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WICHITA, Kan. – An activist abortion opponent was charged Tuesday with
first-degree murder in the death of late-term abortion provider Dr. George
Tiller, and the prosecutor said the evidence in the case ruled out the death
penalty.
Scott Roeder, 51, was shown via a video link from the Sedgwick County Jail. He
fiddled with the charging documents on a podium in front of him, and said "OK"
three times as Judge Ben Burgess read the charges and explained the court
process.
Burgess ordered Roeder to be held without bond and said he was not allowed to
communicate with Tiller's family or two witnesses he allegedly assaulted. The
judge told Roeder that he would be assigned a public defender.
"And I'll obviously be hearing from one of those lawyers between now — or do you
know how long it will be before I hear from one of those lawyers?" Roeder said.
Within two days, the judge answered to Roeder's only question in the brief
appearance. A preliminary hearing is set for June 16.
Attorney Mark Orr with the Sedgwick County public defender's office said it had
just been the assigned the case and had not had a chance to talk to Roeder yet.
If convicted on the murder charge, Roeder would face a mandatory life sentence
and would not be eligible for parole for at least 25 years.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston would not release any details of
the crime at a news conference after the hearing, but said evidence against
Roeder ruled out the death penalty.
Kansas law requires that special circumstances exist for a defendant to be
eligible for the death penalty. Such circumstances include the killing of a law
officer, more than one person or a victim kidnapped for ransom or rape, or
killed in murder for hire.
In March, Roeder attended at least one day of Tiller's trial on misdemeanor
counts, Operation Rescue president Troy Newman said Tuesday. Tiller was
acquitted on 19 counts of failing to obtain a second, independent opinion before
performing late-term abortions.
Roeder wore an anti-abortion T-shirt, which a court officer had him cover up.
"He was some guy on the fringe," Newman said. "Nobody knew him all that well
other than his name."
Roeder is accused of shooting Tiller to death Sunday at the doctor's Lutheran
church in Wichita as he was serving as an usher. Roeder also was charged with
aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two people who tried to stop him.
Roeder was arrested about three hours after the shooting near Gardner, about 170
miles northeast of Wichita. His last known address is in Kansas City, Mo.
Roeder's family life began unraveling more than a decade ago when he got
involved with anti-government groups, his former wife, Lindsey Roeder, told The
Associated Press.
"The anti-tax stuff came first, and then it grew and grew. He became very
anti-abortion," said Lindsey Roeder, who was married to Scott Roeder for 10
years but "strongly disagrees with his beliefs." They divorced in 1996 and have
one son, now 22.
Roeder's brother, David, also said he suffered from mental illness at various
times in his life.
Someone using the name Scott Roeder posted comments about Tiller on
anti-abortion Web sites, including one that referred to the doctor as the
"concentration camp Mengele of our day" — a reference to the Nazi doctor who
performed ghastly medical experiments on Jews and others at Auschwitz. The
posting said Tiller "needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him
bring judgment upon our nation."
Tiller's death has focused attention on the availability of third-trimester
abortions, as the few remaining providers age with little interest from new
doctors to offer such services.
Tiller's family says there were no plans yet to reopen his Wichita clinic,
despite earlier comments from Dr. LeRoy Carhart, one of four physicians who
worked at the clinic. |
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