Suspect in Planned Parenthood attack makes 1st appearance

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The man accused in the shooting rampage at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic made his first court appearance Monday and learned that he will face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of three people killed in the standoff with police.

Speaking in a raspy voice, Robert Lewis Dear appeared via a video hookup from the El Paso County Jail, where he has been held since surrendering after Friday’s five-hour siege.

The white-bearded suspect wore a padded vest with black straps that authorities described as a standard-issue “safety smock.” He gazed downward during most of the hearing. Victims’ relatives watched from a courtroom.

When asked by Chief District Judge Gilbert Martinez if he understood his rights, Dear replied, “no questions.”

Public defender Daniel King, who represented Colorado theater shooter James Holmes, stood beside Dear and will act as his attorney. The suspect is expected to be formally charged on Dec. 9.

Dear, 57, is accused of fatally shooting a university police officer who responded to the attack, as well as an Iraq war veteran and a mother of two inside the clinic. Nine other people were wounded.

After Monday’s hearing, District Attorney Dan May said Dear could face other charges, but he did not elaborate.

Late Monday, the husband of Jennifer Markovsky, a woman who was killed in the assault, released a statement recalling how she read to their two children and helped them with their homework. “We will miss her; her cooking, crafting and adventurous spirit,” Paul Markovsky wrote.

Police have declined to speculate on a motive for the attack. A law enforcement official said Dear told authorities “no more baby parts” during a rambling statement after being arrested.

Planned Parenthood has said witnesses believe the gunman was motivated by his opposition to abortion. But Dear has been described by acquaintances as a reclusive loner who did not seem to have strong political or social opinions.

The Colorado district attorney said he has been in touch with U.S. Attorney John Walsh’s office about the case. Walsh said investigators have been consulting with the Justice Department’s civil rights and national security divisions, a move that suggests authorities could pursue federal charges in addition to state homicide ones. He did not elaborate.

One possible avenue could be the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it a crime to injure or intimidate clinic patients and employees.