A prosecution expert witness in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial said Monday he believes convicted gunman Robert Bowers was able to form the intent to kill required for the jury to consider imposing the death penalty.
Bowers was found guilty in June of killing 11 Jewish worshipers and injuring six other people at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. In this phase of Bowers’ trial, jurors must determine if he is eligible for a death sentence. In order to consider the death penalty, jurors must first determine that Bowers had the ability to form an intent to kill, as defined by the court.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz, who spent more than 14 hours in May interviewing Bowers, began testifying last Thursday. Dietz has consulted on several high-profile criminal cases; he evaluated John Hinkley Jr., interviewed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and testified in numerous other trials.
Prosecutors called Dietz to rebut testimony from defense experts who argued that Bowers has brain abnormalities and suffered from schizophrenia, epilepsy and delusions, and that therefore he was unable to form the intent required for a death penalty sentence.
Dietz testified Monday that he believes Bowers does not experience delusions or hallucinations that may have contributed to the attack. Instead, Dietz argued Bowers had the capacity to plan, premeditate and intentionally kill.
He reiterated his testimony from last week, noting that what one defense expert called “delusions” were instead strongly held antisemitic and racist beliefs shared by other white supremacists. He told the jury that Bowers does not take any medication, including medication for schizophrenia or epilepsy, and did not exhibit symptoms that would have been observable if the conditions were left untreated.
Instead, Dietz diagnosed Bowers with schizoid personality disorder — a learned behavior that can be corrected in time. Dietz cited Bowers’ loner tendencies, lack of close relationships, indifference to praise and criticism, and his cold and affectless responses during their interviews as evidence of the disorder.
A schizoid personality disorder is not a mental illness, Dietz said, adding that psychosis that prompts delusions and hallucinations is not a symptom of the disorder. According to Dietz, mental illnesses and disorders have a biological basis that makes their experiences “categorically different than the experience of a normal person.”
While Bowers may have had hallucinations around age 5, when he had a high fever and was treated with strong medicines, those hallucinations can’t be attributed to a mental illness, Dietz said. Bowers’ relative isolation in adulthood allowed his white supremacist views to fester and grow because he didn’t have anyone to call him out on his extremist beliefs, the psychiatrist said.
Dietz said he “couldn’t find a single example” of a delusional belief that came only from Bowers’ thoughts and was not shared by other people. Based on his own expertise and research, every belief Bowers expressed is shared by other white supremacists and white supremacist subcultures.
Problems in Bowers’ adolescence, including an unstable relationship with his mother and self-harm attempts, could be attributed to adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct — with which he was diagnosed during a six-month stay in various local hospitals when he was 13 and again upon his admittance to Allegheny County Jail after the synagogue attack.
“Adjustment disorder isn’t a mental illness, it’s an understandable reaction to life circumstances” that changes when the circumstances change, Dietz explained.
Bowers’ behavior was based on his environment, and his depression and poor behavior correlated with his life situation at the time. Each time Bowers left his mother’s house to live with his grandparents during his adolescence, the symptoms lifted, Dietz said.
No psychotic symptoms after attack
After the synagogue attack, Bowers didn’t exhibit psychotic symptoms, Dietz said. He said he viewed a video of Bowers during the intake process at the Allegheny County Jail in late October 2018 and found Bowers answered questions coherently and seemed calm and cooperative.
Another psychiatrist who evaluated Bowers at the jail did not note any delusions, hallucinations or psychotic behavior in his report or prescribe any medicine for him, Dietz added.
“I am going to probably be in here forever, but at least in here I do not have to worry about food,” that psychiatrist quoted Bowers as saying in his report. Dietz said there was nothing psychotic about the statement, saying it instead showed Bowers’ detachment from the harm he inflicted and concern for his own well-being.
While many jail psychiatrist reports often seem “perfunctory,” this report on Bowers was unusually detailed, Dietz said.
He also interviewed corrections officers at the prison where Bowers is currently held and reviewed letters and phone calls between Bowers and his family members. He described Bowers’ communications as “clear and free of disordered thought” without the hallmarks typically seen in the communications of people experiencing psychosis.
Bowers seemed to have the capacity to engage in substantial planning and premeditation, Dietz testified. Bowers told Dietz he began planning the attack in April 2018 after he became more concerned about the “great replacement” — a white supremacist conspiracy theory that white people are being “replaced” by people of color, often immigrants. Bowers believed Jewish people were disproportionately encouraging and promoting immigration, and he attacked the synagogue to bring attention to what he viewed as a crime against white people.
Though Bowers said he considered other targets during his planning process,he told Dietz he was attempting to “get the most bang for the buck” and “hit the best target I had available.” He chose the Dor Hadash congregation, which worshiped in the Tree of Life building, because of its support for immigrants, and because it was local, reachable, and enabled him to “make a statement,” Dietz said.
Bowers spoke coherently about the weapons he used during the attack and the training he put himself through in the months prior, Dietz said. He chose ammunition for its ability to penetrate SWAT body armor, did online reconnaissance of the synagogue and consciously kept his plans offline until he was ready to go into the building.
Bowers “had his goals memorized” and shared them readily with Dietz, the psychiatrist said. Bowers said he wanted to “stop those that are actively aiding [the refugee resettlement agency] HIAS,” as well as “scare the hell out of anyone who is considering HIAS or groups like HIAS,” and “bring attention to the ‘great replacement,’” according to Dietz.
Bowers said he was proud of how quickly and efficiently he carried out the attack, Dietz testified. If a person was unable to preplan, Dietz said, he would expect them to behave in a disordered way. Instead, Bowers’ recollection was “better than the average law enforcement officer” Dietz has interviewed in the past; he didn’t remember every detail but walked Dietz through the major moments clearly.
When Dietz asked if Bowers had any regrets, he said Bowers responded: “That there wasn’t dozens and dozens more in there … they can kill me if they want, but the score will still be 11 to [one]. That’s not winning the war, but I won that battle.”
Bowers also “felt in control of his own actions, especially reloads,” Dietz testified, saying that Bowers “proudly” described the death-to-injury ratio, which he attributed to his ability and weapon choice.
Those organized, goal-directed thoughts and behaviors during the attack show that Bowers had the capacity to engage in “substantial planning and premeditation” and thus the capacity to form the intent to kill, Dietz said.
Illness vs. disorder
Lawyers for the defense motioned yesterday to strike Dietz’s testimony from last Thursday about schizoid personality disorder. The defense argued that the jury should then be instructed that a schizoid personality disorder is a mental illness. Defense attorney Michael Burt renewed the request Monday, but U.S. District Judge Robert Colville denied both motions.
During cross-examination of Dietz, Burt homed in on the difference between a mental illness and personality disorder. He noted that the psychiatric understanding of schizophrenia and schizoid personality disorder have changed as researchers learn more about them.
Burt also pointed out that the symptoms used to diagnose schizoid personality disorder, including flattened affect and social withdrawal are “nearly identical” to the “negative symptoms” (or lack of normal behavior) used to diagnose schizophrenia.
Dietz said delusions are the key difference between the two. If a person has the negative symptoms alone, they’d likely be diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder. If they have negative symptoms and delusions, they’d likely be diagnosed with schizophrenia. Prosecutors argue that Bowers’ beliefs are not delusions and instead are part of a white supremacist belief system. The defense argues that the beliefs constitute a delusion.
Dietz said the subjectivity about delusions led the defense to a “completely wrong answer,” in his view.
Burt and Dietz agreed, however, that Bowers’ difficult childhood would have made it more difficult for him to create positive and loving relationships as an adult because psychological and physical abuse can increase a person’s risk of mental disorders.
Bowers’ home situation was tumultuous; he moved frequently and often had unstable housing. His father died by suicide, and his mother and stepfather separated when Bowers was young. He often felt neglected by his mother, who he said was mentally ill herself, and he told Dietz she was “not always able to provide him adequate food, warmth, clothing or peers with whom to play.”
His relationship with his mother was also sometimes violent. Bowers lived with his grandparents on and off throughout his childhood, but his grandmother had problems with drinking and prescription drug use that led to fighting.
Dietz will continue testifying Tuesday morning.
