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Building Blast Part of Unusual Suicide Attempt

July 10, 2006 12:47 PM

Abc_nyc_collapse_060710_nrA Manhattan townhouse collapse was part of a successful doctor's highly unusual suicide attempt in the midst of a bitter divorce, police said.

Officials tell ABCNews.com Dr. Nicholas Bartha engineered the blast at one of New York City's most prestigious addresses in order to also prevent his estranged wife from obtaining the proceeds from the sale of their multi-million dollar Manhattan townhouse.

A rambling, electronic suicide note spelled out the doctor's reasoning, senior officials said.

In it, Dr. Bartha allegedly indicated he intended to kill himself and blow the building up at the same

This, investigators said, explained the unusual nature of the unsuccessful suicide bid.

Senior police officials, investigators and Office of Emergency Management officials all confirm, in addition to the contents of the note, that a gas explosion was the cause of the collapse of 34 East 62nd Street this morning.

The doctor survived the collapse and is reported by police to be in critical condition.

According to New York state court papers, Dr. Bartha had abused his wife, who was born in Nazi-occupied Holland, by posting "swastika-adorned articles and notes affixed around their home."

The Appellate Court found that Dr. Bartha "intentionally traumatized plaintiff, a woman of Jewish origin born in Nazi-occupied Holland, with swastika-adorned articles and notes affixed around their home, and became enraged when she removed them. He ignored her need for support and assistance while she was undergoing surgery and treatment for breast cancer. He systematically cut off her access to marital funds and credit as a means of psychological abuse."'

July 10, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

User Comments

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It is a shame that this guy was so cruel to his wife and he was sooooo stupid he couldn't even successfully kill himself. He deserves to rot and any financial assets he has should go to the wife for punitive damages. WHAT A CREEP

Posted by: Patricia | Jul 10, 2006 1:56:42 PM

Should have made her sign a pre-nup

Posted by: Grant Thompson | Jul 10, 2006 3:07:39 PM

I think that anyone trying to take there own life is selfish, but especially being a doctor who is suppose to help keep people alive, should never put people in harms way by trying to kill himself. You would think that he would have used modern medicine, not blowing people up around him to kill himself.

Posted by: sarah | Jul 10, 2006 3:16:00 PM

Gee, how long before the comments come insisting that ABC News shouldn't have reported on this because it will give "terrorists" ideas and a mode of operation?
Fact is, this is exactly the sort of "terrorism" I would have expected in major American cities since 9/11/01 if the threat of "terrorism" were as great as we are bombarded to believe in America.
The sensational, over the top, partial plots that were "foiled" like the one uncovered this week would hardly be the norm from a vaporous group that everywhere else on the planet feels victorious in stopping traffic in a crowded square with an exploding automobile.
Incidents like today's but with a much more wide reaching negative attitude are the sort of things that would be happening with the frequency that it does in Bahgdad, if someone, some boogieman was intent on disrupting the American sense of security.
Not another WTC, not the Holland tunnel, but a building here and/or a freeway explosion there.
The question is, what are we as a government and a people doing about that possibility?
Then again, what could we possibly hope to do?
Maybe it's time to reconsider our homeland security scenarios and mind sets, people, to either accept the threat for the hollow one it may be or actually begin to devise a plan based on the "enemy's" known M.O..

Posted by: zach | Jul 10, 2006 7:28:41 PM

The divorce industry in NY and across the country ruins our families, economy and ultimately our society by confiscating funds from working men and granting then to parasiting individuals (usually stay at home women, gay and lesbians).
When you are 30-years old, you can probably survive the confiscation of your house in ordere to pay greedy lawyer's fee and parasiting wife, but not when you are 67 and this has happened twice before in your wife - during the fascist Antonescu rule and the early comunist dictatorship in Romania.
What is happening in America to divorcing men and fathers is unprecedented genocide.
They take away your kids and give it to the mother, whio usually uses them as a gold egg laying hens - to ecxtort money from money from working men and fathers (in 90% of disputed cases in the US the custody is awarded to mothers with the sole intend to extort money (for the women and the industry - the judicaial and enforcment agencies receive as federal grants up to 5% of the money colleceted).
This is multi bilion dollar industry and Dr Bartha is one of its victims.
It sound strange to know that in the middle of the US society is going on something that hasn't even hapen in Nazi Germany nor in dicatorial ex-Comunist block.
Dr Bartha is not demented. He simply is not American is not educated to accept the unjustice as most of Americans are.

I know that it sounds strange to whom did not suffer it, but these are the facts and the desperate demonstrations as Dr Bartha's one will happen more and more often.

I read Dr. Bartha's e-mail and feel in any line the astonishing resemblance with my own experience.
My story at www.badwalker.com

Posted by: Goro | Jul 16, 2006 9:03:43 PM

Prenup does help a little, but you stil;l need to pay up to 20% of your assets to the divorce industry.
The wife may challenge any prenup just to make you settle for about 5-15% of your assets.
A court battle for even a perfect prenup may cost you over 20% of your assets.

And there are a lot of attorney firms that will gladely challenge any prenup for 50-80% of the settlement (even if contingency is illegal in some states) w/o any front load.

The problem is fundamental and it is in the way the US legal system works:

1. Perjury in matrimonial cases is not prosecuted in the US
2. In the US he party that brings baseless hargs is noot responsible to the defendant'a legal fees.

This is in order to f tdivorce industry

Posted by: Goro | Jul 16, 2006 9:29:58 PM

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