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George Tiller slain; Scott Roeder on trial

Coverage of the trial of Scott Roeder in the killing of Kansas late-term abortion doctor George Tiller.

Posted on Wed, Jun. 03, 2009

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Tiller suspect Scott Roeder charged; also linked to vandalism at KC clinic

BY RON SYLVESTER AND JOE RODRIGUEZ

The Wichita Eagle

WICHITA - Scott P. Roeder stood in the county jail Tuesday to hear the charges against him: first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated assault. Wearing shackles and a red jail jumpsuit, Roeder listened via a closed-circuit television as Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess read the charges, which stemmed from Sunday's shooting death of Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller.

Roeder, 51, said little except to ask questions about his lawyer. Burgess assigned the case to the public defenders' office and said a public defender should contact Roeder within 24 to 48 hours. He is being held without bond.

Roeder also is charged with two counts of aggravated assault related to two men who had a gun pointed at them after Tiller was killed in the foyer of the Reformation Lutheran Church, where the doctor and his family attended services.

Burgess ordered Roeder to have no contact with those men or with anyone in the Tiller family.

Roeder's next court hearing is tentatively set for June 16. Such hearings are often moved to later dates to allow lawyers more time to prepare.

After a preliminary hearing and if a judge finds probable cause to send the case to trial, Roeder will enter a plea.

No death penalty

As is routine, Roeder's first appearance lasted just a few minutes.

Outside the courthouse following the hearing, District Attorney Nola Foulston answered questions about why Roeder didn't face capital murder charges that might bring the death penalty.

Foulston explained that Kansas law limits which kinds of killings can face the death penalty. Tiller's killing, she said, didn't meet any of the criteria required by law.

"Under the facts and circumstances that are known at this time, the election has been to go with a first-degree murder" charge, Foulston said.

First-degree murder can bring a sentence of life imprisonment.

Beyond that, Foulston said little about the case, which has drawn national attention.

Tiller was one of the few doctors in the country who performed late-term abortions and was a central figure in the debate over abortion rights.

A jury found Tiller not guilty this spring of 19 misdemeanor charges brought by the Kansas attorney general's office over his late-term abortion procedures.

Foulston said she's confident a fair jury can be empaneled here, despite high emotions regarding abortion.

"We have and will continue to have a jury base in our community that is able to listen to evidence and make determination without being influenced from outside sources," she said.

About 20 people attended Roeder's hearing.

Willow Eby was one of the few people at the hearing who wasn't a news reporter. Eby said she worked as a volunteer at Tiller's clinic for about five years, escorting patients into the clinic.

"I felt it was a sign of respect, that we need to be visible, that they have tried to frighten the doctors, they have tried to frighten clinic workers, they have tried to frighten anybody who would stand up to them," Eby said, referring to abortion opponents.

Eby said the threats didn't frighten Tiller.

"He always knew there was a target on him," she said. "That didn't stop him."

'A little sheepish'

In the days since Roeder's arrest, family members painted him as a kind man, but someone who had suffered from mental illness.

He was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was younger, and court records from a custody dispute in Pennsylvania state that he doesn't take medication for it.

For the past 15 years, family members also said he has held extremist anti-government views, including his refusal to pay taxes. In the mid-1990s, he joined the Freemen group.

His work history includes jobs in an envelope company, a fast-food restaurant and a cab company. He also had contracted with The Star's circulation department for three weeks, ending May 12, to deliver advertising circulars to non-subscribers.

In the two weeks immediately before the shooting, he had been working at Quicksilver Enterprises, an airport shuttle company.

Over the years, his views against abortion grew stronger, although he was never violent, those who know him said.

When he attended protests, "he was a little sheepish," said Eugene Frye, a Kansas City area anti-abortion activist for the past three decades. "When he talked he had a quiet gentle speech about him. Never rude or boisterous.... I never heard one comment that would ever lead to think he would do any type of violence at all."

Vandalism in KC

Also on Tuesday, the office manager of a women's clinic in Kansas City, Kan., said Roeder matches the description of a man who vandalized the clinic twice in the past month -- including the day before Tiller was killed.

Jeffrey Pederson, office manager of the Central Family Medicine clinic, said a man glued the locks shut on the clinic's doors on May 23 and again on Saturday morning.

Pederson said he filed a police report after both incidents and contacted the FBI, giving them the suspect's license plate number after Saturday's incident.

Pederson said a man the clinic staff knew as Scott and matching Roeder's description had been protesting at the clinic for years.

On Sunday morning, Pederson said, he got a call from Wichita about Tiller's murder. At 1 p.m., he said he got another call from his Wichita contact who gave him the suspect's license plate.

"I was just sick," he said. "That was the plate I gave the FBI Saturday. I called the FBI back and said, 'It's the same car. It's the same guy.' "

The FBI declined to comment about the incident.

Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman Michael Golden confirmed that the clinic filed a vandalism report.

Pederson said the man also glued the clinic's locks twice in 2000.

"The pictures I had back then were fuzzy, and the FBI said it wasn't sufficient to prosecute," he said. "I said, 'Here's his license plate.' And the FBI says, 'OK, we'll go talk to him.' After that, he disappeared for six years."

Pederson said the man showed up at the clinic again around 2006.

"He came every other month, kind of infrequently," he said. "He wouldn't really hold signs, but he would gab with the regular group."

After the incident Memorial Day weekend, Pederson said, he filed a report with Kansas City, Kan., police and notified the FBI.

Pederson said that last Thursday, he was able to locate the suspect on the surveillance video, "but the pictures were still fuzzy."

He said he called the FBI again and gave them a copy of the video. On Friday, he said, he upgraded his surveillance cameras to a higher resolution.

"And at 5:50 a.m. Saturday, he attempted to glue the back door, but one of my staff was already here," Pederson said. "She chased after him, and he called her a baby killer twice."

He said the employee got the license plate number and called him at home. Pederson said he called the FBI with the information.

Pederson said the incidents were disturbing, but he didn't expect authorities to make them a priority at the time he reported them.

"Criminal damage is just a misdemeanor," he said.

Contributing: The Kansas City Star