Planned Parenthood attack suspect court outburst: "I am guilty"
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Robert Lewis Dear, the suspect in the Nov. 27 attack at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs that killed three people, declared in court on Wednesday that he is guilty, reports CBS Denver.
"I am guilty there will be no trial. I am a warrior for the babies," he said in an outburst in El Paso County court overheard by CBS Denver reporter Rick Sallinger.
The outburst came as lawyers were starting to discuss a motion to allow a camera in the courtroom. The hearing on Wednesday was scheduled to be a formal filing of charges against Dear.
Colorado Springs police have refused to discuss a motive for the fusillade, but there's mounting evidence to suggest 57-year-old Dear was deeply concerned about abortion, having rambled to authorities about"no more baby parts" after his arrest.
Dear asked at least one person in a nearby shopping center for directions to the facility before opening fire, law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday, offering the clearest suggestion yet that he was targeting the reproductive health organization.
Dear had been living in remote locations without electricity or water and was known to hold survivalist ideas. One of his three ex-wives, Barbara Mescher Micheau of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, said he had vandalized a South Carolina abortion clinic at least 20 years earlier, announcing to her that he had put glue in the locks of its doors, a common protest technique among activists trying to shut down abortion clinics.
He has also had several run-ins with law enforcement. Police reports and court records in South Carolina show a restraining order and an allegation of domestic violence.
Nine other people were injured in the attack on Planned Parenthood. One of those killed also included a police officer.