All Blog Posts from Crimesider

WICHITA, Kan. - Defiant and unapologetic, a man accused of shooting a Kansas abortion provider confessed to the slaying Monday, telling The Associated Press that he killed the doctor to protect unborn children.

Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Missouri, spoke to the AP in a telephone call from jail, saying he plans to argue at his trial that he was justified in shooting Dr. George Tiller.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Online retailer eBay said it will not allow an auction planned to raise money to defend Scott Roeder, the man charged with killing Kansas abortion provider George Tiller.

Roeder's supporters had hoped to sell off an unusual array of items to raise money for his defense against murder charges.

One of the proposed items was the "Army of God" manual, an underground publication geared towards anti-abortion "militants" which describes dozens of ways to shut down abortion clinics, including bombing.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - EBay is suddenly finding itself in the middle of the abortion debate.

Anti-abortion activists are planning an auction on EBay and other online shopping sites to raise money to defend the man charged with killing Wichita, Kan., abortion doctor George Tiller.

The alleged shooter, Scott Roeder, said in a phone interview that he was excited about the auction, which is to include a manual for anti-abortion "militants" and a prison cookbook.

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OPEKA, Kan. - Operation Rescue, the militant anti-abortion group who had harsh words for the slain abortion doctor George Tiller, even after his murder, now wants to buy Tiller's shuttered clinic.

It would be the ultimate irony, and perhaps ultimate statement, for Operation Rescue to turn Tiller's murder into office space from which they can further their message.

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WICHITA, Kan. - Abortion providers say that threats of more slayings from a man accused in the shooting death of a high-profile Kansas abortion doctor proves the existence of a "violent, terrorist movement" coalescing around the issue.

Scott Roeder called The Associated Press Sunday from the Sedgwick County jail, where he's being held on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the shooting death of Dr. George Tiller last week at the doctor's church in Wichita.

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WICHITA, Kan. - An animal rights group has latched onto the killing of a Kansas abortion provider to promote its message.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, says it plans to place two billboards in Wichita in the wake of the shooting death of Dr. George Tiller.

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WICHITA, Kan. - Scott Roeder, the man charged with killing late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller has a long history of anti-government behavior.

In 1996, he was convicted of possessing bomb making materials, but released when a court ruled his car was illegally searched.

His ex-wife told CBS News he was obsessed with fighting abortion and was involved with anti-government groups for more than a decade.

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NEW YORK - The murder of George Tiller, a Wichita, Kan., doctor who performed late-term abortions, has sent many in the pro-life movement looking for ways to distance themselves from the violence.

Not Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, a militant pro-life organization.

"George Tiller was a mass murderer," Terry told the National Press Club. "He reaped what he sowed."

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NEW YORK - Anti-abortion leaders are deeply worried that the Obama administration and other Democrats may try to capitalize on the slaying of Dr. George Tiller to defuse the abortion issue in upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Many anti-abortion groups condemned the killing of Tiller, a prominent abortion provider in Kansas. But they expressed concern that abortion-rights activists would use the occasion to brand the entire anti-abortion movement as extremist.

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WICHITA, Kan. - Late-term abortion doctor George Tiller, a prominent advocate for abortion rights wounded by a protester more than a decade ago, was shot and killed Sunday at his church in Wichita.

The man suspected of shooting and killing Tiller, one of the few doctors in the U.S. who performed late-term abortions, was in jail Monday while investigators sought to learn more about his background, including the extent of his connections to anti-abortion groups.

Tiller, 67, was serving as an usher during morning services Sunday when he was shot in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church, police said. The gunman fired one shot at Tiller and threatened two other people who tried to stop him.

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