27 January 2024, 09:59 | Updated: 27 January 2024, 11:40
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Alamy/Handout
Josef Fritzl, who was convicted of raping his daughter repeatedly and holding her captive for 24 years, has claimed he was a ‘good father’ in an apology letter.
The Austrian, 88, said he ‘deeply regrets his actions’ in the letter as he fights to be released to a nursing home.
He has applied to leave jail on the grounds of old age and dementia and is eligible for parole in March. He is now set to be transferred to a normal prison from Garsten Abbey jail, which is designed for mentally ill inmates.
He was pictured outside of prison for the first time in 15 years on Thursday.
Now in a apology letter, the incestuous rapist claims “I was actually a good father” as he said he saved money for the “children’s education” and visited them regularly and helped them learn instruments “and so forth”.
He also wrote: “I know with one of my daughters I made a mistake, and I regret that.
“But apart from that, I believe that I was actually a good father,” he wrote, The Sun reports.
Fritzl also claims to no longer be dangerous in the letter, as he argues he’s the “opposite” of dangerous and no longer has “any sexual desires for women, nothing like that at all”.
He also says he was freer in prison than in the outside world because he “led a double life for ten years”.
“I regret all of my actions deeply. King regards, Fritzl,” he finally added.
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Alamy
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Fritzl, who was jailed for life in 2009 after pleading guilty to murder by negligence of one of the children, enslavement, incest, rape, coercion and false imprisonment, was pictured on Thursday morning wearing a denim jacket as he sat in a car with his hand over his head on the way to court.
Fritzl kept his daughter imprisoned in the basement of his house in Amstetten for 24 years, raising three of the children with his wife Rosemarie.
He had convinced her Elisabeth had run away to join a sect and the children were left behind because she didn’t want them to join her.
He was arrested in 2008 after being forced to take one of the children to hospital. Elisabeth said he had held her since she was 18, having lured her to the basement.
Picture:
Handout
He now has dementia and cognitive confusion, leaving him believing he is a pop star, according to Heidi Kastner, a forensic psychiatrist.
Speaking after his hearing this week, Astrid Wagner, his lawyer, said: “We were successful. It was a long hearing. He said once again how he regrets what he did.
“He was actually close to tears. In summary, the court came to the conclusion that my client is no longer considered to be dangerous.”
She had previously argued he did not pose a threat to society anymore and said that while he could be moved to a normal prison he should be sent to a care home for the rest of his life.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
