Alleged George Tiller Shooter Scott Roeder May Have Suffered From Mental Illness
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 1, 2009
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) — Scott Roeder, the 51-year-old Kansas man who authorities have detained as the only suspect in the shooting of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller, may have suffered from mental illness. That’s according to his ex-wife, who said in a recent interview that Roeder always held extremist views.
Lindsey Roeder, who divorced Roeder in 1996 after 10 years of marriage, told the Topeka Capital-Journal that Roeder had a mental evaluation in the mid 1990s.
Although he did not believe he had any mental health issues, “everyone else did," she told the newspaper.
“He just felt these were his views,” she said of his position supporting the killing of people who kill others, such as abortion practitioners. "He followed the view of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
"It scared me," she said of his approach, which has been linked to militia and anti-government groups and attitudes.
Meanwhile, Roeder’s family released a statement, according to the newspaper, saying. “We are shocked, horrified and filled with sadness at the death of Dr. Tiller and the circumstances surrounding it that may have involved Scott Roeder."
The statement confirmed the mental health problems, but said Roeder was otherwise a nice guy.
“We know Scott as a kind and loving son, brother and father who suffered from mental illness at various times in his life," it said. "However, none of us ever saw Scott as a person capable of or willing to take another person’s life. Our deepest regrets, prayers and sympathy go out to the Tiller family during this terrible time.”
After serving 16 months in prison following a parole violation after officials found a license plate altered with anti-government slogans and bombmaking materials in his car and home, a Shawnee County District Court judge said Roeder presented a "threat of danger to the public."
Law enforcement officials told the Capital Journal newspaper at the time that Roeder was a "loving" but "obsessed" man, but maintained they didn’t expect him to actually hurt anyone.
Roeder has no links to any legitimate pro-life group other than a couple of postings on a public forum on a pro-life web site. Otherwise, he has never been a volunteer of, staff member of or in any way associated with either national, state or local pro-life groups.
That and hundreds of condemnations of the Tiller shooting from pro-life groups hasn’t stopped abortion advocates from exploiting Tiller’s death for political gain and blaming pro-life advocates for his death.
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