Anita Pritchard, the Swedish-born and U.S.-trained physiognomy expert whose evidence was discredited by the prosecution in the John Demjanjuk war crimes trial here last week, attempted suicide in Tel Aviv Friday.
Defense counsel Yoram Sheftel took her to the hospital after Pritchard swallowed a large amount of aspirins and slashed one wrist in her hotel room. She was treated and released. Sources said she intended to leave Israel immediately.
Pritchard, from Houston, Texas, last week challenged the assertions by prosecution expert witnesses that the face of defendant Demjanjuk matched that on the World War II identity card that the prosecution claims belonged to “Ivan the Terrible,” the sadistic Treblinka guard.
But prosecutor Michael Shaked impugned Pritchard’s expertise and academic credentials, and got her to admit she had overextended herself in offering opinions on various key technical points.
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