.

Fritzl, a former electrical engineer, locked her behind a heavy door made of concrete and steel. It could be opened electronically using a remote-controlled combination lock.

Only he knew the combination.