On trial for first-degree murder for the shooting of abortion provider George Tiller, defendant Scott Roeder admitted on the witness stand Thursday to purchasing a gun, taking target practice, studying the doctor's schedule and, ultimately, fatally shooting him in his Kansas church on May 31, 2009, the New York Times reports. "I did what I thought was needed to be done to protect the children. I shot him," Roeder told the court, adding, "If I didn't do it, the babies were going to die" (Davey, New York Times, 1/29).
Sedgwick County, Kan., Judge Warren Wilbert on Thursday instructed the jury not to consider lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter or second-degree murder for Roeder (Lohr, "All Things Considered," NPR, 1/28). Wilbert had previously indicated the possibility of a voluntary manslaughter charge (Women's Health Policy Report, 1/13). According to Kansas law, such a conviction requires jurors to find that a defendant had "an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force" (New York Times, 1/29). Wilbert rejected that notion Thursday, stating, "There is no imminence of danger on a Sunday morning in the back of a church, let alone any unlawful conduct, given that what Dr. Tiller did at his clinic the following day, Monday through Friday, is lawful in the state of Kansas" ("All Things Considered," NPR, 1/28).
Roeder Describes Plot, Details of Shooting
Roeder, the defense's sole witness, testified that he began plotting Tiller's murder in 1993, a year after becoming a born-again Christian (New York Times, 1/29). In subsequent years, Roeder said that he believed Tiller would be forced to stop performing abortions because of legal challenges. When those legal challenges failed, Roeder "believed the law had failed him" and that he "was going to have to take action," defense attorney Steve Osburn argued.
In planning Tiller's murder, Roeder said he considered various options, including driving his car into Tiller's car, using a high-powered rifle to shoot him from a distance and cutting off Tiller's hands with a sword. Roeder decided to shoot him in church because Tiller, whose had been targeted before, was difficult to access, he said on the stand. Roeder said that he went to Tiller's church on two previous occasions with the intent of murdering Tiller but that the doctor was not there either time. On one occasion in 2002, a police officer at the church stopped Roeder and asked him if he was "there for Dr. Tiller," district attorney Nola Foulston said during the trial. Roeder replied, "I don't know him," Foulston said, adding that Roeder claimed to be moving to Wichita, Kan., and in search of a new church (Abcarian, Chicago Tribune, 1/29). Roeder testified that the prosecution's evidence was accurate, according to the Kansas City Star (Thomas, Kansas City Star, 1/29).
According to the Times, Roeder's voice was "calm" and "matter-of-fact" as he recounted his testimony. He said he felt no remorse but rather felt "a sense of relief" after the shooting (New York Times, 1/29). Roeder testified that after pulling the trigger he remained in the church for a few seconds and then fled. He admitted to pointing his gun at and threatening two church ushers who chased him out but said he had no intent to harm them, actions for which Roeder faces two charges of aggravated assault (Kansas City Star, 1/29). He confessed to then driving away, hiding the gun and buying a pizza.
Abortion Rights Becomes Focus
The Times reports that Roeder's testimony turned the trial "into precisely what the presiding judge had said all along that it ought not to be -- a trial over abortion" (New York Times, 1/29). Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, said she was relieved that Wilbert rejected lesser charges for Roeder (Chicago Tribune, 1/29). "It should send a message that there is no justification for this," she added. Abortion-rights advocates also said they supported the prosecution's strategy of focusing on dates, times and other hard evidence to emphasize that "this was murder, plain and simple," according to the Times (New York Times, 1/29).
Closing arguments begin Friday. If Roeder is convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. However, prosecutors could ask the judge later to impose a "hard 50" sentence in which Roeder would be required to serve at least 50 years before the possibility of release. Roeder is 51 years old (Sudekum Fisher, AP/Boston Globe, 1/29).
Opinion Piece Calls Tiller 'Brave, Woman-Centered' Physician
The question the court now faces "is not whether it was Roeder who did the shooting ... but whether there's any way he can be found not guilty of first-degree murder," Sharon Lerner writes in an opinion piece in The Nation. While one recent article in GQ began with a comparison of Tiller and Roeder, stating that "[b]oth men believed they were doing right," Lerner states that "the problem, or rather one of many, with drawing a parallel between victim and killer is that Tiller hewed to his profoundly held views without breaking the law, while Roeder's belief led him to commit homicide." According to Lerner, "Tiller, who often wore a button that said 'Trust Women,' simply believed that women know best about their own pregnancies." She concludes, "No doubt the pool of brave, woman-centered physicians will dwindle far further if Roeder is not found guilty of first-degree murder" (Lerner, The Nation, 1/28).
Broadcast Coverage
~ On MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," host Maddow discussed the failure of Roeder's defense attorneys to use a strategy allowing Roeder's actions to be considered justifiable (Maddow, "The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, 1/28).
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