The Chilling Details of Elisabeth Fritzl Being Held Captive for 24 Years

Josef Fritzl: Criminally Insane

On the second day of the trial, Elisabeth’s video testimony was aired in court. Reports say that “Josef Fritzl recognized that Elisabeth was in court and, from this point on, you could see Josef Fritzl going pale and he broke down. It was a meeting of eyes that changed his mind.” After seeing Elisabeth’s testimony, Josef pleaded guilty on all charges the following day. On March 19, 2009, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Fritzl accepted the sentence with no contest. Aged 74 at the time of the trial, he is currently serving his sentence at a monastery in Upper Austria that has been turned into a prison—in a section of the prison for the criminally insane.

A New Life

During the time of the trial, Elisabeth and her family were undergoing psychiatric and medical care, learning how to reacclimate themselves to the outside world. Encouraged to take creative outlets as a part of their therapy, the family made posters thanking the town for their ongoing support during the trying time. Their message read, “We, the whole family, would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for sympathy at our fate. Your compassion is helping us greatly to overcome these difficult times, and it shows us there also are good and honest people here who really care for us. We hope that soon there will be a time where we can find out way back into normal life.” After the trial, they were given the option to take on new identities, in addition to moving to an unnamed village in Northern Austria.