“He wanted me to hate America like he did.”
An ex-girlfriend of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev said the man she started dating in 2006 transformed from a pot-smoking party boy into a jihad-spouting Islamic terrorist during their three-year relationship.
Nadine Ascencao, 25, of Cambridge, Mass., said she was 17 when she fell for the rugged Tsarnaev — who was 26 when he was killed by cops days after setting off two bombs at the Boston Marathon.
When she liked him, he was an aspiring boxer with a taste for flashy clothes.
But as his career in the ring crashed, he grew increasingly enraged and immersed himself in violent, anti-American jihadi videos and Web sites.
“One minute, he’s this funny, normal guy who liked boxing and having fun. The next, he is praying four times a day, watching Islamic videos and talking insane nonsense,” she said.
“He became extremely religious and tried to brainwash me to follow Islam. Tamerlan said I couldn’t be with him unless I became a Muslim. He wanted me to hate America like he did,” Ascencao told Britain’s The Sun newspaper.
“Tamerlan had taken my virginity and said he loved me because I was pure and hadn’t been with any other guys. I was in love and scared he’d leave me if I didn’t do what he said. Looking back, I had a lucky escape.”
Ascencao said she was so smitten, she actually considered converting after shacking up with Tsarnaev in a shabby apartment on Norfolk Street in a rundown section of Cambridge.
“I went to his mosque a couple of times and even looked into converting to make him happy. I thought, ‘This is crazy’ — but I still did it for him,” she said.
But his crazy ravings and violent nature soon scared her off, and she never followed through.
“Tamerlan told me I should only talk to Muslim girls, not other ‘slutty’ girls.’ He once ripped a pair of my jeans and hit me in the face with them,” Ascencao said, adding that he insisted she wear the traditional Muslim hijab.
The muscle-bound brute finally lost it when she went to a pool party with pals wearing a tank top and skimpy cutoffs.
“He was shouting and screaming at me,” Ascencao recalled. “He slapped me across the face really hard.”
Meanwhile, younger brother Dzokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team yesterday added noted attorney Judy Clarke. Known for battling the death penalty, she has represented infamous rogues from Unibomber Ted Kaczynski to Tucson shooter Jared Loughner.
When Ascencao heard the news about the bombings — which killed three and injured more than 200 — she wasn’t upset he was killed.
“When they said Tamerlan was dead, I didn’t cry,” Ascencao said, though she was shocked that his kid brother Dzhokhar was part of the deadly plot, which ended in a wild chase and shoot-out.
“I was more shocked Dzhokhar was involved,” she said. “He was a nice kid.”
The younger brother’s defense team got a major boost yesterday with the addition of noted attorney Judy Clarke. The death penalty lawyer has represented a variety of famed rogues from Ted Kaczynski to Susan Smith to Jared Loughner.