'Remorseful' Fritzl wanted to make life 'pleasant' for dungeon family

London, Mar 28 (ANI): In his first interview from the prison cell, Austrian incest fiend Josef Fritzl has claimed that he tried to make life "as pleasant as possible" for the daughter he raped for more than two decades and her kids.

The 73-year-old held Elisabeth in a secret dungeon for 24 years.

Fritzl was jailed for life last week after admitting raping Elisabeth more than 3,000 times and fathering seven children - one of whom he murdered hours after it was born.

Rudolf Mayer, who defended Fritzl, told the Austrian weekly magazine, News, that the murderer and rapist has realised the enormity of his crimes, and is deeply remorseful.

"I tried to make life in the cellar as pleasant as possible for my second family - and in the course of the years, a partnership between my daughter and myself," The Telegraph quoted Fritzl, as telling Mayer.

Mayer added that the turning point in the brief trial came when Elizabeth secretly entered the St Poelten courtroom to confront her father while her 11 hours of video testimony was being shown.

The following day he entered court and changed his pleas to guilty on all charges.

"I noticed that she was here, in the courtroom. I finally turned to the gallery and looked and saw her myself. I was suddenly so ashamed," Fritzl told the lawyer.

"I could hardly stand to hear what she was saying, I wanted the severest punishment ... I understood finally the suffering I caused to my family," he added. (ANI)