Bryan Crusius, the father of El Paso, Texas shooting suspect Patrick Crusius, wrote a 2014 memoir about his battle with drug and alcohol abuse. Crusius, 63, also allegedly wrote about having visions of Jesus Christ and his dead grandmother. The book, titled Life Enthusiasm: A Path to Purpose Beyond Recovery, details how Crusius’ relationship with Patrick’s mother fell apart, according to The Daily Mail.
Crusius now works as a licensed therapist and “energy and sound medicine practitioner” in Allen, Texas. In his book, he writes that he suffered from health problems that left an impact on his four children — Austin, his son with ex-wife Kathleen; and Patrick, Emily and Blake, from his marriage to second wife Lori.
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Before he wrote the memoir, he “descended into a profound and unsustainable apathy in which life no longer seemed purposeful or worthwhile” after “30 years of dependence on mind-altering chemicals,” according to the book’s cover.
The therapist admits to being an addict for about four decades, but has stopped using through “a unique synthesis of traditional talk therapy with multiple energy modalities” that “infuses spiritual principles, sound healing, guided meditation, life force energy, and other eclectic methods with traditional talk therapy.”
“I lived a life of pretense in a kind of dream, alternating between the lows of apathy and hopelessness and the highs of material success. I have quit and relapsed countless times,” Crasius wrote in the book.
He claimed his drug use and drinking led to Lori kicking him out of the house when Patrick was 12 years old. The couple were married for 18 years. Some of the drugs he claims to have used included benzodiazepines, anti-depressants and drugs prescribed to those with ADHD.
“Every time I thought of living apart from my three children I would break down into total misery. I wondered why the world was so unfair,” he wrote. “What events could justify separation of a father from his children?”
Crasius wrote of one instance when Lori left twins Patrick and Emily home alone when they were 13. He claims he only learned Lori left them to head to Oklahoma when Emily called. His response to the incident was to steal a computer hard drive from a store and he spent Christmas Day in jail.
In one part of the book, Crasius detailed a “meeting” with Christ.
“Christ greeted me with a smile. He pulled his robe aside again with his right hand to reveal the flaming heart of love and compassion. He addressed me thus: ‘Bryan, you have chosen the Path of the Heart.’” Crasius wrote.
On Saturday afternoon, a gunman killed 20 people and injured at least 26 others at a Walmart in El Paso. Police arrested a 21-year-old white male identified by sources as Crasius’ son Patrick. Minutes before the shooting, a manifest attributed to Crasius appeared online, in which he mentioned a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” reports the New York Times.
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