PONTIAC, Mich., March 5 -- Dr. Jack Kevorkian had the day off Wednesday after three days of testimony but that didn't keep him out of the national spotlight. The so-called 'Dr. Death' -- on trial for an expired state law against assisting a suicide -- was the butt of television's David Letterman's 'Top 10' list Tuesday night. Letterman's Top Ten list was routinelly broadcast to dozens of radio stations across the country Wednesday. Kevorkian -- who has admitted attending 27 suicides since 1990 -- has obtained a peculiar form of celebrity because of his unusual activity and interest in death. The controversial, retired pathologist often pops up in comedians' comic routines and has made Letterman's list at least three times. Letterman introduced Tuesday night's list with 'The Top 10 surprising revelations at the Jack Kevorkian trial,' and then proceeded to submit them in supposed inverse order of importance: 'No. 10 -- Has a sign over his house which says over 25 people killed. 'No. 9 -- Sometimes replaces poison in lethal injections with Folger Crystals. 'No. 8 -- His first half list of patients were only suffering from sprained ankles. 'No. 7 -- He's working on an assisted-suicide cookbook. 'No. 6 -- Whenever he sees a photo of Keith Richards he has an urge to finish the job. 'No. 5 -- Tried to bribe jury by offering to kill them for free. 'No. 4 -- On weekends, suicide machine doubles as lotto, ping-pong ball selector. 'No. 3 -- Has killed four people using only a John Tesh CD. 'No. 2 -- Offered to give the Menendez brothers a 'two-for-one' special. 'No. 1 -- His latest suicide machine is a VCR and a stack of Pauley Shore movies.'
Neither Kevorkian nor his attorney could be reached for comment. Kevorkian's trial for assisting the deaths of two patients in 1993 will resume Thursday. If convicted of the expired state law, the 67- year-old Kevorkian could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
