Austrian incest father planned dungeon for years

By Karin Strohecker

VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian man who held his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered seven children with her had planned the construction of her basement prison years in advance, police said on Monday.

Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, was kept prisoner in a windowless dungeon under the family home, whose original part was built in the late 19th century while an extension was finished in 1983.

"Already in the planning phase there was an intention to add something within this regular building -- something unknown, something out of sight of the construction authority, a small area, a little secret, a little dungeon," said the head of the police investigation, Franz Polzer, at a news conference.

Josef Fritzl, 73, in a case that has generated headlines around the world, has admitted keeping Elisabeth in a cellar for 24 years.

Three of her children had spent their entire lives underground with her until the case was uncovered just over a week ago.

Elisabeth, who says her father abused her from when she was 11 years old, says she was drugged by him and locked up in the basement when she was 18. When her father submitted the plans for the extension of the family home to authorities some 30 years ago, she was around 12 years old.

A total of eight doors fitted with locks secured the entrance to the basement prison, police said.

Prosecutors are investigating Fritzl for rape, incest, coercion and the death of one of the children, a baby whose remains he burned in a furnace.