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.
He should have run off to join the FLDS in Texas, and then he’d have people coming out of the woodwork to defend him.
Ever wonder whatever happened to the use of the word...evil?
He belongs in a 6 x 6 windowless cell - never see daylight again =
Obviously, he's not right in the head...what criminals are. Doesn't mean he should be coddled...it shouldn't be what is best for him - but punishment for what he inflicted on innocents
.......Elisabeth and the children are now in care with the Austrian authorities, who are protecting their privacy at a psychiatric clinic.
I hope the authorities let the go outside occasionally
He is clearly mentally ill.
He should be sent to prison for life or executed.
Or sentenced to live in the home of the attorney who is arguing that he shouldn’t go to prison.
The same way that I think Kennedy, Kerry, Schumer, Pelosi, Clinton(s), Reid, Durbin, etc., should be forced to live among the felons and illegal immigrants and pay DIRECTLY for their food, education, medical bills and ... suffer the crimes against their person and property that the masses suffer.
He belongs in a 6 x 6 windowless cell - never see daylight again =
What a crock. Scum like this is the reason why humans have a mob instinct.
This is a clear case (if there ever is one) for public trial, a prolonged stint in publically accessible stocks for convenient spitting on and cursing at, and unprotected bout in prison where the large hairy men can let him know how pedophilic, incestuous, torturing bastards should be treated, then if he survives that, a public execution with NO painkiller.
Call me old fashioned, but deeply evil people like this, Ted Bundy, Bin Laden, Hitler, etc. need to have at least a taste of the evil they have wrought. That’s called justice.
I have no doubt he is mentally ill, but it should be no defense.
Big difference between those two cases and for the record., I think this guy should be put down like a dog, mentally ill or not.
Even mentally ill people know the difference between right and wrong. Insanity is the plea when you don't know the difference between the two.
I don’t think he has diminished capacity as he knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew it was wrong because he kept it hidden.
No, he is not human.
A bullet to his brain. He breathes my air.
This man is not “mentally ill”. He is evil.
Fry em! And find out who his accomplices were too!
And so what? Time to stop using this as an excuse. No more insanity defenses. Too easy to fake and too many shrinks will say anything on the witness stand for $. End it.
Do the crime - Do the time. End of discussion.
No, he is not human.
A bullet to his brain. He breathes my air
He looked in total control of his mental facilities in the beach video of him in Thailand.
Whats next? All Austrian Nazis were mentally ill.
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