Suicide Attempt Investigated in NYC Building Collapse

July 10, 2006 — -- The Manhattan building collapse that injured 11 people, including 5 firefighters, and snarled New York City's morning rush hour was linked to a man's attempt to commit suicide, police officials said to ABC News.

Nicholas Bartha blew up his Manhattan townhouse today as part of a suicide attempt that he had engineered in order to also prevent his estranged wife from obtaining the proceeds from the sale of the multimillion-dollar building.

The physician and his wife are involved in a bitter divorce. A rambling electronic suicide note spelled out the doctor's reasoning, senior police officials said.

In the note Bartha indicated that he intended to kill himself and blow the building up at the same time.

Senior police officials, bomb squad investigators, and staff from New York's Office of Emergency Management confirm that a gas explosion was the cause of the collapse of the building, located on the Upper East Side.