Josef Fritzl timeline
Josef Fritzl's home in Amstetten
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Wednesday, 18, Mar 2009 11:49
Josef Fritzl had pleaded guilty to raping and imprisoning his daughter in a purpose built dungeon for 24 years. During that time the Austrian fathered seven children with Elisabeth and has admitted murdering one of her babies shortly after it was born.
inthenews looks back at key dates in the horrific case of abuse that shocked the world.
1977 - Josef Fritzl starts abusing his 11-year-old daughter Elisabeth.
August 29th 1984 - Fritzl lures his now 18-year-old daughter into the basement of their family home in the Austrian town of Amstetten.
He drugs her and takes her to a concealed underground dungeon at the property he has purposely built. Fritzl tells his wife Rosemarie their daughter has run away and she files a missing persons report with the police.
September 1984 - Fritzl hands local police a letter written by Elisabeth postmarked in the town of Braunau stating she was with friends and tired of living with her family and warned anyone against coming to find her. Fritzl claims she has joined a religious cult.
1989 - Elisabeth's first child Kerstin is born after Fritzl forces her to have sex with him.
1990 - Elisabeth's second child Stefan is born.
1992 - Elisabeth's third child Lisa is born.
May 1993 - Lisa is allegedly found outside the Fritzl home with a note asking for her to be cared for.
December 1994 - Elisabeth's fourth child Monika is found outside the family home.
May 1996 - Elisabeth gives birth to two twin boys. One of the children, Michael, dies days after being born and Fritzl cremates his body. The surviving twin Alexander is the third child to be taken out of the dungeon and allowed to live with Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie.
December 2002 - Elisabeth gives birth to her seventh child, Felix. Elisabeth remains living in the dungeon with Kerstin, Stefan and Felix.
April 19th 2008 - Kerstin, Elisabeth's eldest daughter falls unconscious and Fritzl agrees to allow her to receive medical attention.
April 21st 2008 - Following Kerstin's admittance to hospital and claims by Fritzl that he had found a note written by her mother, Austrian police broadcast appeal for the missing mother to come forward.
April 26th 2008 - Fritzl agrees to release Elisabeth and her two sons Stefan and Felix from the dungeon. He tells his wife their daughter has agreed to come home after 24 years.
Josef and Elisabeth attend the hospital together to visit Kerstin. Following a tip-off, the pair are then both arrested on the hospital grounds.
Under police questioning Elisabeth describes how she had been held captive by her father for the last 24 years, how he allegedly abused her and fathered seven children with her.
April 26th-27th 2008 - Elisabeth, her five children, and Rosemarie are taken into care.
Josef is arrested on suspicion of serious crimes against family members.
April 28th 2008 - Josef Fritzl admits to having imprisoned his daughter for almost a quarter of a century and having fathered seven children with her. He describes how he kept Elisabeth and her children in an underground dungeon accessible only through a small hidden door.
Rosemarie denies any knowledge of the offences.
April 29th 2008 -DNA evidence proves Fritzl is indeed the father of all six of Elisabeth's living children.
June 10th 2008 - Kerstin regains consciousness in hospital.
October 31st 2008 - Leaked psychiatrist reports claim to show Fritzl admitting locking his mother in a room until her death.
In the report by psychiatrist Dr Adelheid Kastner, the 73-year-old allegedly describes how he decided to punish his mother for the misery she inflicted on him as a child.
Despite the harrowing nature of his evidence, the psychiatrist declares Fritzl is sane and fit for trial, although he is suffering from a "severe combined personality disorder".
November 13th 2008 - Austrian authorities decide Fritzl will face a murder charge over the death of the twin boy who died shortly after birth.
February 9th 2009 - Austrian authorities declare Fritzl bankrupt.
February 23rd 2009 - A theatre in Vienna stages a show based on the Fritz case.
March 16th 2009 - Josef Fritzl goes on trial. As proceedings begin, the Austrian covers his face with a blue folder and refuses to answer any questions until the press are removed from the court. The jury is shown an 11-hour recorded testimony made by Elisabeth
March 17th 2009 - The jury continue to be shown the recording.
March 18th 2009 - Fritzl dramatically changes his mind and announces he will plead guilty to all the charges being brought against him, including rape, incest, enslavement and murder.