Early Signs of Mental Health Problems in a Mail Attacker Suspect

Sayoc, who is now facing federal charges related to sending bomb-like devices across the country to Democratic personalities and media personalities, would be angry when his relatives would ask him to ask for more information. Help, said Ronald Lowy, Miami lawyer and representative of Sayoc and his family. for years.

More: What we know about Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man suspected of having sent over a dozen bombs

"From an early age, her family encourages her to seek treatment and mental health counseling," Lowy said in an interview Saturday. "He refuses, he gets angry, he says," I hate you, you think I'm abnormal. "He just does not see the reality.

Sayoc, 56, was arrested Friday in Plantation, accused of sending bomb-like gear to former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as to other Democrats who criticized the President Donald Trump. The former strip club employee and pizza employee reported that his mother's Aventura condo was his residence, but he lived up to six years in a van.

This screenshot taken from a video provided by WPLG-TV shows FBI agents escorting Cesar Sayoc in a sleeveless shirt in Miramar, Florida on Friday, October 26, 2018. Sayoc is an amateur bodybuilder and a former stripper, a long history of arrest who showed little interest in politics until Donald Trump arrived. On Friday, he was identified by authorities as the Florida man who had placed pipe bombs in small manila envelopes, affixed six stamps and sent them to some of Donald Trump's most prominent critics. (Photo: WPLG-TV via AP)

Sayoc's behavior seemed strange to some bosses and colleagues, which even prompted an employer to fire him. A lawyer who filed it in 2014 was stunned by his extravagant and false claims on a curriculum vitae including a professional footballer, a veteran aspirant and a financial wizard capable of creating troubled businesses after a near-collapse.

But above all, Sayoc had a difficult lifeunable to keep a job, unlikely to maintain friendships and not wishing to join the ranks of those who, on a daily basis, have paid rent or mortgage to keep a roof over their heads.

It's the man his family knew, said Lowy, and he lived like this for years without ever having been mentally examined or diagnosed with an illness.

"He came to my office with an album each time and he showed me pictures of him with strippers, bodybuilders and naked wrestlers. And he said, "I know him. I know her 'as if he impresses me,' said Lowy, who has known the family for several decades. "People are not really impressed by that. But he strove to show you that, "I'm important."

"He was a lost soul."

Sayoc's aunt, Theresa Sharp-Russell, of Boca Raton, described her nephew as a "very disturbed" man who struggled to stay away, who had lost contact with his family and had very few close friends .

TO CLOSE

A 56-year-old Florida man charged with the nationwide campaign against the bombing of pro-democracy figures was arrested on Friday. (October 26)
AP

"I do not remember ever having a friend," Sharp-Russell said. "When he came to a dinner we had, he always came alone."

As a child, Sayoc was cute and friendly, said Sharp-Russell. He loved sports, especially football. Sayoc changed in early adolescence after his father's departure. He fought back against his mother after remarriage, a marriage he did not approve of, Sharp-Russell said.

Lowy said he met Sayoc's mother in the 1980s and represented her in a commercial lawsuit. Later, she asked him to help Sayoc solve some legal problems and she warned Lowy that her son was suffering from mental health problems.

More: César Sayoc, suspect of the bombing by federal agents: a single fingerprint, a DNA match

"He lives a bit in a fantastic world," Lowy said. "He says he's a Seminole Indian, which he is not. There is no Indian blood. He is 50% Filipino and 50% Italian. "

Sayoc has had problems working in a dry cleaning company. In August 2002, he shouted at a public service employee on the phone, annoyed by a bill, Lowy said.

This image capture of a video provided by WPLG-TV shows FBI agents covering a van after the tarpaulin broke off while she was being transported from Plantation, Florida on Friday 26th. October 2018, that federal agents and police officers had interrogated connection with parcel bombs that were sent to high-level critics of President Donald Trump. The van has several stickers on the windows, including American flags, decals with logos and text. (Photo: WPLG-TV via AP)

Sayoc threatened the employee with a bomb, but then told the police that it was a joke.

"If I did not know him already and I did not recognize that he was immature, if his IQ was weak, his state of emotional stunting, someone who was having trouble having a discussion theoretical or conceptual with you, I might have said: Is this a real threat? "said Lowy.

The police did not find any firearms or other weapons with Sayoc when they arrested him and "found a guy upset by the fact that his electricity was cut off".

In court, Sayoc "seemed sheepish, embarrassed, regretted, sorry," said the lawyer. Lowy said the judge ordered the probation because Sayoc seemed to be "a confused and immature individual who did not control his emotions."

In 2004, Sayoc was accused of falsifying his driver's license. He had changed the date to "look younger," Lowy said, as he wanted to impress women at the bars.

Around 2006, Sharp-Russell reported selling Sayoc a home in Fort Lauderdale. She was not sure she could get a loan, but he did. This house ended up being seized and it lost it in 2009.

TO CLOSE

A source told USA TODAY that a parcel addressed to former National Intelligence Director, James Clapper, had been found in a Manhattan postal facility.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI

She said it was then that Sayoc's life had begun to get even more out of control. He filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

"I think it's the last time I saw him and he started living in his van," Sharp-Russell said.

It was around this time that Sayoc was working at the Stir Crazy Showgirls Striptease Club near Miami.

Joe Puig, who trained Sayoc as a strip club six years ago, described him as a "deregulated and unstable" man, who told fantastic stories that seemed to impress people.

"He was telling staggered stories every other day," said Puig, former managing director of Stir Crazy.

More: A suspect in a bomb mailing is a body builder who goes to church who said that he was working with striptease clubs

Sayoc claimed to be a veteran of the adult entertainment industry, but Puig said he often struggled with the basics.

He spoke of his intention to open his own stripper club and have investors, but Puig has seen no evidence of its accuracy. He talked about being a stripper, but Puig said that he did not have the body for that. And he spoke of the presence of a team of exotic dancers in the Fort Lauderdale area.

"He showed me pictures of his daughters with whom he sat and all that, and he said they danced for him and all that. "Super make them fall. The more beautiful girls there are, the better, "Puig told Sayoc. "And you manage, so the more business you have, the better."

"It never materialized. In a few days, I quickly realized that he was full of shit.

Puig said it was not unusual for people in the adult entertainment sector to talk to each other. But he said he felt that something was wrong with Sayoc.

"There was just something about him, you could not quite put his finger on it," Puig said. "It was just strange, the way he behaved, the way he does things."

More: The founder of an MMA gym club denies any connection with Cesar Sayoc

Sayoc has only been working at Stir Crazy for four to six weeks, Puig said. He was fired after management had learned that he was living in his van.

David McDonald, a Miami lawyer who filed Sayoc in 2014 for a civil lawsuit filed by another employee of Stir Crazy, said Sayoc had spoken of his past in a very grand and self-expanding way.

He said he played professional football with the prestigious Milan club in Italy. He then stated that he played arena football in Arizona, worked as a professional wrestler, was a club promoter for the Chippendale Men's Dance Club, and began studies to become a veterinarian.

"He seemed to tell fantastic stories that did not seem possible to be true," McDonald said. "But he told them in a very factual way, and you had the impression that this guy really believes what he says, even if it 's impossible that what he' s doing. he says be exact. "

McDonald described Sayoc as a man who wanted to present himself as an integral part of the very successful sports and commercial activities. And he seemed comfortable doing it. The lies rolled from his tongue.

More: Rochelle Ritchie blames Trump for threats Cesar Sayoc, Twitter for not taking them

"The way and the convenience with which he would describe it made me a little suspicious about him as an individual, in terms of not getting him mad," McDonald said. "Someone who tells a fish story, when you catch them in lies, you do not know how they will react."

Lowy said three years ago that Sayoc had severed ties with his family. It was then that he realized that he was living in the van.

"At the time, the vehicle was not covered with political posters. There was none, "Lowy said. "He had no interest in politics. They were covered with Indian and Native American souvenirs.

Lowy then stated that he realized that Sayoc "was not working at all."

In recent years, Lowy said he lost track of Cesar after he stopped talking to his family.

Sayoc's mother remained hospitalized on Saturday after a scheduled surgery on Friday with her husband and two daughters at her side.

More: Trump congratulates law enforcement authorities for arresting a suspect in a suspicious package deal

The public needs "to see that it has nothing to do with who the mother is," Lowy said. "You could have a wonderful family and that explains the one that could have come out a bit at birth.You do not know the factors that could lead to that."

Sharp-Russell said that his nephew was not a terrorist. As far as she knows, he does not have a firearm. She described Sayoc as "a child who wanted to attract attention.

"He was looking for a father figure. He found it in Trump.

Follow Sara Marino and Ryan Mills on Twitter: @saradmarino and @NDN_RMills

Read or share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/10/28/cesar-sayoc-mental-health-problems-mail-bomber-suspect/1793829002/