Josef Fritzl could be moved to a care home
According to local media reports, there is a possibility that Josef Fritzl, the Austrian sex offender infamous for imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering seven children with her, might be relocated from a high-security prison. Fritzl, now 88, received a life sentence in 2009, a case that sent shockwaves globally.
A new psychiatric evaluation on Fritzl, who now suffers from dementia, reportedly indicates that he no longer poses a threat to the public. Consequently, a court could consider transferring him to a standard prison.
Currently confined in a high-security facility for mentally disturbed offenders at Stein Prison in Krems an der Donau, Fritzl, under Austrian law, can apply for conditional release after serving 15 years of his life sentence, making him eligible for parole this year.
Legal experts suggest that conditional release is a viable option, potentially leading to Fritzl, who has changed his name, being relocated to a care home.
Alois Birklbauer, a professor of criminal law at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, expressed that it seems apparent that a dismissal will be declared.
In 2022, a regional court ruled Fritzl was “no longer a danger” and could be moved to a standard jail – but the Higher Regional Court in Vienna later blocked the decision.
The Fritzl case, which emerged in the town of Amstetten in 2008, has been described as one of the worst in Austria’s criminal history.
He was convicted of murdering one of his children through neglect, as well as rape, incest, and enslaving his daughter.
Fritzl’s daughter and her children have since taken on new identities.
