Caitlan Coleman was robotic and scared of husband after captivity, mother says

OTTAWA — Lynda Coleman says her daughter, Caitlan, was an unemotional automaton who was afraid of her husband in the weeks after she and Joshua Boyle were released from captivity.

Coleman, 70, is testifying today in Boyle’s trial.

Boyle, 35, faces 19 charges, including sexual assault, assault and unlawful confinement for offences allegedly committed after he and Caitlan Coleman were released following five years as hostages of a Taliban-linked extremist group in Afghanistan.

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Lynda Coleman says she visited her daughter twice in Ottawa in October and December 2017 and on both visits she found her to be frightened of her husband and robotic in emotion.

READ MORE: Joshua Boyle trial delayed after Supreme Court ruling on sexual history

Coleman says Boyle did not help his wife care for the couple’s three children and expected her to change them and feed them even when was sick and in the hospital.

Coleman says before meeting Boyle, her daughter was outgoing and imaginative but was a very different person after she and Boyle were released.

WATCH: More coverage of the Joshua Boyle case

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