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Austria cellar man 'mentally ill'
bbc ^

Posted on 05/04/2008 11:22:39 AM PDT by austrian

Austria cellar man 'mentally ill'

Mr Fritzl claimed his daughter ran away to join a cult

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man accused of abusing his imprisoned daughter for 24 years, should not go to jail as he is mentally ill, his lawyer says.

Rudolf Mayer says his client should be in a psychiatric unit rather than facing a trial, which will not be fair because of press coverage of the case.

Police say Mr Fritzl, 73, incarcerated and raped his daughter Elisabeth in his cellar in Amstetten in Lower Austria.

A relative of Mr Fritzl says he was convicted of another rape in 1967.

In a television interview for the Associated Press, Mr Fritzl's sister-in-law, identified only as Christine R, describes Mr Fritzl as a tyrant and said "I believe he spent a year and half in prison" for the conviction.

Josef Fritzl's sister-in-law talks about the family Police have declined to comment on the allegations, saying records that old would have been erased under Austria's statutes of limitation.

Under Austrian law convictions can be expunged after as little as five years.

'Diminished responsibility'

Mr Mayer has said that if, in his opinion, a psychiatric evaluation of Mr Fritzl ordered by the court does not give a proper assessment of his client he will consider ordering a separate report himself.

"In my personal opinion, Josef Fritzl is mentally ill and therefore of diminished responsibility. I believe that my client does not belong in prison but in a secure psychiatric unit," Mr Mayer told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

He added that he is "not defending a monster but a human being, even if that is hard to take for some people. I am already receiving threatening letters saying that I belong in the cellar with Mr Fritzl."

Police say Elisabeth bore her father seven children - three of whom remained incarcerated with her, never seeing daylight until they were released earlier this week.

Mr Fritzl, who is in custody, has confessed to the crime in a written statement.

He is refusing to answer any more questions, as police try to piece together conditions in the cellar - as well as the suspect's life.

Mr Fritzl's alleged crimes came to light when Elisabeth's eldest daughter Kerstin, 19, became seriously ill.

She was allowed out of the cellar and admitted to hospital in Amstetten.

Police then issued an appeal to Elisabeth Fritzl to contact them about her daughter, and later picked up Mr Fritzl and Elisabeth near the hospital.

Elisabeth and the children are now in care with the Austrian authorities, who are protecting their privacy at a psychiatric clinic.

Kerstin is fighting for her life in hospital.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: austria; childabuse; fritzl; incest; mentalillness
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there it goes i was wondering how long it will take until a lawer will come to help this "poor poor" man against the evil police and courts in austria. sarcasm
1 posted on 05/04/2008 11:22:39 AM PDT by austrian
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To: austrian

He should have run off to join the FLDS in Texas, and then he’d have people coming out of the woodwork to defend him.


2 posted on 05/04/2008 11:24:36 AM PDT by livius
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To: austrian

Ever wonder whatever happened to the use of the word...evil?


3 posted on 05/04/2008 11:25:51 AM PDT by kjo
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To: austrian
Where is Captain Obvious when you need him?
4 posted on 05/04/2008 11:27:51 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
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To: austrian
does not belong in prison but in a secure psychiatric unit,"

He belongs in a 6 x 6 windowless cell - never see daylight again =

Obviously, he's not right in the head...what criminals are. Doesn't mean he should be coddled...it shouldn't be what is best for him - but punishment for what he inflicted on innocents

5 posted on 05/04/2008 11:28:29 AM PDT by maine-iac7 (Typical Gun-Toting, Jesus-Loving Gramma)
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To: austrian

.......Elisabeth and the children are now in care with the Austrian authorities, who are protecting their privacy at a psychiatric clinic.

I hope the authorities let the go outside occasionally


6 posted on 05/04/2008 11:32:37 AM PDT by Selmore (If your gonna take the hill, take the hill.)
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To: austrian
Calling MR. OBVIOUS
7 posted on 05/04/2008 11:36:41 AM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
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To: austrian

He is clearly mentally ill.

He should be sent to prison for life or executed.

Or sentenced to live in the home of the attorney who is arguing that he shouldn’t go to prison.

The same way that I think Kennedy, Kerry, Schumer, Pelosi, Clinton(s), Reid, Durbin, etc., should be forced to live among the felons and illegal immigrants and pay DIRECTLY for their food, education, medical bills and ... suffer the crimes against their person and property that the masses suffer.


8 posted on 05/04/2008 11:37:20 AM PDT by whitedog57
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To: maine-iac7

He belongs in a 6 x 6 windowless cell - never see daylight again =


take away the tv and lock him in his own cellar. only open the door ever week to let in a gay 200 pound psycho wo will rape him every week. maybe but only maybe then he will have a little understanding what he has done.


9 posted on 05/04/2008 11:39:00 AM PDT by austrian
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To: austrian

What a crock. Scum like this is the reason why humans have a mob instinct.

This is a clear case (if there ever is one) for public trial, a prolonged stint in publically accessible stocks for convenient spitting on and cursing at, and unprotected bout in prison where the large hairy men can let him know how pedophilic, incestuous, torturing bastards should be treated, then if he survives that, a public execution with NO painkiller.

Call me old fashioned, but deeply evil people like this, Ted Bundy, Bin Laden, Hitler, etc. need to have at least a taste of the evil they have wrought. That’s called justice.


10 posted on 05/04/2008 11:41:35 AM PDT by VictoryGal (Never give up, never surrender!)
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To: austrian

I have no doubt he is mentally ill, but it should be no defense.


11 posted on 05/04/2008 11:43:14 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Mossad!)
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To: livius

Big difference between those two cases and for the record., I think this guy should be put down like a dog, mentally ill or not.


12 posted on 05/04/2008 11:45:05 AM PDT by Awestruck (All the usual suspects)
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To: MeanWestTexan
I have no doubt he is mentally ill, but it should be no defense.

Even mentally ill people know the difference between right and wrong. Insanity is the plea when you don't know the difference between the two.

13 posted on 05/04/2008 11:48:33 AM PDT by Popman (Typical bitter white male clinging to my religion and guns......................)
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To: austrian

I don’t think he has diminished capacity as he knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew it was wrong because he kept it hidden.


14 posted on 05/04/2008 11:49:06 AM PDT by steveo (Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.)
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To: austrian
He added that he is "not defending a monster but a human being, even if that is hard to take for some people.

No, he is not human.

A bullet to his brain. He breathes my air. 

15 posted on 05/04/2008 11:49:09 AM PDT by JoJo Gunn (Help control the McCainiac population. Have them spayed or neutered.)
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To: austrian

This man is not “mentally ill”. He is evil.


16 posted on 05/04/2008 11:50:24 AM PDT by My hearts in London - Everett (I'd rather be single than wish I was.)
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To: austrian

Fry em! And find out who his accomplices were too!


17 posted on 05/04/2008 11:53:24 AM PDT by spanalot
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To: austrian

And so what? Time to stop using this as an excuse. No more insanity defenses. Too easy to fake and too many shrinks will say anything on the witness stand for $. End it.

Do the crime - Do the time. End of discussion.


18 posted on 05/04/2008 11:55:26 AM PDT by Seruzawa (A skeleton walks into a bar and asks for a beer and a mop.)
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To: JoJo Gunn

No, he is not human.

A bullet to his brain. He breathes my air


agreed this monster has lost all rights to be treated like a human beeing. but in my oppinion a bullet in the head would be a too easy way to slip away


19 posted on 05/04/2008 11:55:39 AM PDT by austrian
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To: austrian

He looked in total control of his mental facilities in the beach video of him in Thailand.

Whats next? All Austrian Nazis were mentally ill.


20 posted on 05/04/2008 11:55:39 AM PDT by eleni121 (EN TOUTO NIKA!! +)
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To: austrian

“…should not go to jail…”

That is correct. I agree.

Instead, he should have parts of his body cut off…like fingers, toes…then hands and feet and then more (tongue, ears, etc.) I don’t recommend eye gouging since he should see everything done to him. They should let him lay around for several weeks without pain-killers and then electrocute him for at least a day or more. And after that, chop his head off…slowly.


21 posted on 05/04/2008 11:56:06 AM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: austrian
not defending a monster but a human being

Some people go so far that they don't deserve to be classified as human anymore, and should be removed from humanity permanently.

22 posted on 05/04/2008 11:57:15 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: austrian

off topic. but to all. sorry i try to answer some posts but my internet browser is going nuts. sometimes i can see comments next time they are away. very strange


23 posted on 05/04/2008 11:59:05 AM PDT by austrian
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To: austrian

24 posted on 05/04/2008 12:00:28 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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same here


25 posted on 05/04/2008 12:02:14 PM PDT by Popman (Typical bitter white male clinging to my religion and guns......................)
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To: austrian

What just happened?

Did the mods just erase everything past the first comment?

If so, I will comment again:

“…should not go to jail…”

That is correct. I agree.

Instead, he should have parts of his body cut off…like fingers, toes…then hands and feet and then more (tongue, ears, etc.) I don’t recommend eye gouging since he should see everything done to him. They should let him lay around for several weeks without pain-killers and then electrocute him for at least a day or more. And after that, chop his head off…slowly.


26 posted on 05/04/2008 12:05:10 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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Just like the end of “From 10 to Midnight” where the killer says, “I’m sick, you can’t punish me for being sick. One day I’m going to get out....”

And Charles Bronson said, “Oh, no you won’t” and put a bullet in his brain pan.


27 posted on 05/04/2008 12:05:57 PM PDT by dfwgator (11+7+15=3 Heismans)
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To: austrian

Reference your post #23.

I was blaming the mods which is a good place to start.

They may not be guilty this time.


28 posted on 05/04/2008 12:12:47 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: austrian; John Robinson

I see that others have discovered the thread acting up. It’s across the site.

I make a post, and on return this thread shows two comments. Your reply to me doesn’t show up in the Pings. Another thread shows three, where there’s actually 20plus. Sign out, and things are fairly normal. Sign back in, and this thread is what’s at the top of the list, though in actuality there’s several others posted since.

Does the same things in Firefox or IE. Somehow our individual histories, and how the cookies keep up with it, is kaput for the moment.


29 posted on 05/04/2008 12:14:06 PM PDT by JoJo Gunn (Help control the McCainiac population. Have them spayed or neutered.)
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To: austrian

I would treat this sub human’s mental illness by locking him in that very same cellar, with just enough food and water to keep him alive for a long time. No company and no one ever opens the door.

He has no defense.


30 posted on 05/04/2008 12:14:43 PM PDT by indylindy (McCain is to Conservatives like Kryptonite is to Superman.)
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To: austrian

“They may not be guilty this time.”

But off with their heads anyway just to make sure. : )


31 posted on 05/04/2008 12:19:38 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: austrian

Here we go again...

Nothing past comment #2 this time.


32 posted on 05/04/2008 12:22:09 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: austrian

And you are correct. I have to get out of FR and start over again.


33 posted on 05/04/2008 12:23:40 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: austrian
"Austria cellar man 'mentally ill' "

Well, duh!

You don't need to be smarter than a 5th grader to know that now.

It might have been useful for someone to point out this fact before all of the unspeakable events took place.
34 posted on 05/04/2008 1:09:20 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: austrian

No sh... !


35 posted on 05/04/2008 1:13:43 PM PDT by traumer
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To: austrian

His whole scheme was carefully concocted and implemented in a meticulously planned and methodical manner. Hardly the disorganized thought process of a truly mentally ill person. His actions were simply EVIL.


36 posted on 05/04/2008 1:17:23 PM PDT by informavoracious (God BLESS America)
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To: livius

x


37 posted on 05/04/2008 1:18:41 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: austrian

of course he is mentally ill but that does not mean he does not belong in prison solitary confinement for life....


38 posted on 05/04/2008 1:20:37 PM PDT by alisasny (RIP Lt. Kevin “Kojak” Davis BLUE ANGELS #6 THANKYOU!!)
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To: austrian

And so are his victims, by now


39 posted on 05/04/2008 1:26:37 PM PDT by buck jarret
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To: austrian

I completely agree with the lawyer that this ‘person’ should not go to jail.

He should be locked in a small room in someone’s cellar and sexually abused for the next 24 years.

For starters.


40 posted on 05/04/2008 1:39:29 PM PDT by BigBadVoodooDaddy
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To: austrian

‘Austria cellar man “mentally ill” ‘

Kill him anyway.


41 posted on 05/04/2008 1:42:18 PM PDT by Levante
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To: austrian

‘Austria cellar man “mentally ill” ‘

Kill him anyway.


42 posted on 05/04/2008 1:42:38 PM PDT by Levante
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To: austrian

Just because he is insane doesn’t mean he should not go under the train.


43 posted on 05/04/2008 1:43:34 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Levante

Kill him anyway.


well at least we can hope that his first walk around (if he ever gets one) in the prison yard is his last one.media says he has allready received threats against his life from other prisoners.


44 posted on 05/04/2008 2:01:21 PM PDT by austrian
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To: austrian

Austria cellar man ‘mentally ill’

Gee - ya think? So - what - now he’ll get 10 years instead of the maximum of 15? But yeah, lets hope he slips on a bar of soap in the prison shower.


45 posted on 05/04/2008 2:07:32 PM PDT by 21twelve (Don't wish for peace. Pray for Victory.)
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To: austrian

I’d say MOST people who get caught doing this kind of atrocity are *Mentally Ill* but, IMO, that fact shouldn’t save them from just punishment.

Hang the bastard now!


46 posted on 05/04/2008 2:13:43 PM PDT by wolfcreek (I see miles and miles of Texas....let's keep it that way.)
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To: 21twelve

to be realistic he will get between 15 and 20 years. if they are able to proof him that the baby which has died and was burned by him has not been born dead he will get lifelong (btw. lifelong in austria means only 25 years). but then i remeber that he is 73 so it will be enought this time. but in general we really need harder punishment for criminals.


47 posted on 05/04/2008 2:14:53 PM PDT by austrian
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To: austrian
I acquiesce - your idea is far better
48 posted on 05/04/2008 2:20:12 PM PDT by maine-iac7 (Typical Gun-Toting, Jesus-Loving Gramma)
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To: austrian

After post #2, everything continues to be shut down here in Panama.

I have no idea if you will get this post.


49 posted on 05/04/2008 2:29:17 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: austrian

There seems to be an idea that a mentally ill person who commits heinous crimes should be not responsible. Now they may have not known what they were doing, or see it in a different light, BUT since they are capable of horror, they should be immediately killed. They cannot be trusted and have proven it.


50 posted on 05/04/2008 2:37:07 PM PDT by Chickensoup (If it is not permitted, it is prohibited. Only the government can permit....)
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