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30. 12. 09. - 12:00

Kampusch case investigations to continue in 2010

By Thomas Hochwarter

Investigations into the kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch will continue next year, it has emerged.

A spokeswoman for Graz state prosecutor Thomas Mühlbacher, who is leading the investigations, said today (Weds) the body’s work will not be finished this year.

Prosecutors said earlier this year they hoped to deliver a report on findings by December.

The spokeswoman explained Vienna prosecutors had been kept up to date about the investigations before Christmas and it was now up to the Viennese institution to decide how to proceed.

Mühlbacher was assigned to the case in summer following claims that officials tried to cover up investigation failures made during Kampusch’s eight year captivity the cellar of pervert Wolfgang Priklopil’s home in Strasshof an der Nordbahn near Vienna.

Prosecutors are yet to decide whether investigations against Ernst Holzapfel, Priklopil’s best friend, are to continue. The Viennese businessman became an official suspect after he gave contradicting statements during earlier interviews as a witness in the case.

Holzapfel initially claimed Priklopil never told him about a captive girl. He said the paedophile loner told him he needed his help as police were searching for him after a hit-and-run accident on the day in summer 2006 Kampusch escaped.

In later interviews with investigators Holzapfel revealed Priklopil poured his heart out about his crime before committing suicide by throwing himself in front of a train in Vienna.

And it is still unclear why Holzapfel transferred 500,000 Schillings (36,336 Euros) to Priklopil shortly after he had snatched Kampusch off the street on her way to school – and received around 33,500 Euros from Priklopil only two weeks later.

Investigations are also continuing into claims made by German Thomas Vogel that he was in possession of a video showing Kampusch and two other men in her cellar dungeon.

German police raided his flat and confiscated documents but have not made any announcements regarding over the veracity of his claims.

Vogel, from Tengen in the state of Baden-Württemberg, hit the headlines when he set up a sick condolence book for her jailer after it emerged Priklopil had killed himself shortly after Kampusch – who recently compared her life to that of a "hermit crab" – escaped from his house.

Meanwhile the head of a special six-member investigation commission into the case has been ordered to pay compensation after a libel case brought against him by Kampusch’s mother.

Ludwig Adamovich – former head of the Federal Constitutional Court – was sued by Brigitta Sirny after he claimed that what Kampusch had to endure during her captivity might not have been as bad as her experiences in childhood.

Adamovich was ordered to pay 5,000 Euros to Sirny after a trial held in Vienna on Christmas Eve, with another 5,000 Euros on probation.

The 77-year-old claimed in court Kampusch and Priklopil had developed an "affectionate relationship", adding he wondered why Kampusch had not escaped earlier.

Judge Brigit Schneider said the crime was "unique" and had only been superseded by those of incest monster Josef Fritzl.

Adamovich said after the verdict he was considering stepping down as head of the special investigation commission which was set up to support the state prosecution.

Meanwhile a new TV documentary about the case is to be broadcast next month.

"Natascha Kampusch - 3.096 Tage Gefangenschaft" (Natascha Kampusch – 3,096 Days in Captivity), a German 45-minute production on Kampusch’s eight years in captivity, will be screened by German station ARD on 25 January.

Kampusch – who acquired Priklopil’s estate to prevent it from "falling into the wrong hands" – allowed the production team to film inside the house in Strasshof’s Heinestraße as well as in the cellar basement she is considering filling in with concrete.

Austrian Times

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