9/11 relatives testify on behalf of Moussaoui

updated 6:56 p.m. ET April 19, 2006

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Two relatives of Sept. 11 victims testified for the defense Wednesday in Zacarias Moussaoui’s death-penalty sentencing trial. One told the jury her family does not want to “get caught in a whirlpool of sadness and anger.”

Medical sociologist Marilynn Rosenthal, whose son Josh was killed at the World Trade Center, said her family feels strongly “something good has to come out of what happened” and family members have endowed an annual lecture on 9/11 at the University of Michigan, where she teaches.

Robin Theurkauf, whose husband, Tom, died in the South Tower, also testified that “the Bible attempts to explain that we are all sinners, all broken people, but all children of God and loved by God.”

Several members of the jury, which heard heart-rending tales during the prosecution case from almost four dozen victims and their relatives, leaned forward when they realized relatives were there to testify on behalf of the team trying to save the 37-year-old Frenchman from execution.

Earlier a second defense expert to diagnose Moussaoui as a paranoid schizophrenic testified that mental illness probably afflicted Moussaoui throughout his time as an al-Qaida operative.

Testimony on schizophrenia
Psychiatrist Michael First, who edits the diagnostic manual used by the psychiatric profession, described for jurors how Moussaoui’s mental illness apparently affected his ability to function within al-Qaida and his ability to prepare a defense for his death penalty trial.

First said Moussaoui’s schizophrenia manifests through paranoid delusions and through disorganized thought and speech.

He said this is consistent with earlier trial testimony that al-Qaida leaders considered Moussaoui paranoid and even “cuckoo,” and was unable to follow basic orders, like minimizing phone contact with others in al-Qaida. Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said in a written summary given to jurors that he wanted to dismiss Moussaoui from the planned hijacking operations altogether.

The illness has also affected Moussaoui’s ability to defend himself at trial. Specifically, his delusion, fueled by a dream, that President Bush will free him from prison, has left him indifferent to what the jury thinks of him.

“It has allowed him to act in a way that is self-defeating and harmful,” First said, referencing the two times Moussaoui has taken the stand in self-defense and done his case more harm than good.

First is the second defense expert to conclude Moussaoui is a schizophrenic, but First was able to more clearly relate Moussaoui’s illness to his often bizarre and self-defeating actions.

Also on Wednesday, an expert on cults testified that Moussaoui’s isolation from family and social support networks left him vulnerable to recruitment by al-Qaida, the terrorist network.

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