Austrian incest father Fritzl charged with murder and rape, slavery

Josef Fritzl, 73, also was charged with rape, incest, false imprisonment and slavery, said the state attorney's office in St. Poelten, west of Vienna.

"Despite recognizing the baby's life-threatening situation, he deliberately decided not to intervene" and get the ailing infant to a doctor, prosecutors said in their 27-page indictment.

Investigators say Fritzl has confessed to imprisoning and repeatedly raping his daughter Elisabeth — now age 42 — in a warren of soundproofed, windowless cellar rooms he built beneath his home starting in 1984, shortly after she turned 18.

Police say Fritzl told them he tossed the body of the infant into a furnace in 1996 after the baby became ill and died. They say DNA tests have confirmed he is the biological father of the six surviving children.

Although nothing remains of the incinerated infant, prosecutors said they based the murder charge on interviews with Fritzl's daughter. They did not release details on the baby's fatal illness.

The retired electrician is expected to go on trial in March 2009, court spokesman Franz Cutka said.

If convicted of the murder charge, Fritzl would face life imprisonment. Austria, like other European countries, has no death penalty.

Prosecutors have said a psychiatric evaluation showed that Fritzl is mentally competent to stand trial. They reiterated that stance Thursday but recommended that Fritzl be moved to a special facility for mentally disturbed offenders so he can get counseling.

Under Austrian law, Fritzl has 14 days to appeal the charges. His lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, declined to say whether Fritzl would challenge the indictment and refused further comment. In the past, Mayer has suggested he is preparing an insanity defense.