The Natascha Kampusch Case

The first “Kampusch book” was written by professional detective Walter Pöchhacker in 2004. This was two years before Natascha Kampusch reappeared like a phoenix from the ashes. It was the happiest mistake of his life, as he had stopped believing that Natascha could still be alive after her disappearance on March 2, 1998. Contrary to many current, hypocritical claims, even all police officers initially assumed that Natascha’s disappearance was a murder or a hit.

The detective’s vehement demands to search for a specific body in a pond after numerous aimless excavation actions were a necessity in 2001, especially since new evidence had been uncovered during the excavation process.

The reason why the investigators vehemently opposed a thorough examination of these clues is clear: they feared being exposed to shame by a detective.

The accusations made in this book against specific police officers amount to abuse of authority, and the allegations against Natascha’s mother Brigitta Sirny are also unfounded. Despite the fact that no publisher dared to publish the book, it was eventually self-published. The remarkable thing is that the detective was never prosecuted for any reason.

This is even more remarkable, as former President of the Constitutional Court Ludwig Adamovich stated in three interviews in early summer 2009, as head of the evaluation commission for the Kampusch case, that Natascha’s time in captivity might have been “better” than what she experienced before. This prompted Brigitta Sirny to sue him.

As a “Christmas gift”, the former Supreme Court judge was sentenced to €10,000 in first instance on December 24, 2009 for libel (half of which was suspended, and he faced 50 days of imprisonment if he failed to pay). On December 22, 2010, he was acquitted by the Higher Regional Court (OLG).

There are likely reasons of state why this book was stamped as a solo act by Priklopil nine years after its publication. Many insiders compare this scandal to the Lucona case. With good reason!