Dear admitted in court on Wednesday he was guilty of killing three and wounding nine at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado Springs last month. They asked the judge for more time to decide whether or not to have a preliminary hearing, they asked the Prosecution to share any documents and video of Dear from when he was arrested and interrogated. A second count alleges that Mr. Dear caused her death in furtherance of a burglary, for which he was also charged (prosecutors allege that he unlawfully entered the Planned Parenthood building).
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“He’s the lawyer for the “Batman” shooter, who drugged him all up”.
Dear’s attorney, public defender Daniel King, was one of the attorneys who represented Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes. Dear also asked a bystander for directions to clinic immediately before he allegedly opened fire. Dear had more than a dozen outbursts in the hour-long hearing, including, quote, “kill the babies; that’s what Planned Parenthood does”, unquote. There’s a lot more to this than for me to go silently into the grave. Also, one of Dear’s ex-wives said he had vandalized a SC abortion clinic years ago by putting glue in the locks on its doors.
King questioned whether Dear was competent to stand trial.
Dear has lived in remote locations without electricity or water and was known to hold survivalist ideas.
Robert Lewis Dear’s possible motives were not just a criminal matter but a source of instant political debate following the November 27 shooting and standoff with police at the Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs. His next court appearance is scheduled for December 23.
Besides Swasey, the other two fatalities were Ke’Arre Stewart, 29 and Jennifer Markovsky, 35, who had come with friends to the clinic.
27 shooting left three dead and nine wounded. The charges of first-degree murder could potentially carry the death penalty, which prosecutors will have the opportunity to seek after an arraignment.
“The situation has been resolved and there’s no continuing peril to the citizens of Colorado Springs”, said Mayor John Suthers.
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Dear, a native of SC who once earned a living as a self-employed art salesman, appeared at Wednesday’s hearing in shackles wearing turquoise-coloured jail garb.
