Posted on 05/04/2008 11:22:39 AM PDT by austrian
Austria cellar man 'mentally ill'
Mr Fritzl claimed his daughter ran away to join a cult
Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man accused of abusing his imprisoned daughter for 24 years, should not go to jail as he is mentally ill, his lawyer says.
Rudolf Mayer says his client should be in a psychiatric unit rather than facing a trial, which will not be fair because of press coverage of the case.
Police say Mr Fritzl, 73, incarcerated and raped his daughter Elisabeth in his cellar in Amstetten in Lower Austria.
A relative of Mr Fritzl says he was convicted of another rape in 1967.
In a television interview for the Associated Press, Mr Fritzl's sister-in-law, identified only as Christine R, describes Mr Fritzl as a tyrant and said "I believe he spent a year and half in prison" for the conviction.
Josef Fritzl's sister-in-law talks about the family Police have declined to comment on the allegations, saying records that old would have been erased under Austria's statutes of limitation.
Under Austrian law convictions can be expunged after as little as five years.
'Diminished responsibility'
Mr Mayer has said that if, in his opinion, a psychiatric evaluation of Mr Fritzl ordered by the court does not give a proper assessment of his client he will consider ordering a separate report himself.
"In my personal opinion, Josef Fritzl is mentally ill and therefore of diminished responsibility. I believe that my client does not belong in prison but in a secure psychiatric unit," Mr Mayer told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
He added that he is "not defending a monster but a human being, even if that is hard to take for some people. I am already receiving threatening letters saying that I belong in the cellar with Mr Fritzl."
Police say Elisabeth bore her father seven children - three of whom remained incarcerated with her, never seeing daylight until they were released earlier this week.
Mr Fritzl, who is in custody, has confessed to the crime in a written statement.
He is refusing to answer any more questions, as police try to piece together conditions in the cellar - as well as the suspect's life.
Mr Fritzl's alleged crimes came to light when Elisabeth's eldest daughter Kerstin, 19, became seriously ill.
She was allowed out of the cellar and admitted to hospital in Amstetten.
Police then issued an appeal to Elisabeth Fritzl to contact them about her daughter, and later picked up Mr Fritzl and Elisabeth near the hospital.
Elisabeth and the children are now in care with the Austrian authorities, who are protecting their privacy at a psychiatric clinic.
Kerstin is fighting for her life in hospital.
‘Austria cellar man “mentally ill” ‘
Kill him anyway.
‘Austria cellar man “mentally ill” ‘
Kill him anyway.
Just because he is insane doesn’t mean he should not go under the train.
Kill him anyway.
Austria cellar man ‘mentally ill’
Gee - ya think? So - what - now he’ll get 10 years instead of the maximum of 15? But yeah, lets hope he slips on a bar of soap in the prison shower.
I’d say MOST people who get caught doing this kind of atrocity are *Mentally Ill* but, IMO, that fact shouldn’t save them from just punishment.
Hang the bastard now!
to be realistic he will get between 15 and 20 years. if they are able to proof him that the baby which has died and was burned by him has not been born dead he will get lifelong (btw. lifelong in austria means only 25 years). but then i remeber that he is 73 so it will be enought this time. but in general we really need harder punishment for criminals.
After post #2, everything continues to be shut down here in Panama.
I have no idea if you will get this post.
There seems to be an idea that a mentally ill person who commits heinous crimes should be not responsible. Now they may have not known what they were doing, or see it in a different light, BUT since they are capable of horror, they should be immediately killed. They cannot be trusted and have proven it.
What was their first hint?
After post #2, everything continues to be shut down here in Panama.
B.S. He’s not normal. That doesn’t mean he’s criminally insane (didn’t know it was wrong at the time) or is unable to participate in defending himself. That he carried it off undiscovered for so long is proof positive that he knew the wrongness of his actions and possesses ample cleverness.
Fry the S.O.B.
Well of course he’s insane! What sane person would think up a twisted plot like this?
I wish we could make a difference in our society between a person who has a simple mental disorder, such as being depressed, and a person who is criminally insane. Somebody who is a deranged murderer or rapist needs to be kept away from normal people, I don’t care what went wrong in their head to make them that way. Somebody who suffers from depression or something like that but doesn’t commit crimes or hurt anybody else needs loving support and shouldn’t be lumped together with crazed criminals.
He’s not sick—he’s evil.
Crazy Ludwig may have spread a lot of his seed around the Austrian countryside but that is not Fritzl’s excuse. Fritzl is the classic textbook version of a narcissistic sociopath. Very, very evil.
They should lock him in the cell, and bring him irregularly scheduled meals and a male visitor from SINGSING to keep him company on occasion.
That will keep him nice and safe-just like he kept his kids.
So now Rudolph Mayer wants Fritz put in a psychiatric unit? Geeez!
On another note. I have been wondering since Elizabeth was imprisoned for 24 years and her oldest child is 19, how did she keep from getting pregnant for 5 years.
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