She endured repeated sexual assaults and gave birth to seven children in the tiny, cramped basement rooms. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on rape charges, but prosecutors said Tuesday they were examining the possibility of charging Fritzl with 'murder through failure to act' in connection with the death of one of the children, which carries a maximum term of 20 years.Įlisabeth Fritzl, 42, said her father first lured her into the windowless cellar that became her prison cell in the town of Amstetten, west of Vienna, in 1984. He is in a cell where he can be monitored in case he tries to commit suicide, said officials. Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek said Fritzl was 'completely calm, completely without emotion' when he was placed in pretrial detention Tuesday. Poelten, the capital of the province of Lower Austria. Josef Fritzl appeared before a district magistrate Monday evening and was referred to a higher court in St. Elisabeth even allows her three children, who were raised by Rosemarie, to visit her.An Austrian man who confessed to locking his daughter in a basement cell for 24 years and fathering her seven children was ordered held in police detention Tuesday as details surfaced of the reunion between the now 42-year-old woman and her mother. They have started to spend more time together. Finally, it seems that Rosemarie and Elisabeth have worked out their differences and made progress in their relationship. Like Elisabeth, Rosemarie has cut off all ties with Josef. The whole Fritzl family was financially ruined after Josef’s arrest. She lives on a modest pension and makes some extra money by selling her paintings and handcrafted products. She is reported to be living by herself in an apartment in Linz, Austria. Like the rest of the family members who were all given new identities, Rosemarie changed her name to ensure protection and privacy. In 2012, Josef divorced Rosemarie because she stopped visiting him in prison. The psychiatrists have been working to bring the family together as the three children who lived “upstairs” had very different experiences than Elisabeth and her other three kids who lived in the cellar. After all, Rosemarie let her husband back into their lives after he had already served time in jail for rape. Elisabeth also did not buy into her version of the story that she did not know anything about the abuse, which reportedly started when Elisabeth was 11. However, Elisabeth did not trust Rosemarie because she believed Josef’s lie and gave up looking for her. They started undergoing intense therapy to deal with what they had been through. Where Is Rosemarie Fritzl Now?Īfter Josef Fritzl was arrested, Rosemarie, Elisabeth, and her six children were moved to another home in an undisclosed location. He gave her the responsibility to bring up three of Elisabeth’s children that he claimed were abandoned at their doorstep with a note from their daughter that she could not look after them. All these factors prove why she was compelled to believe Josef’s twisted lies. While in captivity, Josef forced Elisabeth to write letters through which she communicated with Rosemarie and the family. Rosemarie had also filed a missing person’s report and looked for her in vain. This gave Josef the perfect explanation to justify Elisabeth’s disappearance when he locked her up in 1984. Rosemarie’s sister Christine also revealed that Josef would beat his children.Įlisabeth had already run away from home in January 1983 and fled to Vienna before the authorities found her three weeks later and sent her back home. Josef was a convicted rapist long before he traumatized his daughter. She said that the basement was out of bounds to everyone, including her.

It came to light that she had a difficult marriage with Josef, who was controlling and took pleasure in humiliating her publicly. Rosemarie was not formally charged as the police believed her account.

Rosemarie claimed that she had no idea where Elisabeth was and what had happened to her all those years, even though it all took place in the basement of their own house. When the case made the headlines, Rosemarie also had to face some heat from the media, law enforcement, and the public, but most importantly from Elisabeth. Rosemarie’s world came crashing down in April 2008, much like the rest of the Fritzl family, when Elisabeth finally managed to tell her story to the police, following which Josef was arrested. Together they have two sons and five daughters, one of whom is Elisabeth Fritzl. They married in 1956 when she was only 17 years old, and he was 21.

Elisabeth fritzl now 2018