Escape claims a 'sheer lie', Kampusch says

By Thomas Hochwarter

Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch has branded claims she fled her sick jailer twice during captivity but returned within hours a "sheer lie".

"The claim I returned to my kidnapper voluntarily after successfully fleeing from him twice is a sheer lie and a perfidious statement," the 21-year-old said in a written statement issued today (Mon) in a reaction to a magazine report.

News weekly profil reported today that Kampusch came back to Wolfgang Priklopil on the same day on two occasions before finally escaping him in August 2006.

Kampusch blasted the article and said she would have never returned if she had managed to flee her jailer.

She said: "Instead of speaking to me or the state prosecutor about it, anonymous informers are quoted."

Kampusch attacked journalist Emil Bobi for "not doing the news magazine a good service" by "spreading lies that can be dismissed by the head state prosecutor in little time".

Kampusch � who lives in Vienna � said she was "shocked" by the claims.

"This article is a low point in covering my past," she said.

Kampusch explained: "I once broke down at the garden gate and was caught by my jailer after a few seconds as I was much too weak to escape because of my extreme malnourishment and psychological intimidation."

The profil article meanwhile claims investigators said Kampusch first ran away when Priklopil � who committed suicide on the day she escaped in August 2006 � took her with him to a flat where he was doing renovation work.

She then also tried to escape from his house in Strasshof an der Nordbahn in Lower Austria where she was held, the article says, claiming that on both occasions she returned on the same day.

Kampusch � who was kept in a dungeon cellar for more than eight years by Priklopil after being snatched off the road on her way to school in Vienna � revealed in interviews given shortly after she escaped that Priklopil took her on skiing and shopping trips.

Kampusch, whose TV chat show "Natascha Kampusch trifft�" (Natascha Kampusch meets�) was scrapped by private broadcaster Puls 4 after just three editions, recently compared her life today to that of a "hermit crab".

Meanwhile a new TV documentary about her eight years in captivity is to be broadcast by Germany�s ARD later this month. "Natascha Kampusch - 3.096 Tage Gefangenschaft" (Natascha Kampusch � 3,096 Days in Captivity), a 45-minute production, will be aired on 25 January.

Kampusch, who recently revealed she turned vegetarian, allowed producers to film in the tiny cellar room where she was held by Priklopil.

Austrian Times

Write your comment to this article here

Medawar wrote on 04. 01. 2010 from Potton England

The claim is inconsistent with the panic-stricken and suicidal reaction of her abductor when she really did escape. If she had a history of coming back, he wouldn't have bothered, if he was liable to suicide upon her escape, he'd have done it the first time she escaped. The claim does not stand scrutiny. Does Austria have any equivalent to the English Common Law Tort of "Malicious Falsehood?"

Reply
- Peter Green wrote on 04. 01. 2010 from London
  
  I disagree Medawar - if you were familiar with the story you would known that he thought he had brainwashed the perfect girlfriend - he took her on skiing holidays and shopping - she has admitted that in interview - and the fact she ran off but always came back would have reinforced that - except this time she didnt and even iof she later regretted it and wanted to go back - the fact that the police had her and were on to him meant the game was up - the fact she carries his photo in her handbag and lit a candle at his grave and slammed the police for letting him die shows she probably didnt intent it to go as far as she did. These new revelations absoutely fit the profil !!!
  
  Reply
- Medawar wrote on 04. 01. 2010 from Potton England
  
  No-one has done much study of the damage that abduction does to the mind of the abductor rather than the abductee. John Fowles probably comes closer with "The Collector" than any "factual" psychologists. ("Psychiatry is witchcraft standing in the way of science"). The assumption is that the damage is what causes them to do it, not an ongoing process where their state worsens as a result of what they are into. However, con artists, that is, pathological liars, become absolutely terrifyingly violent and sadistic if a victim or someone else in their power turns on them, or a key lie is exposed. People associated with them, who come to know the score, often continue to go along out of a really deep-rooted fear that goes beyond death, because the rage, once triggered, is so intense. Assuming you're right that the abductor topped himself when he knew she was in police hands, an alternative interpretation might be that his wasn't the controlling mentality and he was terrified to face whoever was, in the sort of state they'd go into if exposed. A related example was the way in which Mark Sale pleaded guilty to a murder committed by Christopher Beales (whom Medawar did once encounter: a very frightening man). Sales was happy to accept the blame for the murder as long as that's what Beales said and as long as Beales was alive, but has been protesting his innocence ever since. Perhaps we should look for the "Christopher Beales" mentality in the Kampusch case?
  
  Reply

Tag cloud:
held jailer article cellar Kampusch shopping sheer skiing magazine captivity suicide twice Priklopil chat Natascha Vienna occasions escaped prosecutor profil

Latest News

Higher cigarette prices on tap
Austria Tabak reported today (Fri) that the price of its 35 brands of cigarettes would increase by 10 to 20 cents a pack at the end of March.

RI's Croat subsidiary gets �30mn credit
Raiffeisen International�s (RI) Croatian subsidiary Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d. received a 30-million-Euro credit by the German Investment and Development Society (DEG), it was announced.

Austrian Catholics turn on church
Austrian Roman Catholics are up in arms over sex scandals involving local priests and children with increasing numbers threatening to quit the church.

Wolford's earnings up in first three quarters
Vorarlberg textile firm Wolford reported today (Fri) that its earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) had increased in the first three quarters of its 2009/2010 business year.

More foreign holidays planned this year
More Austrians are planning on holidays abroad this year after 2009 saw a drop in numbers, according to a study by public opinion research agency Karmasin.

Siemens Austria to lay off 500 to 600
Siemens Austria said today (Fri) it would lay off 500 to 600 of 2,000 workers in software division SIS (IT solutions and services) in the near future.

Graz police smash drug ring
An Iranian asylum seeker thought to be the boss of a drug-dealing gang has been arrested along with 11 cohorts, police said today (Fri).

Verbund could lose interest in French Poweo
Austrian energy provider Verbund�s 46 per cent interest in French electricity provider Poweo may become less valuable if the firm makes good on its threat to stop providing service to end customers.

Kasabian roll into Vienna
British indie rock giants Kasabian will return to Austria this summer, it has been revealed.

Paraglider crashes against bus
A 34-year-old paraglider escaped with bruises after smashing into a moving bus in Eben, Tyrol, yesterday (Thurs).

The most popular stories –
last 7 days

	Austrian men have the most sex partners
	Thong pong
	Hitler's gift causes renewed controversy
	Vienna police under fire over recruit campaign
	Sex abuse claims drive thousands away from church

Escape claims a 'sheer lie', Kampusch says

Related articles: police scandals

Related articles: Natascha Kampusch

Tag cloud:
held jailer article cellar Kampusch shopping sheer skiing magazine captivity suicide twice Priklopil chat Natascha Vienna occasions escaped prosecutor profil

Escape claims a 'sheer lie', Kampusch says

Related articles: police scandals

Related articles: Natascha Kampusch

Tag cloud: held jailer article cellar Kampusch shopping sheer skiing magazine captivity suicide twice Priklopil chat Natascha Vienna occasions escaped prosecutor profil

Tag cloud:
held jailer article cellar Kampusch shopping sheer skiing magazine captivity suicide twice Priklopil chat Natascha Vienna occasions escaped prosecutor profil