In her opening statement Burkheiser described how, on 29 August 1984, Fritzl sedated his then 18-year-old daughter by putting a cloth over her nose and mouth and dragged her into the cellar.
She took up the thimble, and wanted to get hold of him, but little thumbling hopped into the cloth, and while the mistress was opening it out and looking for him, he got into a crevice in the table.