Man Pleads Not Guilty in Tiller Case

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Associated Press
Wednesday, July 29, 2009

WICHITA, July 28 -- An antiabortion activist pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murdering late-term abortion provider George Tiller, and a judge set his trial for September.

A witness gave chilling testimony Tuesday that he saw Scott Roeder, 51, point a gun at Tiller's head May 31 before pulling the trigger in the foyer of the Kansas doctor's church.

Gary Hoepner, an usher at the church, testified that he and Tiller were talking when a man walked through the door, put a gun to Tiller's head and shot him. Hoepner identified the man as Roeder.

Hoepner said he wasn't sure the weapon used to kill Tiller was real until he saw Tiller fall to the ground. He said he followed the gunman, whom he identified as Roeder, out of the church but stopped after Roeder warned him. " 'I've got a gun, and I'll shoot you,' " Hoepner recalled the gunman saying. "I believed him and I stopped."

Roeder did not speak during the hearing as his public defender entered not-guilty pleas to first-degree murder and aggravated assault charges.

Later Tuesday, a judge ordered Roeder held on $20 million bond and set a trial date for Sept. 21.