Friends Say Norwegian Shooter Anders Behring Breivik May Be Gay

Anders Behring Breivik

Friends of the man who confessed to engaging in a mass homicide last year in Norway say that he was depressed, faced inner turmoil, and may be gay.

Anders Behring Breivik, 33, is on trial for the deaths of 77 people in Oslo last July. Now that he has confessed to the mass killing, determining the state of his mental health is the key factor in his trial. If found legally sane but guilty, Breivik would face 21 years in prison or more. If declared insane, he could be sent to a psychiatric facility.

Several of his former friends testified against him on Tuesday, and one former friend said Breivik had shown "feminine behavior and used makeup," the Associated Press reports.

"I believed he was in a deep depression or that he was a homosexual who did not want to come out in public about it," the unidentified friend said.

A lesbian couple happened to be heroes to as many as 40 people on the day of the shooting. Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen heard screaming and gunshots nearby, so they hopped in their boat and picked up several groups of fleeing people.