Austria Incest Father Expects Life In Jail

He will plead guilty to the charges of deprivation of liberty, rape, incest and coercion but will contest the murder charge, Mayer said.

Josef Fritzl, a 73-year-old Austrian who locked his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, expects to spend the rest of his life in jail, his lawyer said on Friday.

Fritzl goes on trial in a provincial court on March 16 for the murder of a child who died shortly after being born in the cellar, as well as five other charges including incest.

"He is 73 years old. The (length of) the sentence is of no importance to him," Fritzl's lawyer Rudolf Mayer told Austrian state news agency APA, adding that his client expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Fritzl has not appealed the charges.

He will plead guilty to the charges of deprivation of liberty, rape, incest and coercion but will contest the murder charge, Mayer said.

Josef Fritzl is not a "Sex Monster," Mayer said, referring to media headlines, and "loved (Elisabeth) in his own way."

Mayer has declined to speak to foreign media.

State prosecutors say Fritzl could serve 10-15 years or a life sentence in prison. The trial's verdict is expected on March 20. He has been in investigative custody since the case was exposed last April.

Fritzl lured his daughter into the cellar of his house in Amstetten in 1984, drugging and locking her up for most of her adult life, according to police. He claimed she had disappeared to join a sect.

Three of Elisabeth's children were raised by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie in their home after he pretended that his daughter had left them on his doorstep with a letter saying she could not care for them.

The other three children remained locked in the windowless, sound-proofed basement with their mother.

Elisabeth and her children are now living in a secret location under new identities.