CHRONOLOGY: Years of pain for Elisabeth Fritzl and her children

Mar 13, 2009, 14:37 GMT

Vienna - Elisabeth Fritzl had to endure 24 years of torment in the dungeon build by her father, where she gave birth to seven children. But her ordeal started much earlier.

1967: Josef Fritzl is convicted of raping a woman and is sentenced to prison.

1977: Fritzl allegedly starts sexually abusing his 11-year-old daughter Elisabeth.

August 28, 1984: Elisabeth disappears and is considered a runaway. But she is being kept and abused in the cellar under the family home in Amstetten from this day.

1988: In her prison, Elisabeth gives birth to a daughter, Kerstin.

1990: Stefan is born.

May 19, 1993: Fritzl brings nine-month-old Lisa from the cellar to his home, along with a letter from Elisabeth, making it seem as if she had abandoned her third child. Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie adopt Lisa.

December 15, 1994: 10-month-old Monika is 'found' at the house under similar circumstances.

August 3, 1997: Alexander is 'abandonded' at Fritzl's home, 15 months after his birth. The boy's twin died shortly after birth, as Fritzl did not get medical help.

December 16, 2002: Elisabeth gives birth to Felix in the cellar, where he lives until 2008 with his siblings Kerstin and Stefan.

April 19, 2008: After falling dangerously ill, Kerstin is brought to a hospital by Fritzl. Elisabeth convinces Fritzl to let her come to the hospital, too, along with the two other incarcerated children.

April 26, 2008: Police arrest Josef Fritzl after a hospital visit and get hold of 42-year-old Elisabeth and the two boys.

April 28, 2008: Fritzl makes a confession and enters pre-trial custody the next day.

March 16, 2009: Fritzl's trial starts in the court in Sankt Poelten. He is charged with murder, slavery, rape, imprisonment, coercion and incest. If convicted of murder, the 73-year-old faces a life sentence.