It’s Life In Prison For Tiller Killer

Scott Roeder, the man who killed abortion doctor George Tiller, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 50 years.  Roeder was convicted in January in the death of the Wichita doctor, who he shot in church.

A former airport shuttle driver with ties to anti-tax groups, Roeder was sentenced to an additional 24 months on two counts of aggravated assault for threatening to kill two church ushers who tried to stop him as he fled Reformation Lutheran Church after the shooting May 31.

At his sentencing hearing Thursday morning, Roeder was portrayed as either a terrorist who took the law into his own hands to serve a political agenda or a Bible-obsessed abortion foe who did wrong but believed he was saving babies by murdering Wichita physician George Tiller.

Tiller had long been in the sights of abortion foes.

Before he was slain by Roeder, Tiller had been subjected to repeated acts of violence as well as criminal investigations brought by antiabortion government officials.

In 1986, his clinic was bombed. In 1991, his clinic was blockaded by thousands of protesters in what abortion foes dubbed the “Summer of Mercy.” In 1993, he was shot in both arms by abortion protester Rachelle “Shelley” Shannon, who is still in prison. He returned to work the next day.

Roeder defended his actions during the trial.

Roeder admitted that he killed Tiller after stalking the physician for years. He said he was frustrated by the security at Tiller’s home and his clinic, and knew that Tiller’s SUV had bulletproof glass and was armored. The only place where Tiller was vulnerable, he testified, was church.

Roeder, who believed he was “saving babies,” wanted to argue that the killing was justifiable homicide and that he was guilty only of voluntary manslaughter.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.