Scott Roeder, the man on trial for the first-degree murder of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, testified Thursday morning that he killed Tiller.
This was hardly a revelation given that Roeder had already confessed to the killing to several reporters, including in a recent GQ feature story.
Roeder's defense attorney, Mark Rudy, questioned Roeder about his beliefs, and Judge Warren Wilbert sustained several objections from prosecutors.
Rudy set the stage by telling jurors that Roeder's only option for stopping Tiller from aborting unborn babies was to shoot and kill the doctor at a church service. This was previously stated in the GQ article.
Roeder didn't deny the state's evidence against him. Roeder described himself as a born-again Christian who knelt in front of his TV in 1992 during an episode of the 700 Club.
Roeder told the court that he believed abortion should only be considered if the mother's life is in danger. Even then, he's not so sure and said he'd want a second opinion.
Roeder added that he didn't believe in abortion even if the mother had been raped or in cases of incest. He testified that the child shouldn't be punished for the father's sins.
When Roeder described abortion procedures, Judge Wilbert stopped him due to his lack of medical expertise.
Court is schedule to resume at 1:30 p.m. Watch the live stream here (if CNN cooperates).
Also check out our Twitter updates (if CNN cooperates).
Showing 1-3 of 3
Informative piece! Do you have any opinions that you would like to divulge to help us understand your second point a bit more? thanks a lot
like
dislike
