The Latest (Column): Kampusch Times Ten - The Story of Josef Fritzl

As my second column's personal deadline dawned on what was, to me, a boring newsweek, the Journalism Gods handed me what can be considered as story of the year for its sheer shock value. I try to make sense of the horror that was revealed in Austria this week. Below is my original cut - if you want to read the sub-edited version, please visit the ever-wonderful The Latest.


You know, until recently, Austria didn’t seem to be that interesting. Only famous for a local Archduke’s assassination leading to the First World War and the Anschluss that was a precursor to the Second World War, it is of no surprise that the Green Party and liberal politics have been the way forward since 1945 in this traditionally quiet part of Europe.

And then the cameras came in 2006. Natascha Kampusch, abducted at age 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil, escaped her kidnapper after eight years of being locked up in a small cellar under the garage of her captor’s house. In a story practically made for a Five Extraordinary Lives documentary to follow The Girls with Too Much Skin and Half Man Half Tree (I kid you not), Kampusch’s story ended up selling for €290 per minute of interview footage to more than 120 countries.

Natascha Kampusch

After the media frenzy died down, Austria returned to its usual Schrammelmusik, Apfelstrudel and Roman Catholic ways.

That was, of course, until yesterday, when a story I can only refer to as Kampusch Times Ten unfolded before the media’s eyes.

Here’s the story, summarised to the best of my abilities. Josef Fritzl, 73, turned himself in to police in his home town of Amstetten, a town 80 miles west of the capital Vienna. Over 23 years ago on 28 August 1984, he lured his 18-year-old daughter Elisabeth into the cellar, drugging her and handcuffing her before locking her up behind an electronic door which only he had the code for.

The cellar’s chambers - which were divided into a kitchen, bathroom and sleeping quarters - were soundproofed and windowless.

And so it began.

To cover his tracks, he made his daughter write a letter stating that she had run away. Until his arrest, he sexually abused his daughter, resulting in seven children - one of which, a twin, died shortly after childbirth. Josef disposed of the body in the incinerator.

Elisabeth and three of the children stayed in the ‘dungeon’ and never saw daylight. The other three were mysteriously left by ‘Elisabeth’ at the door of the family home and later cared for by Josef, his apparently unknowing wife Rosemarie, and the seven other children the couple had. Seriously.

It all came to an end when Kerstin, the first-born 19-year-old daughter who remained in the cellar her entire life, was admitted to hospital on 19 April 2008 due to a critical illness which currently holds her in a coma. On the same day, the police issued a statement to search for her mother, who was still widely believed to be elsewhere in Austria.

And then Josef gave up - but not without another lie first, telling his wife that his daughter had ‘returned home’, with her three other children in tow. On Saturday 26, the police picked Josef and Elisabeth up, with Josef arrested the day after and Elisabeth’s children all placed into care, as well as Elisabeth herself.

So the authorities failed, right? Wrong. How could they have ever known? I do, however, firmly disbelieve the claims of Rosemarie Fritzl, who was ‘completely unaware’ of what happened. It reminded me of John “dead but not dead” Darwin’s wife, Anne, who denied six charges of deception even though there was a photo of the pair in Panama during John’s ‘dead years’.

Still, the crimes of Fritzl are utterly loathsome and, above all, simply scary to think of in any detail. However, I can’t help but afford Fritzl some credit to his intelligence. As much as the designs he drew upon his 18-year-old daughter are beyond comprehensible, the man is clearly clever, and almost military in his level of planning.

Image courtesy of the BBC in their "Inside Josef Fritzl's cellar dungeon" article.

His cellar, as small as it was, had all the facilities needed and was actually decorated (which, again, could not have gone under Rosemarie’s radar). The walls were soundproof, he was the only one who knew the code to the electronic doors, and although he certainly didn’t (want to) consider contraception, he was able to deliver the babies inside the house and relocate half of them with a suitable alibi.

I don’t know if Stockholm Syndrome applies to this situation yet, if at all (particularly given it was a family member that did it), but it certainly can’t have been easy for anybody involved at any point. The worst thing is that it may be less merciful for the cellar children to have survived. I don’t think medicine, psychology or cultural re-education could ever help the unfortunate ones back into society.

If anything, Josef Fritzl could be considered a serial killer without ever having murdered anybody. His actions reach deeper into his victims, the community, the country and the world at large. The survivors will have to live with the psychological and physical misery that he inflicted upon them.

In a world filled with copycat crimes, trends and anti-hero idolisation, it makes one wonder if something similar, if not worse, is currently going on somewhere else - perhaps closer to home.

And even after the shock of Kampusch’s 8-year ordeal, not even Austria was prepared for something like this. Sadly, I think it has made many more people live in fear of something to outdo the newest addition to Austria’s Greatest Criminals.

The Latest: Beckham Mania hits fever pitch

After hearing this utterly crazy (yet totally believable) story from America, I decided to collate my sources and rewrite it as a report for The Latest. Read it at their website or continue below!

David Beckham’s generosity has led to two children being on opposite sides of a court case.
After a game between Japan’s Gamba Osaka and Beckham’s LA Galaxy in the Pan-Pacific Championship at Hawaii’s Aloha Stadium, the former England captain offered his famous number 23 jersey to the two former best friends.
A scrum-like battle between the two children, aged 9 and 10, was resolved by a police officer, who handed the sweaty white shirt to the son of Wilfred and Yoshika Ho.
“My boy got the shirt,” said Mr. Ho, citing the front page photo of the altercation in an edition of The Honolulu Advertiser. “Their kid started to pry at it.”

But the parents of the other child, Eric and Yoshika Kerr, claim that the jersey was initially arranged to be held in joint custody - one that the Hos are failing to honour. It was this that resulted in Mr. Kerr hiring a lawyer to send a formal letter to the Hos.
“Why not let the kids share?” said Mr. Kerr. “Becks is such a big star and it’s one heck of an experience for the boys.”
Mr. Kerr went on to cite his son’s use of a sign to attract the attention of Beckham as the catalyst for the superstar’s offer.
“He pointed out that he wanted our son to have it. How do you explain this to a 10-year-old?
“We just want them to keep their end of the bargain.”
But Mr. and Mrs. Ho deny any knowledge of this agreement. “When we tried to clarify that we were the owners they got upset so we never let them borrow the shirt,” said Mrs. Ho.
David Beckham has not commented on the situation, but LA Galaxy’s club president, Alexei Lalas, was in “utter disbelief” at the situation and offered a simple yet effective solution to the problem: “I suggest that they get a pair of scissors, cut the thing in two and give half to each.”

The Latest: World's door to hell fire

The other day on my blog, I picked up on an amazing story through English Russia. After trying to fathom the translation from the website, I decided to do a bit of research into it, finding inaccuracies in the reports from elsewhere. That's the value of reading up I suppose! Anyway, the story made the front page of The Latest today. Read the article directly here, or by continuing on below...

Thirty-five years ago, geologists searching for natural gas near Darvaza, Turkmenistan, stumbled upon a chamber filled with poisonous gas after their drilling equipment caused the ground around it to collapse. With their camps and equipment already established tens of meters below ground level and an extremely profitable resource at stake, securing the tunnel’s safety seemed to be the only choice.

So, with no other option available, they decided to get rid of the poisonous threat once and for all… with fire.

And now, in 2008, the fires are still burning. Casting an eerie glow in the middle of an arid desert, the locals have named the crater “The Door To Hell”, and the pictures support the claim.

Nobody knows how many tons of gas have been wasted, but the flames have never showed any sign of dying down. If anything, they’re burning brighter than ever.

And for all of the waste and idiocy surrounding its creation, the true beauty of the site has not been picked up on by any major news source. The internet, specifically English Russia which is dedicated to all areas of the former Soviet Union, has provided the images and video through a Russian contributor.

And as they quite rightly say: “something cool happens daily on 1/6 of the Earth’s surface”.

A video at the site can be found at YouTube by clicking here (mislabeled there and on English Russia as being in Uzbekistan). If you have Google Earth, the co-ordinates are 40°15'8.90"N 58°26'24.00"E.

Images of the "Door to Hell" can be viewed here: http://englishrussia.com/?p=1830

The Latest: Metroland closes its doors for the last time

To mourn the loss of one of the North East's childhood favourites, I've written another news article for The Latest to inform people about the closure of Metroland. Read it at The Latest or below!


EUROPE’S largest indoor theme park, Metroland, officially closed yesterday after 20 years of widespread popularity.

Part of the MetroCentre in Gateshead, Britain’s largest shopping centre, Metroland is now being dismantled with every ride being sold to the highest bidder.

Unveiled in 1988 at a cost of £20m, Metroland operated 12 major rides including a roller coaster, alongside amusement arcades and a food hall, and attracted one million people a year.

The MetroCentre, which was valued at an estimated £7 billion in late 2007, plans to expand the Yellow Mall area of the complex with a new Odeon cinema and additional shops to expand further from its 165,000m² floor space.

“We did run rather an extensive campaign and we received about 2,500 responses to it, but unfortunately it didn’t go to plan in the end,” said Craig Strong, park supervisor at Metroland.

“We weren’t able to save Metroland, but we did put up a good fight.”

With the Wonderful Waveswinger and Whirling Waltzers now packed away and plans already in motion to convert the existing Odeon cinema into more shops, many customers are lamenting the loss of the largest part of the MetroCentre’s individuality.

And with more theme parks closing down across the country, it is hard to disagree with them.

The Latest (Column): The Pope attempts to make it in America, and the romantic tragedy of Mark Speight

After being asked by the staff at The Latest to become a featured columnist, I happily accepted their offer. Each week, starting from now, I’m reflecting on stories in the news that many may not have picked up on, or popular topics and casting my own spin on them. I'm encouraging feedback and topic proposals too to keep myself on my toes. Below is the raw cut of my column, unedited by The Latest. If you want to read the edited copy on the site, click here to go straight there!


So, Pope Benedict XVI has landed in America and is now most of the way through his six-day visit. I’m still not too sure why he chose the United States as his first international trip, although I see it as no coincidence that he celebrates his 81st birthday inside the White House. Perhaps it’s a holiday destination of choice.

The one thing that does make me wonder, however, is the fact that he’s spoken for the fourth time in five days about the problems surrounding the vast amount of Catholic priests - more than 4,000 since 1950 - that have been accused of sexual abuse towards children.

It seems that Catholicism isn’t having a crisis of faith under the increase in pressure from a rapidly modernising world, but a crisis of image. I think it speaks volumes that in recent years - at least with the last two Papal appointments - the Catholic Church has looked outside of Italy for their human-based God hotline. Given a lot of this image problem lies in the Western world, it seems that the US may have been the best base for a religious push. Only after apologising a few times, though.

I still believe the Catholic Church has yet to break from the old routine. Being subject to such a rigid prepositional approach to The Bible, their beliefs aren’t going to change. It wasn’t until 1992 that the Pope admitted to imprisoning Galileo Galilei for proving that the Earth was not stationary (and as such that the Universe was not anthropocentric as The Bible decreed).

Still, the image is flexible. The Pope could do with being younger, for one.Perhaps with age comes the innate ability to remain conservative with ethics, which is the balance I assume Catholicism is trying to uphold. I’m just glad that Ratzinger’s appointment forewent the need to give it to someone with every illness that God could throw at him, as with Pope John Paul II.


Back at home, I’ve mainly been taken by the circumstances surrounding the death of former CBBC presenter Mark Speight and his fianceé Natasha Collins. You hear of plenty of celebrity deaths happening, but this has a whole romantic tragedy element to it - a modern Romeo and Juliet twist, one may say.

She was young and attractive and met a grim death through a drugs-based heart attack in a bathtub, getting 60% burns to her body. Days later, Speight was accused of supplying Class A drugs and murder. It turned out to be a misplaced theory, but to see a man like Mark Speight - one of the most energetic and friendly presenters around - take such a staggering free-fall in such a short space of time is not easy to ignore.

Speight was found hanging from a secluded rooftop, metres away from thousands of daily commuters at Paddington Station. It accentuated the loneliness that Mark found after Natasha’s death. It is not often that I am affected by widely-publicised tragedy - what with the media circus surrounding any such event - but I feel sorry for all people involved.


Speaking of media circuses, a little-read story surrounded Tuesday’s seismic activity in Colombia. The Nevado del Huila, Colombia’s third-highest peak, was spewing smoke and ash, forcing the evacuation and relocation of thousands of locals.

Now call me old fashioned, but you can't beat a good old natural disaster to spark up a boring news channel. Not that I'm wishing death on those unfortunate enough to be near by - far from it - but volcanoes are spectacular, and as we've seen from the evacuations in South America, it would probably have been relatively trouble free.

As a journalist and a consumer, it is almost as if you can put your feet up for a while because the stories write themselves and the videos are enchanting. I still remember the pictures from the Mt. Etna eruption in 1992. I don't want another Armero tragedy - just a few pictures of lava, and the usual "look how hot it is!" journalist with a frying pan, cracking an egg over the molten rock and seeing it reduced to cinders in seconds. Even if the Daily Express disagrees, it sure beats 6 hours of a trained camera on the McCann’s hotel in Praia da Luz, Spain.


Finally, I was taken aback by the recent advert on BBC One for Bianca’s return to EastEnders. It was marked by Bianca and her illegitimate children singing ABC by the Jackson 5 (get it?! Her last name's Jackson. Sigh), which is possibly the most light-hearted thing that EastEnders writers have produced in their lives.

We were soon brought back down to Earth in the first re-entry episode, which depicted Bianca crying herself to sleep whilst her kids slept soundly in a bus shelter. It didn't remind me of Dancing Machine, that was for sure. I don't think the Jackson 5 was the correct choice of music to accompany her promotional shoot. Maybe Radiohead.

It’s the tragedy known as original programming. Without EastEnders and similar soaps, most channels would be redundant.

The Latest: Being an MEP Izz 'ard? Not for Eddie

Given many other commitments elsewhere, I have been pushed for time to write articles. Luckily I have some free time now so I am able to continue for The-Latest, alongside my work on my blog and Photoshop gallery. Today's piece concerns my favourite comedian, Eddie Izzard, and his potential future career. Read it below or visit The Latest directly to see it!



EDDIE Izzard, one of Britain’s leading stand-up comedians and actors, told Newsweek yesterday of his desire to become a politician in the European Parliament.

Izzard, 46, strongly advocates the European Union - now the largest international democratic electorate in the world - and told the New York magazine that people have “got to make it work in Europe”.

Izzard believes that the EU does not compromise the identities of nation states, but brings them together for the collective good of all Europeans.

“People are very worried about sovereignty and the loss of sovereignty,” Izzard continued. “I think the stakes are if we don't make the European Union work, then the world is screwed. End of story.”

The United Kingdom has long been traditionally cynical of European federalism, but Izzard has regularly spoken out against these views citing the European Commission’s agreement for subsidiarity amongst member states - a policy of local governance as outlined by the Maastricht Treaty of 1993.

In 2005 on BBC‘s Question Time, Izzard went on to describe himself as “British-European,” comparing it to the term “African-American”.

And with the success of the European Regional Development Fund and humanitarian aid programs, alongside the growing strength of the Euro, Izzard’s comments come at a time where national beliefs are changing.

The fervent pro-European campaigning of Izzard was awarded with two honorary doctorates in Letters from the Universities of East Anglia and Sheffield after his comedy was seen to have “transcended national barriers,” particularly in light of his successful multilingual stand-up performances in France and Germany.

And with his recent international success in FX’s The Riches and Hollywood blockbuster Ocean’s 13, Izzard may not fully commit to his proposal yet - but if he does, he will no doubt be successful.

Izzard begins his eighth stand-up tour, Stripped, on April 28 in Boston, and stars alongside Tom Cruise in upcoming war epic Valkyrie.