Austrian incest suspect charged with murder

Austria MapVienna - Incest suspect Josef Fritzl is not only charged for raping and imprisoning his daughter for 24 years, but is also indicted for murder, as a boy he fathered with his daughter died after birth, Austrian news agency APA reported Thursday.

The prosecutors at the court in Sankt Poelten said Fritzl, 73, had killed the infant born in the dungeon beneath his house in 1996, as he "neglected to call the necessary help by third parties, although he was aware of the life-threatening situation of the infant."

Fritzl, who has admitted most of the alleged crimes, now faces imprisonment for life.

According to media reports, Fritzl burned the newborn's body in an oven.

In April, Fritzl's daughter Elisabeth, 42, and three of her children were freed from their underground prison. Three more children she bore in prison were living upstairs with the suspect and his wife in the town of Amstetten.

The trial is likely to open early next year. (dpa)

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