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Experts: Austrian father who held, abused daughter for 24 years had "power complex"

29-04-2008 - 18:01

Experts say the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and fathered seven children with her suffered from a "power complex" and possibly other disorders.

Psychiatrist Reinhard Haller says he believes suspect Josef Fritzl was driven by pronounced narcissism and a need to exercise power over others.

Police say 73-year-old Fritzl confessed Monday to holding his daughter _ now 42 _ in a windowless cell beneath the family's apartment in the town of Amstetten, west of Vienna. The daughter, the children and Fritzl's wife are all getting counseling at an undisclosed location.

Court psychiatrist Sigrun Rossmanith says Fritzl essentially had two personalities _ "the underground one, and the one that existed above."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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