Josef Fritzl could be freed from jail soon 'and thinks he is a pop star' as psychiatrist insists he his now 'harmless'
15 January 2024, 13:51
Josef Fritzl could be released from jail later this year - just 15 years on from being given a life sentence for locking up his daughter and raping her repeatedly.
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The Austrian's crimes horrified the world when he was convicted in 2009 after keeping Elisabeth in their family home's cellar and forcing her to have seven of his children.
He kept her imprisoned in the house in Amstetten for 24 years, raising three of the children with his wife Rosemarie.
Fritzl 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 is eligible for parole this year, with a psychiatrist saying he is now harmless, having become frail and injured by a number of falls.
He has had his teeth kicked out by inmates as Garsten Abbey prison, which lead to Fritzl changing his name to Mayrhoff.
And he now has dementia and cognitive confusion, leaving him believing he is a pop star, according to Heidi Kastner, a forensic psychiatrist.
He insists he has appeared on a show as a music icon, and talks about visits from relatives that never happened.
Ms Kastner, who has also revealed Fritzl is sometimes "fully there", has suggested moving him to a nursing home. A court will need to decide where to move him because of his worsening health.
Fritzl pleaded guilty to murder by negligence of the dead child, enslavement, incest, rape, coercion and false imprisonment, and was sentenced to life in prison.
He was arrested in 2008 after being forced to take one of the children to hospital.
Last year, Fritzl issued bizarre statements from jail in which he said he wanted to be freed and live to 130.
"I recently read that it has been scientifically proven that human beings can actually live to 150 if they eat well and exercise," he told The Sun last year.
"So I want to live to 130 - that's my plan."
And he claimed he receives hundreds of letters from fans.
