# It was not a 'dungeon' **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 4, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040 "2008-05-04T20:16:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/61 "2008-05-06T19:55:13Z")
[QUOTE=shijinn] what else do we call modern dungeons that are well-lit? [/QUOTE] Chuck E. Cheese? ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/62 "2008-05-06T21:33:16Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Chuck E. Cheese? [/QUOTE] _snort!_ ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/63 "2008-05-06T21:39:00Z")
[QUOTE=shijinn] a well-lit dungeon is still a dungeon. what else do we call modern dungeons that are well-lit? [/QUOTE] cubicle farm I was wondering how well lit it was. I didn’t know if the pictures were bright from police lighting or not. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/64 "2008-05-07T00:59:48Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Yeah, Jeffrey Dahmer had the brains to convince cops to return to him a guy who escaped, and I don’t think anyone would argue a guy who has sex with severed heads isn’t mentally ill. [/QUOTE] I dunno, what guy doesn’t mind head every once and a while. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/65 "2008-05-07T01:18:37Z")
[QUOTE=Cubsfan] That dude is old. I wonder what would have happened to them if he would have fucking died? Did he leave any sort of note or anything for someone to get them out or would they have starved to death and rotted down there. [/QUOTE] Starved and rotted. There is just too much risk to the captor to do it any other way. [This guy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Dutroux) starved to death 2 girls he had locked up when he was arrested and sentenced to a year (or less) in jail. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/66 "2008-05-07T04:08:25Z")
No monsters (himself excluded) no traps, no “phat lewt”. Nope, not a dungeon. 😃😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/67 "2008-05-07T13:41:02Z")
[QUOTE=Shamozzle] it’s a Fritzl Chamber. If anyone were to use that term in the future, we would all know exactly what they meant. [/QUOTE] How the heck to pronounce “Fritzl”? It would have been better if his first name was Fritz. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/68 "2008-05-07T16:28:50Z")
Or Wiener. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/69 "2008-05-07T20:31:23Z")
[QUOTE=Shamozzle] I have no cites but I’ve read over the last few days: He is a domineering control freak and was not to be disturbed, _ever_, when he was in the basement working on “technical diagrams”(He’s an electrical technician-type). So, mom was not inclined to bring him a cup of coffee, it would seem. Hell, perhaps she welcomed his disappearances into the basement. [/QUOTE] That’s _exactly_ the reason she is responsible. You need to ask questions. Not asking questions leads to bad things… She knew something was going on, you can bet on it. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/70 "2008-05-08T03:25:09Z")
[QUOTE=Rusalka] That’s _exactly_ the reason she is responsible. You need to ask questions. Not asking questions leads to bad things… She knew something was going on, you can bet on it. [/QUOTE] She must have. Theres no way she didnt. Did she know WHAT was going on? I guess not. But she knew something evil was happeneing. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/71 "2008-05-08T14:26:30Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] > [@Wee Bairn](#): > > …and I don’t think anyone would argue a guy who has sex with severed heads isn’t mentally ill. Oh, like you haven’t. [/QUOTE] I was drunk, okay? I’m human. I make mistakes. The important thing is to learn and to grow. Now I know to make the drill holes in just the right spots. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/72 "2008-05-08T14:41:53Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] I was drunk, okay? I’m human. I make mistakes. The important thing is to learn and to grow. Now I know to make the drill holes in just the right spots. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] All those archealogists who thought they found evidence of ritual trepanation really just found Shodan’s stash. It’s just like the playboys everyone’s dad kept under the bed. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/73 "2008-05-08T20:10:32Z")
Oh my God. Now he’s claiming the media coverage has been “one-sided” and he’s not getting credit for keeping them alive. :smack: [How reliable is the London Telegraph, anyway?](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/josef_fritzl/1934494/Josef-Fritzl-son-in-law-%27didn%27t-know-of-dungeon%27.html) ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/74 "2008-05-09T08:50:09Z")
However you assess the guy’s sanity, it seems clear that he knew he was doing something wrong. If reports are to be believed, he went to other towns to buy food for his captives; rigged the electric meters to conceal the “dungeon,” and kept his tenants out of the basement. To my mind, if his thinking was organized enough to attempt to conceal what he was doing, then it shows he knew he was doing something wrong. For me, that’s sane enough to answer for one’s crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/75 "2008-05-09T10:47:39Z")
[QUOTE=Cubsfan] Eurpoe is a fucked up place. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353423,00.html](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353423,00.html) [/QUOTE] And you are a fucking clueless, ignorant mouthbreathing dillweed. Should we judge the States on the actions of your serial killers? No, we shouldn’t. (We do however judge you for electing the same moron for president twice in a row 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/76 "2008-05-09T17:36:58Z")
How could his wife not know? EIGHT people living downstairs? She NEVER went down there? She never questioned where all the groceries were going? SHE’s the one in a dungeon: a MENTAL dungeon! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/77 "2008-05-09T18:49:39Z")
[QUOTE=rock party] How could his wife not know? EIGHT people living downstairs? She NEVER went down there? She never questioned where all the groceries were going? SHE’s the one in a dungeon: a MENTAL dungeon! [/QUOTE] And the fact that new grandkids just keep popping up, but they’re explained away as just appearing from “the cult”? It’s straight out of “The Face on the Milk Carton.” Maybe I’d be deep in denial if my kids were getting abused by their own father, but I really really hope not. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/78 "2008-05-10T04:03:55Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] No monsters (himself excluded) no traps, no “phat lewt”. Nope, not a dungeon. 😃😛 [/QUOTE] No ducks, either. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040/79 "2008-05-10T04:12:01Z")
I find the objection in the OP to be ridiculous. It wasn’t a literal prison either, but it was still a “prison.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-not-a-dungeon/448040.md?page=3)