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Gas line tampered with in collapsed NY house: police

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 July 2006, 16:28 CDT

By Jeanne King

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gas pipe in the basement of a posh Manhattan mansion that collapsed in a possible suicide attempt had been tampered with prior to the explosion, police said on Tuesday.

The owner of the house, Dr. Nicholas Bartha, who was critically injured in the explosion, may face criminal charges, and the Manhattan District Attorney has assigned a prosecutor to the case, authorities said.

Officials suspect Bartha may have destroyed the multi-million-dollar building on Monday rather than lose it in a nasty divorce battle with his wife.

"The gas pipe in the basement had been tampered with," said Mike Collins, a spokesman for the New York Police Department.

The explosion and collapse of the four-story building injured 15 people.

Bartha, 66, remained in critical condition at a New York hospital with burns on more than 70 percent of his body. He was using a respirator to breathe but was improving, said a police source.

If he were charged with and convicted of arson, Bartha could face a sentence of life in prison.

He also could face charges of reckless endangerment or reckless assault.

Bartha, has worked since 1979 as an emergency room doctor at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in the suburb of Sleepy Hollow. The couple has two grown daughters.

A Fire Department of New York spokesman said the tampering involved a connection near the gas meter.

Bartha and his wife, Cordula, have been involved in rancorous divorce proceedings since 2001.

Court documents showed that Bartha subjected his wife, a Jewish woman born in Nazi-occupied Holland, to cruelty and placed "swastika-adorned articles and notes affixed around their home, and became enraged when she removed them."

In a court filing earlier this year, Bartha's wife said he would probably refuse to leave the home if it were auctioned and that he had said "many times" that he hoped to "die in my house."

Last Friday he was served with court documents indicating the townhouse would be sold at auction in October and that he would have to vacate his home.

Source: REUTERS

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