Suspect Burned in Subway Blast Pleads Innocent
The man accused of building a firebomb that turned a subway car into an inferno left his hospital bed Wednesday to plead innocent to a new set of charges.
The defendant, Edward Leary of Scotch Plains, N.J., suffered third-degree burns and 47 other people were injured Dec. 21 when the crude bomb went off while the subway train was parked at a station.
He is now charged with 39 counts of attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and attempted grand larceny.
Leary, 49, also was charged with a subway firebombing Dec. 15 that injured three teen-agers.
Leary is being held in the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital. He limped when he entered the courtroom.
He had already pleaded innocent at a bedside arraignment Jan. 10 on the original indictment on one count of attempted murder.
Leary is accused of making the firebomb as part of a terror campaign aimed at extorting money from the city Transit Authority. Authorities charge that the bomb was in his lap and went off accidentally.
Defense lawyer Stephen Murphy claims that his client was simply one of the victims of the firebomb and that threatening notes found in Leary’s home were outlines for unpublished novels.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
