Inside the Austin bomber's life: Questions of friends, faith, sexuality

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas—Several years before embarking on a bombing spree that terrorized Austin, Mark Conditt had turned against his family's devout Christianity and declared himself an atheist.

It was the first of many steps that separated the 23-year-old from his oldest friends and set him on a course of increasing isolation. He lost his job in the tech industry less than a year before the bombings. Investigators have struggled for weeks to find a single confidant who could provide a window into his life.

His roommates told authorities Conditt kept his bedroom door locked and dodged questions about why.

During the race to stop the attacks and in the weeks after, investigators also obtained information indicating that Conditt was questioning his sexuality. As a 17-year-old, he had written that homosexuality is "not natural," echoing the teachings of his religious education, and raising the prospect of inner turmoil in his final months.

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2018/may/12/inside-austin-bombers-life-questions-friends-faith-sexuality/725899/