Drama at Roeder trial both inside and outside the courtroom By JUDY L. THOMAS The Kansas City Star

Drama at Roeder trial both inside and outside the courtroom

By JUDY L. THOMAS

The Kansas City Star

WICHITA | As the murder trial continues for the man charged with gunning down abortion provider George Tiller, the drama isn’t limited to the courtroom.

Supporters of Scott Roeder continued to arrive in Wichita on Tuesday, and abortion-rights advocates called on federal authorities to step up their investigation into a possible conspiracy of anti-abortion violence.

The Roeder supporters themselves, and their statements this week, are evidence enough that there’s an extremist network said, said Kathy Spillar, executive vice president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, who is attending the trial.

“Many of this extremist network with whom Scott Roeder clearly has been involved are here in the courtroom,” Spillar said. “We can only hope that the network will be dismantled, and until it’s dismantled, we’re waiting for the next murder.”

Those attending Roeder’s trial say they pose no threat to anyone.

“This is another waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Michael Bray, of Ohio, who spent four years in prison in the 1980s for a series of abortion clinic arsons and bombings.

Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Tiller, who was shot May 31 while ushering in his church.

Roeder has admitted to reporters and in a court filing that he killed Tiller, saying it was necessary to save unborn babies, but he has pled not guilty.

On Tuesday, the third day of testimony in the trial, the prosecution traced Roeder’s actions, showing video of him purchasing a gun and being arrested after the shooting.

Among Roeder’s supporters attending besides Bray are Dave Leach, of Des Moines, who once published the Army of God manual, a how-to book on abortion clinic violence; Jennifer McCoy of Wichita, who spent time in prison for two abortion clinic arsons in Virginia; Regina Dinwiddie of Kansas City, who calls Roeder a hero; and Joshua Graff, who spent three years in prison for a 1993 clinic arson in the Houston area.

After Tiller was killed, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had begun an investigation into whether others were involved in the shooting. Justice Department officials say the investigation is continuing.

“Our investigation remains open and ongoing,” said Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar on Tuesday. He added, however, “I decline further comment, as we do not discuss open investigations.”

Meanwhile, Leach told The Kansas City Star on Tuesday that he had spoken to Roeder on Monday night. He said Roeder was upset that a witness on Monday had testified that he heard Roeder say “Lord, forgive me,” as he ran out of the church after shooting Tiller.

“Scott said he did not say that,” Leach said.

That’s significant, Leach said, because Roeder doesn’t believe he did anything to be forgiven for.

Other theatrics Tuesday involved Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, who showed up at the courthouse Tuesday afternoon, saying he was “a voice for the babies who perished at George Tiller’s hand” and demanding that the jury be allowed to hear why Roeder killed Tiller.

“We are not coming to condone or condemn Scott Roeder’s actions,” said Terry, whose group staged the 46-day “Summer of Mercy” protests in Wichita in 1991 that resulted in more than 2,600 arrests. “That decision will soon rest with the jury. However, there are those who want to pretend this trial has nothing to do with child-killing by abortion; that is a farce. It’s like saying that the trials of Nat Turner and John Brown had nothing to do with slavery.”

But Operation Rescue’s advisory board condemned Terry’s actions, saying the group had no affiliation with Terry and hadn’t for 17 years. It cited “Mr. Terry’s relentless thirst for media attention.”

Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert has said that he would not let the trial turn into an abortion debate. But the judge also said he may allow Roeder to present evidence that he sincerely believed his actions were justified to save unborn children — a defense that could lead to a conviction on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.

Abortion-rights advocates say Tiller’s killing is a clear-cut case of premeditated murder.

“The prosecution systematically presented evidence that shows a methodical process of planning by Scott Roeder to executive this murder,” she said. “He was in and out of that church over many months, dating back to at least the summer of 2008. He even made a dry run the Saturday night before he killed Dr. Tiller on Sunday.

“The defense has not tried to impeach any of the witnesses. Instead, they’ve tried to attack Dr. Tiller and the fact that he performed abortions and attack the whole issue of abortion. It’s simply a back-door way to try and establish a basis for Scott Roeder to make a voluntary manslaughter defense. We find it outrageous that this kind of questioning is allowed to go on, and are hopeful that we will see justice and there will be a first-degree murder conviction.”

Prosecutors stepped up the pace on Tuesday, calling 13 witnesses whose testimony focused on forensic evidence and surveillance films, including videotapes of Roeder purchasing a gun an ammunition at a Lawrence pawn shop and his arrest in southern Johnson County 3 ½ hours after Tiller’s death.

Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Lento testified that after hearing an alert that gave a description of the suspect and of his car, he waited in the median on Interstate 35 just south of the Sunflower Road exit in case Roeder tried to return to the Kansas City area.

Lento said he spotted the car coming toward him around 1:30 p.m., then followed it for a few miles while he waited for backup to arrive.

“I took up both lanes between me and the vehicle,” he said, so no other cars would pass them. He said he turned on the rear hazard lights, but not the red lights and siren. The car slowed to 55 or 60 miles per hour, he said. When other officers arrived, they pulled the car over near the Gardner exit.

The video showed officers yelling at Roeder to take the keys out of the ignition and drop them, then get out of the car, facing away from them.

“Where’s the gun?” one yelled. Roeder waved his empty hands in the air. Officers told him to pull his shirt out of his pants and lift it up. After that, they ordered him to walk backwards toward them, then to get on his knees with his hands down.

Roeder was wearing a long-sleeved blue denim shirt, dark pants, black shoes and a white baseball cap that fell off during the arrest. Roeder surrendered peacefully without a struggle.

As officers gathered evidence, he said, “there was what appeared to be blood on one of his shoes and also on his pants.”

Jurors were shown a close-up picture of a black shoe with red splotches on it. They also saw pictures of the inside of Roeder’s car. On the cluttered back seat was a white shirt with brown stains on it. A witness on Monday testified that he threw coffee on Roeder as he pulled out of the church after shooting Tiller.

Jurors also were shown pictures of some brown stains splattered on Roeder’s hood and roof that Andrew Maul, a crime scene investigator with the Wichita Police Department, said were consistent with what previous witnesses said about the coffee.

Maul testified that he found several brochures from Tiller’s church and a copy of a check for $60.38 to The Bullet Hole in Overland Park on the sun visor in the car, several Winchester .22-caliber cartridges on the floor, and “a nasty looking, serrated, sheath-type knife.”

Lt. Ken Landwehr, of the Wichita Police Department, testified that he collected evidence at the church after Tiller was killed. He said he found a .22-caliber shell casing to the right of Tiller’s body.

Landwehr described Tiller’s fatal injury to jurors.

“There appeared to be above the right eye, on the forehead, a contact wound,” he said. “That is caused by the gun being placed against the skin.”

Wichita police officer Jason Bartel told jurors that after Tiller was killed, he was assigned to go to hotels along East Kellogg Avenue to see whether Roeder had stayed there recently. He said he learned that Roeder had checked into the Garden Inn & Suites at 7325 E. Kellogg on May 30, the day before the shooting, and checked out around 9:30 the next morning. Bartel said he also found that Roeder had stayed at the Starlite Motor Lodge at 6345 E. Kellogg on May 23. Witnesses testified on Monday that they’d seen Roeder in Tiller’s church on May 24.

Sandy Michael, a clerk at the Garden Inn & Suites, testified that she rented a room to Roeder. Jurors were shown the surveillance video that showed Roeder checking in on May 30, wearing a white shirt and baseball cap. He checked out the next morning. Michael said Roeder’s demeanor was “happy-go-lucky” and that he used a coupon to get a discount on his room. His bill was $39.29.

The manager and two employees of the Jayhawk Pawn Shop in Lawrence testified that Roeder bought a .22-caliber semiautomatic Taurus handgun on May 18 for $229.99, then returned to pick it up on May 23. They also said Roeder bought ammunition there on May 30.

An FBI agent told jurors that a search of Roeder’s Kansas City house turned up a black gun box that had contained a .22-caliber Taurus handgun. Authorities traced the gun to the pawn shop. Agents also found a bulletin from Tiller’s church dated Aug. 24, 2008, and a receipt from The Bullet Hole in Overland Park for two boxes of ammunition dated May 20.

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Roeder went to his brother’s rural Shawnee County residence on May 30 to practice shooting a new gun he’d purchased. Denton Murray, with the Kansas Highway Patrol, said Roeder’s brother contacted authorities June 1, saying he was concerned because his fingerprints might be on the gun that killed Tiller.

Murray said authorities went to David Roeder’s property and he showed them where Scott had been shooting. Authorities collected numerous shell casings as evidence. Murray also said David Roeder told him that Scott had problems with the gun and took it to the High Plains Gun Shop in Topeka that afternoon.

An employee of the High Plains Gun Shop in Topeka testified that Roeder came to the store the afternoon of May 30, saying he was having problems with his gun. The employee said Roeder was using the wrong bullets, so he sold him two boxes of different ammunition.

Roeder’s attorneys were quiet throughout the testimony, questioning only one of the witnesses. Prosecutors expect to wrap up their case on Wednesday.

To reach Judy L. Thomas, call 816-234-4334 or send email to jthomas@kcstar.com.