Sentencing delayed for abortion provider's killer

The Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. - The sentencing for the convicted killer of a Kansas abortion provider has been delayed.

The district court in Wichita said Saturday that Scott Roeder's sentencing has been moved to April 1 from March 9.

Online court records show that April 1 is same day District Judge Warren Wilbert is scheduled to hear the defense's request for a new trial or their client's acquittal. The defense argues the judge was wrong when he failed to instruct jurors that they could consider the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.

Roeder was convicted Jan. 29 of first-degree murder for shooting Dr. George Tiller last May as the doctor served as an usher at his Wichita church. The 51-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., also was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault for threatening two ushers who tried to stop him after the shooting.

He faces a minimum sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years, although prosecutors will ask the judge to require him to serve at least 50 years before he is eligible for parole.

District Court Media Coordinator Kirk Longhofer said the defense made the rescheduling request. A message left Saturday at the Sedgwick County Public Defender's Office wasn't immediately returned.