In keeping with the children and mental health theme (though, on a much more disturbing level), after last week I knew it was only a matter of time before I was passing this information along to you:
AMSTETTEN, Austria – The lawyer for the Austrian man who allegedly imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and fathered seven children with her has said he is preparing an insanity defense (Lawyer: Austrian suspect Fritzl has mental disorder).
I’m not at all surprised and, quite honestly, I don’t feel this is one of those insanity pleas meant to decrease punishment. Anyone who kidnaps his own daughter, imprisons her in an underground cell, and fathers seven of her children over the course of two decades…well, there has to be something malfunctioning upstairs.
According to the article, Fritzl’s family is still receiving “psychiatric care and counseling.”
Thank God for that.
Image: Newscom
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[...] the Fritzl case, this is…well, it’s not something you hear about every day. Like the FLDS case, [...]
@ Isabelle – Thanks for chiming in!
I don’t think it’s so much that people don’t think he should get punishment; rather, it’s more that some people think punishments should fit the entire situation and not just the crime or just the mental health. That’s why here in America, some prisons have mental health wards, while some facilities are strictly for criminals with mental health problems. (Once you’re incarcerated, your health becomes the responsibility of the State and whatever institution in which you’re incarcerated, regardless of what crime you committed.) So, say, for example, someone with schizophrenia experiences a serious psychotic episode and commits a crime during said episode. The judge and jury are expected to (and will) take the mental illness into consideration and will most likely grant a punishment that 1) makes the person “pay” for the crime, while 2) pays attention to the person’s health needs.
Too, these wards and institutions are also designed to protect the mentally ill from hurting themselves as well as other prisoners and prison employees. It is ridiculously irresponsible to place a person with a serious mental illness in captivity (or general population) with others without the proper health care/treatment/management. It’s actually one of the jobs of the prison to protect the safety of all inmates (whether or not the job is carried out, of course, is up for debate, but, that’s what they’re supposed to do). Placing a prisoner in general population puts him/her at risk, other inmates at risk, and the prison employees who don’t have training with such mental health situations at risk. It’s dangerous for everyone.
The bottom line is that sentencing someone to a psychiatric ward/institution isn’t meant to be a “softer” penalty; it’s meant to be a safer arrangement for everyone.
In any event, Fritzl’s lawyer isn’t trying to save him from any kind of punishment; he’s trying to get him into a psychiatric institution which, if Fritzl is indeed suffering from mental illness, would probably be the safest bet for all parties involved.
However, it’s probably going to be a long hard battle for everyone, because I’m sure factors like the length of time Fritzl engaged in this crime (I mean, we’re talking decades!) will surely play into it. Undoubtedly the prosecutors are going to argue that this was going on for years and years, and that he had plenty of time to think about and plan what he was doing.
I’m interested to see how it all pans out.
All rapists and killers are insane, so that’s no reason to believe that they should not get the punishment they deserve. The man created a concentrationcamp, which means that he is guilty on the most extreme crime against humanity, so this case is worse than a murder or a rape. He should be convicted like all the other concentrationcamp criminals. I am not sure if there is a law for such things in Austria, but if not, they can create one.
@ BPD in OKC – It’s absolutely fascinating (on a completely disturbing level, sometimes – like in this instance) what our brains can rationalize as stuff like “right,” “wrong,” “right but seems wrong,” and “really, REALLY wrong but I’m going to do it anyway.” And, to add to your list of things the wife didn’t notice and we wonder why, is the actual construction of this basement cell! I’m sure he didn’t hire a contractor, so he must have spent a lot of time down there building it and adding on to it (in addition to getting his daughter pregnant). Why didn’t anyone hear that noise?
I don’t see many long years of punishment for this man (on earth, that is); he’s in his 70s. Even if he gets life in prison, it probably wouldn’t be a very long time. However, his daughter and all of her children…they have such a long, hard battle ahead of them.
[...] tagged fatherOwn a Wordpress blog? Make monetization easier with the WP Affiliate Pro plugin. Austrian Father Josef Fritzl To Plead Insanity saved by 4 others geekofsteal bookmarked on 05/06/08 | [...]
This case completely disturbs me. I can’t believe he got away with imprisoning his daughter and grandchildren for so many years. How could his wife have no idea what was going on? How could she not question things when babies just magically kept appearing on their doorstep? How could she not realize he kept going down into the basement so much?
My husband had a good point. This guy knew what he was doing was wrong ‘cuz he took the time to build a sound-proof chamber so no one could hear his daughter in the dungeon. I think he should be locked up in a tiny room with no windows for the rest of his life.
Sorry I just feel strongly about this sicko.