Former Taliban captive Joshua Boyle is lying about his estranged wife’s bad parenting, according to a Crown attorney.
Boyle, who is facing 19 criminal charges, including assault, sexual assault, and harassment, has accused wife Caitlan Coleman of being a bad parent to their children – three of whom were born in captivity.
“I believe she was an incompetent mother, that she was not doing everything necessary,” he said on the stand last week.
Boyle was allegedly mentally and physically abusive towards Coleman, including scripting her conversations and forcing her to wear a hijab.
The prosecutor claimed that Boyle hated her, alleging he once said he would kill her if not for his religion – a claim Boyle denied.
“I’ve never hated her,” he said.
The couple were captured by a Taliban associate group while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. Boyle did not tell her they were going to Afghanistan.
Before Coleman, Boyle was briefly married to the sister of infamous terrorist Omar Khadr. While imprisoned in Afghanistan he claimed his captors tried to recruit him.
Shortly after returning to Canada in 2017 the Boyle family met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; why exactly this meeting occurred has still not been explained. Boyle also claimed at the time of the meeting that this had not been his first meeting with Trudeau.
Boyle, who lost custody of his children in 2018, claims Coleman was mentally ill and abused their children.
When Boyle was accused by the prosecutor of making up the story of Coleman’s abuse, he snapped back.
“I know she was and, with respect, you know she was,” he blurted.
Coleman and their children now live in the United States with her family.
