NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Investigators have confirmed that a gas line leading into a landmark Manhattan town house was tampered with before the home was destroyed by a ferocious explosion that punctuated an exceedingly ugly divorce, authorities said Tuesday.
1010 WINS Audio: Press Conference confirming gas tampering in building explosion
Police and fire investigators searching through the rubble of the 4-story Upper East Side building discovered that the basement gas line had been modified so that a hose could be attached to it, authorities said. Someone stretched a hose from the line to the rear of the building, they added.
After the town house collapsed into a pile of rubble on Monday following the thunderous gas explosion, authorities began investigating whether the town house resident, Nicholas Bartha, might have caused the blast rather than sell the home as part of a divorce judgment favor to his ex-wife, Cordula Bartha.
1010 WINS Video: Suicide Attempt May Be Behind Building Explosion
An e-mail, warning Cordula Bartha that she would be ``transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger,'' was only the latest in a series of implied threats from Nicholas Bartha, who had scattered swastikas around their home and refused to assist her as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, according to court records and police.
A police official with direct knowledge of the case told The Associated Press that the 66-year-old doctor, who survived the blast and was pulled from the rubble, recently contemplated suicide in the rambling e-mail to his ex-wife:
``When you read this ... your life will change forever. You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger. You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead.''
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The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The morning explosion hurled fireballs high into the sky and left the upscale block covered in bricks, broken glass and splintered wood. Authorities said at least 15 people were injured, including five civilians and 10 firefighters.
1010 WINS SLIDESHOW: CLICK TO SEE SLIDE SHOW OF BUILDING EXPLOSION
The doctor was rescued after yelling to rescuers while buried in the wreckage, fire officials said. Bartha and one passer-by suffered severe injuries; the remaining injuries were minor.
``This could have been an even worse disaster than it already is,'' fire commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said.
The explosion and fire created a horrific scene on the Upper East Side. Heavy black smoke rose high above the 19th-century landmark on 62nd Street between Park and Madison avenues _ just a few blocks from Central Park _ that once served as a secret meeting place for a group of prominent New Yorkers who informally gathered intelligence for President Franklin D. Roosevelt before and during World War II. Debris was strewn everywhere. Four of the injured were pedestrians _ some of them found on the street covered in blood.
``In a few seconds, finished,'' said Thad Milonas, 57, who was running a coffee cart across from the building and came to the aid of two bloodied women. ``The whole building collapsed.''
Scoppetta said authorities were looking into the ``distinct possibility'' that the blast was the result of a suicide attempt.
Bartha had recently lost a $4 million judgment in the divorce case, and court records paint the picture of a bitter dispute that dragged on for five years. Cordula Hahn Bartha had moved out and was living with the couple's two adult daughters in Washington Heights.
According to a 2005 appellate court opinion, the doctor had ``intentionally traumatized'' his Jewish wife, who was born in Nazi-occupied Holland, by posting ``swastika-adorned articles and notes'' around their home. The opinion also said Bartha had ``ignored her need for support and assistance while she was undergoing surgery and treatment for breast cancer.''
Cordula Bartha was granted the divorce ``on grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment,'' according to the opinion, which also says her husband ``systematically cut off her access to marital funds and credit as a means of psychological abuse.''
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In a petition filed this year, Cordula Bartha hinted at looming troubles and asked that deputies remove Nicholas Bartha from the residence. ``I have no doubt that (Nicholas Bartha) will ensconce himself in the marital residence and refuse to leave it after the auction is held. He has said many times that he intends to 'die in my house.'''
Bartha was served eviction papers on Friday, according to Dr. Paul Mantia, who also worked in the building.
Bartha's divorce attorney said his former client considered the house ``his pride and joy.'' The building was worth nearly $5 million based on a 2004 assessment and as much as $6.4 million in today's market. It was to be sold at auction in October to pay the judgment against Bartha.
``Faced with possibly losing it, he couldn't handle the pressure,'' Ira Garr said on Fox News Channel's ``On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.'' Garr said he stopped representing Bartha after the doctor seemed to lose interest in pushing further with the appeal of his divorce judgment.
Bartha allegedly tried to kill himself on several other occasions, including by gas, according to law enforcement officials.
Attorneys for 64-year-old Cordula Bartha issued a statement: ``Ms. Bartha cannot at this time withstand the additional burden of the media microscope on this personal tragedy. Ms. Bartha and her family are deeply saddened and terribly upset by today's occurrence.''
The fire was reported at 8:40 a.m., and hundreds of firefighters rushed to the scene.
Power company Consolidated Edison said one of its employees was in the basement of an adjacent private club, the Links Club, responding to a complaint about a smell of gas at the time of the blast. The employee was not hurt.
The utility had been at the Bartha building on June 8 after a routine check found a gas leak in a basement pipe. The gas was shut off, and Nicholas Bartha was asked to get the pipe fixed, spokesman Joe Petta said. The gas was turned back on after the utility ensured the leak was fixed.
Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, 36, a resident in a building next door, said he was outside when he heard ``a deafening boom. I saw the whole building explode in front of me.''
``Everybody started running, nobody knew what was coming next,'' said Kermaier, whose nanny and newborn escaped unharmed.
The building housed two doctors' offices. A nurse who was supposed to open one of the offices arrived late, narrowly missing the explosion.
Bartha was apparently the only person who lived in the building, Scoppetta said.
TV host Larry King, who had been in his hotel room nearby, described the explosion to CNN as sounding like a bomb and feeling like an earthquake. ``I've never heard a sound like that,'' King said.
The building is in an upscale neighborhood where the 2000 Census put the median home price at $1 million. The area was once synonymous with high-society types like J.P. Morgan and William and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
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