Josef Fritzl, 73, has been charged with murdering one of the children he fathered with his daughter during the 24 years he held her captive in a cellar, as new details of her plight emerged Thursday.
Fritzl was responsible for the death of a newborn in 1996, as he neglected to seek medical help even though he was aware that the baby might die, said the charge sheet. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Fritzl had told police that the child, one of twins, had been born dead and he had burned the body in a wood-fired boiler in the cellar.
But prosecutors concluded -- based on the assessment of a court-appointed expert who talked to Fritzl's captive daughter Elisabeth -- that the newborn, who developed breathing problems after birth, could have been saved if he had been brought to hospital for intensive care.
Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said he would not appeal the charges, which include rape, sequestration, incest, grievous assault and slavery. These charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail.
Fritzl held his daughter Elisabeth captive for 24 years in a cellar of his apartment building, raping her on a regular basis and fathering seven children with her.
Three of these children were brought upstairs to live with Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie, but the other three remained in the cellar with their mother, never seeing daylight until their release in late April.
Details of the living conditions in the tiny basement cell emerged for the first time Thursday in the charge sheet, which said Fritzl chained his then 18-year-old daughter for the first nine months of her captivity in 1984.
Drugged by her father, Elisabeth Fritzl, now 42, was repeatedly beaten and kicked, as well as raped, sometimes several times a day.
Josef Fritzl apparently also forced her to act out pornographic films he showed her in her cell. The rapes continued throughout her captivity.
The prosecutors noted that Elisabeth had "resigned herself to her situation as she saw no way out."
They added that Fritzl had treated Elisabeth "as his property."
Although Fritzl later furnished the cell with beds, a small kitchen area and a shower, the tiny space was secured by a vault door, often saw rats and had no natural light, hot water or heating. He regularly shut off power as punishment.
Fritzl confessed to raping and sequestering his daughter for over two decades, days after the case was brought to light, although he denied killing one of the babies.
In a report published in mid-October, a psychiatric expert who examined Fritzl concluded that the 73-year-old was entirely responsible for his actions.
His lawyer had said earlier that Fritzl may plead diminished responsibility.
Fritzl's trial is not expected to begin before late January 2009, the court president in Sankt Poelten told the Austrian daily Kurier. Judicial sources cited by the Austria Press Agency said it could start in March.
Elisabeth Fritzl and her six children, aged 5 to 19, have been living since their reunion in May in a flat on the grounds of a psychiatric clinic near Amstetten, a town some 100 kilometres west of Vienna that gained worldwide notoriety overnight after news broke of the monstrous incest case.
Fritzl's wife Rosemarie, 69, who always denied having any knowledge of her husband's actions, has moved to another nearby town.
Doctors have said the family's condition has been improving steadily, even though the victims would likely be psychologically scarred for life.
The three children, aged 12, 14 and 15, who were brought up by Fritzl and his wife, living a normal life, have returned to school, according to press reports.
