Roeder backers, critics attend trial By JUDY L. THOMAS Kansas City Star

Roeder backers, critics attend trial

By JUDY L. THOMAS

Kansas City Star

As the murder trial continues for the man charged with killing 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 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 the unborn, but he has pleaded not guilty.

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.

"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 said 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.

Also Tuesday, Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, showed up at the courthouse, 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."

Operation Rescue, which condemned the slaying, criticized Terry for attending the trial. The group said Terry, who hasn't been affiliated with it for more than 17 years, has isolated himself from the anti-abortion community because of his "extremism, fringe actions and bizarre media stunts."

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