Austrian incest suspect charged with murder

Nov 13, 2008, 15:07 GMT

Black cloud is pictured over the back area of the house where 42-year-old Elisabeth Fritzl was kept imprisoned in the basement and raped by her father for 24 years, Amstetten, Austria, 02 May 2008. EPA/HELMUT FOHRINGER

Vienna - Incest suspect Josef Fritzl is not only charged for raping and imprisoning his daughter for 24 years, but is also indicted for murder, as a boy he fathered with his daughter died after birth, a spokesman of the prosecution said Thursday.

Fritzl, who has admitted most of the allegations, now faces imprisonment for life. In total, the 73-year-old is charged with six crimes.

The prosecutors at the court in Sankt Poelten said Fritzl was responsible for the death of the infant born in the dungeon beneath his house in 1996, as he had 'neglected to call the necessary help by third parties, although he was aware of the life-threatening situation of the infant.'

In April, Fritzl's daughter Elisabeth, 42, and three of her children were freed from their underground prison which Fritzl had built. Three more children which she bore in the dungeon were living upstairs with the suspect and his wife in the town of Amstetten.

According to media reports, Fritzl burned the newborn's body in an oven.

In addition to murder, the suspect also faces charges of enslavement, as he abducted and locked up his daughter and made her totally dependent, the prosecution said.

In the trial expected for early next year, Fritzl will also be held responsible for coercing his four prisoners not to flee by threatening them with explosive traps.

Fritzl forced his victims to live in a cramped, damp cellar prison of his house without windows, sunlight, or direct fresh air supply, the prosecutors said.

Although Fritzl was certifiably sane and could be held responsible for his actions, the court-appointed psychiatrist has found him psychologically deviant. The prosecution therefore demanded that he be imprisoned in an institution for mentally anomalous delinquents.

Under Austrian law, criminals convicted of multiple crimes do not serve cumulative sentences, but only the most severe of their several possible punishments.