Dungeon dad 'expects to die in jail'

Melbourne, Mar 7 (ANI): Austrian incest fiend Josef Fritzl, who locked his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, expects to spend the rest of his life behind bars, his lawyer has revealed.

Fritzl, who is due to go on trial on 16 March, faces up to life imprisonment if convicted on charges of murder, rape, incest, false imprisonment and enslavement.

"He is 73 years old. The (length of) the sentence is of no importance to him," The Daily Telegraph quoted Fritzl's lawyer Rudolf Mayer, as telling Austrian state news agency APA.

Mayer said that Fritzl will plead guilty to all the charges, and added that he's not a "Sex Monster" - referring to media headlines - and "loved (Elisabeth) in his own way."

The trial's verdict is expected on March 20.

Investigators say Fritzl confessed to imprisoning and raping his daughter - now in her 40s - in a soundproofed, windowless dungeon he built beneath their home.

Of the six surviving children Fritzl had with Elisabeth, three were raised in the family home.

The others were confined to the cellar for their whole lives, not seeing the light of day until they were discovered and released by police in April 2008.

The case first came to light after 19-year-old Kerstin, one of the children fathered by Fritzl and kept underground, became seriously ill and was taken to hospital.

A psychiatrist's report last autumn judged that he was mentally fit to stand trial. (ANI)