Roeder Guilty of Murder in Abortion Doc Slaying

A jury in Kansas City convicted Scott Roeder today of first-degree murder in the death of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. The jury deliberated only 37 minutes. Roeder testified yesterday that he fatally shot Tiller, one of the few late-term abortion providers in the US, to protect unborn children. He faces a mandatory life sentence.

Roeder's lawyers yesterday failed in their attempt to make a case for a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter based on Roeder's views about abortion. The judge also refused to allow the jury to consider a second-degree murder conviction. (More Scott Roeder stories.)