Rapist monster Josef Fritzl said he hopes to walk free by next Christmas in a twisted festive greeting delivered from his prison cell. The Austrian criminal – currently serving life for imprisoning a secret family of seven offspring in his cellar – conveyed the Christmas message via his solicitor Astrid Wagner during her visit to Stein Prison on Friday.
In a video recorded following the meeting, Wagner appeared clutching a miniature Christmas decoration. She explained: « He gave me a small gift, a Christmas surprise, a small Father Christmas. I took great joy in this small gift and would like to use this opportunity to pass on a message from Fritzl personally.
« He wishes everyone out there a merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2026. And he has the hope that by Christmas next year, 2026, he might perhaps already be free. »
Wagner, who has spent years advocating for his freedom, also said she was « shocked » by the hate aimed at her client.
Fritzl has been pursuing his freedom since October 2021, and was moved in January 2024 from a secure psychiatric detention facility into the standard prison system after court decisions.
A subsequent bid for his conditional release was rejected by the authorities in Krems an der Donau, Austria.
Fritzl was convicted in March 2009 for offences including murder through neglect, enslavement, unlawful detention, rape, incest, and coercion.
The case came to light in 2008 when it was revealed that he had kept his daughter Elisabeth captive in a cellar beneath the family home in Amstetten for 24 years.
During this period, he subjected her to repeated abuse and fathered seven children with her, one of whom tragically died shortly after birth.
The investigation was initiated when Fritzl took a gravely ill daughter to hospital, which led doctors to notify the police and sparked a search for the child’s mother.
Wagner maintains that psychiatric evaluations indicate he no longer poses a threat to society and that he has already served more than the minimum term required for a life sentence.
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