'House of Horrors' father confesses
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Big Magilla
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Read with caution (unimaginably disturbing):
AMSTETTEN, Austria (CNN) -- A 73-year-old man has confessed to holding his daughter captive in his home cellar for nearly 24 years and fathering seven children by her, Austrian police say.
Mr. F. has confessed to imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and having seven children with her.
1 of 3 Austrian police spokesman Franz Polzer told CNN, the man, known as Mr. F., admitted holding his daughter hostage in a windowless cell in the basement of his home for more than two decades.
Mr. F. told police that one of the children he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth F. was a twin who died.
Mr. F. also admitted he burned the body of the dead child in an oven inside the house, according to Polzer.
Further DNA tests will now be carried out to confirm fatherhood, Polzer said.
Elisabeth F., 42, is described as "very disturbed" and having trouble talking to police about her ordeal, reports CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen.
She went missing in 1984, when she was 18 years old, police said at a news conference Sunday.
Detectives made the grim discovery about the cellar earlier this month after her daughter -- a 19-year-old woman, identified as Kristen F. -- was hospitalized in Amstetten after falling unconscious.
She was taken to a hospital in Amstetten, outside Vienna, by her grandfather with a SOS note from her mother hidden on her.
A DNA test was later carried out which revealed her grandfather, Mr. F., was also her father, according to ORF, Austria's state-run news agency.
That sparked a police investigation, which revealed that Mr. F. fathered at least six children with his daughter, forcing her and three of the surviving children to live in the cellar of his house, according to ORF's Peter Schmitzberger.
On Sunday, police searched the hidden rooms where Mr. F. admitted he kept his daughter and their children.
The rooms included sleeping quarters, a kitchen and a bathroom, which Mr. F. told police he built, Polzer said.
Conditions in the 50-60 square meters cellar were described as "very dark, narrow and damp, " reports Pleitgen from Amstetten, a rural town about 150 km (93 miles) west of Vienna.
Investigators say an electronic keyless-entry system and soundproof door apparently kept the woman from escaping the cell, which was constructed of reinforced concrete.
Elisabeth F. told police that she and her three children Kerstin, 19; Stefan, 18; and Felix, 5, did not see the light of day during their entire time in captivity.
Amstetten police say they were put on Mr. F.'s trail following an anonymous tip off. They apprehended the pair on Saturday near the hospital and once police assured the daughter that she would never have contact with her father again, "she was able to tell the whole story," Schmitzberger said.
Elisabeth F. gave police a "psychologically and physically disturbed impression," police said in a statement.
She said her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984 -- weeks before she was reported missing -- her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room, she told police.
For the next 24 years, she was constantly raped by her father, resulting in the six surviving children, she said, according to the police statement.
She also told police she gave birth to twins in 1996, but one of the babies died a few days later as a result of neglect, and Mr. F. removed the infant's body and burned it.
She told police that only her father supplied her and her children with food and clothing, and that she did not think his wife knew anything about their situation
Mr. F. lived upstairs with his wife, Rosemarie F., who police said had no idea about her husband's other family living in the cellar.
Mr. F. and Rosemarie F. had adopted three of the children that he had with his daughter, according to police. He told his wife that his missing daughter had dropped the unwanted children off at the house because she could not take care of them, police said.
When Kerstin fell ill earlier this month, Mr. F. apparently told his wife and the hospital that his "missing" daughter had dropped off the sick girl on his doorstep.
In an effort to find out what might be ailing 19-year-old Kerstin, the hospital asked the media to put out a bulletin requesting any information about the girl or her missing mother, attorney general Gerhard Sedlacek told NTV.
Sometime later, Mr. F. brought Elisabeth F. out of the cellar, telling his wife that she had returned home with her two children after a 24-year absence, police said.
He took Elisabeth F. to the hospital to talk with doctors about Kerstin's condition, and at that point, authorities became aware of her situation, Sedlacek said.
Shocked residents of the neighborhood, a tidy, middle-class district, said there there were no outward signs of the atrocities inside what the media has dubbed the 'House of Horrors.'
The suspect "was friendly -- that's why this is so unbelievable," said Franz Redl, 56, who owns a shop across the street. "I'm sure the authorities did all they could. He planned everything so perfectly," he told The Associated Press.
While a woman identified as Gabriele H. told Austria's Kurier newspaper she thought Mr. F. was a devoted grandfather doing his best to look after his abandoned grandchildren.
"One who looks after their grandchildren whilst their mother just ran away. We were all asking ourselves what kind of mother would do that to their children?," she said.
Another local, Berhard E , who lives opposite the family, told Kurier: "I am appalled, this is unimaginable and simply not comprehensible."
Mr. F. and I grew up together" said Erika Manhalter who lives a few meters away from their house. "We thought this would be a family just like others, but you cannot look through people," she told Kurier.
Hans-Heinz Lenze, a senior local official, told AP Mr. F.'s wife apparently had "no idea" of what went on and was devastated. "You have to imagine that this woman's world fell apart," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/28/austria.cellar/index.html
AMSTETTEN, Austria (CNN) -- A 73-year-old man has confessed to holding his daughter captive in his home cellar for nearly 24 years and fathering seven children by her, Austrian police say.
Mr. F. has confessed to imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and having seven children with her.
1 of 3 Austrian police spokesman Franz Polzer told CNN, the man, known as Mr. F., admitted holding his daughter hostage in a windowless cell in the basement of his home for more than two decades.
Mr. F. told police that one of the children he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth F. was a twin who died.
Mr. F. also admitted he burned the body of the dead child in an oven inside the house, according to Polzer.
Further DNA tests will now be carried out to confirm fatherhood, Polzer said.
Elisabeth F., 42, is described as "very disturbed" and having trouble talking to police about her ordeal, reports CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen.
She went missing in 1984, when she was 18 years old, police said at a news conference Sunday.
Detectives made the grim discovery about the cellar earlier this month after her daughter -- a 19-year-old woman, identified as Kristen F. -- was hospitalized in Amstetten after falling unconscious.
She was taken to a hospital in Amstetten, outside Vienna, by her grandfather with a SOS note from her mother hidden on her.
A DNA test was later carried out which revealed her grandfather, Mr. F., was also her father, according to ORF, Austria's state-run news agency.
That sparked a police investigation, which revealed that Mr. F. fathered at least six children with his daughter, forcing her and three of the surviving children to live in the cellar of his house, according to ORF's Peter Schmitzberger.
On Sunday, police searched the hidden rooms where Mr. F. admitted he kept his daughter and their children.
The rooms included sleeping quarters, a kitchen and a bathroom, which Mr. F. told police he built, Polzer said.
Conditions in the 50-60 square meters cellar were described as "very dark, narrow and damp, " reports Pleitgen from Amstetten, a rural town about 150 km (93 miles) west of Vienna.
Investigators say an electronic keyless-entry system and soundproof door apparently kept the woman from escaping the cell, which was constructed of reinforced concrete.
Elisabeth F. told police that she and her three children Kerstin, 19; Stefan, 18; and Felix, 5, did not see the light of day during their entire time in captivity.
Amstetten police say they were put on Mr. F.'s trail following an anonymous tip off. They apprehended the pair on Saturday near the hospital and once police assured the daughter that she would never have contact with her father again, "she was able to tell the whole story," Schmitzberger said.
Elisabeth F. gave police a "psychologically and physically disturbed impression," police said in a statement.
She said her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984 -- weeks before she was reported missing -- her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room, she told police.
For the next 24 years, she was constantly raped by her father, resulting in the six surviving children, she said, according to the police statement.
She also told police she gave birth to twins in 1996, but one of the babies died a few days later as a result of neglect, and Mr. F. removed the infant's body and burned it.
She told police that only her father supplied her and her children with food and clothing, and that she did not think his wife knew anything about their situation
Mr. F. lived upstairs with his wife, Rosemarie F., who police said had no idea about her husband's other family living in the cellar.
Mr. F. and Rosemarie F. had adopted three of the children that he had with his daughter, according to police. He told his wife that his missing daughter had dropped the unwanted children off at the house because she could not take care of them, police said.
When Kerstin fell ill earlier this month, Mr. F. apparently told his wife and the hospital that his "missing" daughter had dropped off the sick girl on his doorstep.
In an effort to find out what might be ailing 19-year-old Kerstin, the hospital asked the media to put out a bulletin requesting any information about the girl or her missing mother, attorney general Gerhard Sedlacek told NTV.
Sometime later, Mr. F. brought Elisabeth F. out of the cellar, telling his wife that she had returned home with her two children after a 24-year absence, police said.
He took Elisabeth F. to the hospital to talk with doctors about Kerstin's condition, and at that point, authorities became aware of her situation, Sedlacek said.
Shocked residents of the neighborhood, a tidy, middle-class district, said there there were no outward signs of the atrocities inside what the media has dubbed the 'House of Horrors.'
The suspect "was friendly -- that's why this is so unbelievable," said Franz Redl, 56, who owns a shop across the street. "I'm sure the authorities did all they could. He planned everything so perfectly," he told The Associated Press.
While a woman identified as Gabriele H. told Austria's Kurier newspaper she thought Mr. F. was a devoted grandfather doing his best to look after his abandoned grandchildren.
"One who looks after their grandchildren whilst their mother just ran away. We were all asking ourselves what kind of mother would do that to their children?," she said.
Another local, Berhard E , who lives opposite the family, told Kurier: "I am appalled, this is unimaginable and simply not comprehensible."
Mr. F. and I grew up together" said Erika Manhalter who lives a few meters away from their house. "We thought this would be a family just like others, but you cannot look through people," she told Kurier.
Hans-Heinz Lenze, a senior local official, told AP Mr. F.'s wife apparently had "no idea" of what went on and was devastated. "You have to imagine that this woman's world fell apart," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/28/austria.cellar/index.html
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell