Serbian Defendant Hangs Himself

Despondent while awaiting the verdict in his war crimes trial, a Serb indicted in a 1991 massacre of 200 people hanged himself in his cell, the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslav federation said. Slavko Dokmanovic’s trial had ended Thursday, and a verdict was expected within two weeks. Dokmanovic, the former mayor of the eastern Croatian city of Vukovar, pleaded not guilty and faced up to life imprisonment if convicted. His death means the case is closed and no verdict will be released posthumously, tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier said.