Austrian incest father Josef Fritzl suspected of four murders
Josef Fritzl is likely to spend the rest of his life locked up in a psychiatric unit - but the full extent of his crimes may be yet to surface.
The depraved father, convicted yesterday after imprisoning his daughter, Elisabeth, for 24 years, is being investigated over at least four unsolved murders and disappearances.
A jury took only hours to find the 73-year-old guilty of rape, incest, deprivation of liberty, enslavement and murder by neglect over the death of his new-born son Michael in 1996.
Impassive, he accepted the verdict and said he would not be launching an appeal, bringing a swift end to a case that has shocked the world.
His life sentence means he cannot be freed for at least 15 years. He would then have to prove he no longer posed a danger to the public before being released.
Even as he was led away to serve his sentence, police were re-examining missing person and unsolved murder cases over the past four decades.
One is the 1986 murder of Martina Posch, 17, who was raped, strangled and dumped in a lake a short distance from where Fritzl and wife Rosemarie ran a guesthouse.
"What really stands out is that Martina looks similar to Fritzl's daughter. The likeness is incredible," police chief Alois Lissl said.
Other cases include the shotgun murder of Anna Neumayer, 17, near Fritzl's workplace in 1966 and the disappearance of Julia Kuehrer, 16, near his home in 2006.
The investigation also includes sex worker Gabriele Superkova, 20, was murdered and dumped in a lake near where Fritzl was holidaying in 2007.
Meanwhile, there is ongoing disbelief that Fritzl's wife, Rosemarie, knew nothing of the cellar although police insist she is an innocent party.
"What woman would stay silent if she knew her husband had seven children with his daughter and was holding her prisoner in the cellar?," police have said.
Rosemarie, like all of Elisabeth's siblings, refused to testify at Fritzl's trial.
Friday, March 20, 2009
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