Tiller

By Eyewitness News and The Associated Press (WICHITA, Kan.) A jury has acquitted one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers of violating Kansas law requiring an independent second opinion for the procedure. But moments after the verdict was announced Friday, the state's medical board made public a complaint against Dr. George Tiller on similar allegations. Tiller was acquitted Friday of 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from some abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation says that more than a month before Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed, it received an anonymous letter warning about the man now charged in the case. FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton says the April letter warned that Scott Roeder would physically harm Tiller or any other abortion provider. The letter turned out to have been written by Mark Archer. He and his wife are in the midst of a bitter custody battle with Roeder over a child Roeder fathered.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - The woman convicted of shooting Dr. George Tiller in both arms in 1993 is a potential witness against the man now charged with killing the Kansas abortion provider. Prosecutors have listed 220 potential witnesses for a preliminary hearing scheduled Tuesday against Scott Roeder of Kansas City, Mo. The 51-year-old suspect is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the fatal shooting of Tiller on May 31 at the doctor's Wichita church.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The group that tried for years to put slain abortion provider Dr. George Tiller out of business is interested in buying his now-closed clinic in Wichita, its president said, but an attorney for the doctor rejected the idea as a publicity stunt. Operation Rescue president Troy Newman said that his group has discussed the idea of buying the tan, windowless clinic in east Wichita. He made the comment after the Tiller family announced Tuesday that the clinic would be closed permanently.

Image taken during his incarceration from July 11, 1997 and March 26, 1998 on explosives charges. Roeder has not been charged in Dr. Tiller's death. WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Scott Roeder harbored a burning, "eye-for-an-eye" anger toward abortion doctors. He once subscribed to a magazine suggesting "justifiable homicide" against them, and apparently likened Dr. George Tiller to the Nazi death-camp doctor Josef Mengele. Roeder, 51, was in jail Monday on suspicion of murder, accused of shooting Tiller to death on Sunday as the doctor served as an usher at his Lutheran church in Wichita.

By Alana Rocha (WASHINGTON, D.C.) Lawmakers in the U.S. House introduced Resolution 505. It offers condolences to Dr. George Tiller's family following his murder last week. Scott Roeder, 51, is charged with first degree murder in Tiller's death. Tiller was shot dead Sunday, May 31st as he ushered fellow members of Reformation Lutheran Church into the morning service. Resolution 505 commits lawmakers to the American prinicple that tolerance is never an appropriate response to a difference in beliefs.

A doctor who worked with Wichita late term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller faces possible penalties. The Kansas Board of Healing Arts is looking into whether Dr. Kristin Neuhaus violated medical standards during her work with Tiller. It was only a year-and-a-half ago that Neuhaus defended her work for Tiller.  Tiller was on trial accused of performing 19 illegal abortions. Neuhaus provided Tiller with second opinions, which are required by law to perform a late term abortion in Kansas.

By Alana Rocha (WICHITA, Kan.) Members of Dr. Tiller's church congregation, including Tiller's family, gathered Sunday night to pray.  Many of them were inside Reformation Lutheran Church when Dr. Tiller was shot. From fear and disbelief, to shock and now togetherness - emotions ran high at Reformation Lutheran Church Sunday night. "Violence never achieves anything except breeding more violence," said Church Leader Pastor Lowell Michelson. "I wasn't sure what the sound was when it happened.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Wichita police say the clinic of slain abortion provider Dr. George Tiller is closed for now. An officer at the clinic said Monday morning that it would remain closed for a week. Telephone messages left for Tiller attorney Dan Monnat were not immediately returned. The clinic's flag flew at half-staff. Flowers lined a fence outside. Anti-abortion group Kansas Coalition for Life left a sign that said, "We prayed for his conversion to a pro-life viewpoint, not his murder.

Update: Scott Roeder's trial moves up a few days.  It's now scheduled to begin on January 11, 2010.  Jury selection will begin that day, the trial will begin once the jury's picked. Roeder's charged with shooting and killing abortion provider Dr. George Tiller while in church earlier this summer. By Eyewitness News (WICHITA, Kan.) The trial of the man accused of killing abortion provider Dr. George Tiller will stand trial in January. Fifty-one-year-old Scott Roeder faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the May 31 shooting at Tiller's church.

FactFinder 12 Investigators have learned the former abortion clinic owned by Dr. George Tiller has been sold.  The clinic on east Kellogg has sat vacant since his murder in 2009. Also, Wichita police confirm there have been conversations with a group interested in opening an abortion clinic .  They've been described as courtesy conversations more than planning sessions.  Lt. Doug Nolte says at this time, the police department has no security plans in the works.

Federal prosecutors say a Valley Center woman crossed the line when she sent a letter to a doctor who has publicly announced she is training to perform abortions. Angel Dillard is in Federal Court in Wichita Wednesday. Prosecutors want to establish a no-contact order that would keep her 250 feet away from the home, business, and vehicle of Dr. Mila Means. It is part of a civil case against Dillard, claiming she violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Dr. Means has a private practice at Harry and Webb.

A law enforcement official says a federal grand jury is investigating whether last year's murder of a Kansas abortion doctor was connected to a broader case involving radical anti-abortion activists. The official is familiar with the case and spoke Friday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation. Dr. George Tiller was among the few late-term abortion providers in the U.S. before he was fatally shot in his Wichita church in May 2009 by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder.

A doctor who worked with Wichita late term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller faces possible penalties. The Kansas Board of Healing Arts is looking into whether Dr. Kristin Neuhaus violated medical standards during her work with Tiller. It was only a year-and-a-half ago that Neuhaus defended her work for Tiller.  Tiller was on trial accused of performing 19 illegal abortions. Neuhaus provided Tiller with second opinions, which are required by law to perform a late term abortion in Kansas.

Statement Sent on Behalf of Dr. George Tiller's Family Lee Thompson, attorney for Dr. George Tiller's family, issued the following statement today at the request of Mrs. Jeanne Tiller and the Tiller family following the sentencing of Scott Roeder. "The sentence handed down today was appropriate. It is the most severe penalty available to Judge Wilbert under Kansas law. This crime was cruel and heinous not only because it took our husband, father and grandfather; but because it was a hate crime committed against George – but also against all women and their constitutional rights.

Read reporter Cliff Judy's courtroom blog at the bottom of the page. By Chris Durden & Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) District Judge Warren Wilbert gave prosecutors what they wanted, the "Hard 50" sentence for Scott Roeder. That means Roeder won't be eligible for parole for at least 50 years. In January, a jury convicted Roeder of shooting Dr. George Tiller while he served as an usher at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita. On Thursday, Roeder scolded the judge presiding over his sentencing hearing, saying he denied the defense he wanted to bring.

As the nation watched, it took seven men and five women less than an hour to convict Scott Roeder of murdering a Wichita abortion provider. Roeder's six-day murder trial ended with a first degree murder guilty verdict Friday morning. It only took jurors 37 minutes to agree Roeder planned and carried out Dr. George Tiller's murder. Roeder took the stand in his own defense Thursday, admitting to killing Tiller as the doctor served as an usher at his east Wichita church. It took attorneys less than an hour to give jurors closing arguments. Prosecutors called the murder an "assassination" and told jurors Roeder had thought of killing Tiller since 1999, "10 years worth of premeditation.

by Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) Scott Roeder will take the stand in his own defense on Thursday, and attorneys may hand the murder trial over to jurors by the weekend. Roeder has admitted to killing Wichita abortion provider Dr. George Tiller while Tiller served as an usher at his east Wichita church.  Roeder is charged with first degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Prosecutors likely called their last witness Wednesday morning, but some of the most significant activity of the day may have come during the afternoon.