A 52-year-old man who took several people hostage at Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire campaign office in 2007 has escaped from jail. Authorities noticed Leeland Eisenberg was missing during an afternoon headcount at Calumet Transitional Housing Department in Manchester, New Hampshire. Eisenberg was serving a 3 ½ to 7 year sentence for parole violation and was eligible for release in August.
In 2007, Eisenberg entered Clinton's Rochester campaign office armed with what he described as a bomb strapped to his chest and held five workers captive for five hours. Eventually, he surrendered, and it was discovered the bomb was actually a collection of road flares.
In an interview with CNN in 2007, Eisenberg said he took the hostages to raise awareness about mental health issues.
"I wanted to sacrifice myself for mental illness and bring about the discussion about mental illness," Eisenberg said. Furthermore, he said, "I wanted the police to kill me."
He was sentenced to three years for multiple counts of kidnapping, criminal threatening and false reports of explosives, but was released in 2009 after serving just two years. Less than a year later, he violated his parole by removing his GPS monitor.
Eisenberg was also sentenced to 10 years in 1985 for rape. He escaped a year later and committed another rape, for which he was sentenced to another 11 – 20 years. He was released from jail in 2005.
Despite the serious nature of Eisenberg's past crimes, authorities say they don't consider him armed or dangerous.
[Image via New Hampshire Department of Corrections]