An Israeli member of the defense team of convicted war criminal John Demjanjuk leaped to his death from the 15th floor of an office building at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Jerusalem Tuesday.
The suicide of Dov Eitan, 53, a retired district court judge, shocked friends and associates, who had no immediate explanation for his action.
Eitan’s death may delay the High Court of Justice’s hearing of Demjanjuk’s appeal, which was scheduled to begin next week.
Eitan served six years as a Jerusalem district court judge. He resigned in 1983 amid a controversy over his signing a petition to then Prime Minister Menachem Begin to withdraw Israeli troops from Lebanon.
Since then Eitan has been a practicing attorney in Jerusalem. He again aroused controversy when he announced earlier this year that he would join the defense team in the appeal of Demjanjuk’s sentence.
Eitan’s law partner said Tuesday the suicide was utterly inexplicable. Eitan left a wife and two daughters.
The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk was found guilty April 18 of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, war crimes and murder.
The former U.S. citizen operated the gas chamber at Treblinka, where 800,000 Jews were killed. He still claims he is not the right man.
Demjanjuk, 67, was sentenced to death a week after his conviction. His trial defense had been conducted by a team of American and Israeli lawyers.
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