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His lawyer also said, that he gave her a christmas gift.
One of Europe’s most notorious criminals, Josef Fritzl, is continuing his fight for freedom, and that might be part of the reason behind the message, he has just sent out through his lawyer.
The 89-year-old Austrian, serving a life sentence for crimes against his daughter, has conveyed seasonal wishes through his lawyer as she continues to argue that he should be released from prison.
Fritzl has been incarcerated since 2009, when he was convicted of multiple offenses stemming from the prolonged abuse and imprisonment of his daughter Elisabeth in a concealed cellar beneath the family home.
“Merry Christmas”
Astrid Wagner, Fritzl’s defense lawyer, posted a video after a recent prison visit in which she held a small Christmas ornament she said was given to her by her client, The Sun reports.
In the video, Wagner said: “He (Frtizl) gave me a small gift, a Christmas surprise, a small Father Christmas.”
She added: “I took great joy in this small gift and would like to use this opportunity to pass on a message from Fritzl personally.”
According to Wagner, Fritzl wanted to wish “everyone out there a merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2026,” and expressed hope “that by Christmas next year, 2026, he might perhaps already be free.”
Push for release
Wagner has for years sought Fritzl’s conditional release, arguing that he suffers from progressive dementia and no longer poses a danger to the public.
Fritzl was transferred in 2024 from a high-security psychiatric facility to Stein Prison in Krems an der Donau, where he is currently held.
An earlier application for conditional release was rejected by authorities in Krems. In August, Wagner filed a renewed request, maintaining that Fritzl should be placed in an appropriate care unit rather than remain in prison.
Continuing controversy
In previous interviews, Wagner has described Fritzl as suffering from delusions and distorted beliefs.
In an interview with MailOnline, she said he talked about wanting “to be in a house when he gets out of prison,” adding that “he has made very, very clear it has to have a cellar.”
Elisabeth and her surviving children now live under assumed names after years of therapy. Fritzl, divorced and no longer using his original name, remains Austria’s most infamous inmate.
Crimes and convictions
Fritzl was convicted in March 2009 of murder by neglect, enslavement, unlawful imprisonment, rape, incest and coercion.
The case shocked the world after it emerged in 2008 that he had held his daughter captive for 24 years, beginning in 1984, fathering seven children with her. One child died shortly after birth.
The crimes came to light after Fritzl brought a seriously ill daughter, Kerstin, to hospital, prompting doctors to alert police.
Sources: The Sun, MailOnline, 60Minutes Australia, BBC, The Guardian
