Israel's former top TV entertainer hanged himself in jail this morning, bringing to a dramatic end a saga of faded stardom and vivid violence that captivated a national audience that once adored him.
Known in the past as "the king of TV ratings", Dudu Topaz (62), had hosted a variety show so popular that homes across the country went dark after he told viewers they should turn off their lights because flying saucers were about to appear.
But Topaz, an actor-comedian, was stripped of his prime time slot five years ago amid falling ratings. He pitched a comeback to two television executives and an agent last year. They turned him down. He hired thugs, who beat them up.
Topaz confessed to the crime after his arrest in June, telling a television reporter from the back of a police car: "I don't know what got into me. I went crazy in the head."
The case catapulted Topaz back into the media spotlight and news of his death dominated radio and television broadcasts.
Prison and medical authorities said Topaz, charged with plotting the assaults, was dead in a shower stall next to his detention cell. They said it was suicide.
Days after his arrest, Topaz, a diabetic, tried to kill himself with an insulin overdose, but survived.
"The audience's love was important to him," the entertainer's lawyer Zion Amir said on Israel Radio after news of Topaz's death emerged.
"Over the past two months, he kept repeating: 'I am a good man. I want them to know this. I am someone who does good deeds.'"