Scott Roeder

 

The lone gunman who walked into the Luther Reformation Church in Wichita, Kansas on May 31, 2009 is named Scott Roeder. Roeder was arrested without incident three hours after the murder almost 200 miles away. Instead of remorse or denial of the murder, Roeder’s first action was to justify the killing. In a jailhouse phone call with the Associated Press, he was asked what prompted him to kill Dr. Tiller and he said "Defending innocent life — that is what prompted me. It is pretty simple” [1].  He even went on to encourage those who wanted to see abortions put to a halt by killing other abortion-performing doctors, saying “Violence is not wrong in all situations, so if it takes that — then if it is done righteously — then, if it's done, it is OK” [2].

 

Roeder was an active participant on the many blogs and websites of anti-abortion organizations. On an Operation Rescue message board he posted a message in 2007 that showed his willingness to act to stop abortions. The message read: "It seems as though what is happening in Kansas could be compared to the 'lawlessness' which is spoken of in the Bible. Tiller is the concentration camp 'Mengele' of our day and needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation” [2]. In a later message that same year, he urged fellow protesters to take their protest inside the Reformation Lutheran Church, where Tiller was later killed by Roeder. Although Operation Rescue denied Roeder being a member of their strictly non-violent anti-abortion organization, the fact that he was a frequent participant on their own message boards did little to help their cause.

 

The 1st degree murder case of Scott Roeder went to trial in January of 2010. Once again, Roeder did not deny killing Dr. Tiller, but rather argued it was justified and entering a not-guilty plea for 1st degree murder. Instead his defense team tried to argue that Roeder believed killing Tiller was the only way to save unborn children’s lives, as they argued for a voluntary manslaughter charge. However, after presenting their evidence for the justification of the murder, the judge took that option away from the jury because Dr. Tiller’s actions were legal in the state of Kansas. During the trial, Roeder revealed that he had been thinking about killing Tiller since 1993. He considered many approaches, including “shooting him at his clinic, using a sniper rifle from a nearby church, or chopping off his hands with a sword” [3]. However, the admitted premeditation did not help Roeder’s cause, as the jury convicted him of 1st degree murder and he was sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole.