Father of alleged Boston bomber had PTSD, psychiatrist testifies
A psychiatrist testifying in the trial of alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Tuesday said the defendant’s father reported being tortured in a Russian camp during the Chechen wars and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The father, Anzor Tsarnaev, had anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks and paranoia and made frequent trips to the emergency room, according to the testimony by Dr. Alexander Niss. The Boston Globe and the Associated Press have stories on the testimony in the death-penalty phase of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial.
Because Anzor Tsarnaev could not fulfill the father’s traditional powerful role in the family, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s older brother, Tamerlan, would have had the power in the family, according to testimony by historian Michael Reynolds of Princeton University. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout with police after the bombing. Defense lawyers have argued Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was following his older brother when he participated in the bombing.
On cross-examination, a federal prosecutor noted an article by Reynolds saying Chechen culture had changed and the “cult of the elders” had declined.
Anzor Tsarnaev and his wife divorced in 2012, returning to Russia before Dzhokhar Tsarnaev started college. The wife–Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s mother—embraced radical Islam in a conversion, according to testimony by a friend who was troubled by the change.
