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Josef Fritzl admits all charges Josef Fritzl admits all charges
(30 minutes later)
Josef Fritzl, the Austrian accused of imprisoning his daughter and fathering seven children with her, has changed his pleas to guilty on all charges.Josef Fritzl, the Austrian accused of imprisoning his daughter and fathering seven children with her, has changed his pleas to guilty on all charges.
Mr Fritzl faces life imprisonment for a string of offences, including rape, incest, murder and enslavement.Mr Fritzl faces life imprisonment for a string of offences, including rape, incest, murder and enslavement.
He initially denied two of the charges, including murdering one of the children soon after its birth.He initially denied two of the charges, including murdering one of the children soon after its birth.
The 73-year-old locked his daughter and the children in a cellar underneath his house for years. The 73-year-old locked his daughter and the children in a cellar underneath his house for up to 24 years.
Asked by the judge at the trial in St Poelten, west of Vienna, what had caused him to change his plea, he replied: "My daughter's videotaped testimony," the AFP news agency reported. Wearing a grey suit and a blue shirt, Fritzl did not hide his face on Wednesday, as he had done for the past two days, when he was led into the courtroom in St Poelten, west of Vienna.
FRITZL CHARGES AND PLEAS Murder - guilty pleaEnslavement - guilty pleaDeprivation of liberty - guilty pleaRape - guilty pleaIncest - guilty pleaCoercion - guilty plea Day-by-day: Fritzl trialIn pictures: Josef Fritzl trialTimeline: Austrian cellar caseProfile: Josef Fritzl FRITZL'S CRIMES MurderEnslavementDeprivation of libertyRapeIncestCoercion Day-by-day: Fritzl trialIn pictures: Josef Fritzl trialTimeline: Austrian cellar caseProfile: Josef Fritzl
"I'm sorry," he added. Asked by the judge what had caused him to change his plea, he replied: "My daughter's videotaped testimony."
The court viewed the testimony from his daughter on Tuesday. "I'm sorry," he added, AFP news agency reported.
Mr Fritzl lured her into a cellar with windowless, soundproofed chambers beneath their house in 1984. Prior to the surprise change of plea, the court had been expecting to hear evidence from psychiatrist Dr Adelheid Kastner.
Soundproofed chamber
The court viewed the testimony from Fritzl's daughter on Tuesday.
Austrian media reported that members of his family were present in the courtroom on Tuesday.
BBC correspondents confirmed there were people in a private viewing gallery, but it was not clear who they were.
Fritzl lured his 18-year-old daughter into a cellar with windowless, soundproofed chambers beneath their house in Amstetten in 1984.
He imprisoned her there and raped her repeatedly over a number of years.He imprisoned her there and raped her repeatedly over a number of years.
The daughter and three of the children fathered by Fritzl were kept captive in the cellar until the case came to light in April last year when one of the children became seriously ill and was taken to hospital. The daughter and three of the children fathered by Fritzl were kept captive in the cellar until the case came to light in April last year, when one of the children became seriously ill and was taken to hospital.
He was accused of murdering one of newborn twin boys his daughter gave birth to in 1996, having failed to arrange medical care for the ailing infant.He was accused of murdering one of newborn twin boys his daughter gave birth to in 1996, having failed to arrange medical care for the ailing infant.