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| DNA 'backs Austrian incest claim' | DNA 'backs Austrian incest claim' |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| DNA evidence supports an Austrian man's confession that he fathered six children by his daughter while keeping her prisoner for 24 years, police say. | DNA evidence supports an Austrian man's confession that he fathered six children by his daughter while keeping her prisoner for 24 years, police say. |
| Lower Austria police chief Franz Polzer said Josef Fritzl had completely deceived his wife, his family and neighbours in the town of Amstetten. | Lower Austria police chief Franz Polzer said Josef Fritzl had completely deceived his wife, his family and neighbours in the town of Amstetten. |
| He said the 73-year-old had forced his daughter, Elisabeth, to write letters saying she had run away. | He said the 73-year-old had forced his daughter, Elisabeth, to write letters saying she had run away. |
| Mr Fritzl was earlier detained for a further 14 days by a regional court. | Mr Fritzl was earlier detained for a further 14 days by a regional court. |
| He said nothing to the court in the provincial capital of St Poelton on the advice of his lawyer, who met him earlier in the day. | |
| Officials said Mr Fritzl faced up to 15 years in prison if eventually convicted on charges of rape and sequestration. | |
| 'Decisive evidence' | 'Decisive evidence' |
| Speaking at a news conference in Amstetten, Mr Polzer said police investigations and genetic evidence had confirmed statements made by Elisabeth and the confession Mr Fritzl had made during questioning. | |
| Police chief on Austrian case | Police chief on Austrian case |
| "The DNA tests provided decisive evidence that the six children that Elisabeth gave birth to have the same father," he said. | "The DNA tests provided decisive evidence that the six children that Elisabeth gave birth to have the same father," he said. |
| Mr Polzer said that letters which Mr Fritzl had forced Elisabeth to write had played an important part in deceiving his family and the authorities since her disappearance in 1984, when he allegedly lured her into the cellar of their house and locked her up. | |
| The first letter said Elisabeth had run away and joined a sect. Others explained why she had left three of the children on the doorstep of the family home, he said. | |
| "You can be sure that this man left nothing undone in order to deceive the family, his wife, the relatives, the children and everybody around him. | "You can be sure that this man left nothing undone in order to deceive the family, his wife, the relatives, the children and everybody around him. |
| "He had no scruples to use every possible means to deceive the public and cover up his crime," he added. | "He had no scruples to use every possible means to deceive the public and cover up his crime," he added. |
| KEY FACTS IN CASE Elisabeth reappeared at home after disappearing 24 years agoSix children she says are hers have been found and placed in careOne of the children, aged 19, is seriously ill in hospital Elisabeth's father Josef Fritzl, 73, has been arrested on suspicion of incest and abductionPolice say Mr Fritzl confesses to imprisoning Elisabeth and fathering her seven children class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7371959.stm">Profile: Josef Fritzl class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7370889.stm">Hope for children of the cellar class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7372407.stm">Coming to terms with the horror | |
| The director of a local psychiatric hospital, Berthold Kepplinger, said Elisabeth and most of her children had been reunited there and were being cared for by a team of psychotherapists, a neurologist, speech therapists and physiotherapists. | |
| Three of the children lived with the grandparents, but the other three had never seen daylight until they were freed on Sunday. | |
| One of the three who lived underground, 19-year-old Kerstin, whose admission to hospital with a serious illness sparked police interest in the family's whereabouts, remains critically ill. | |
| Mr Kepplinger said the two sets of children were tentatively beginning to get to know one another, although two of the three children who had spent all their lives underground had a way of communicating that was "anything but normal". | |
| He said it was very important that they were "cut off from further external traumatisation", and said their carers did "not want to proceed too quickly". | |
| "We are going very slowly," he said. |