Berlin  - Elisabeth Fritzl suffered an unimaginable ordeal, held for 24 years in a cramped, windowless cellar, behind a secret door locked with a code only her father Josef knew.

From the age of 18, when Fritzl lured her into the dungeon he had meticulously prepared, Elisabeth was raped around 3,000 times by her father, and gave birth to seven children.

Alongside the charges of slavery, rape, incest and imprisonment, it was the short life of Elisabeth's son Michael that brought the maximum sentence down on her father. Fritzl was found guilty Thursday of murder, for allowing the baby to die of a respiratory problem a few days after his birth in 1996.

Fritzl had gained worldwide notoriety in 2008, when his daughter and three children emerged from their captivity in the dungeon below Fritzl's home in the Austrian town of Amstetten.

The 73-year-old entered the court Thursday looking pale, thin and visibly aged since his arrest 11 months previously. Having been confronted Tuesday with his daughter's video taped testimony and her personal appearance in the courtroom, he appeared ready to accept the consequences of his gruesome actions.

Fritzl, who had unexpectedly confessed to all charges after his daughter's testimony, spoke out one last time before the jury retired Thursday to consider their verdict.

"I regret with my whole heart what I did to my family. I can unfortunately not make it better again. I can only seek to reduce the damage if possible," Fritzl said.

Speaking on behalf of his daughter, Elisabeth's lawyer Eva Plaz warned jurors Thursday against falling for Fritzl's apparent change of heart. "What you just heard was not a confession," Plaz said, adding, "He is making it appear harmless and hoping you will believe him."

The eight-member jury reached their decision unanimously, declaring Fritzl guilty of all charges. They further committed him to a special institution for abnormal offenders, where he would undergo therapy.

The expert psychologist who examined Fritzl said he had a "dangerous need for power and control," which led to his split existence between the world he had created in his cellar and life above ground.

During the course of the trial, Fritzl said of any guilt he experienced, "Whenever I closed the door downstairs, it was gone."

Fritzl exercised the last act of control over his own life Thursday, accepting the jury's guilty verdict without hesitation.

Whether a life in captivity will help him comprehend the wrongs he inflicted on his family is an open question.

"From today, repentence awaits him in prison," defence lawyer Rudolf Mayer said of his client. (dpa)