Dr George Tiller

Abortion is the issue that hovers undeniably over the trial of Scott Roeder -- who has admitted to killing physician George Tiller -- even though the prosecution has tried mightily to make this a case about premeditated murder, pure and simple. So it came as a surprise Monday when Sedgwick County Dist. Atty. Nola Foulston asked a witness about protesters who over the years have targeted the church where Tiller was shot in May. At the time, the 67-year-old Tiller was one of the few American doctors in the United States to perform late-term abortions.

Out near the city's edge, where fast-food joints and subdivisions seem to spring from farmland overnight, the casualties of an unfinished war sit untouched in a doctor's basement. Dr. Mila Means, a 55-year-old solo family practitioner with neon red hair and neo-hippie style, doesn't remember how or when she heard that Dr. George Tiller had been gunned down in his church. She knew him only slightly as their paths crossed in medical circles. Mostly, she knew of him - as the lone abortion provider in a city of nearly 400,000, as a symbol of the country's abortion wars.

Before shooting him point-blank in the forehead at church last spring, Scott Roeder considered many ways of killing Wichita physician George Tiller. He thought about ramming his car into Tiller's car, shooting him sniper-style with a high-powered rifle at his clinic, or slicing off Tiller's hands with a sword. He opted against maiming Tiller, he said, because if Tiller survived, he would probably continue to instruct other doctors on how to perform abortions. The problem was, Tiller was hard to get to. He lived behind high walls, traveled in a custom armored car, often with a bodyguard, and wore a bulletproof vest.

Scott Roeder, the antiabortion extremist who murdered George Tiller, one of a handful of American physicians who performed late-term abortions, was sentenced to life in prison in a Wichita, Kan., courtroom Thursday and will not be eligible for parole for more than 50 years. "The blood of babies is on your hands!" he yelled at prosecutors as bailiffs led him from the courtroom. A former airport shuttle driver who was once arrested with bomb-making materials in his car, Roeder, 52, was convicted Jan. 29 of premeditated murder for shooting Tiller point-blank in the forehead during a Sunday service on May 31 as the doctor stood in the vestibule of his Wichita church.

The man accused of killing a Wichita abortion provider confessed in an interview Monday, saying he had no regrets because "preborn children were in imminent danger." In a 20-minute phone call from the Sedgwick County Jail in Kansas, Scott Roeder told McClatchy Newspapers that he believes shooting Dr. George Tiller saved lives. "I've already been told that there's at least four women that have changed their minds and are going to have their babies," Roeder said. "Even if it was one woman, then who would have a regret for a motive of protecting preborn children?

Prosecutors asked a judge Monday to prohibit the man accused of killing abortion doctor George Tiller from using voluntary manslaughter in his defense. Judge Warren Wilbert set a hearing for this afternoon, postponing jury selection in the first-degree murder trial for two days. Jury selection was to have begun Monday. On Friday, Wilbert said he could see a situation where testimony would require him to give the jury an option of less severe charges than premeditated murder, including involuntary manslaughter.

Scott Roeder, the antiabortion extremist who murdered George Tiller, one of a handful of American physicians who performed late-term abortions, was sentenced to life in prison in a Wichita, Kan., courtroom Thursday and will not be eligible for parole for more than 50 years. "The blood of babies is on your hands!" he yelled at prosecutors as bailiffs led him from the courtroom. A former airport shuttle driver who was once arrested with bomb-making materials in his car, Roeder, 52, was convicted Jan. 29 of premeditated murder for shooting Tiller point-blank in the forehead during a Sunday service on May 31 as the doctor stood in the vestibule of his Wichita church.

Scott Roeder, the abortion foe accused of the premeditated murder of Dr. George Tiller, is expected to explain to a jury today why he killed the late-term abortion specialist, who had survived years of protests, physical attacks and criminal prosecution before being shot in the head in church last May. "He's enthusiastic, he's eloquent, he's ready to make his case," said Roeder's friend David Leach, who met with Roeder on Tuesday at the county jail....

An antiabortion activist pleaded not guilty to killing late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Scott Roeder, 51, also is accused of threatening two ushers who tried to stop him at Tiller's Wichita church during the May 31 shooting. Roeder's lawyer entered the not-guilty plea to first-degree murder and aggravated assault charges. Roeder did not speak. A judge ordered him held on $20-million bond and set a trial date for Sept. 21.

An Omaha doctor said he would perform third-term abortions in Kansas after the slaying there of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, but would not say whether he would open a new facility or offer the procedure at an existing practice. Dr. LeRoy Carhart spoke one day after Tiller's family decided not to reopen his Wichita clinic. Carhart declined to discuss his plans in detail during a telephone interview. Tiller's clinic was one of the few facilities in the country that performed third-trimester abortions.

Not about children Re "Tiller's killer guilty of murder," Jan. 30 Thousands of children in the world die of starvation every day; many more die of illnesses easily preventable or cured. Disabled children fill institutions and live sad, short lives in squalor. There is so much to be done, if someone truly cares about children. The list is practically endless. The murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller wasn't about saving children. It was an attempt to control other people's lives.

Before shooting him point-blank in the forehead at church last spring, Scott Roeder considered many ways of killing Wichita physician George Tiller. He thought about ramming his car into Tiller's car, shooting him sniper-style with a high-powered rifle at his clinic, or slicing off Tiller's hands with a sword. He opted against maiming Tiller, he said, because if Tiller survived, he would probably continue to instruct other doctors on how to perform abortions. The problem was, Tiller was hard to get to. He lived behind high walls, traveled in a custom armored car, often with a bodyguard, and wore a bulletproof vest.

Scott Roeder, the abortion foe accused of the premeditated murder of Dr. George Tiller, is expected to explain to a jury today why he killed the late-term abortion specialist, who had survived years of protests, physical attacks and criminal prosecution before being shot in the head in church last May. "He's enthusiastic, he's eloquent, he's ready to make his case," said Roeder's friend David Leach, who met with Roeder on Tuesday at the county jail....

Prosecutors on Tuesday methodically reconstructed Scott Roeder's movements in the days leading up to the killing of Dr. George Tiller, including three visits to a gun shop to purchase a handgun, a visit to a second gun shop to purchase new ammunition when the gun didn't fire properly, and a morning of target practice the day before the shooting. Tiller, one of the few doctors in the U.S. who performed late-term abortions, was killed with a .22-caliber bullet, shot point-blank into his forehead as he worked as an usher in the foyer of his church on May 31. For years, his clinic and his church were the sites of antiabortion protests.

Abortion is the issue that hovers undeniably over the trial of Scott Roeder -- who has admitted to killing physician George Tiller -- even though the prosecution has tried mightily to make this a case about premeditated murder, pure and simple. So it came as a surprise Monday when Sedgwick County Dist. Atty. Nola Foulston asked a witness about protesters who over the years have targeted the church where Tiller was shot in May. At the time, the 67-year-old Tiller was one of the few American doctors in the United States to perform late-term abortions.

On the first day of testimony in the trial of Scott Roeder, the anti- abortion activist accused of murdering Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita, Kan., jury heard tearful testimony today from a fellow congregant who was 40 feet away when Tiller was shot in his church's vestibule last May. Kathy Wegner, the church's youth director who made the first 911 call after the shooting, said this morning she saw a flash and heard a sound like a balloon popping....

Prosecutors asked a judge Monday to prohibit the man accused of killing abortion doctor George Tiller from using voluntary manslaughter in his defense. Judge Warren Wilbert set a hearing for this afternoon, postponing jury selection in the first-degree murder trial for two days. Jury selection was to have begun Monday. On Friday, Wilbert said he could see a situation where testimony would require him to give the jury an option of less severe charges than premeditated murder, including involuntary manslaughter.

The man accused of killing a Wichita abortion provider confessed in an interview Monday, saying he had no regrets because "preborn children were in imminent danger." In a 20-minute phone call from the Sedgwick County Jail in Kansas, Scott Roeder told McClatchy Newspapers that he believes shooting Dr. George Tiller saved lives. "I've already been told that there's at least four women that have changed their minds and are going to have their babies," Roeder said. "Even if it was one woman, then who would have a regret for a motive of protecting preborn children?