Fritzl has 'little to say' in his defence


(photo: AP / Helmut Fohringer, Pool)
Canberra Times | Josef Fritzl's murder and slavery trial resumed in Austria yesterday, with the court due to view video testimony by the daughter he locked up and raped at will for 24 years, as well as her brother.

The three judges, the prosecution and the defendant's lawyer arrived at the court in the north-eastern Austrian town of Sankt Poelten shortly before 9am (7pm Canberra time).

The jury was also led in, with a heavy police escort and through a side door.

Fritzl was due to take the stand to fight charges that could see him jailed for life.

But his lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said he expected the pensioner could have little to say.

''He's already said everything,'' Mr Mayer said as he arrived at the courthouse.

Mr Mayer would not comment on Monday's proceedings.

Defendant Josef Fritzl is escorted during a break of the second day of his trial.
The trial is being held behind closed doors to protect the victims' identities.

Fritzl was quizzed after first excerpts were shown of his daughter Elisabeth's testimony, which has been videotaped to spare her an appearance in court.

Her statements were 11 hours long in total and were expected to be shown in their entirety during the week-long trial, court spokesman Franz Cutka said. Just under an hour of further testimony by a brother of Elisabeth's, Harald, had also been recorded.

Mr Mayer said a verdict could come as early as tomorrow.

Fritzl pleaded guilty on Monday to incest, rape and sequestration, but denied murder and enslavement charges.

The prosecution accuses Fritzl of murder for letting a baby die shortly after birth in 1996, according to the 27-page charge sheet.

Fritzl says the baby was stillborn and that he later burnt the body.

Fritzl faces life in prison if convicted of murder.

During opening statements, the prosecution said Fritzl had used Elisabeth, 42, ''as a toy'' during nearly a quarter of a century of sexual abuse in a narrow cellar.

The years of abuse resulted in seven children.

Fritzl's lawyer sought to paint his client as something other than a monster, arguing that he had only wanted a second family to the one he had with his wife, Rosemarie, 69.

Fritzl rejected the charge of enslavement, which has been brought for the first time in Austria, and denied that he threatened to kill his prisoners last year.

Three children spent their entire lives in the damp cellar with their mother, while another three were brought to live with Fritzl and his wife.

The incest trial of the century has attracted hundreds of journalists from around the world to the small town of Sankt Poelten, some 60km from Amstetten, where Fritzl held his daughter captive. Amstetten is a town with a population of just under 23,000. The capital city of the Austrian state of Lower Austria, Sankt Poelten has 51,000 inhabitants.

The deputy director of Sankt Poelten prison where Fritzl is being held, Erich Huber-Guensthofer, said, ''He is not an exceptional person.

''If he stood here you probably wouldn't notice him ... he's very courteous.''

Fritzl's lawyer insisted that his client cared for his captives.

''If you only lock up your daughter to have sex with her, you're not going to have any children, you're not going to get schoolbooks [for them] or a Christmas tree.''

However, prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser, described Fritzl's crimes as ''inconceivable'', noting that he raped his daughter in front of her own children.

He ''showed no sign of regret or any consciousness of wrongdoing'', she said.

''He came [to the cellar]. Lights out. Rape. Lights on.''

The dungeon, which had no heating, hot water, fresh air or sunlight and was hidden behind eight doors, including three with electronic locks, was also damp and mouldy, she said. AFP

VIDEO: Fritzl incest trial day two

0 comments: