Breivik’s sexuality ‘could be factor’

Former friends of confessed Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik say they believe he became depressed as he struggled to accept his sexuality.

Four of the 33-year-old’s former friends told the Oslo District Court that five years before the right-wing fanatic massacred 77 people in July, he moved back to live with his mother and ended all social contact.

The friends, who did not want to be named, gave testimony during Breivik’s trial as the he watched in an adjoining room.

Breivik killed 69 people in a shooting spree on Utoya island on July 22 after setting off a bomb in central Oslo that claimed eight lives.

Breivik had a nose job as a teenager because he wanted a “more Aryan nose,” one former friend said. The 32-year-old described Breivik as smart and sociable, but vain. He was very interested in clothes and sometimes wore sunglasses in the evening and powdered his face.

A key issue in the trial is whether Breivik will be considered accountable for his actions.