Scott Roeder - Murder of Abortion Doctor

[DADOCTOR]

Police Arrest Suspect in Murder of Abortion Doc

Police in Wichita, Kansas have arrested a suspect in the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller, who was gunned down today as he walked into church, the Wichita Eagle reports.

Wichita police Capt. Brent Allred did not name the suspect but said other agencies, including the FBI, are assisting on the case. Tiller, 67, was famous nationwide as a target of pro-life demonstrations and attacks.

Crime & Courts

[LUCKY13]

(CNN) -- Dr. George Tiller, whose Kansas women's clinic frequently took center stage in the U.S. debate over abortion, was shot and killed while serving as an usher at his Wichita church Sunday morning, police said.

Dr. George Tiller was one of the few U.S. physicians that performed late-term abortions.

Wichita police said a 51-year-old man from the Kansas City, Kansas, area was in custody in connection with the slaying of Tiller, who was one of the few U.S. physicians who still performed late-term abortions.

The killing, which came about 16 years after Tiller survived a shooting outside his Wichita clinic, took place shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday at Reformation Lutheran Church. Officers found the 67-year-old dead in the foyer, police said.

Witnesses provided a description of the car and a license number of the killer's getaway vehicle, Wichita police spokesman Gordon Bassham said. Police stopped a blue Ford Taurus matching the description about three hours later in Gardner, about 30 miles southwest of Kansas City, and took the driver into custody.

No charges had been filed Sunday evening and no motive for the killing was immediately known, but Wichita police Detective Tom Stoltz told reporters: "We think we have the right person arrested."

"We will investigate this suspect to the Nth degree -- his history, his family, his associates -- and we are just in the beginning stages of that," Stoltz said. See what people are saying about Dr. Tiller's murder »

Tiller's slaying drew condemnation from supporters, from some of those who tried to shut down his practice and from President Obama, who just two weeks ago urged Americans to seek "common ground" on the issue of abortion.

"However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

The shooting prompted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to direct federal marshals to "offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation," according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Tiller had been practicing medicine for nearly 40 years, said Peter Brownlie, president of the Kansas City-based regional Planned Parenthood office. His patients were "almost always in circumstances where something had gone horribly wrong with a pregnancy," and where a woman's health would be endangered if the pregnancy continued, Brownlie said.

He and his staff had been picketed for years, with some activists distributing leaflets around his neighborhood, Brownlie said. His clinic suffered serious damage from a bomb in the mid-1990s, and he was shot through both arms in 1993 by an anti-abortion activist who is currently serving time in federal prison.

"He endured that kind of stuff on a very frequent basis," Brownlie said. "As recently as early this month the clinic sustained serious vandalism that put them out of commission for a week or so." Video Watch Tiller describe the philosophy of his clinic in 1999 »

Tiller had armed security at his clinic and a "pretty rigorous" security procedure at home, Brownlie said. But he "made an effort to live his life as normally as possible knowing he could be a target at any time," he said.

In a statement issued through Tiller's lawyers, his family -- a wife, four children and 10 grandchildren -- said their loss "is also a loss for the City of Wichita and women across America."

"George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence," his family said in a written statement. "We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere."

In March, Tiller was acquitted of 19 counts of performing procedures unlawfully at his clinic. In 2008, a probe initiated by abortion opponents who petitioned state authorities to convene a grand jury ended without charges.

Leading anti-abortion groups condemned Sunday's shooting, emphasizing they wanted to shut down Tiller's practice by legal means.

Operation Rescue, which has led numerous demonstrations at Tiller's clinic, called the shooting as a "cowardly act." And the National Right to Life Committee, the largest U.S. anti-abortion group, said it "unequivocally condemns any such acts of violence regardless of motivation."

"The pro-life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life," it said. "The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal."

But Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, who is no longer affiliated with the group, called Tiller "a mass murderer."

"We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God," Terry said in a written statement. "I am more concerned that the Obama administration will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions. Abortion is still murder, and we still must call abortion by its proper name."

The National Organization for Women, which supports abortion rights, called Tiller's killing an act of "domestic terrorism." And NARAL Pro-Choice America said Tiller had worked for years under "intense harassment tinged with persistent threats of violence."

If Tiller was killed because of his work, he would be the fourth U.S. physician killed over abortion since 1993. See all abortion-related attacks since 1993 »

In 1998, a sniper killed Dr. Barnett Slepian in his Amherst, New York, home. Anti-abortion activist James Kopp was later arrested in France and is serving life in prison.

In 1994, Dr. John Bayard Britton and one of his volunteer escorts were shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Paul Hill, a former minister, was convicted of the killings and executed in 2003.

And in 1993, another doctor, David Gunn, was shot to death outside another Pensacola clinic. His killer, Michael Griffin, is serving a life sentence.

In addition, a nurse at a Birmingham, Alabama, clinic was maimed and an off-duty police officer was killed in a 1998 bombing by Eric Rudolph, who included abortion among his list of anti-government grievances.

Rudolph admitted to that attack and three other bombings -- including the 1996 attack on the Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia -- and is currently serving life in prison.

CNN Crime

[LUCKY13]

NEW YORK -- Anti-abortion leaders voiced concern Sunday that the Obama administration and other Democrats may try to capitalize on the murder of Dr. George Tiller to defuse the abortion issue in upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings.


Many anti-abortion groups condemned the killing of Tiller, a prominent abortion provider who was shot dead at his church in Wichita, Kansas. But they expressed concern that abortion-rights activists would use the occasion to brand the entire anti-abortion movement as extremist.


They also worried that there would now be an effort to stifle anti-abortion viewpoints during questioning of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Her exact views on abortion aren't known, but conservatives fear she supports abortion rights.


Said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, an anti-abortion activist: "No one should use this tragedy for political gain."


Tiller, one the few American doctors specializing in late-term abortions, had been the target of repeated protests and harassment for many years, and he was wounded by gunfire from an anti-abortion activist in 1993.


"It is abhorrent that once again, individuals who oppose the right to choose have used violence to try to advance their extreme anti-choice agenda," said Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation.


"We condemn this lawless act of violence. The foundational right to life that our work is dedicated to extends to everyone. Whoever is responsible for this reprehensible violence must be brought to justice under the law," said Americans United for Life President and CEO, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, in a statement.


While many anti-abortion leaders swiftly issued statements condemning the shooting, their expressions of dismay were not echoed by Randall Terry, a veteran anti-abortion activist whose protests have often targeted Tiller.


"George Tiller was a mass murderer and we cannot stop saying that," Terry said. "He was an evil man -- his hands were covered with blood."
Terry said he was now concerned that the Obama administration "will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions."


A month ago, Terry was arrested protesting President Obama's appearance at the University of Notre Dame commencement. The president's graduation speech was dominated by abortion issue -- and an appeal for the nation to seek common ground instead of vitriol.


Mahoney said he had been conferring with other anti-abortion leaders about how to deal with any backlash to the Tiller killing that might undercut their cause at a time when they are trying to challenge Obama's support for abortion rights.


"I'd hope they wouldn't try to broad-brush the entire pro-life movement as some sort of extremist movement because of what happened in Wichita," Mahoney said. "That's really important -- don't use this personal loss for a political gain."


He noted that abortion is likely to be one of the most contentious issues at Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, and expressed hope that the Tiller murder would not be raised there.


Abortion rights leaders reacted to the killing with shock and determination
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the murder would "send a chill down the spines of the brave and courageous providers" offering abortion to American women.


"Violence and murder will never end the need for abortion," said Dr. Suzanne T. Poppema, board chair of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. "With great sadness and discouragement we call on the government to reactivate its protection system for our nation's abortion providers."


Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said Tiller was aware of the dangers he faced, "yet he continued to protect his patients and provide safe and legal abortions to women in often-desperate circumstances."


She and other activists urged that Monday be observed as a national day of mourning for Tiller, as well as a day of commitment to the cause of abortion rights.


According to the National Abortion Federation, Tiller was the eighth U.S. abortion provider murdered since 1977, and 17 others had been targeted with attempted murder.

More...

[LUCKY13]

WICHITA, Kansas - Dr. George Tiller, who remained one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions through decades of protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where he was serving as an usher and his wife was in the choir.

The gunman fled, but a 51-year-old suspect was arrested some 170 miles away in suburban Kansas City three hours after the shooting, Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said. Johnson County sheriff's spokesman Tom Erickson identified the man in custody as Scott Roeder, who has not been charged in the slaying.

President Barack Obama said he was shocked and outraged over the killing.

Long a focus of national anti-abortion groups, including a summer-long protest in 1991, Tiller was serving as an usher during Sunday morning services when he was shot in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church, Stolz said. Tiller's attorney, Dan Monnat, said Tiller's wife, Jeanne, was in the choir at the time.

Stolz said all indications were that the man acted alone, although authorities were investigating whether he had any connection to anti-abortion groups.

Suspect being brought back to Wichita

Stolz said the man being held would likely be charged Monday with one count of murder and two of aggravated assault. Stolz said the gunman threatened two people who tried to stop him.

The slaying of the 67-year-old doctor is "an unspeakable tragedy," his widow, four children and 10 grandchildren said in statement issued by Monnat. "This is particularly heart-wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace."

The family said its loss "is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence."

Adam Watkins, 20, said he was sitting in the middle of the church's congregation when he heard a small pop at the start of the service.

"We just thought a child had come in with a balloon and it had popped, had gone up and hit the ceiling and popped," Watkins said.

Another usher came in and told the congregation to remain seated, then escorted Tiller's wife out. "When she got to the back doors, we heard her scream, and so we knew something bad had happened," Watkins said.

He said the service continued even after an associate pastor announced that Tiller had been injured. "We were just really shocked," he said. "We were kind of dumbfounded. We couldn't really believe it had happened." Tiller's Women's Health Care Services clinic is one of just three in the nation where abortions are performed after the 21st week of pregnancy. The clinic was heavily fortified and Tiller often traveled with a bodyguard, but Stolz said there was no indication of security at the church Sunday.

A protester shot Tiller in both arms in 1993, and his clinic was bombed in 1985. More recently, Monnat said Tiller had asked federal prosecutors to step up investigations of vandalism and other threats against the clinic out of fear that the incidents were increasing and that Tiller's safety was in jeopardy. Stolz, however, said police knew of no threats connected to the shooting.

In early May, Tiller had asked the FBI to investigate vandalism at his clinic, including cut wires to surveillance cameras and damage to the roof that sent rainwater pouring into the building.

Anti-abortion leaders fear backlash

Anti-abortion groups denounced the shooting and stressed that they support only nonviolent protest. The movement's leaders fear the killing could create a backlash just as they are scrutinizing U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, whose views on abortion rights are not publicly known.

"We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down," Troy Newman, Operation Rescue's president, said in a statement. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning."

1991 Summer of Mercy protests

In 1991, the Summer of Mercy protests organized by Operation Rescue drew thousands of anti-abortion activists to this city for demonstrations marked by civil disobedience and mass arrests.

Tiller began providing abortion services in 1973. He acknowledged abortion was as socially divisive as slavery or prohibition but said the issue was about giving women a choice when dealing with technology that can diagnose severe fetal abnormalities before a baby is born.

Nancy Keenan, president of abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, issued a statement praising Tiller's commitment.

"Dr. Tiller's murder will send a chill down the spines of the brave and courageous providers and other professionals who are part of reproductive-health centers that serve women across this country. We want them to know that they have our support as they move forward in providing these essential services in the aftermath of the shocking news from Wichita," Keenan said.

Clinic fortified by bulletproof glass

After the 1991 protests, Tiller kept mostly to his heavily guarded clinic, although in 1997 he opened it to three tours by state lawmakers and the media.

The clinic is fortified with bulletproof glass, and Tiller hired a private security team to protect the facility. Once outside the clinic, Tiller was routinely accompanied by a bodyguard.

At a recent trial, he told jurors that he and his family have suffered years of harassment and threats and that he knew he was a target of anti-abortion protesters.

Federal marshals protected Tiller during the 1991 Summer of Mercy protests, and he was protected again between 1994 and 1998 after another abortion provider was assassinated and federal authorities reported finding Tiller's name on an assassination list.

Tiller remained prominent in the news, in part because of an investigation begun by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, an abortion opponent.

Prosecutors had alleged that Tiller had gotten second opinions from a doctor who was essentially an employee of his, not independent as state law requires. A jury in March acquitted Tiller of all 19 misdemeanor counts.

"I am stunned by this lawless and violent act, which must be condemned and should be met with the full force of law," Kline said in a written statement. "We join in lifting prayer that God's grace and presence rest with Dr. Tiller's family and friends."

Abortion opponents also questioned then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' ties to Tiller before the Senate confirmed her this year as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary. Tiller donated thousands of dollars to Sebelius over the years.

[LUCKY13]

(CNN) -- Dr. George Tiller knew that violence could come at any moment. For a reminder, he needed to think only of the old gunshot wounds in his arms from 1993 or the bombing of his clinic years earlier.

Still, Tiller, who was fatally shot at his Kansas church Sunday, continued to provide the late-term abortions that often brought protesters to his Women's Health Care Services clinic in Wichita.

Tiller, one of the few physicians who was still offering such abortions in the United States, "made an effort to live his life as normally as possible, knowing he could be a target at any time," said Peter Brownlie, president of the regional Planned Parenthood office in Kansas City, Missouri.

Normal came with an asterisk. The 67-year-old had armed security at his clinic and a "pretty rigorous" security procedure at home, Brownlie said.

Scott Roeder from the Kansas City, Kansas, area is being held without bail in the shooting, according to the sheriff's office Web site. A motive wasn't immediately known. But if someone targeted Tiller for his work, it wouldn't be the first time.

"What a gentle soul," said Suzanne Poppema, chairwoman of the board for the Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, national network of abortion-rights physicians who are committed to providing the best possible care for patients. Tiller also served on the board for the group."He was a rational intelligent human being."

Poppema called his death"the ultimate backwardness."

She said the threat of attack was often a concern for Tiller and is a worry for many doctors and medical students who choose to perform abortions.

"It wears on your psychology, because you always have to be looking over your shoulder, thinking, 'Is today OK or not OK?' " Poppema said. "Because you are doing work that is medically correct and yet having to operate as if you live in a war zone."

Poppema said the attacks, even after Tiller was shot through both arms in 1993, didn't deter him from practicing. An ardent foe of abortion, Shelley Shannon, was convicted of attempted murder and is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for the shooting.

Tiller's clinic was damaged by a bombing in the mid-1980s, and it has been picketed for years, with some activists distributing leaflets around his neighborhood, Brownlie said. Video Watch background on George Tiller »

"He endured that kind of stuff on a very frequent basis," Brownlie said. "As recently as early this month, the clinic sustained serious vandalism that put them out of commission for a week or so."

Tiller, a former Navy flight surgeon, took over his father's Wichita medical practice where abortions were performed during a time when the procedure was illegal.

Tiller's practices had an effect on proposed abortion legislation. This year, before she was sworn in as U.S. secretary of health and human services, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill that would have required doctors to give more details when justifying late-term abortions to the state health department, the Wichita Eagle reported.

Tiller also made a mark on Sebelius' confirmation process for the health and human services post. Sebelius came under fire in part because Tiller and his staff attended a 2007 reception that Sebelius held at the governor's mansion and because she originally failed to account for donations she received from him.

Tiller, a University of Kansas medical school graduate, had been practicing medicine for about 40 years, starting as an intern at a U.S. naval hospital and later becoming a Navy flight surgeon in California, according to his clinic's Web site.

He started providing abortion services in 1973 and became the clinic's director two years later, according to the Web site. The clinic also provided grief counseling and funerals.

His patients were "almost always in circumstances where something had gone horribly wrong with a pregnancy" and where a woman's health would be endangered if the pregnancy continued, Brownlie said.

His willingness to perform late-term abortions as more and more doctors abandoned them made Tiller a lightning rod for anti-abortion rights activists and legislators.

Kansas law generally allows abortions even into the third trimester so long as the physician determines that the fetus isn't viable. A doctor who makes such a determination after 21 weeks gestation must report the reasons why the determination was made.

"Third-trimester abortion is simply a part of abortion," Tiller told Wichita TV station KAKE in 1999. "We have constructed our clinic and our philosophy along the lines that until you have natural survivalhood [of the fetus], the woman is the patient, not the fetus.

"When does natural survivalhood come on? ... Sometime after the end of the second trimester."

But even if a fetus is determined to be viable after 21 weeks, Kansas law still permits a doctor to perform an abortion if that physician and another determine that the procedure is necessary to preserve the life of the woman.

Tiller was the only Kansas doctor still performing late-term abortions in Kansas, the Wichita Eagle reported. His Web site said his clinic had "more experience in late abortion services over 24 weeks than anyone else currently practicing in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Australia."

He faced repeated legal challenges. In March, he was acquitted on 19 misdemeanor counts relating to how he obtained second opinions for late-term abortions, according to the Wichita newspaper.

In 2008, an inquiry initiated by abortion opponents who petitioned state authorities to convene a grand jury ended without charges.

Tiller is survived by a wife, four children and 10 grandchildren. In a statement issued Sunday through Tiller's lawyers, his family said their loss "is also a loss for the City of Wichita and women across America."

"George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence. We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere."

[DADOCTOR]

The ex-wife of the man suspecting in yesterday’s fatal shooting of a Kansas abortion doctor says Scott Roeder underwent a mental evaluation and that, though he didn’t consider himself unstable, “everyone else did.” Lindsey Roeder says Scott’s views on abortion were so fierce she stopped discussing them with him, she tells the Topeka Capital-Journal: “His anti-abortion rhetoric was very strong. He followed the view of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

Charges won’t be filed today against Roeder, the Wichita Eagle adds, with the district attorney saying that, with a suspect in custody, “there’s no need to rush.” Nola Foulston also said today charges in the death of George Tiller will be state, not federal, though “we may be getting assistance from outside federal individuals who may have been involved.”

[LUCKY13]

Following is a list of other recent cases of abortion-related violence:

• April 2007: Authorities say Paul Ross Evans placed a homemade bomb in the parking lot of the Austin Women's Health Center in Texas. A bomb squad disposes of the device, which contained two pounds of nails. There were no injuries. Evans was later sentenced to 40 years in prison.

• Oct. 23, 1998: Dr. Barnett Slepian is fatally shot in his home in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y. Militant abortion opponent James Kopp is convicted of the murder in 2003 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

• Jan. 29, 1998: A bomb explodes just outside a Birmingham, Ala., abortion clinic, killing a police officer and wounding several others. Eric Rudolph was arrested in May 2003 after several years on the lam. He later pleaded guilty to that incident and the deadly bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He was sentenced in 2005 to two consecutive life terms without parole.

• Jan. 16, 1997: Two bomb blasts an hour apart rock an Atlanta building containing an abortion clinic. Seven people are injured. Rudolph is charged by federal authorities in October 1998.

• Dec. 30, 1994: John Salvi opens fire with a rifle inside two Boston-area abortion clinics, killing two receptionists and wounding five others. Sentenced to life without parole, he kills himself in prison in 1996.

• Nov. 8, 1994: Dr. Garson Romalis, who performs abortions in Vancouver, Canada, is shot in the leg while eating breakfast at home.

• July 29, 1994: Dr. John Bayard Britton and his volunteer escort, James H. Barrett, are slain outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic. Barrett's wife, June, is wounded in the attack. Paul J. Hill, 40, a former minister and anti-abortion activist, is later convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

• Aug. 19, 1993: Dr. George Tiller is shot in the arms as he drives out of parking lot at his Wichita, Kan., clinic. Rachelle "Shelley" Shannon is later convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

• March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn is shot to death outside Pensacola, Fla., clinic, becoming the first U.S. doctor killed during an anti-abortion demonstration. Michael Griffin is convicted and serving a life sentence.

[LUCKY13]

WICHITA, Kan. - Scott Roeder harbored a burning, "eye-for-an-eye" anger toward abortion doctors. He once subscribed to a magazine suggesting "justifiable homicide" against them, and apparently likened Dr. George Tiller to the Nazi death-camp doctor Josef Mengele.

Roeder, 51, was in jail Monday on suspicion of murder, accused of shooting Tiller to death on Sunday as the doctor served as an usher at his Lutheran church in Wichita.

Police said it appears the gunman acted alone, and some anti-abortion groups moved quickly to distance themselves from the killing. Outside Tiller's clinic, the Kansas Coalition for Life placed signs saying members had prayed for Tiller's change of heart, "not his murder."

Roeder's ex-wife said his extreme anti-government beliefs contributed to the breakup of their marriage more than a decade ago. And Roeder's brother said he suffered from mental illness at various times in his life.

"However, none of us ever saw Scott as a person capable of or willing to take another person's life. Our deepest regrets, prayers and sympathy go out to the Tiller family during this terrible time," his brother, David, said in a statement to The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Roeder's family life began unraveling more than a decade ago when he got involved with anti-government groups, and then became "very religious in an Old Testament, eye-for-an-eye way," his former wife, Lindsey Roeder, told The Associated Press.

'Anti-tax stuff came first'

"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."

"That's all he cared about is anti-abortion. `The church is this. God is this.' Yadda yadda," she said.

Lindsey Roeder said that the early years of the marriage were good and that Scott Roeder worked in an envelope factory. But she said he moved out of their home after he became involved with the Freemen movement, an anti-government group that discouraged the paying of taxes. The Roeders have one son, now 22.

"When he moved out in 1994, I thought he was over the edge with that stuff," his ex-wife said. "He started falling apart. I had to protect myself and my son."

In 1996, Roeder (pronounced ROW-der) was arrested in Topeka after being stopped by sheriff's deputies because his car lacked a valid license plate. Instead, it bore a tag declaring him a "sovereign" and immune from state law. In the trunk, deputies found materials that could be assembled into a bomb.

He was convicted and sentenced to two years on probation and ordered to stop associating with violent anti-government groups. But the Kansas Court of Appeals overturned his conviction in 1997, ruling that authorities seized evidence against Roeder during an illegal search of his car.

The appeals court ruling appeared to energize him, Lindsey Roeder said.

Became 'self-righteous'

"When they let him out because of the illegal search that made him even more self-righteous. He would say, `See, I'm right, and you're wrong,'" she said.

Some anti-abortion activists said they were familiar with Roeder. Regina Dinwiddie, a protester in the Kansas City area, said she had picketed a Planned Parenthood clinic with Roeder. She said she was "glad" about Tiller's death.

"I wouldn't cry for him no more than I would if somebody dropped a rat and killed it," she said.

It was not immediately clear Monday whether Roeder had a lawyer.

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."

In another posting, on an Operation Rescue Web site, Roeder suggested a visit to Tiller's church.

"Sometime soon, would it be feasible to organize as many people as possible to attend Tillers church (inside, not just outside) to have much more of a presence and possibly ask questions of the Pastor, Deacons, Elders and members while there?" he wrote. "Doesn't seem like it would hurt anything but bring more attention to Tiller."

Vigilantism condemned

Operation Rescue condemned Tiller's killing as vigilantism and "a cowardly act," and the group's president, Troy Newman, said Roeder "has never been a member, contributor or volunteer."

Dave Leach, publisher of the magazine Prayer and Action News, said he met Roeder about 15 years ago. A decade ago, Roeder subscribed to the quarterly magazine, which is published in Iowa and has said "justifiable homicide" against abortion providers can be supported, Leach said.

"Scott is not my hero in that sense; he has not inspired me to shoot an abortionist," Leach said in an e-mail. "But definitely, he will be the hero to thousands of babies who will not be slain because Scott sacrificed everything for them."

[LUCKY13]

The day before a Kansas abortion provider was shot to death at his church, the suspected gunman was chased from another clinic he tried to vandalize, a worker said. Scott Roede, 51, is due in court today.

Link to CNN Crime

[Deputy Dan]

A man suspected of fatally shooting abortion provider George Tiller in church was in jail Monday Monica Evans has the video report

Link to video