Incest monster Josef Fritzl, 89, ‘has already packed his bags’ believing he will be released to a normal jail from his prison for the mentally ill ahead of new court ruling

Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl believes a new court ruling this week will see him released from the high-security prison where he has been held for the past 15 years to a normal prison, reports suggest.

A panel will decide on Tuesday whether the 89-year-old should be moved from Stein Prison in Krems an der Donau, a unit for the mentally ill where he has been serving a life sentence after being charged with incest and other charges. heinous crimes.

The monster has already packed his few things into two sports bags, Kronen Zeitung reports to security officials, because he expects to be moved ‘immediately’ after the hearing.

An earlier hearing granted Fritzl parole in January, but this was later overturned by the Vienna High Court. It said in March that “the necessary facts for a decision on such a conditional dismissal have not yet been clarified.”

Fritzl was imprisoned in 2009 after admitting that he raped his daughter Elisabeth, held her captive in an underground dungeon for 24 years, and fathered seven children with her, one of whom died as a result of his neglect.

A panel of three judges will decide whether Fritzl should be transferred from the maximum security prison to a normal prison

Now his lawyer Astrid Wagner says he is no longer a danger and should be granted parole from prison.

During this week’s hearing, which will take place behind closed doors, three judges will weigh the claims.

The meeting will last an hour from 1 p.m. and Wagner will make statements to the media before and after, it is reported.

As with the previous ruling, an appeal is open against Fritzl, his lawyer and the public prosecutor.

Fritzl should remain in Stein prison until a final decision is made on any appeals, it is understood.

The elderly convict suffers from progressive dementia that causes absent moments, but was able to follow the proceedings during the final hearing, Wagner said.

Fritzl’s mental state has been assessed by court psychiatrist Heidi Kastner over the past fifteen years.

In 2009 she described him as ‘extremely mentally abnormal’ and ’emotionally illiterate’, but concluded in her report this year that he is no longer dangerous.

She said he suffers from dementia, is physically weak and needs a walker to get around, Austrian media reported.

Wagner argued the report meant his release should be considered, and showed he is no longer a threat.

Incest monster Josef Fritzl was today released on parole from a prison for the mentally ill by an Austrian court, shortly after he was photographed outside prison for the first time in 15 years as he arrived in court today (pictured)

‘I wouldn’t be afraid to move in with him in a flatshare arrangement, or live next door to him in a care home. “He doesn’t want sex anymore,” she said.

In January it was reported that the convict was seen in coffee shops near his prison in Krems an der Donau, northern Austria, apparently in preparation for his release.

The respected regional weekly Bezirksblatt claimed that Fritzl had been ‘seen in several cafes of Krems’.

An editor of the Bezirksblatt, who has been reporting on the Fritzl case for many years, confirmed several sightings of the depraved convict drinking coffee.

Fritzl – who changed his name to Mayrhoff in an alleged attempt to avoid physical attacks from other prisoners – was imprisoned in 2009 after admitting to raping his daughter Elisabeth (pictured) and fathering seven children with her.

‘It’s true. Several people I trust completely have told me they have seen him,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

‘It is not the case that only one resident is convinced that he has seen Fritzl. I got this information from several trusted acquaintances, independently of each other.’

The perverted pensioner will be eligible for parole in March this year under Austria’s lenient sentencing laws.

Inmates who are ready for parole can be released depending on their behavior and their mental and physical condition.

Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, slavery and for the negligent death of one of his sons.

Elisabeth and her children lived in the basement of the parental home in Amstetten, while Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie lived above it

Elisabeth lived with her children in this filthy, cramped basement for 24 years

His daughter Elisabeth, whom he abused from the age of eleven, disappeared in 1984 at the age of 18.

She only emerged in 2008 from the dungeon-like basement room in the town of Amstetten where her father had held her captive. Fritzl built the cellar himself.

The abuse resulted in the birth of seven children, three of whom remained in captivity with their mother.

One died at the hands of Fritzl, a matter of days after birth. He threw the body into an incinerator. The other three were raised by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie.