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World IN BRIEF : BRITAIN : Suspect in Murders Killed Self, Police Say

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Frederick West, the suspected serial killer at the center of Britain’s “House of Horrors” case, hanged himself, a police autopsy confirmed. West, 53, accused of murdering 12 women and girls, was found dead in his prison cell Sunday. His widow, Rosemary West, 41, is charged in nine of the deaths. British newspapers reported Frederick West’s death under such headlines as “Death of a Monster.” Rosemary West’s lawyers said such coverage could prejudice her trial, and prosecutors said they were considering whether the charges could still stick. “There was considered to be a realistic prospect of conviction,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement. “We have to see, given the changed circumstances, whether that is still the situation.”

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