Elisabeth Fritzl to Receive Interview Money

Josef Fritzl goes on trial March 16,2009. He is charged with multiple crimes including:  abuse, incest, rape, false imprisonment, slavery and murder - arising from his 24-year imprisonment and rape of his own daughter, Elisabeth. Catch the story from the beginning in this 5-part video called The Josef Fritzl Story and read about developments in the case since being arrested and imprisoned on The Josef Fritzl Page.

In the upcoming trial Josef Fritzl is expected to plead guilty to most of the charges against him. His lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said his client would admit to deprivation of liberty, rape, incest and coercion and fully expects to spend the rest of his life in prison. Fritzl has however indicated that he will contest the charge that he is guilty of the murder of one of the 7 children that Elisabeth bore him.

Rudolf Mayer told the Austrian news agency APA his client was a deeply disturbed character. But, referring to newspaper headlines, he denied Mr Fritzl was a "sex monster" and said he loved his daughter Elisabeth "in his own way".

The trial will be held at Sankt Pölten criminal court on 16 March under tight security. Court officials have pledged to have 30 police officers on duty as well as prison guards after Fritzl’s legal team demanded they provide protection for him – and for them. In addition, Frank Cutka, deputy head of the court of Sankt Poelten said the court ditched initial plans to locate the jury – eight people and four substitutes – at the nearby army base.

Cutka admitted the court realized it would be "unbearable" for the jury to stay there because facilities are so primitive. It has now been decided that the jury members will stay at a secret place from where they will be transported to the court everyday.

The court has already handed in a request to air traffic control authority "Austro Control" to declare the airspace over the courtroom a no-go zone for the duration of the trial to avoid news helicopters.

Regardless of the outcome of the trial Josef Fritzl is officially broke. He has been declared bankrupt and liquidators have been called in to carve up his assets including his estate of seven properties - once worth millions of dollars. The sale of the properties will barely cover Fritzl's debts to local banks and the Austrian taxman leaving nothing for his abused daughter and her six children.

Elisabeth herself has refused offers of millions of dollars for interviews and books about her 24 years locked in the cellar prison under the family home. She had hoped to stake a claim on her father’s estate as compensation for her ordeal. His bankruptcy has made those plans unrealistic.

However, Josef Fritzl has agreed to do one interview after the conclusion of his trial. In a show of solidarity towards Elisabeth and her kids, it has been agreed that she will receive all the income from that interview. The agreement worked out between Josef's legal team, officials handling the liquidation and other creditors stipulates that all the money goes to Elisabeth and her family. The firm handling the details of the contract, Central European News, has also agreed to waive any fee. News editor David Hill said:

"If the banks can waive their share then it has to be possible for us as a news agency to also do this for nothing. We respect Elisabeth's wishes not to be forced to give up her right to privacy - and have the chance to rebuild her life without the need to sell her story to the media. She wants to be able to go out with her children without everybody pointing and knowing who she is."

"The court has already drawn up documents guaranteeing any money we make from selling this interview will go to Elisabeth and her family, and not a penny of it will go to Josef Fritzl.

"Under normal circumstances no respectable media organization would pay a criminal for their story, especially one like Josef Fritzl, but given the very unusual circumstances here and the fact that every penny will be going directly to the victims as compensation - I'm hoping that we will have a lot of interest," he added.

Josef Fritzl has indicated that he is prepared to do the interview in either English or German and has asked for a copy of the questions in advance.

Bill Gates on Top Again

With the world economy in dire straits, its harder than ever to hold on to a billion dollars. If fact the number of billionaires in the world has declined from 1,125 to only 793. That's right 332 people can no longer claim to be among the super wealthy.

However there is some good news: despite losing $18 billion, Bill Gates, the founder of MicroSoft, has returned once again to the top of the list with $40 billion (he had fallen to #3 last year). In what can only be described as "the Revenge of the Nerd", Bill has rested the top spot away from his friend, Warren Buffett. It was Buffett who just last year ended the 13-year reign of Bill Gates. Buffett lost $25 billion and had to be content with a second place finish of only $37 billion. Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, who also lost $25 billion, slipped to #3 with only $35 billion.

There was only one person in the top 20 who got richer: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who saw his fortunes rise from $11.5 billion to $16 billion. He jumped from # 65 last year to # 17 this year. He is now the richest man in New York.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, one of last year's stars when he became the youngest self-made billionaire is no longer a member of the billionaire club.

But proving that crime does sometimes pay is Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman. Guzman made the list for the first time this year, he is worth $1 billion. Guzman was unavailable for comment because he is one of the world's most wanted men. He is a Mexican Drug Lord.

For a complete list of billionaires check out the Forbes List.

40 Lashes for 75-Year-Old Woman

It is hard to believe that in the 21st century there are laws that would punish a 75-year-old woman for associating with two young men who were not her close relatives. It is hard to believe but it is true. This is the fate that befell Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi. Her punishment - 40 lashes, 4 months in prison and possible deportation.

While I believe that imposing one's culture, religion and value systems on someone else that does not share them, is wrong; there are certain basic human rights that should be universally acknowledged, respected and protected. The following is a story of how differently (and in my opinion - wrongly) the judicial system works in Saudi Arabia where the ultra-conservative religious police and judiciary work hand in hand to dispense their own brand of justice.

Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi's story

Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi lives in al-Chamil, a city north of the capital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is a 75-year-old widow who was born in Syria and married a Saudi man. She met with two 24-year-old men and asked them to bring 5 loaves of bread to her house. One of the men, Fahd al-Anzi, is the nephew of Sawadi's late husband, and the other his friend and business partner Hadiyan bin Zein.

Both men were arrested by the religious police after leaving Sawadi house. Sawadi was accused of mingling with two young men who were not related to her. Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islam - called Wahhabism - prohibits men and women who are not immediate relatives from mingling.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, feared by many Saudis, is made up of several thousand religious policemen charged with duties such as enforcing dress codes, prayer times and segregation of the sexes. Under Saudi law, women face many restrictions, including a strict dress code and a ban on driving. Women also need to have a man's permission to travel.

At her trial Sawadi tried to explain that she considered one of the men, Fahd al-Anzi, as her son because she breast-fed him when he was a baby. But the court denied her claim, saying she didn't provide evidence. In Islamic tradition, breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal relation, even if a woman nurses a child who is not biologically hers.

The court, basing its ruling on "citizen information" and testimony from al-Anzi's father, who accused Sawadi of corruption, said:

"Because she said she doesn't have a husband and because she is not a Saudi, conviction of the defendants of illegal mingling has been confirmed," the court verdict read.

The court also doled out punishment to the two men. Fahd was sentenced to four months in prison and 40 lashes; Hadian was sentenced to six months in prison and 60 lashes.

Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, a top Saudi human rights lawyer, said that he would appeal the verdict against Khamisa Sawadi and the two men. He said the verdict also demands that Sawadi be deported after serving her sentence.
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Complaints from Saudis have been growing that the religious police and courts are overstepping their broad mandate and interfering in people's lives, and critics lambasted the handling of Sawadi's case.

"It's made everybody angry because this is like a grandmother," Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider told CNN. "Forty lashes -- how can she handle that pain? You cannot justify it."

"How can a verdict be issued based on suspicion?" Laila Ahmed al-Ahdab, a physician who also is a columnist for the Saudi newspaper, Al-Watan, wrote. "A group of people are misusing religion to serve their own interests."

Sawadi commonly asked her neighbors for help after her husband died, said journalist Bandar al-Ammar, who reported the story for Al-Watan. In a recent article, he wrote that he felt the need to report the case "so everybody knows to what degree we have reached."

"This is the problem with the religious police," added Al-Huwaider, "watching people and thinking they're bad all the time. It has nothing to do with religion. It's all about control. And the more you spread fear among people, the more you control them. It's giving a bad reputation to the country."

Boy Has Sex With 2 Teachers

Two teachers at Bountiful Jr High School in Utah have been arrested for having sex with the same 13-year-old boy, a student of the same school. The Davis County Attorney's Office filed first-degree felony charges of rape and sodomy on a child against Linda Richins Nef, 46, and Valynne Asay Bowers, 39.

Linda Nef, a Utah Studies teacher and Cheerleading Adviser, and Valynne Bowers, a Math teacher, each confessed to having sex with the student, said Bountiful Police Lt. Randy Pickett. Linda Nef was booked and released from the Davis County Jail while Valynne Bowers was booked into the Davis County Jail and held on $20,000 bail.

“Nothing happened at the school. Everything happened at various places in Bountiful, Woods Cross, Kaysville and Farmington,” Pickett said. “Some were parks. Others were private homes, but I don’t know whose homes.”

Linda Nef has resigned. She had been with the Davis County School District since 2004. She was first hired at Taylor Elementary School as a Physical Education Specialist. She had also been working part-time at Bountiful Junior High since March 2005, where she taught Utah Studies and was a Cheerleading Adviser. Her first court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 27.

Valynne Bowers is on administrative leave as a result of the charges. She has taught in the district since 1996 and was an elementary school teacher for nine years before she transferred to Bountiful Junior High in 2006 where she teaches math. She is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. on March 16.

The boy, now 14-years-old, is in the care of his parents. The Division of Child and Family Services is also involved in the investigation. According to Lt. Randy Pickett, the boy and each teacher began discussing personal problems; that led to text messages, including ones involving sexual matters; then phone sex and then the alleged sexual assaults. The relationship with Linda Nef began in Oct. 2007 and lasted until Dec. 2008. The relationship with Valynne Bowers began in Dec. 2008.


It was Linda Nef who went to the police with her lawyer:

“(Thursday) we did an interview involving (Nef),” Pickett said. “She came in with her attorney and admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old boy who was one of her students. ... She disclosed that Bowers was having sex with the same student.”

The boy was interviewed next, Pickett said.

“So we finished the interview with her and because we needed to check out parts of her story, we did not arrest her then,” Pickett said. “We came back and interviewed the boy, who is now 14, by the way. He admitted to having sex with the two female teachers.”

Investigators were still not done.

“After that, then it was 9 o’clock (Thursday) night. We went to interview Bowers at her home,” Pickett said. “She admitted to having sex with this student. There was nothing we needed to follow up with her, so we arrested her and booked her into jail.”

Deputy Davis County Attorney Richard Larsen said the teachers held a position of special trust over the child, a fact that enhanced the charges. “That is the reason for the relationship of trust and why the acts couldn’t be consensual even though it was with a 14-year-old boy,” Larsen said. However, he said they are taking Nef's cooperation with authorities into account.

"I'm sure everybody involved has a desire to get this resolved as quickly as possible," Larsen said. "But we're not in a position where we can discuss plea negotiations. Our opinion is certainly we appreciate the cooperation and we're fully intending to take that into account."

Manuel Uribe and His Struggle to Walk Again

Manuel Uribe, 43, of Monterrey, Mexico was awarded the title "The Heaviest Man in the World" in Jan. 2006 by Guinness World Records. At that time he weighed 1,235 lbs. He has since lost over 500 lbs and now weighs about 700 lbs thanks to the Zone diet. He had been bed-ridden since 2001 and has one goal in mind - to be able to walk again.

Manuel Uribe is beyond the kind of overweight that comes from fast food and lack of exercise. Doctors call it morbid obesity. According to the National Institutes of Health, obesity means weighing 20 percent or more than your ideal body weight, and it's a health risk. Morbid obesity is altogether different. Sometimes called "clinically severe obesity," it means you're 100 pounds or more over ideal body weight, with a body mass index of 40 or higher.

Uribe doesn't gain weight like the rest of us. Brain chemistry, genetic mutation, addiction, psychological pain -- or an unhappy combination of all of them -- makes morbid obesity one of the biggest mysteries of medicine.

An operation in 2001 - to remove 180 lbs of growth tissue from his thighs and pelvic areas - proved unsuccessful and Manuel feared that he would not be able to walk again. In addition to his weight problems, his wife of 14 years left him. He continued to over-eat and became depressed and at one point contemplated suicide.

Things began to change after he was noticed by a local journalist, Jose Luis Garcia, who interviewed him and told his story to the world. In the interview Manuel asked for someone to help him lose weight. Doctors and dietitians visited him. After much consultation Manuel decided to go on a diet, the Zone diet, rather than undergo more surgery which came with significant risks to his health.

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Manuel not only started losing weight on his new diet but he also found love again. He met Claudia Solis and they both decided to get married. The following video chronicles Manuel's transformation from depression to romance.

Manuel and Claudia

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Manuel Gets Married

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Even though Manuel is still not able to walk, he has plans to be mobile. He is now having a 1989 Chevrolet Astrovan outfitted specially for him. The minivan is being converted into an open-air, flatbed pickup. Manuel says he will put a bed on the back of the van to drive around town, with his new wife at the wheel.

With his new found lease on life, Manuel now wants to open an auto parts store. He is also making plans to visit the beach soon with his wife. He plans to continue with his diet and exercise and maybe someday he will be able to walk again. Below is a clip with Dr. Barry Sears, the creator of the Zone diet.

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Manuel Uribe sums it up like this:

"I love life , I love God and I have someone to love, Thank God!!"