This undated Pennsylvania Department of Transportation photo shows Robert Bowers. The long-delayed capital murder trial of Bowers in the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre will begin in April 2023, a federal judge has ruled. Bowers, a Baldwin resident who has pleaded not guilty, could be sentenced to death if convicted of the shootings. He faces more than 60 federal charges stemming from the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh that killed 11 worshippers in the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation via AP

PITTSBURGH — The man who gunned down 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue thought he deserved medals and a parade for perpetrating the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack, a psychologist testified Thursday, June 29, calling the killer “blatantly psychotic.”

Testifying for the defense, Dr. Richard Rogers, a University of North Texas forensic psychologist, said Robert Bowers was pleased with the 2018 rampage at Tree of Life synagogue but expressed regret that he didn’t kill more people.

“He was proud of it,” said Rogers, who evaluated Bowers for nearly 20 hours over four days last year and took the stand Thursday in the penalty phase of Bowers’ trial.

He said Bowers has schizophrenia, a serious brain disorder whose symptoms include delusions.

Bowers, 50, a truck driver from suburban Baldwin, outside of Pittsburgh, was convicted this month of killing members of three congregations who had gathered at Tree of Life on Oct. 27, 2018, for Sabbath services and Torah study. He also wounded two worshippers and five police officers.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rogers will return to the stand for redirect testimony Friday morning. He was excused from the stand Thursday afternoon but kept under oath to allow for Butler County Prison corrections officer Michael Williams to take the stand.

Williams testified for the prosecution.

In his brief testimony, Williams said he had become familiar with Bowers over his nearly five years being held in the Butler facility. He said Bowers was cordial, neat, followed rules and was overall a fairly model inmate, according to the Post-Gazette.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Vasquez Schmitt asked if the red prison jumpsuits worn by inmates ever bled onto light colored items, like white shirts and walls. It was a reference to testimony by a neuro-psychiatrist a day prior who said Bowers said he believed the dye was leaching into him and coming out through his wrist and staining his prison wristband.

Federal public defender Elisa A. Long asked if Bowers had ever shared his beliefs about the red dye with Mr. Williams, who responded in the negative, according to the Post-Gazette.

Defense lawyers are trying to persuade a jury to spare his life, while federal prosecutors are seeking a death sentence.

Bowers’ lawyers are trying to show that his ability to form intent to kill was impaired by mental illness and his delusional view that he could stop a genocide of white people by killing Jews.

Prosecutors say Bowers’ rampage was clearly motivated by antisemitism.

Under cross examination Thursday, Rogers said Bowers was “goal-oriented,” started planning an attack on Jewish people six months before he stormed the synagogue, and had also considered attacking a Jewish Community Center and an unnamed, “high-level” Jewish figure in Cleveland.