House of Horrors

by Nigel Cawthorne

  At least part of the dungeon appeared to be padded and the whole vault was well sound-proofed, but it made no difference. It was so far underground that no sound could be heard. No noise from the outside world could penetrate the thick concrete walls and no scream, however loud, could escape. The ventilation shaft was of the type designed for nuclear bunkers, so it had baffles to deaden the blast and filters to prevent fall-out passing down it with the air – which also meant that sound could not travel along it. The dungeon was totally isolated, an enclosed, silent world, completely detached from anything going on around it.

  The filtration system in the ventilation shaft would have restricted the air flow running through it, depleting the oxygen supply. But then nuclear shelters were only designed to be occupied for a couple of weeks before the occupants were to venture outside – not months and years on end. With little airflow and insulated walls, the heat generated by four bodies, cooking, hot water and even the fridge and freezer and other electrical appliances would have made it unbearably hot. Add to that the humidity produced by washing, bathing and cooking, and it is not hard to imagine that it was like living in a sauna.

  The rooms were described as being neat and tidy, the police said – a tribute to Elisabeth’s housekeeping skills. However, officers complained that the stench in the cellar was ‘almost unbearable’. There was nothing she could have done about this; there was no way to vent the smell of cooking or human habitation. With no windows, only artificial light, no fresh air and no room to exercise or run around, it was no wonder Elisabeth and the children were ill. Doctors said the lack of oxygen may have contributed to Kerstin’s condition.

  The forensic team had to comb the scene for weeks on end, their work-rate hampered by the lack of oxygen. ‘Investigators wearing special clothes and masks can work there for only one hour,’ said Polzer, ‘and during this hour they try, one team after the other, to gather everything available in this living space and search particularly for DNA traces to establish if the alleged criminal really committed this on his own. Not until then can we start with technical investigations like sonar probes, cavity and sound measurements, and also to comprehend all the electric and electronic systems.’

  DNA analysis of samples taken from the cellar eventually confirmed that Fritzl had worked alone. Gerhard Sedlacek, a prosecution spokesman, later said that forensic experts found no traces of DNA in the cellar prison belonging to anyone except Fritzl and his captive family, and that Elisabeth told detectives that she never saw or suspected anyone else to have been in the cellar. But plenty more was to be done.

  Even a week after its discovery, Chief Investigator Polzer said, ‘There are still areas we haven’t found inside the dungeon and I expect it to take at least two weeks before we have answered all the questions we need to about how Fritzl controlled the areas and imprisoned the children.’

  It soon became plain to the investigators that Fritzl’s building work was not yet over. The police searched the earth-and rubble-filled rooms adjacent to the 60-square-metre windowless living quarters they already knew about. ‘Areas of the dungeon appear to have been under construction and it is possible Fritzl may have been planning to expand it even further,’ said Polzer, possibly belying Fritzl’s claim that he intended to release his captives all along. ‘The man is evil beyond words,’ Polzer continued. ‘The misery he has inflicted on his family is unimaginable.’

  Even three weeks into the investigation, officers were breaking through old walls underground to reach the hidden rooms. Forensic experts also examined the electrical, plumbing and security features of the dungeon to see whether Fritzl could have built it himself or had help from someone else. In the end, they concluded that he had acted alone, although his unfortunate daughter had been forced to help with the manual labour, despite her frail condition. Together with her father, they had dug out 200 tons – 17 truckloads – of earth which he had somehow disposed of.

  The police remain baffled. They also want to know how Fritzl was able to take two beds into the cellar in 1993 without his wife or neighbours noticing. He later took a large washing machine underground, again without raising suspicions. Freezers, fridges and food were also shifted without inviting questions. And the ‘plumber’ who Alfred Dubanovsky said he saw going down into the cellar has still not been identified or come forward.

  As Fritzl was the subject of a murder investigation, police teams wearing T-shirts bearing the legend ‘Trained to search for human bodies’ were brought in. They used sniffer dogs to search the site for human remains.

  ‘If there’s anything down there, our dogs will find it,’ one of the handlers said. ‘We will keep them working until we’re satisfied the job has been done.’ They were unable to find any traces of bodies or leads to other victims.

  Forensic archaeologists were also called in. They used sonar and ground-penetrating radars to probe the area around the house, looking for graves and buried body parts in the garden. The police also used sonar probes to discover the full extent of the underground bunker complex. They suspected that there were further hidden rooms under 40 Ybbsstrasse and the surrounding area, although none were found. In wartime, it was common to knock through cellar walls into adjoining basements to provide an escape route if a building was bombed.

  Detailed searches were also made of the other buildings that Fritzl owned in case they, too, had secret dungeons. However, it is thought that looking after his second family underground at 40 Ybbsstrasse took up so much of his time that it would have been impossible for him to have maintained more captives elsewhere. This time, though, they had to be sure. After all, the police had turned down two earlier opportunities to search 40 Ybbsstrasse after Fritzl’s bogus fire-damage claims, not including the time they overlooked searching his home when Elisabeth Fritzl was first reported missing.

  According to the police, Fritzl had been planning to build a dungeon in readiness for his daughter for many years. They believe he began his hideous plan as early as 1978 – six years before he imprisoned Elisabeth in the cellar and soon after she alleged that he began sexually abusing her. Despite his protests that he imprisoned her to save her from the world of drugs and was only overwhelmed with the desire to have sex with her later, it seems clear to the police that he intended to imprison her as his sex slave all along. He wanted her all to himself.

  When she was a child, he could have sex with her because she could be intimidated into silence and she was his alone. But as Elisabeth grew to womanhood, she would naturally become interested in men her own age, and they would return her interest. Fritzl knew that he would have to face this one day so, by that time, he would need to have a dungeon ready. His wife was living at the guesthouse at the time and so he could work on the construction of the bunker unhindered.

  It was no accident that Fritzl imprisoned Elisabeth at the time when she met her first serious boyfriend and had decided to have sex with him. Fritzl prevented this. Indeed, Elisabeth has never enjoyed the innocent pleasures of sex with someone of her own age or someone she cared for. Nor has she known what it is like to have sex voluntarily. All she has ever experienced is the selfish brutality of her callous father. The joy of sexual love which, for most people, is one of the most precious things life has to offer, has been denied to her. It was stolen from her along with freedom, light, fresh air, social interaction and almost everything that makes life worth living.

  Amstetten authorities authorised the building of a cellar in 1978. Inspectors examined the project in 1983 – the year before Elisabeth went missing – and did not notice anything suspicious. Afterwards, Fritzl abandoned the plans he had shown the building authorities and secretly expanded the cellar area but the building inspectors did not visit again.

  ‘Today, we know for certain that part of the old cellar and the old house was kept back as a reserve, so to speak,’ said Chief Investigator Polzer, ‘and that this new house suddenly gained a small space of 30 to 35 square metres [320 to 375 square feet] without a
nyone noticing. We are now proceeding on the assumption that he had already settled on the plan to build his own personal “Reich”as early as 1978 and start a relationship with his daughter Elisabeth in the cellar.’

  As well as his reputation for being interested in DIY, Fritzl had another good excuse for his building work, even after the completion of the authorised nuclear air-raid shelter. It was well known locally that he took in lodgers, so his cover story was simply that he was building an extension to the family home in order to take in tenants.

  The underground complex the police were now examining was practically palatial compared to the original underground dungeon where Elisabeth was first incarcerated. Until Lisa was born, she was confined to one tiny room. She had lived there alone to start with, then with Kerstin and Stefan. Then, gradually, the dungeon was enlarged over the years. It was thought that Fritzl may also have broken through into a disused cellar and planned to expand out under the garden. Somehow, he managed to carry out this construction work secretly, as well as deliver food and clothing to Elisabeth and the three children without being noticed.

  To begin with, she had no cooking area and no facilities for storing food, so she was completely dependent on her father’s visits – and the attendant price she would have to pay. The cooking area, where the walls were adorned by children’s drawings, and the bedrooms were only added later. Before that, Elisabeth and the two children would have had to eat, sleep and live in a single room with a low ceiling and a floor space of just 20 square metres (215 square feet). That’s just 4.5 metres by 4.5 metres, or 14 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 6 inches – smaller than the front room in a standard central London flat and little larger than some prison cells.

  Extending the dungeon with Elisabeth and the children captive inside would have only made the nightmare worse. Their tiny living area would have been filled with dust and rubble, and the task itself must have been debilitating due to the lack of oxygen. It took years to extend the dungeon to the modest size it is now. Despite all the difficulties, it is not hard to see why Elisabeth went along with her father’s plan. After nine years in the tiny room, helping to extend their living quarters was the only way she could make life better for herself and her children.

  14

  THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

  Elisabeth Fritzl, Kerstin, Stefan and Felix are now out of the dungeon and in the care of the medical profession. Their imprisonment and ill-treatment at the hands of the monster – a word Fritzl does not like – have left them debilitated, scarred and ill-equipped for life in mainstream society. So what is the long-term prognosis for their recovery? An international team of experts have convened to give their assessment.

  According to the British general practitioner Dr Julian Spinks, the children may have been left with deformed, thin and weak limbs due to being starved of sunlight and having no room to run around and play. They could also be at an increased risk of diabetes. ‘They’ve not been exposed to sunlight which will have affected their ability to make vitamin D, the nutrient allowing bones to absorb calcium,’ he said. ‘This means they could have thin, bendy and pliable bones. It would be similar to osteoporosis but the bones will tend to bend rather than break. They may also have deformed limbs. The children’s muscles will be weak as they’ve not been able to run around and build strength.’

  There are other long-term consequences of vitamin D deficiency. ‘We don’t know why, but people who have been deprived of vitamin D also tend to be more likely to suffer from type-1 diabetes later in life,’ he said, ‘and they’re also at risk from skin conditions like psoriasis.’

  However, Dr Spinks is optimistic about the children’s future. ‘It’s a horrible situation but one which can be remedied,’ he said. ‘They’re still young and can make a recovery if they are given a good diet, the chance to run around and build up strength and are re-introduced slowly to society. With a bit of luck, there will be no permanent damage.’

  The cellar captives emerged with the skin of a baby, untouched by sunlight and pure white. Initially, they had to wear sunscreen of at least factor 30 every day when venturing outside to avoid sun damage. According to Doctor Manu Mehra, a skin expert from the cosmetic surgery firm Transform, ‘Anyone who has been kept away from sunlight would be very pale and more prone to sunburn and sun-related skin damage.’

  On the other hand, there are advantages to not being exposed to the sun. ‘They would not have any moles or freckles, which are signs of sun damage,’ said Dr Mehra. ‘There should be no difference in skin thickness but they would need to wear at least factor 30 suncream every day, even when it is cloudy, until the skin adapts to sun exposure. This could take months. The skin would be the same colour as when they were born as there would be no melanin produced or pigment created.’

  Shut off from daylight for years, the children’s eyesight could also be permanently affected. For example, they may never be able to do everyday activities such as driving a car. According to Doctor Rob Hogan, president of the College of Optometrists, ‘They are likely to have very large pupils as the size is created by the amount of light received. This means at first they will need sunglasses to go outside as their eyes won’t be able to adjust. They will never have had eye examinations, so they may have sight problems and they might not have full visual capacity, meaning they won’t be able to drive. And when the brain and eye don’t work together properly, it can cause a lazy eye.’

  The older children, particularly, may have problems. ‘Eyes mature with the brain until the age of about seven,’ said Dr Hogan. ‘After that, if they are in a situation like this, the visual cortex may not mature to the same degree as normal children.’

  Being deprived of light and living on the meagre rations that Fritzl provided would have caused iron-deficiency anaemia, which would leave the children malnourished, underweight and suffering from stunted growth. According to Dr Denise Parish, a dietician from the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, ‘If they’ve been malnourished, it will show in their growth and weight gain. They could be shorter and underweight compared to other children of their age.’

  However, Dr Parish believes the prognosis is good. ‘Once they are started back on a normal diet they should recover fairly quickly. Given a balanced diet – three meals a day, five portions of fruit and veg, three portions of carbohydrates, three of protein and some dairy produce – they should catch up with others of their age.’

  Though physically the captives should recover quite well, they may well suffer more profound problems. It was noted when Stefan and Felix emerged from the dungeon that they communicated between themselves in a series of grunts and growls and found conversation with others very difficult. Experts believe that Stefan may never be able to talk properly and, though Felix is young enough to perfect his language skills, his early life may have left a permanent scar. ‘We don’t know enough about it yet so any diagnosis is speculative, but extreme emotional trauma may mean that they cannot speak properly,’ said Professor Susan Edwards, head of clinical language sciences at Reading University. ‘If their mother taught them how to talk and they had a TV, you would imagine they could talk. But it may be Fritzl banned them from talking, so they created their own means of communication.’

  There are other factors to be considered in the development of language. ‘To be able to speak you need to have adequate hearing, intelligence and emotional stability, so one of those could be missing,’ said Professor Edwards.

  Some research has suggested that once children get past the age of 11 or 12 and cannot speak, they will never be able to master language fully. ‘There is a claim that their brains lose the ability to learn grammar – while they will be able to pick up vocabulary they will not be able to fully speak their native tongue,’ said Professor Edwards. This may leave Stefan permanently debilitated. Those under the age of 11, however, fare better. ‘Young children like Felix have more potential for recovery,’ she said.

  Prolonged exposure to television as a sole means o
f experiencing the outside world is also liable to leave its mark. According to Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at Kent University, ‘The meaning of anything is specific to our circumstances … the mother [Elisabeth] would have known what a television was before she entered the cellar. She would have gone into the cellar understanding a TV to be a means of communication and entertainment – she may have even known that it was something used by mothers as a kind of digital babysitter. But for the children, the television would have been very much an artefact, an empty map which they could fill in according to their imagination.’

  In such extreme circumstances, this could have profound consequences. ‘If your whole life is spent in a cellar, and you’ve never been outside nor had any contact with other people, then the idea of there being a difference between your reality and an outside reality would be very difficult to conceptualise,’ said Professor Furedi. ‘There is no point of comparison and therefore, even if you saw people standing outside houses on TV, it would be something that you would not understand.’

  Television would have left the children ill-equipped to deal with life outside the dungeon. ‘They will be quite bewildered by the world,’ said clinical psychologist Ron Bracey. ‘They’ve been used to a very narrow focus to their lives and environment. They now have to learn to expand their horizons and understand the wider world. They will also be very frightened and confused about what happened to them – it will be hard for them to come to terms with what’s been going on.’

  Many experts also agreed that dealing with other people would be particularly difficult. ‘They will be withdrawn socially as they’ve been away from other people for so long and more likely to cling to toys and each other,’ said Dr Bracey. ‘It will be worse for the elder children as their sense of reality and the world will be completely skewed compared to their contemporaries.’