Man Who Inspired ‘Girl In The Basement’ Up For Prison Release?
Fans of the biopic The Girl in the Basement just learned some distressing news. Josef Fritzl, 88, is up for parole and has a chance to get released from prison after serving only 15 years of his life sentence. Here is a look at what might be coming for Fritzl and what comes next for the convicted felon.
Girl in the Basement inspiration up for parole from prison
Josef Fritzl was found guilty in 2009 and sentenced to prison for life. As shown in the movie Girl in the Basement, Frank imprisoned his teenage daughter in the basement of his home for 24 years. While imprisoned, he repeatedly raped her and ended up getting her pregnant seven times. He made her raise three of the children while keeping them all imprisoned in the basement.
He and his wife raised three of them as foster children. However, his wife never knew that the daughter was imprisoned and believed she had run away and joined a cult. The seventh baby died and that is when the girl was able to signal someone that she needed help and was finally rescued.
The courts found Frank guilty of incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement, and negligent homicide for the seventh baby’s death. He ended up with a lifetime prison sentence for his crimes. However, in Austria, that does not really mean a lifetime sentence in every case. While kept imprisoned in a unit for the criminally insane, the government could end up transferring him to a different prison.
If this happens, Austria allows prisoners to apply for release after only serving 15 years behind bars. The courts are currently assessing his medical condition before making a decision, which could take months. He reportedly is suffering from dementia. Frank’s lawyer, Astrid Wagner, said they hope to have Fritzl released and sent to a nursing home for his final years.
What is Girl in the Basement?
Girl in the Basement is a movie that tells a fictionalized version of the Frank Fritzl story. The movie was based on The New York Times article about the crimes. Elisabeth was 42 years old when she finally escaped, which means she was 18 when her father imprisoned her and began sexually assaulting her.
Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club) stars in Girl in the Basement as Don Cody, who is based on Frank. Elisabeth Röhm directed the movie. Fans might remember Röhm from her acting roles, which include playing Detective Kate Lockley in Angel and ADA Serena Southerlyn in Law & Order.
Girl in the Basement originally aired as a Lifetime original movie. However, it is now also available to stream on Hulu. The Austrian government offered Elisabeth Fritzl (Sara in the movie) and her children a home in an unnamed town and they stayed together as they moved past the trauma. She chose never to have contact with her father again (via BBC).
What are your thoughts on Frank Fritzl getting the chance to get out of prison after his terrifying crimes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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