Murder, Mystery & Makeup - He Kept His Daughter in the Basement for 24 YEARS

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

Hi friends, Happy Tuesday! Today's story is about Josef Fritzl, the man who kidnapped and abused his own daughter by keeping her hostage in a basement-prison for 24 whole years... This story gets even more messed up somehow--and to think he got away with it for so long... Also, let me know who you want me to talk about next time. Hope you have a great rest of your week, make good choices and I'll be seeing you very soon xo Bailey Sarian I sometimes talk about my Good Reads in show. So here's the link if you want to check it out. IDK. lol: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/139701263-bailey ________ FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail] Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505 _________ So take advantage of this exclusive offer: For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item in every box for life. Go to https://www.hungryroot.com/darkhistory and use code darkhistory. Shop SKIMS Ultimate Bra Collection and more at https://www.SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know I sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select my show in the dropdown menu that follows. Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://www.zocdoc.com/darkhistory to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Head to https://www.squarespace.com/darkhistory for a free trial. And when you’re ready to launch, just use OFFER CODE DARK HISTORY to save 10% on your first purchase of a website or domain.

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Have fun with the details. Customize what you want the way you want and manage your whole business from a centralized dashboard with expert AI tools. Build, scale, and enjoy the incredible results. You can do it all yourself on Wix. Hi, friends. How are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian, and today is Monday,

which means it's Murder, mystery and makeup Monday. Okay, intro. If you're new here, hi, my name is Bailey Sarian and on Mondays I sit down and talk about true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin. And I do my makeup at the same time. Let me tell you about today's story. This one I've been avoiding for a long time. People have been asking for it since day one and I've been avoiding it

because it's just awful. It's like my worst nightmare and it will be yours too. Okay today's Josef Fritzl. So Josef Fritzl was born April 9th 1935 in Amstetten, Austria. Now at this time when he was born it was still like under control of Nazi Germany so not great right? His father, his name was Josef Fritzl or Josef Fritzl senior and his mother was Maria Nenning Fritzl. Growing up, Yosef was an only child and he would later say that he was an alibi child, meaning that his mother only gave birth to him to prove that she was not barren and could produce children. You know, I guess his mom was like, not great. We'll talk about it later too. But it was said that she was like intimidating. She was mean. She would often like beat Yosef pretty badly.

Yosef's father was said to be a severe alcoholic and had left the family when Yosef was only like four years old. And I guess like Yosef like never saw him again because his dad died when he was fighting in World War II. So never got to see him. I guess his dad, Fritzl Sr. appears on a memorial plaque in Amstetten, Austria, you know, for his time serving.

It's a little fun fact, I guess. There isn't much else said about Yosef's upbringing until like 1956 when Yosef was 21. So when Yosef was 21, this is when he met and married his wife Rosemary. So when they met, she was 17 at the time and she was working as like a kitchen helper. I think they met like through mutual friends. I'll try and figure it out, but they met and then they liked each other and then they got married. That's what we know.

So the two would go on to have seven kids together. Yeah, a lot. Two sons and five daughters. Yosef, he went to HTL Technical College. And while he was there, he got an electrical engineering degree. Super smart. He liked to tinker. He liked to build stuff. And then when he was finished there, he moved to a neighboring city called Linz.

And this is like he found a job there. He was working for a steel industry company. And then after he was there for a little while, he became a technical equipment salesman and he would travel throughout Austria for his job. There was also, I like didn't know where to put this in the story, but there was also a moment in, in this era where he got a job doing mail-in lingerie. And I couldn't, I was like, what? Based off of what we know now, it's a little funky.

And I was like, what? What was he doing? But it was only for a short time, and it just said like, he did mail order lingerie. And I was like, okay, I need more. I need more. Couldn't find it. So in 1972, Yosef purchased a guest house

and an adjacent campsite at Lake Monsey. And him and his wife, they like ran this together. Lake Monsey is in Upper Austria. And I guess like a lot of people like to go there to the lake for a little holiday, a little vacation. That's where they got like this little campsite little situation thing. They rented out a property. People would come stay, go, you know, they did this until like 1996. Joseph, he had several properties that he leased and this like kept him

busy, you know, when he ended up retiring in 1995 at the age of 60. That's what we know about like his background. But let's get into his criminal record. Now first of all, there were some unsolved crimes, I should say unsolved murders, that occurred around this area where Yosef and his wife had been renting out property and whatnot. Many believe Yosef was involved. I do too, that's why I'm bringing it up. So one of them took place on August 17th, 1966, when 17-year-old Anna Neumayor, she was found in a field.

I guess she was killed by a captive bolt pistol. Now this was in Lenz and it was like not far from where Joseph was working at the time. So Joseph was looked at as a suspect but there was no evidence tying him to the murder. You know, unfortunately, Anna's murder like would remain unsolved. And then in 1967, Joseph, he broke into a 24-year-old nurse's home, and this happened again in Linz, and I guess, you know, her husband was away. Yosef broke in and then raped her, you know? He broke in, I guess he like held a knife to her throat.

He's like, if you scream, I'm gonna kill you. And then he proceeded to... Yeah, awful situation. For this though, Yosef got caught and he ended up serving 12 months out of an 18 month prison sentence. I know I feel like for like breaking in and raping someone maybe you should get a little bit more time but what do we know? So you know his wife, Rosemary, she finds out, she doesn't wanna tell the kids that daddy is a rapist.

So she tells the kids, you know, dad is away at work, he's gonna be away for like a year. And they believe that, meanwhile he was just sitting in prison. Well, that same year, Yosef was named a suspect in another rape of a 21-year-old woman. It was kind of like the same situation, but there was no evidence, again, tying him to the crime. So they couldn't do anything about it. Police. And then on November 22nd, it was like 1986,

And then on November 22nd, it was like 1986, there were two scuba divers. They were out swimming as scuba divers do, but they found the body of 17 year old Martina Posh. She was like wrapped in green tarps and she was on the Southern shore of Lake Monsi. So the forensic examination revealed that she had been killed by strangulation. Now again, at the time, Yosef and his wife, they were running their guest house where Martina's body was found. And Yosef was looked at. He was investigated for possible

involvement. Many believe that he was responsible, but again, there was no evidence tying him to the crime. So there's nothing they could do and it was never solved. I get it, you can't just like arrest someone because like, hey, I think you did it. You're arrested, like you need evidence. But I don't know, did they even try? Did they try? You know, it's kind of weird what people will insure.

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It was said that Yosef was really scary. Yeah, he was an intimidating man and he liked being in control over everyone. Now his wife, Rosemary, and I think why he liked her so much was because she was submissive, she didn't speak up. If Yosef was like abusing the children,

she, nothing, didn't say anything, you know? He just controlled everyone. I mean, just based off observation, it seemed like the house was tense and unpleasant. Later down the road, Rosemary's sister, she, you know, came to the media and started talking and she told the media that Rosemary was, quote, dominated and constantly belittled in public by Yosef and that he took sadistic pleasure in humiliating her. I guess she also went on to

say that like Yosef liked to brag. He liked to brag to others about like getting mistresses pregnant while he was away on business trips. Yeah, she said he used to tell her off in front of the others. The worst things were his crude dirty jokes, which he used to laugh loudly about. Like this was embarrassing for everyone because we all knew that they hadn't had sex with each other for years. That's what Rosemary's sister said. So it was said that Yosef would make trips out to Pattaya, which is like a city in Thailand, and it was known for like their sex tourism or its sex tourism. I don't know if it still is. I'm sorry.

But like at the time it was, you know, and he was going there, obviously, for sexual encounters. Maybe he got people, he got women pregnant there, you know, and that's what he was bragging about, but we don't really know. But he would rub in Rosemary's face, like what he was doing. I think we can all agree here that he is a really shitty guy, huh? Wow, yeah.

In 1977, it was reported that Yosef started sexually abusing his daughter Elizabeth when she was around the age of 11. She was born in 1966 and she was like their fourth child. Based off what we know, it seems like Elizabeth was the only one who was sexually abused by her father. Now it was said she was like chosen because she most resembled Yosef's mother. Yeah we'll get into that a little bit later. But yeah so poor thing living in this hell house. Mother's

not standing up for her. Who knows what he's doing to the other kids too. But poor Elizabeth got it like the worst man. So you know she's grown up in this house being abused poor thing and like at the age of 15 I guess she was taking these courses to become a waitress and like get the hell out of this house. Right? She's taking these courses because she wants to get the hell out of this house and then in January of 1983 it was said that she ran away from home and she went to the city of Vienna. She was like hiding at a friend's house and she was there for a little bit.

She was staying with a friend from work. And then three weeks later, she was found by police and then they sent her back to her parents' home. It's like she finally escaped and then they found her back to her parents home. Oh, it's like she finally escaped and then they found her and dragged her right back and I'm sure there was a punishment for that, you know. So when she got back home, she started back taking her waitress courses and then she finished in mid 1984. So when she finished, she was offered a job in the nearby city, Lenz.

And then in August of 1984, Elizabeth, she turned 18. She was going to accept this job offer and move to Lenz. And she was like getting ready to start her new life, you know? So one day she's at the house in August and her dad comes up to her room and is like, hey, can you help me out really quick? This is her dad. And he's like, can you hold up a door for me in the basement and then I'll like screw it in.

And you see down in the basement, Yosef was redoing the area and he just needed help installing the door. So she's like, okay, whatever, you know? So she goes down to the basement area with Bozo and she's there, she's holding up the door or whatever and her back was turned to Yosef. So he comes up behind her and he puts a cloth

with chloroform on it over her mouth until she went unconscious. Mm-mm,, he did. She's out cold. He then threw her into the basement, basement cellar, and then he locked the door. Again, Yosef was really smart. He was an electrical engineer,

so he knew how to like wire shit and like build shit and whatnot. And his hobby was like, he was adding a makeshift prison to the house's basement. There was like a staircase that was leading from the home and it would go into the basement, right? And the basement area was like a good size.

And this is where Yosef, he would work, he would tinker, he would do whatever, this was his old space. His wife would like leave him alone all day while he was just down there working. But really when he was down there he was building out this prison cell that was attached to the basement and he had been working on it secretly for years. Nobody knew. That's the part that blows my mind. One of his jobs was like to build equipment and whatnot. So maybe if he was like drilling or like hammering,

the wife is probably like, oh, he's working. And this is a side note. The part that I can't wrap my head around was like, how did nobody fucking know? It's so weird. Anyhow, so Yosef had to hide in this like prison, cellar place really, really well. He made it so complicated to find.

In order to even find the door to the hidden cell, you had to go through eight locked doors to reach it. It was like this little maze. Door, door, door, and it would go to another room. Not another room, right? It's like, what the fuck? And then finally you get to this other room and he had the shelving that was like against the wall

and behind the shelving, there was a little door. It was like half the size of you. It was a little door and it had like an electronic security code in order to open it. Now again, this is like way before like, beep-bop-boop-boop-boop. Like he did it on his own, he made it on his own. So psycho he is.

So you get there, if you get there, you get there. And then once you walk in, it's like another maze. You would walk through this long corridor, like a hallway area, very narrow, and it would lead you to this kitchen area. It was small. And then like to the left there was this little bathroom area. It had like a small toilet, there was a sink, and a little tub. And then if you went through another door it would lead you to two little bedrooms. Mind you, this is all under the house. I

know. I know. I was like, what? Nobody heard anything, nobody heard anything upstairs? So, creepy. There were no windows, everything was like concrete, it was gross, it was cramped, it was dark, it was musty smelling, and it's just really sad. The ceilings were said to be like at the highest point. I guess they were like a little under six feet. So not that much space you know. So when

Yosef like first got Elizabeth into the cellar he had chained her to the wall and he kept her there like that for like the first year. A year goes by. Oh, Jesse, wait, don't. Now I know what you're thinking. Didn't like the rest of the family wonder where she was? Yes, they did. When she originally went missing,

her father told the family like, oh, she probably ran away again. You know, she's nothing but trouble. But Rosemarie, her mother, was like, we need to file a missing persons report. She wanted to do this, right? So they did. So they filed a missing persons report

and then, you know, time goes by, nothing's happening. And then a year later, Yosef went to the family and to the police and he's like, look, I got a letter and it's from Elizabeth. And it was like in her handwriting. So they're like, oh shit, you know. The letter said she ran away from home.

She went to go stay for a friend and like do not come looking for her or she would just leave the country. So the letter said, you know, Yosef kept telling people like see, I told you she ran away because she's such a difficult child. She was always difficult. And you know what, she probably joined a cult. Yeah, he was like, she joined a cult and was telling the police cult. So it was later revealed that the letter was handwritten by Elizabeth. You know, while she's in this basement cellar situation, she's under captivity. Yosef forced her to write the letter and was threatening her if she didn't do it.

Now here's the part that gets me just gooched. I don't know if that's the right term, but would stay in this makeshift prison cell for 24 years. Huh? Yes. 24 years. I need my calculator. So how old is she after 24 years? You probably figured it out by now, but let me get my calculator.

Thank you. She was 18 when she went in. 18 plus 24. 42! Oh my god! Yeah. He kept her there for 24 years and like again, nobody knew. No matter how many times I hear this story, I still can't get over the fact. Like 24 years. Holy crap. During her first year of captivity, again, she was mostly like restrained, but I guess after some time had passed, you know, Yosef let her walk around the cellar freely. It was said that Yosef would visit the cell almost every day, a minimum of like three times a week. During his visits, he would bring

her food and like other quote unquote supplies. I'm assuming like toilet paper and you know I don't know supplies whatever that was. Didn't matter though because when he showed up he would repeatedly rape her. I can't believe this is real you know. Her first four years she was just totally alone down there. I don't know I know I don't know I don't know know how she did it. I don't know. She would only see her father when he came to rape her. And then over the next 20 years, she would have seven of his children who were all born in the cellar. Yeah. so she ends up giving birth to seven of her dad's kids. And there was one baby who died pretty shortly after birth.

It's like a couple of days later. And Yosef, I guess, got rid of the body by like putting it in the incinerator. Jeez, wait, I know. So the first three children were born and raised in the cellar, but as the family grew, the next three children Elizabeth gave birth to would be raised in the home upstairs with Yosef and his wife Rosemary. I know. This whole thing is so bizarre. And you're like, well,

what was the explanation for these kids showing up, right? Glad you asked. He had this whole plan, Yosef did. He would take the baby, you know, after it was born and then put it in a basket. I'm just kidding. I don't know if he put it in a basket, but he would leave the baby at the doorstep

and then Yosef would answer the door and be all surprised by this baby. And be like, oh my god, you know, like, it must be from Elizabeth. You know, she couldn't raise the baby herself, so she must have like, brought it here for us to raise. I would have questions, but okay. I guess like Rosemary just believed it. I don't know, because she didn't really talk much, but she went with it. She was like, all right, okay. Everyone just kind of went with the story. Everyone seemed to believe it.

You know, that like Elizabeth was out there somewhere. She must have gave birth to these kids. And then it was like, I can't raise it. I'm gonna leave it at my parents' house. I'm like, wow, what a miracle. Yosef and Rosemary, they were actually approved by local social services authorities to be their foster parents. So the family received like regular visits from social workers who saw and like

heard nothing at the house that made them you know, suspish of anything. So the other day I was getting ready and I was digging through my drawer for a bra that like fit correctly and didn't feel like punishment and then I realized why don't I own more comfortable underwear and stuff like that. It doesn't seem that hard. Like how did I get here? Why is everything so uncomfortable? Well you know it's it's a petty complaint but it's there and I feel good knowing there is something out there giving us a comfortable solution. And that's where Skims comes in.

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select podcasts in the survey and be sure to select my show in the drop down menu that follows thank you for the support it means a lot It means a lot. Meanwhile, down in the prison, Yosef did just as he wanted with Elizabeth. She has the three kids down there, right? So she tried to like school them. She was teaching them how to read and write. They would keep busy by watching TV

and like listening to the radio. You know, at some point the room had gotten kind of crammed. Do you have people living down in the cellar at this point? So, Yosef, being the little crafty man that he is, he's like, we should expand the cell. So originally the cell was like 380 square feet and they made it bigger to 590 square feet and they did it by Yosef putting the family to work. So he had them

all like dig out soil with their bare hands again for the expansion and this took years, years of and expanding. Yeah. Yeah. Again, nobody upstairs heard? I don't know. You know, it's just weird. So Yosuf kept the family living in fear. If they tried to leave or disobey him, he would tell them, you'll be gassed. I can turn on the gas in the cell and he will all die. He also told them that if they tried to mess with the doors at all and then try to escape, he had rigged them so they would be electrocuted. Now, you know, later it turns out none of this was true, but he was trying to keep them in their place. I guess there were times where Yosef would like punish them by shutting off their lights or refusing to deliver food for like days at a time if they did something that he didn't approve of. So Yosef, I mean he, 24 years he was going down there

and raping his daughter. God. It was said that there were times where like he would force Elizabeth to watch porn movies and then perform sex acts on him and he would make her do this like in front of the children to humiliate her. Mind you there's like no windows or anything they haven't seen sunlight. Those kids had never seen sunlight at this point. Elizabeth hadn't seen sunlight for 24 years. So again this is according to Joseph's sister-in-law, Christine. She was given quotes to the media after the fact. She said that Joseph would go to the basement every morning at 9 a.m. He would tell everyone that he was working on drawing plans for machines that he had sold to manufacturing firms. He's like, going to work, go down there. She would say like,

he would be down there for like hours and hours. Sometimes he would stay overnight working and that he did not allow his wife to bring him coffee or food. But everyone just thought like he was down there working. My nosy ass. I would be all up in his business. Like, what are you doing?

What are you working on? When he's gone, I would be like going through all of his shit what are you doing? What are you working on? When he's gone, I would be like going through all this shit. But you know, like Yosef was really scary. He kept everyone in their place. I mean no one tried to like challenge him or anything. And if you see pictures of him, which you will on screen, he's creepy as fuck, you know? He looks scary. Ugh. So upstairs in the main house as their family grew up and like moved out or whatever, I guess they had all these spare rooms inside the home. So they decided, you know, to rent them out to like tenants. So there was one tenant who had lived in the main house for like 12 years. And then in a later interview, they would say like, oh, I used to hear noises coming from the basement

all the time and that he would go to Yosef and ask like, what are these noises? Like I keep hearing banging and stuff. And Yosef told the tenant like not to worry about it. It was an old house and with an old house, you know, comes faulty pipes. And if it's not the pipes, it's probably the heating system. So this tenant just learned to ignore it.

And there were a lot of tenants who came through because later police, they would end up interviewing 100 people who ended up living at this home. 100, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So April 19th, 2008. Can't believe, I don't know how she did it. I really don't. So down in the cellar, Elizabeth's eldest daughter,

her name's Kirsten, I guess she got like really sick and she fell unconscious. Kirsten needed medical attention and it was like she needed help or she was gonna die. So somehow Elizabeth like convinces Yosef that she needs help, she's gonna die. And like, if she dies, like it's gonna be on you. She's like trying to convince him,

like you have to let her go to the hospital. So Yosef eventually cracks and agrees that, you know, she should probably go to the hospital. So for the first time ever, Kirsten was like let out of the chamber and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. So she would be admitted like in serious condition with life-threatening kidney failure. And initially like Elizabeth had helped carry her daughter, Kirsten, out of the cell. She's with Yosef. And again, this is the first time she is seeing sunlight in over 20 years. The outside world, holy shit.

It wouldn't be for long though, because once Kirsten was up out of the cell, Yosef ordered that she go back into the cell or into the chamber, whatever we want to call it, while he would deal with Kirsten at the hospital. So when she arrived to the hospital, it was said that the doctors and the staff, they were pretty suspicious. Kirsten, when they first looked at her, she was looking a little sickly. She was lacking vitamin D. I mean, literally never saw sunlight. She was very pale.

She just didn't look well. So they were also confused asking like, where's the mother? Like where is she? Who is she? What is going on? Like they had questions and nobody was giving them answers. When Yosef got to the hospital, he told the doctors and stuff that once again he had found a note that was written by Kirsten's mother. He's

like, I found a note. I couldn't find clarification as to like what the note said exactly, but he had it. He's like, look the mom said blank. But either way, Yosef was hoping that this letter would like stop any suspicion or questioning from the doctors. It did not. And the police, they were low-key alerted. The doctors were like, hey, you gotta come down here. Something's going on. So police come down. They want to locate the mother, but they're having difficulties. So police, they end up broadcasting an appeal on public media for the missing mother to come forward and provide information about Kirsten's medical history.

So in the meantime, the police had reopened the case file on Elizabeth's disappearance, hoping they could find her. So Yosef when questioned he repeated his story to authorities saying that Elizabeth most likely she was in a cult and that he had these handwritten letters from her saying that she was. So of course he came ready with those letters he shows the police and like the most recent letter that he had received was from January of 2008, which was like just a couple of months before. So it's like he kind of knew something was coming.

I think, I don't know. So back in the chamber, Elizabeth, she's watching TV and she sees the police broadcast. She's like, I need to come forward. She decided to stand up against Yosef. And the next time he came to the chamber, she demanded that she be able to go to the hospital

and talk to the doctors and stuff and help be there with her daughter. I'm not sure how she did it, but she did it. And yay, glad that she did. On April 26th, Yosef released her from the cellar along with her sons, Stefan and Felix. So he brings them all upstairs into the home.

Him and Elizabeth, they go to the hospital where Kirsten was being treated and like lays the two kids behind, I don't know how he explains that away, right, to everybody. Oh God, so confusing. He's in deep shit. And like, it must've been wild for them, right? Again, they haven't seen sunlight in forever. They haven't seen the outside world. It must have been

like really confusing, overwhelming, and bizarre. So while Yosef and Elizabeth were at the hospital, one of the doctors that was treating Kirsten goes off to the side and is like, calls up police and is like, hey, they're here, you know? So police have been waiting for this moment. So they swoop in real quick. So police end up detaining them on hospital grounds and they take them down, Yosef and Elizabeth, down to the police station.

So the police, they split up the two and they ask Elizabeth, you know, for more details, like what was going on. Now in the beginning it was said like she was the one in trouble essentially. They thought like she was being abusive towards her kids and they wanted answers. And at first she like wasn't talking. I'm sure she was afraid and like conditioned not to talk. But once the police told her that they were going to take her children away forever then

she finally started to talk. So police they also like made a promise with her that she would never have to see her father again if she told them like what was really going on. So over the next two hours Elizabeth told police everything that had been happening over the last 24 years in captivity. 24 years! They record this too on video, Dink. But she tells them everything like, you know, Yosef raping her over and over again, the Dink cell, the control and power he had, the children she had, how Yosef threw that one of her babies into the incinerator, how evil he was, I mean everything.

She told police she did not know why, but her father simply chose her for himself. So the interview with police ended after midnight, and then shortly after that, Yosef Fritzl, who is like now 73, he was arrested on suspicion of serious crimes against family members. Yeah, I think that's safe to say, serious crimes.

Yeah. I guess Yosef, he was like, this is a bit much. Like he was telling people like, he felt like this was a bit much, saying that his behavior towards his daughter was consensual. Yeah, he kept saying that it was consensual. Oh yeah, I'm sure.

Locking someone up in a cellar. I'm sure that's what they wanted. Well, the police, they knew about his secret room and everything, you know, cause Elizabeth, she told them. So with that, they go to Yosef and they're like, you know, give us all the information. So Yosef and they're like you know give us all the information. So Yosef provided them with the information they needed to find the chamber's entry point and also the secret keyless entry code to get in. I

was watching an interview with like one of the investigators I think it was but they're saying like when they went into that cellar it was like super traumatizing for them and they all needed like therapy afterwards. If they just walked in and that was traumatizing, could you imagine 24 years, how much that would fuck you up? Gives me a lot of anxiety. On the night of April 27, 2008, Elizabeth, her children, and her mother, Rosemary, they were taken out of the house and they were put into care. I know.

I was trying to figure out like how was the meeting when Elizabeth first sees her mom. I was like, what was that like? Like was it weird? Was it nice? Was she angry? I'm unsure. I feel like I would be pissed off. Like you didn't know I was underneath the house. Where were you? Like you didn't think it was weird all these kids were showing up? Like I don't know. I'd be so mad. I mean

I wouldn't even make it past a year. There's no way. So I don't know why I'm talking. Anyhow, so I'm sure how the meeting went, but they were all taken. So then police do like DNA testing and whatever. And like on April 29th, it was announced that the DNA evidence confirmed that Yosef was the biological father of his daughter's children. So they're like, okay, she's not lying.

And then on May 1st, during a daily press conference, police said that Yosef had forced Elizabeth to write a letter the previous year saying that she wanted to come home, but it's not possible yet. Now, to them, police, this meant that Yosef was planning on releasing her and the children, maybe, at some point. I don't know, but this meant that Yosef was planning on like releasing her and the children, maybe at some point, I don't know.

But this is what they're thinking. So police, they believe that Yosef was planning to like pretend to have rescued his daughter from this fake cult that he made up. They don't know when that was gonna happen, but they think like it was gonna happen, I don't know. Did he really think she was never gonna say anything though? Well maybe because like she had been conditioned for 24 years. Damn. So again like police they had planned to interview at least a hundred people who had lived

as tenants in the Fritzl house which is wild that they had 100 different people, but over 24 years, is that normal? I don't know, that's just a lot, right? So then in July, Elizabeth gave her videotaped testimony before prosecutors and investigators, and this is what they were gonna use in court. You know people call it a small business, but there's nothing small about starting something from scratch, whether it's a podcast, a product line, but there's nothing small about starting something from scratch.

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were released to the media. You know, the media was all over this. I mean, obviously this is like a what, what, right? What? So media frenzy. So when like anytime Joseph spoke or anything, like you were leaking stuff all the time. But according to Joseph,

he believed that the media was making him out to be some kind of beast. He was like, this is unfair, you know? And he was nothing like the beast that the media was making him out to be. He's like, this is not. You know, and he was nothing like the beast that the media was making him out to be. He was like, this is not true. It was consensual. So Joseph said, this is a quote, when I went into the bunker,

I brought flowers for my daughter and books and stuffed animals for the children. He said, they watched adventure movies while Elizabeth cooked their favorite meals. And then we all sat around the table and ate together. You know, trying to prove that they lived this like happy life. I was like, okay. Then when Elizabeth became pregnant,

Yoso said that he gave her medical books so she knew what she had to do on the day. He also went on to say that he gave her towels, disinfectant, and bandages. As if we're just supposed to be like, oh, well, all right then, you know, you're good. He gave her bandages and a book, all right. Makes sense, you're a good guy. I could not believe that answer. I was like, is he fucking serious?

Oh, he's serious. He's serious. He went on to say that like he knew what he was doing the whole 24 years was like not right, but that it had become a normal occurrence to kind of lead the second life, like one in the house and one in the basement. And he's like, that was just my normal.

When Yosef was asked why Elizabeth, why her, Yosef said that he chose Elizabeth because again she looked like his mother Maria and also because her rebellious teenage behavior offended his love of discipline. The whole mom comment is like, but it gets worse. Cause listen, Joseph said that he quote, succeeded in suppressing his lust for his mother Maria, but he could not control himself when it came to Elizabeth. He went on to say quote, my desire to have sex with Elizabeth became ever stronger. It was a vicious circle from which there was no exit. Not only for Elizabeth, but also for myself.

Bro, what the fuck? This guy's a different level of sick. So, Yosef, he loved to tell everyone and anyone that Elizabeth was a difficult child, as if this was some great reasoning as to why he did it. He said, quote, Elizabeth was very different to my other children. She'd go out the whole night long, drank alcohol, even ran away twice.

I tried to get her out of this rut. That just made her fight me all the more. That's when I decided to find somewhere for her, even if I had to force her from the outside worlds. God, what do you even say? I don't know. I don't know. So Yosef had admitted that he spent years preparing the cellar before drugging and imprisoning Elizabeth in 1984. He said that he started working on the cellar in like 1981 and 1982. I mean, so he was thinking about it for a while, right? So when he was first arrested, you know, he sat with a forensic psychiatrist and they interviewed Yosef to kind of figure out what the hell is wrong with this guy, right? So they sit down, they do the interview, and then of course, like the transcripts,

they got leaked to the press. So during this interview, Yosef like dug a little more into his relationship with his mom. Now first he was like, he loved his mom. He was like, she's the best in the world. I love that bitch. Like she was strict, but it was necessary. And he was like team mom. But then he finally flipped the script

and he went on to say like that his mom never showed him love, that she beat him until he was lying in a pool of blood like on the floor, that she would often leave him feeling weak and humiliated, and that like he never got a kiss or love from her, and that all he did was like try really hard to please her, but it didn't work out for him. And the only thing she would do with him is go to church. So, kind of sounds a lot like himself. So, Yosef also said in the interview

that his mom would call him a Satan, a criminal, a no good, and then he had a horrible fear of her. Again, it's just like, oh it sounds so familiar, Yosef. I wonder if he ever connected those dots. I'm not sure. Maybe they did in this conversation. I don't know. But I guess things had changed in his relationship with his mom in 1959. This is when it gets even more weird. I know. How can it get even more weird?

Let me tell you. Joseph and Rosemary, they got married, right? They bought this house together. And when they got the house, Joseph's mother ends up moving in with them. Now, Joseph had said that, you know, over time, the roles had reversed. And now his mom was afraid of him. Oh yeah, so I guess he treated her pretty poorly. Well, I don't guess because he actually said, he, Yosef later admitted that he had his mother living up in like the attic of the home and that he put a lock on the outside of the door to keep her locked in.

He also bricked up her window. I think there's only one. Window, windows, I don't know. But he bricked them up. And like if anyone asked where she was, like the neighbors or something, he would tell them that she died. She dead. Yosef didn't give a clear answer as to like how long he kept his mother locked up there, but it's believed to be around 20 years until her death in 1980. So what I'm saying is he had done this before, you know? Now I don't know if there was anything sexual going on with his mom, I think probably, I don't know.

So many questions, I know, I know. And I couldn't find any answers. Like, did his wife have questions? Like, hey, where's your mom? She was here one day and now she's gone. Or did she know? You know, what did he tell the rest of the family? Like, leave grandma up there.

Don't let her out. Like, did she go to the bathroom, like in a bucket or something? Like, what? Again, nobody ever said that he did anything like sexual with his mom or anything. That's just like my own opinion. No one really knows. I also was trying to think like what did he do with her body once she died?

Did she go into the incinerator? Because again there was no like answers there. Did she get buried? But then she I don't know. I don't know. I hate not knowing. Yosovet told the psychiatrist that he actually had thought up this plan about locking up his daughter way back when he was sitting in prison for his rape conviction. I guess he had a lot of time to think. He admitted that he planned to lock his daughter up so that he could contain and express his evil side. This is what he said.

He said, quote, I was born to rape and I held myself back for a relatively long time. I could have behaved a lot worse than locking up my daughter. I think he did. Cause remember all like the crimes that happened in the beginning that were like unsolved? I think he did so much more that, and he was traveling all the time for work. I mean, who knows what he did?

So, Yosef told the psychiatrist that Elizabeth and the children they actually enjoyed being in the cellar and that their life was normal saying quote they didn't miss anything as I really tried to make their life in captivity as pleasant as possible. We played, we chatted, we laughed in the cellar. We actually led a completely normal family life." It was a direct quote. Can you believe that? What? What?

What? What? I was like, he can't be serious. He was serious. They loved it down there. No windows or anything. So the forensic psychiatrist, they gave him like a lengthy diagnosis and recommended that he receive psychiatric care for the rest of his life.

Yeah, that sounds about right, right? So then finally they go to trial. Yosef's trial started March 16th 2009. He was being charged with rape, incest, enslavement, and the murder of one of his children. So on the first day when he was like entering the courtroom, you could see footage of this, but Yosef like he's trying to hide his face from the cameras behind a blue folder as if like that did something. He's trying to hide, he doesn't want everyone to see him. Like the little coward, you know?

But then once inside the courtroom, all the journalists and the spectators, they were asked to leave. And that's when he finally took down like the blue folder from his face. But Yosef at first, he pleaded not guilty to all charges. Yosef's counsel in their opening remarks they tried to convince the jury that Joseph wasn't that bad. He's not that bad. He's not the monster

you guys think. And then their example, their example was that Joseph brought a Christmas tree down into the cellar during the holiday season. See? What a monster, like would a monster do that? No, a monster would never do that. I was like, all right, okay. So on the first day, the jurors, they watched the testimony that Elizabeth had recorded back in 2008. It was said that the tape was harrowing. That's a hard one for me. I don't know why. Harrowing, but it was awful, right? So the eight jurors, they watched this testimony and like, bids spread out over the day, because they didn't want the jurors to like tap out. The prosecutor obviously was like pushing for life imprisonment in like an institution for the criminally insane. So she demonstrated

to the jurors the low height of the ceiling in the cell in the cellar dungeon by making a mark on the door to the courtroom at like 174 centimeters or like 5 foot 8.5 inches. So made a little mark and then described the cellar as damp and moldy, and then passed around a box of musty objects that were taken from the cellar. And the jury's all holding it, and they could smell it, and I guess the jurors were just getting sick from the smell. Besides the video testimony, Elizabeth's older brother, his name was Harold, he actually testified. Not much else was said about with the family, but like Harold testified and Harold said that Yosef was like physically abusive towards him as a kid and then shared his own experience. But other than that, like

Rosemary and like Elizabeth's children, they all refused to testify. So Yosef was also on trial for the for the baby, baby Michael, who died less than three days after being born. So the judge had asked Yosef, like, hey, were you aware that the infant was like super ill? And Yosef had responded by saying, quote, I just overlooked it. I thought the baby was going to survive. I should have realized. It was only yesterday I realized for the first time how cruel I was to Elizabeth. I had never realized it before. What? Yeah, he's like, just yesterday I realized. Just yesterday? Shut the fuck up. What a dumbass. On March 18th, 2009, Elizabeth,

she attended the second day of trial. And it was said that when Yosef saw her and like recognized that it was Elizabeth, he went completely pale and then like broke down. I don't know what came over him with the spirit or something because the next day he had changed his not guilty to guilty on all charges. On March 19th, 2009,

Yosef was found guilty on all charges and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for like 15 years. He shouldn't be even allowed parole, but whatever. Yeah, so he got sent away. Now it's your turn to get locked up, buddy. So he's been living his life in prison. I guess it hasn't been going too well for him.

He's been getting beat up and stuff. Aw, so sad, I know, tragic. And then in like 2017, Yosef, he changed his name from Yosef Ritzel to Yosef Mirahoff, something like that. He changed his name. Most likely, well, everyone thinks, you know, it's because everyone knows his name and he wanted to like hide from that.

But also he was getting like treated like shit behind bars and he thought maybe changing his name would like help. Stupid. You know, while behind bars, he hasn't really shown any remorse. I don't think he's capable of it. He really thinks he like didn't do anything that bad. There was like a direct quote that he gave saying like,

just look into the cellars of other people. You might find other families and girls down there. Like he was hinting that, you know, like, I'm sure there's other people out there who like are doing what he did, or maybe like even worse. There's probably tons of people who don't even know about. So recently, Yosef was released

from a psychiatric detention facility to like a regular prison. And this decision was made in like 2022 based off a psychiatric report that said he was no in like 2022 based off a psychiatric report that said he was no longer like any danger. He's still serving his sentence. I came across this article that said that like he gets free time outside of prison.

I need to clarify and I'm sorry I'm not ready with that but like I think I saw that or I'm making it up. Either way he's still serving his time. It's just like seems a little bit relaxed because of his good behavior. In May of 2023, he's still talking. He loves to talk. Yosef gave an interview to the Sun saying, quote, I miss my family very much. I'm sure that we are going to be reunited and I think they are going to forgive me for what I have done. Then saying I'm extremely sorry and that he regrets his crimes. He also added that he watched

the whole coronation of King Charles and that quote, I'm a big fan of King Charles. I was like, all right. Okay. In January of this year, there were reports that Yosef Okay, in January of this year, there were reports that Yosef is suffering from dementia. I don't know, I think it's the early stages they said, but that's the thing. So Elizabeth and her family, woo, they have been through it. Elizabeth and her children, obviously life has been, I'm sure, confusing and difficult, right? I mean, once they got out of the cellar, it was said like the kids obviously completely shocked. They were taking everything in.

It was like, they were experiencing a lot of firsts like riding in a car, going outside, seeing rain, being around other people. It just must have been a lot to wrap their heads around. Just one day you're out and you're like, wait, what? I didn't even know like I was stuck somewhere. So when they got out of the cellar, they were immediately taken into care.

So it was like Elizabeth, all six of her children, again, her mother, Rosemary, they were housed in like a local clinic where they were completely shielded from the outside world. So they went from one locked in place to another, but at least they were free. Right. But while they were there, they received medical and like psychological treatment.

Great. Right. The children who were living in the cellar, they didn't have the best health. Again, they had never seen sunlight. So it was said like they had also a lot of different infections due to the filth that they were living in. Inside the cellar it was like really humid, bacteria was constantly growing. And then they were like breathing that in all of the time, all of their life. So therapy hasn't been that easy for them. They needed a lot of extra

help for everything. Like for one, like getting adjusted to the light after years in semi-darkness. They also needed help coping with the extra space they had. Like they could freely move about, but you know, they were raised in a place that was so small, so they didn't know, they, they, they didn't know what to do with all the extra space. And then as time went on, it was revealed that like, Elizabeth and her children were more traumatized than they had thought. I mean, yeah, 24 years. I guess Kirsten, she would like,

she was tearing out clumps of her hair. She would rip up dresses and like stuff them in like the toilet. Her son, Stefan, he could not walk properly because he was over five foot eight. And again, the cellar ceiling was shorter than that. So he was walking around like hunched over all of his life. And he had a really hard time correcting that. And it was said that they had severe anxiety. Geez, I bet. I mean, duh. I mean, like, I'm sure we can all understand that. Well, you know, like everyday normal occurrencesrences, like, uh, people dimming the lights or, like, closing doors

would send Kirsten and, like, Stefan into panic attacks. And then Elizabeth's other children, her three other children that were raised upstairs in the normal house, whatever that is, you know, they dealt with like major anger and resentment afterwards. Yeah, just a lot, right? And then Elizabeth and her mother, Rosemary, they had issues too. It was said that Elizabeth kind of eventually like, she started to have anger towards her mom, you know,

for being passive during her upbringing. Don't blame her, right? I guess they didn't talk for a long time after she came out of the cellar. And later down the road, they now have a relationship, it's said. Yeah, I would be pissed. Elizabeth and her children,

they have moved to an unnamed village in Northern Austria. moved to an unnamed village in northern Austria. Yeah, that's where they live and require ongoing therapy. I read they stopped doing therapy, but whatever. Like, I hope they're just doing well, right? Elizabeth, though, she also found love. Oh yeah, with a bodyguard who was working with the family during the trial. Over the years, it's been said that the family has been trying their best to do normal things like driving, being outside, playing video games, spending time with their mother and grandmother. Yeah, that's kind of kind of confusing. Is that their... never mind, I'm good. I'm over thinking it. But yeah, spending time with family I guess. So the family is said to be like really private and the residents in the neighborhood where they live, they also help protect

and like look out for the family. Which must be really nice to have like that kind of support system, right? Because I guess a lot of people come around trying to get interviews and stuff and like look out for the family, which must be really nice to have like that kind of support system, right? Cause I guess a lot of people come around trying to get interviews and stuff. And like the whole community is like, no, get the book out of here. Elizabeth and the family, they haven't given interviews. They haven't been seen in pictures or anything

since coming out. And like, I'm sure they just want, they want to keep it that way, right? Obviously, which I'm glad, like, good. Good, if that, you know, good for them. Let them heal, seriously. Like maybe one day they'll wanna share their story and experience, or like maybe they won't.

Either way, I'm sure we all can agree, like, glad they made it out, right? Oy vey. Other than that, the only other update was like in June of 2013, the Fritzl home was sold and the basement was covered in or filled with concrete. So, wow, we made it to the end. And that is the awful case of Yosef Fritzl.

And I don't even know what to say. I think, you know, I think, I think, ugh, I'm not laughing. You know, I'm not laughing. It's just uncomfortable. I'm laughing because it's uncomfortable. I think that we can all agree, like, it's glad they made it out, right? Like, life must be really challenging after the fact. So I think we uh

we all can agree. Glad that they're out. Hope that they've been adjusting well and it's really nice to hear that they have a community that like has their back and is looking out for them. Just hope that they can live their lives as best as possible, you know? As for Yosef, what do you even say to that guy? I don't even know. I hope he has a miserable time in prison. It's really all you can wish for, huh? This is like one of those stories that just sits with you for way too long.

And I'm like, I can't believe there's people out there like this. Oh my God. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today I hope you have a good rest of your day you make good choices please be safe out there right and I will be seeing you guys later goodbye