25 January 2024 , 13:55
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Josef Fritzl’s ‘house of horrors’ - where he kept his daughter as a sex captive in a dungeon - is now a block of flats.
From the outside the property at 40 Ybbsstrasse in Amstetten, Austria, appeared like any other, as behind the walls it hides the crimes of the sex monster. Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2009 after pleading guilty to rape, false imprisonment, manslaughter by negligence, and incest.
Often after horrific crimes have taken place inside, buildings are demolished; such as the infamous case of Fred and Rose West’s home on Cromwell Street in Gloucester. But while Fritzl has been in jail, the house was not pulled down or left empty, and instead it has been converted into flats.
It was bought by landlord couple Herbert and Ingrid Houska from Fritzl's bankruptcy estate and the couple renovated it. They said: "All nine apartments are rented out. There are young people among them who have no connection to the Fritzl case."
Sex monster Josef Fritzl (Getty Images)They purchased the property in 2016 to provide a new start for the local community. The town of Amstetten, 70 miles from the Austrian capital of Vienna was left in shock when Fritzl’s crimes came to light as he had been seen as a dedicated hard working grandfather.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
The house in Amstetten, Austria (MDM)While all the flats are rented out, the owners added that the basement where Fritzl’s daughter Elisabeth was tortured has been partially filled with concrete. The garage has been bricked up and only the stairs and a single room remain as they were.
Elisabeth was held in the basement (MDM)Mr Houska said: “From the worst possible situation, we have found the best solution. After 10 years, we don’t speak about the Fritzl case anymore. It is not the Fritzl house anymore. We can move on.”
The basement dungeon has been filled with concrete (MDM)Meanwhile, Fritzl has now been granted conditional release from a prison for the mentally ill today following appeal. The 88-year-old was snapped in a car as he arrived at Landesgericht District Court at 7.20am UK time for a hearing - the first time he's been seen outside prison for 15 years.
An undated photo of Elisabeth Fritzl (US PRESS/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock)It was in the cellar of the building that Fritzl dragged his terrified daughter Elisabeth, then 18, into the dungeon lair that would be her prison for 24 years. He would drug and beat her into submission so she did not try to escape and she gave birth to seven of his children during 8,642 days in captivity. He had told his wife and police that Elisabeth had run away to join a cult.
The local community has tried to move on from Fritzl's crimes (MDM)The case finally emerged in 2008 when Elisabeth told police during a trip to hospital, in the town of Amstetten, that she had been held captive by her father. The woman, along with three of the seven children she had with Fritzl, were finally freed from their brutal life of captivity.