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Austria's Fritzl admits murder, enslavement

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-18 16:39

ST POELTEN, Austria - An Austrian who fathered seven children with a daughter he locked in a cellar for 24 years pleaded guilty to murder and enslavement on Wednesday, reversing an innocent plea on the charges.

Defendant Josef Fritzl arrives for his trial after a break at the court of law in Sankt Poelten in Austria's province of Lower Austria March 17, 2009. [Agencies]

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Fritzl, 73, had earlier pleaded guilty to incest with his daughter Elisabeth but denied murdering their newborn son and enslaving her in the windowless purpose-built cellar under his home.

Fritzl told a court in St. Poelten, west of Vienna, that he had a change of heart and decided to acknowledge his guilt in the death of one of the seven children he fathered with his captive daughter.

Fritzl told the judge and jury: "I plead guilty to all the charges in the indictment."

It was a surprise development on the third day of Fritzl's trial. Officials had said verdicts would come on Thursday, and it was not immediately clear if Fritzl's new pleas would speed up the process.

Fritzl faces up to life imprisonment on the homicide count. He was also charged with rape, enslavement, false imprisonment and coercion.