Posted on 06/01/2009 1:17:54 PM PDT by wagglebee
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.
Pro-Life Ping
Not guilty by reason of insanity, is that what these guys are leading up to?
If this line of inquiry keeps up then the story will become “How did a mentally ill man get a gun?”
Being mentally ill DOES NOT mean a person is legally insane.
I thought Roeder was still alive. Why is this in the past tense?
ya’ think?
They can blame me if they want to, I have big shoulders.
Well, pro-choice people post on those forums too. So what does that make them?
bttt
I predict that he will be put on the fast track to lethal injection, just like Tim McVeigh....
How did a convicted felon get a gun. This cat was in prison before was was ‘nutz’.
I hope he gets off on insanity.
oh, they’ll go another route -
anyone with conservative beliefs is by definition mentally ill and therefore cannot own a firearm.
I hear “amens” from DU.
something is seriously wrong with this set of circumstances.
The conviction was overturned on grounds of an illegal search, according to earlier posts.
No, the past tense seems to refer to the mental illness. Just because someone was mentally ill a decade ago does not mean they still are.
The Kansas Court of Appeals overturned his conviction.
Oh well, that makes it all better!
Now he is not just a terrorist, but a crazy terrorist.
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