Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Woman confronts dad she says confined her to filthy dungeon
March 18, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE woman who bore seven children through incest and was allegedly locked in a squalid dungeon for 24 years confronted her father in a videotape shown in court yesterday - testimony that could send him to prison for life.
Josef Fritzl, 73, again hid his face behind a blue binder and stayed silent as he was led into the court in St Poelten, west of Vienna, for the second day of his trial.
Fritzl has pleaded guilty to incest with his daughter Elisabeth and false imprisonment, but is contesting negligent homicide and enslavement charges against him and has acknowledged only partial guilt on rape and coercion charges.
Yesterday jurors, Fritzl and the rest of the court viewed videotaped testimony from Elisabeth, the key witness against Fritzl. Now 42, she was 18 when he allegedly imprisoned her in the cramped, windowless cell he built beneath the family's home in Amstetten.
Those in court also saw videotaped testimony from Harald, one of Elisabeth's brothers, court spokesman Franz Cutka told The Associated Press.
Fritzl has been charged with homicide in the death of an infant - a male twin born to Elisabeth in April 1996 - who prosecutors say might have survived with proper medical care had he and his mother not been locked in the basement.
Police say DNA tests prove Fritzl is the biological father of all six of Elisabeth's surviving children, three of whom never saw daylight until the crime came to light and shocked the world 11 months ago.
Cutka said Fritzl responded to questions from the judge and prosecutors about different points as they came up in the testimony from both his daughter and son. He declined to provide details.
Fritzl could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of homicide. He faces up to 20 years behind bars if found guilty of enslavement, up to 15 for a rape conviction, and one year for an incest conviction.
Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom yesterday morning and were expected to remain excluded until shortly before the verdict, which could come as early as tomorrow.
In her opening statement on Monday, prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser said Fritzl refused to speak to his daughter during the first few years of her ordeal, coming downstairs only to rape her. Burkheiser said the rapes sometimes occurred in front of the children. Three of the children grew up underground in Amstetten and the other three were brought upstairs to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, who apparently believed they had been abandoned.
Josef Fritzl, 73, again hid his face behind a blue binder and stayed silent as he was led into the court in St Poelten, west of Vienna, for the second day of his trial.
Fritzl has pleaded guilty to incest with his daughter Elisabeth and false imprisonment, but is contesting negligent homicide and enslavement charges against him and has acknowledged only partial guilt on rape and coercion charges.
Yesterday jurors, Fritzl and the rest of the court viewed videotaped testimony from Elisabeth, the key witness against Fritzl. Now 42, she was 18 when he allegedly imprisoned her in the cramped, windowless cell he built beneath the family's home in Amstetten.
Those in court also saw videotaped testimony from Harald, one of Elisabeth's brothers, court spokesman Franz Cutka told The Associated Press.
Fritzl has been charged with homicide in the death of an infant - a male twin born to Elisabeth in April 1996 - who prosecutors say might have survived with proper medical care had he and his mother not been locked in the basement.
Police say DNA tests prove Fritzl is the biological father of all six of Elisabeth's surviving children, three of whom never saw daylight until the crime came to light and shocked the world 11 months ago.
Cutka said Fritzl responded to questions from the judge and prosecutors about different points as they came up in the testimony from both his daughter and son. He declined to provide details.
Fritzl could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of homicide. He faces up to 20 years behind bars if found guilty of enslavement, up to 15 for a rape conviction, and one year for an incest conviction.
Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom yesterday morning and were expected to remain excluded until shortly before the verdict, which could come as early as tomorrow.
In her opening statement on Monday, prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser said Fritzl refused to speak to his daughter during the first few years of her ordeal, coming downstairs only to rape her. Burkheiser said the rapes sometimes occurred in front of the children. Three of the children grew up underground in Amstetten and the other three were brought upstairs to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, who apparently believed they had been abandoned.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
