Dec 3, 2007 2:49 pm US/Eastern
Family: Man Accused Of Taking Hostages Wanted Help
Had Been Binge Drinking, Wanted To Talk To Hillary About Medical Care
ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) ―
The man accused of taking hostages at a Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign office had been drinking heavily before the drama unfolded, and talked about his problems getting medical care, a court document released Monday shows.
Leeland Eisenberg, 46, is accused of walking into the Clinton office on Friday with what appeared to be explosives strapped to his body, holding four adults hostage and demanding to speak to Clinton about mental health care, authorities said. He was set to be arraigned Monday afternoon.
His stepson, Ben Warren, said that Eisenberg drank heavily Thursday night and Friday morning before the hostages were taken, according to the document, which was written by authorities who interviewed Warren.
When he went to buy cigarettes Friday morning, Eisenberg asked Warren to check if the store sold road flares, the document said.
After Warren said no, he heard his stepfather call a taxi and ask to be taken to an auto parts store. Later, he heard the sound of ripping duct tape, but didn't get up to see what was going on, Warren said.
As Eisenberg left the house, Warren recalled his stepfather saying, "No matter what happens today, tell your mother I love her," according to the document.
Eisenberg faces charges of kidnapping, criminal threatening and fraudulent use of a bomb-like device. The five-hour crisis ended peacefully, after all the hostages were released and Eisenberg walked out to surrender. The explosives turned out to be road flares Eisenberg had duct-taped to his body, according to authorities.
Eisenberg's wife, Lisa Warren, told Foster's Sunday Citizen her husband had been binge-drinking for three weeks and desperately wanted help with his problem. She had filed for divorce on Tuesday, and the couple were due to for a domestic violence hearing Friday.
Ben Warren said it wasn't until he headed to court with his mother that "he began to realize the Mr. Eisenberg may be planning (on) making a bomb of some sort of out of flares and duct tape," and called the court.
Eisenberg's wife has said that he saw a televised Clinton campaign ad where a man said the senator helped him when an insurance company refused to pay for his son's medical treatment.
The couple have been married for about 11/2 years, and she told ABC's "Good Morning America" Tuesday that he made her laugh and spoiled her when he was on medication and wasn't drinking.
"But without the medication and (with) the use of the alcohol, he turned into a different person," she said.
Warren said previously she learned after they married that Eisenberg had a troubled past that included a lawsuit against the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston alleging a priest sexually abused him.
State officials in Massachusetts have said that Eisenberg completed a prison sentence on March 16, 2005, but cited prisoner confidentiality rules and refused to detail the conviction or sentence length.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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