Josef Fritzl cracks as daughter faces him in court

JOSEF FRITZL finally cracked when he realised his daughter had come into the court where he was on trial for raping and imprisoning her for 24 years, it was revealed today.

Elisabeth Fritzl, now 42, slipped into Room 119 as her harrowing videotaped account of her suffering in an underground dungeon was played to the jury.

It is thought her presence caused him to dramatically change his plea today and plead guilty to all charges, saying: "I am sorry." He said he suddenly realised "how cruel I have been".

The 73-year-old Austrian suddenly admitted the murder of one of the seven children he fathered by his daughter after denying it for two days.

Rudi Mayer, Fritzl's lawyer, said he believed he realised his daughter was watching him, adding: "I don't know it but my client was changed, his mind, his behaviour. I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of that led to him changing his plea and making this confession." Elisabeth had not been due to give evidence personally and had not seen her father since his arrest in April last year.

Fritzl, a control freak and convicted rapist, also pleaded guilty to the enslavement of Elisabeth. She was 18 in 1984 when she was lured into the cellar and imprisoned in a series of chambers he had built beneath their home in the town of Amstetten.

He stunned the court today, telling the panel of judges he had had a change of heart. "I declare myself guilty to the charges in the indictment," he said. He went on to admit what he called "my sick behaviour". Asked why he had changed his plea, Fritzl replied: "When I saw the video tapes I realised for the first time how cruel I was to Elisabeth." But he insisted that the death of his three-day-old son Michael in the cellar was an accident. "I don't know why I have not seen the baby would have needed help. All I can say is that it was not planned," he said.

The infant, one of twin boys, had developed breathing difficulties and Fritzl denied him medical treatment despite the pleas of Elisabeth. Prosecutors claimed it was "murder by negligence".

It is understood that a childbirth expert who gave evidence yesterday said Michael could probably have been saved if he had been taken to hospital immediately.

Fritzl incinerated the body in a wood-burning stove in 1996 and scattered the ashes of the child in the garden of his home.

He is now likely to spend the rest of his life either behind bars in jail or else in a secure psychiatric hospital. He is expected to be sentenced tomorrow.

A psychiatrist who spent hours with Fritzl compiling a 30-page report into his personality told the court today that the former building engineer would always pose a danger to women.

Fritzl did not bother to hide his face behind a binder today as he had done for the last two days when led into the courtroom in St Pölten near Vienna. He had previously admitted incest and pleaded "partially guilty" to rape.

He admitted "massive coercion" - a charge relating to the threats he made against the family he kept prisoner underground that he would kill them if they tried to escape.

"He shut (Elisabeth) away in the cellar and made her totally dependent on him, forcing her into sexual acts and treating her as if she was his own property," his charge sheet read.

It is estimated he raped Elisabeth 3,000 times. For the first nine months she was fastened by a leash to the wall.

Elisabeth and her six surviving children are at a secret location in Austria still receiving counselling and treatment almost a year after their release.

Kerstin, 20, Stefan, 19, and six-year-old Felix lived underground with their mother in the windowless, soundproofed rat-infested chambers. The children had never seen sunlight until their release last year.

Lisa, 18, Monika, 16, and Alexander, 13, - Michael's twin brother - were taken to live upstairs in the house because Fritzl feared he was running out of space in the dungeon. He told his wife Rosemarie they had been dumped on the doorstep by the "missing" Elisabeth who had joined a cult.

Fritzl, who is on suicide watch in his cell, has effectively reconciled himself to never coming out of either a prison or a secure mental hospital again.

His fragile psychiatric state means he will almost certainly be confined to a secure mental hospital when he is sentenced - probably tomorrow.

After the change of plea and the psychiatrist's testimony, officials adjourned the trial until tomorrow morning.

Legal experts say the jury will still have to deliver a verdict despite Fritzl's guilty pleas, although his confessions are grounds for a lesser sentence. The verdict and sentence for Fritzl are expected tomorrow after the prosecution and the defence give their closing statements.

Mr Mayer, said he had not been aware of Fritzl's change of heart before today's session. "He didn't discuss it with me," said Mr Mayer.