Man Transformed From Bitter Ex-Husband To Psychotic, Dead Ex-Husband; “To Bartha” Will Soon Become A Verb* For Such Behavior

The Doctor who blew up 34 East 62nd Street in order to prevent his ex-wife from acquiring the property has died:

Dr. Nicholas Bartha, 66, died at 11 p.m. on Saturday, said Mary Halston, an administrator at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital.

Dr. Bartha, whose condition was complicated by obesity — he weighed about 350 pounds — and diabetes, had developed an infection and was breathing with the help of a ventilator.

In addition to Dr. Bartha, 10 firefighters and 5 passers-by were injured in the blast last week. The most seriously injured, Jennifer Panicali, 22, was treated for injuries from flying debris and glass at the same hospital and was released on Saturday.

Dr. Bartha, an internist, was never formally accused of causing the explosion, which investigators said resulted from a tampered gas line, but he was the prime suspect, according to the authorities.

Investigators were never able to interview Dr. Bartha, whom doctors placed in a medically induced coma because of the gravity of his injuries.

As a result of a protracted court fight following a ferocious divorce, Dr. Bartha was ordered to sell the town house, valued at nearly $6.4 million, and share the proceeds with his ex-wife, Cordula Hahn.

Dr. Bartha had vowed never to surrender the building. In an e-mail message to Ms. Hahn sent before the explosion, he wrote: “You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you, ‘I will leave the house only if I am dead.’ You ridiculed me. You should have taken it seriously.”

He also wrote, “When you read this lines your life will change forever. You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger.”

*”To Bartha”? “Bartha-ed”? “Go Bartha?”