Last week was not a good one for Conrad Black:

Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is formerly prominent biographer, financier, and newspaper magnate who was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice on 13 July, 2007.

That was a Friday the 13th. To make matters worse his enemies and victims are picking at his corporate corpse, determined to pick it clean:

Victims of Conrad Black's crimes are hoping to seize any remnants of the disgraced press baron's fortune through a blizzard of civil lawsuits seeking compensation for mismanagement and embezzlement.

As Black prepares for a bail hearing on Thursday, at which the US government will seek to have him sent directly to prison, lawyers say his multiple fraud convictions provide an open goal for a crowd of enemies demanding recompense.

The rump of Black's Hollinger International empire, renamed Sun-Times Media, said this weekend that it would forge ahead with a lawsuit seeking $542m (£266m) in damages from Black, his wife, Barbara Amiel, and former colleagues including Dan Colson, who used to manage the Daily Telegraph. Gordon Paris, the Sun-Times director who led an initial investigation into Black's profiteering, said the criminal conviction was a "step towards restitution and justice" for investors.

There is a story about Black recounted by one of his close former aides that I heard about a year ago and which I now understand in a new light:

Having worked for Lord Black on two continents on two of his most adored national newspapers, I have to say that I found him to be well mannered, sympathetic, mischievous, and most definitely on my side. He gleefully joined us in the game of setting our editorial agendas and, in general, stood by us through the ensuing maelstrom. One knew where one stood with Conrad because his publications were locked in an ideological unity of purpose. He simply could not tolerate the notion of a newspaper that sits around reflecting on events. He expected his publications to change things - not by confirming prejudices, but by winning people to a fresh viewpoint.

The National Post launched with a pro-America, pro-tax cut agenda It championed the "unite-the-right" movement, (aimed at preventing votes from being split between Canada's two right-wing parties), which recently brought about the defeat of a discredited, corrupt and tired federal Liberal government. It started investigations into the corrupt misuse of taxpayers' money and, most significantly, into the business conduct of the then Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrtien. This latter line of inquiry, handled by me personally at news desk level, was to have significant repercussions for Conrad. One night, the Prime Minister finally blew, and telephoned Conrad in Europe, reaching him, I am told, in the early hours. Lord Black telephoned my editor, Ken Whyte, soon afterwards to tell him that Chrtien would be writing a long letter to the paper.

The story about Chrtien itself was complicated and, I suspect, held little interest for the proprietor, but he had been left in no doubt how strongly the Prime Minister felt about it. Our instructions from Lord Black were simple: "Carry on, but make sure you get it right."

From "carry on" to carrion.