Abortion Doctor’s Killer Found Guilty

After just 37 minutes of deliberation, a Kansas jury found Scott Roeder, the man who admitted killing abortion doctor George Tiller, guilty of first-degree murder, rejecting his defense that the killing was justified to stop the death of the unborn. —JCL

The New York Times:

It took jurors 37 minutes on Friday to convict Scott Roeder, an abortion opponent, of first-degree murder in the death of George R. Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions.

When the verdict was read inside the Sedgwick County Courthouse here, Mr. Roeder, 51, had no visible reaction. He stared straight ahead, blinking his eyes. He faces a life sentence in prison.

Abortion rights supporters lauded the ruling, saying it sends a strong, unambiguous message to others who believe that violence against abortion doctors is justified that such acts will be punished. Some abortion opponents, meanwhile, said that Mr. Roeder — who admitted to the killing in open court but said that was the only way he could stop the deaths of babies — had not received a fair trial, and that the outcome might only encourage more violence.

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Sedgwick County Jail

Scott Roeder in a jail mugshot after his arrest.