When people who are compulsive assholes are finally broken, do you feel vindicated or sorry for them?

E.g. I saw Frost/Nixon this weekend and found myself despising Nixon until the moments where he appeared broken and forlorn and then found myself surprised and a little disgusted to feel sorry for him/the character.

I had a similar situation with the VP in charge of the department I used to work for who was a crazymaking, nut job, worthless liar who finally got sacked this year as the result of a rare (for this company) layoff. The bloodlust wasn’t as forthcoming as I’d anticipated.