Roeder speaks from jail | CJOnline.com

Roeder speaks from jail | CJOnline.com

By The Associated Press

Created June 4, 2009 at 3:32pm

Updated June 5, 2009 at 12:19am

WICHITA — The man charged in the slaying of late-term abortion provider George Tiller says he is “being treated as a criminal” even though he hasn’t been convicted of anything.

Scott Roeder called The Associated Press on Thursday from the Sedgwick County Jail and disputed what he called “broad brush” characterizations of him as being anti-government.

“I want people to stop and think: It is not anti-government, it is anti-corrupt government,” said Roeder, who called in response to a written request for an interview.

When asked by the AP to discuss the Tiller shooting, Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., refused to comment, saying he would talk about that later.

Roeder, a Topeka High School graduate, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Tiller with a single gunshot as the doctor handed out programs Sunday while ushering at the Lutheran church he attended. Roeder also is accused of assaulting two witnesses before leaving the church and driving away.

Roeder was arrested a few hours later, near Gardner, about 170 miles northeast of Wichita.

“I haven’t been convicted of anything, and I am being treated as a criminal,” he said in a telephone conversation that lasted about three minutes.

Roeder said he has made it through the first several days of his incarceration but is concerned about the media attention his family, particularly his elderly mother, has been getting.

“I appreciate your prayers,” he said.

Dan Monnat, the attorney for the Tiller family, declined to comment on Roeder’s statements.

Also Thursday, District Judge Warren Wilbert set bond for Roeder at $5 million.

A day earlier, public defender Steve Osburn had filed a motion asking the court to set bond for Roeder, saying bond should be granted for defendants charged with noncapital crimes.

Kansas law requires that special circumstances exist for a defendant to be eligible for the death penalty. Such circumstances include the killing of a law officer, more than one person or a victim kidnapped for ransom or rape, or killed in murder for hire. Prosecutors said the Tiller homicide case doesn’t qualify.

If convicted of the murder charge, Roeder would face a mandatory life sentence and wouldn’t be eligible for parole for at least 25 years. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 16, although it likely will be continued.

Tiller and his Wichita clinic have been a regular target of anti-abortion protests, including the 45-day “Summer of Mercy” event staged by Operation Rescue in 1991. His clinic was damaged by a pipe bomb in 1986, and a protester shot at him in 1993, wounding his arms.

Hundreds of people are expected at his funeral Saturday.

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