Josef Fritzl has reportedly said that he would love to live in Britain if he was allowed out of prison to “roam free in the Scottish Highlands”.
The 88-year-old has been imprisoned since 2009 after holding his daughter Elisabeth captive in his basement in the Austrian town of Amstetten for 24 years between 1984 and 2008, raping her thousands of times and fathering her seven children.
Fritzl can now apply for his release and said he dreamed of moving to the UK after watching a documentary about Shakespeare that revealed the “spectacular landscape” of Britain, the Sun reports.
He said the documentary had inspired him and he knew he wanted to “emigrate to the UK” rather than stay in his native Austria.
‘Above all, I want to roam freely in the wild Scottish Highlands. “For me, the lush green fields of Wales are also very, very attractive,” Fritzl added, reiterating that he would “head” to the United Kingdom if released.
Josef Fritzl was paroled from a prison for the mentally ill by an Austrian court in January, shortly after being photographed outside prison for the first time in 15 years.
Elisabeth Fritzl (pictured as a schoolgirl), now 56, was held prisoner by her father Josef in the basement of the family home in Austria from 1984 to 2008.
Josef Fritzl during the fourth day of his trial at the St. Poelten rural court in 2009.
Even if he were released, Fritzl would have to say goodbye to his dream of living in the UK, as the Home Office would refuse him entry due to his long prison sentence, according to guidelines on crime-related grounds for refusal.
A court in the city of Krems an der Donau had ordered in January that Fritzl be transferred to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit after he was told he was “no longer in danger of reoffending”, but this decision has since been overturned. .
His daughter Elisabeth, now 56 and given a new identity, previously said she hopes her evil father will be punished for his crimes “until death.”
Fritzl’s trial heard how he raped her 3,000 times in the rat-infested basement and how he punched and kicked her and eventually fathered seven children with her.
The mother lived downstairs with her children: Kerstin, born in 1988, Stefan (1990) and Felix (2002).
Meanwhile, Lisa (1992), Monica (1994) and Alexander (1996) grew up upstairs in the house Fritzl shared with his wife Rosemarie in quiet Amstetten, central Austria, 78 kilometers from Linz.
Another son, named Micheal, died tragically from neglect shortly after birth.
Speaking through her lawyer Eva Plaz at her father’s trial, Elisabeth said she hopes he is never released.
“He wants the defendant to be held responsible until death,” Ms. Plaz said.
Previously the lawyer had said in court: ‘The accused has become master of life and death. He must be punished for this.’
Fritzl, who has now changed his name to an undisclosed name, She has been in prison since her 2009 conviction for incest, rape, slavery, coercion and neglectful murder of her newborn child.
Fritzl, 88, is detained in Sankt Poelten prison and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
Elisabeth lived in this narrow, dingy basement for 24 years with her children.
Josef Fritzl during a four-week vacation in Pataya, Thailand, from January 1, 1998 to February 3, 1998
MailOnline reported that Elisabeth has built a new life with her bodyguard husband in an isolated house by the river, just half an hour from the dungeon where she was held captive for 24 years, living with her eldest daughter, Kerstin.
This comes after Fritzl wrote an apology letter earlier this year in which he claimed to be a “good father.”
‘I deeply regret all my actions. Best regards, Fritzl,” wrote the incestuous rapist.
“In fact, I was a good father,” he said, saying that he saved money for “the children’s education,” visited them often, helped them with housework and even taught them to play instruments “and so on.”