N.Y. Firebomb Suspect Says He’s a Victim

Handcuffed to his hospital bed, the man accused as the subway “Mad Bomber” said Friday that he’s a victim too.

“I didn’t do it,” Edward Leary was quoted as saying. “ . . . I’m not a ‘Mad Bomber.’ How can they say that? They said I did that?”

Leary said through his lawyer that he was a hapless passenger on the Manhattan subway train when a firebomb exploded Wednesday and injured 45 people.

His attorney, Stephen Murphy, added: “He says he’s a victim and is being made a victim again.”

Leary, 49, is at New York Hospital-Cornell Burn Center, medicated with morphine because of pain caused by the burns he suffered in the explosion. Forty percent of his body is covered with third-degree burns, including his nose, chin, lips and both legs.

Leary is charged with 45 counts of first-degree assault. Investigators were still taking statements from witnesses and victims on Friday and poring over items seized from Leary’s home. They are preparing to take the case before a Manhattan grand jury by Tuesday.

Law enforcement sources said the words “Mad Bomber” were scrawled on handwritten notes seized from Leary’s home in Scotch Plains, N.J., and said police found sketches and rambling messages indicating that Leary planned to extort money from the Transit Authority by carrying out a series of subway bombings.