Cellar Sex Fiend Josef Fritzl, 89, Turns On Long-Suffering Wife by Demanding Divorce From Jail — As Warped Austrian Demands Early Release on Grounds of Age and Dementia
Josef Fritzl has demanded a divorce from his wife while in prison amid his battle for a controversial early release.
March 10 2025, Published 1:52 p.m. ET
Cellar rape fiend Josef Fritzl is shockingly demanding a divorce from his wife from behind bars.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the sex monster, who is serving life for keeping a secret family of seven children in his basement, wants to end his marriage – despite claiming his long-suffering wife Rosemarie still loves him.
Fritzl was locked away after his nightmare crimes were exposed by his daughter.
His lawyer Dr Astrid Wagner said: "Mr Fritzl told me he now wants to divorce his wife.
"It came as a real shock.
"It wasn't long ago that he said that he was actually fantasising again about having his family around him when he comes out of prison.
"It is not quite clear to me yet why he has now decided he wants to divorce his wife now.
"Perhaps it is because of his dementia – which really is an issue, these days – and of course you have to remember and bear in mind that he is a very elderly man.
"But I respect his wishes and as he has asked me to do this then I have tried to track down his wife so that I can then send her the divorce papers.
"I'm not quite sure where she is – I believe she is most likely still in Austria – so I'm still looking and I really hope I can find her."
Fritzl, 89, was jailed in 2009 for keeping the children, born after he raped daughter Elisabeth, in an underground lair.
The Austrian is seeking early release on grounds of old age and dementia.
Rosemarie, now 86, claimed to have no knowledge of his crimes.
Fritzl began molesting his daughter Elisabeth when she was 11, before imprisoning her in his filthy cellar.
Fritzl was moved from a high-security psychiatric unit to a normal prison earlier this year.
His lawyers last month revealed they are intending on submitting a parole application in weeks – and are confident he will be released having served a mere 15 years for his heinous crimes.
Wagner said: "We will start an action in March and call for parole and if the court rejects it we will appeal and given his condition I believe he will be released by next year.
"He wants to live close to where he previously did and he wants to live alone but I think that is very unlikely given his age and condition.
"He would need a carer and none of his friends or family want to know."
Fritzl began molesting his daughter Elisabeth when she was 11, before imprisoning her in a filthy cellar in Amstetten near Vienna in 1984.
Three of the children he fathered lived with his daughter in windowless, soundproofed rooms behind a reinforced concrete door, three were raised upstairs in the house, and one died shortly after birth.
Fritzl is said to have burned the tragic baby's body in an incinerator and scattered the ashes in the garden.
His crimes came to light in 2008 when the eldest of the children, Kerstin, became seriously ill and had to be taken to hospital.
The twisted monster was jailed the following year, aged 73, for rape, incest, enslavement, false imprisonment, and murder by negligence.
The filthy cellar where Fritzl kept his daughter prisoner and repeatedly raped for 24 years.
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The lawyer has also revealed Fritzl believes he would receive a great "fanfare" upon his release.
Wagner explained: "He believes that when he is released, he will come out to a big celebration with people cheering and music and wanting to shake his hand.
"This is obviously not the case. It is a fantasy. I don't think he fully understands what the world really thinks. Every time I see him, he says he regrets his decisions every day.
"He has ruined his life. He always talks about his regrets about his crimes. He thinks he has friends on the outside, but he hasn’t.
"One thing he accepts is that his family no longer want to see him and respects that."
