Tape of captive daughter played at trial

ST.POELTEN, Austria, March 17 (UPI) -- Judges and jurors in the trial of the Austrian man accused of holding his daughter as a sex slave for 24 years watched a tape of the victim Tuesday.

Josef Fritzl, 73, allegedly held his daughter, Elisabeth, captive in the cellar of the family's home in Amstetten and fathered seven living children with her.

Fritzl used a notebook to hide his face as he entered the courtroom in St. Poelten, about 30 miles from Amstetten, for the second day of the trial being heard by three judges and eight jurors, The Times of London reported.

During Monday's playing of the videotaped evidence, the daughter spoke of how she recorded her abuse on the back of receipts her father left behind when bringing food, the British newspaper said.

Fritzl pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning his daughter in the basement when she was 18 and to raping her while she was in captivity. He also pleaded guilty to incestuously fathering her children and admitted to threatening to gas and electrocute the family if they tried to escape.

He said he was innocent of slavery and denied killing an eighth baby by neglecting to take the boy to a doctor when he had difficulty breathing.

Fritzl's attorney said his client was a caring man who celebrated holidays with his family in the cellar. On the stand, Fritzl blamed his actions on a troubled childhood and a harsh mother.

No members of the Fritzl family were willing to testify, The Times said.

The trial is expected to end Friday.