Boyle testifies he performed most child care duties
Boyle testifies his wife ‘shut down’ and he shouldered most of the responsibility
Joshua Boyle says his wife “shut down” during the early months of their hostage-taking in Afghanistan and neglected their first-born child.
Testifying in his own defence Monday, Boyle told court that Caitlan Coleman went days refusing to feed the child; he said their guards had to bring in formula for the infant.
“I understand that she had shut down during that period. It was not intentional,” Boyle said, ascribing the breakdown to “being the hostage of foreign criminals.”
He repeated his claim that Coleman physically abused their children while in captivity.
By late 2013, more than a year into their captivity, Boyle said he had become so dismayed that he announced his intention to seek a divorce whenever they were freed.
“She had disappointed my expectations,” he said.
In addition to her treatment of the children, Boyle said, he could no longer trust his wife after she sought to leverage his mock execution in return for chocolate.
“I don’t place a high value on my life, but I place a high value on principles,” Boyle said in explaining his reaction to the episode. He added: “You don’t find out someone’s true colours until you’re in an emergency situation.”
Although disappointed in Coleman’s behaviour, Boyle said he was not surprised by it: “I’ve spent my life studying human depravity. There’s little that can surprise me.”
Asked by Crown attorney Jason Neubauer if he disliked his wife by that point in their relationship, Boyle said he was “ambivalent on the issue.”
“It was largely irrelevant to the issue at hand,” he testified. “I tried to ignore my emotions. She needed help. I felt for her, but I recognized that, once we were released, that was not going to be enough to sustain our relationship.”
Pressed further about his feelings toward Coleman, Boyle said he mostly felt pity. “I could understand the position she was in. She was in a terrible position. She didn’t deserve to be there.”
Boyle denied developing any sustained anger or hatred toward his wife. “She was a very emotional person and I was very much in control of my emotions,” he told court. “People were visiting violence on me. I learned to meditate. I try to keep my equanimity.”
Neubauer suggested to Boyle that he was making up stories of Coleman’s abuse and neglect as part of a larger, fabricated narrative that she was “floridly mentally ill.”
“No, I am not making it up,” Boyle insisted.
Once they were in Ottawa, Boyle testified, Colman’s neglect of the children continued. “She had made some improvements, but she still had a long way to go,” he said.
In answer to a question from Neubauer, Boyle said he stayed in the marriage despite Coleman’s failings so that the children didn’t associate freedom with losing a parent. “They had spent five years hearing about the mythical world of no prison. They deserved to enjoy it without additional trauma thrust upon them,” he said.
Boyle rejected Coleman’s testimony that he had told her it was her job to look after their children.
Quite the opposite was true, he said. He estimated that he performed 95 per cent of child-care duties when they were in Ottawa. He said he took the children to six museums, six libraries and 10 restaurants.
“I told her I wanted her to take an increased role in it (child care) because I was the one doing it,” he said.
Boyle, 36, has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges, including assault, sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, forcible confinement, criminal harassment and public mischief.
Coleman, has offered the lion’s share of evidence against Boyle, and the trial now amounts to a credibility contest between the two former hostages.
Coleman contends that Boyle was a cruel, controlling husband whose physical abuse began while they were in captivity and continued upon their return to Ottawa in October 2017. Boyle maintains that his mentally ill wife invented stories of his abuse.
Boyle’s cross-examination is expected to conclude Tuesday.