In recent days, Josef Fritzl's laywer has been pleading for her client's release after serving 15 years behind bars. But while his story is well documented, here we explore what happened to his long suffering wife who knew nothing about his crimes.
Never miss any of the fun stuff. We have more newsletters. Rosemarie Fritzl spent 24 years believing her daughter, Elisabeth, had vanished off the face of the earth after running away to join a cult. And while that was heartbreaking in itself, the truth was more harrowing than she could ever have imagined. Rather than being thousands of miles away, Elisabeth was locked in the basement of her home, an area where her electrical engineering husband, Josef Fritzl, forbade her to enter.
For more of the latest news from the Daily Star, click here. This is where he kept Elisabeth imprisoned and where he fathered seven of her children — but one baby died after Fritzl refused to get medical help. The incestuous monster even raised three of the kids upstairs alongside clueless Rosemarie who was told that Elisabeth kept dropping babies at the front door in Amstetten, Austria, before fleeing again. But Elisabeth was in the cellar downstairs all along with three of her kids who she was raising in the darkness.
And when the horror was finally revealed in , Rosemarie, who got married in , crept down to the creepy basement for the first time, and wept uncontrollably. Months later, Fritzl was jailed for life after being found guilty of rape, incest and incarceration. He was also guilty of the negligent killing of his infant son. Below we look at what happened to his ex-wife. Regardless of his atrocities, evil Fritzl was convinced he would be able to keep Rosemarie as his loyal partner after settling in prison.
The sex beast bombarded her with calls and letters and tried everything in his power to stay married to his wife of over 50 years. However, despite being described in reports as a weak character, Rosemarie plucked up the courage to divorce him 11 years ago. She also received no money from his property empire after it was seized by the state.
