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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Mental Health Hearing for Planned Parenthood Shooter

DENVER (CN) - Accused Planned Parenthood murderer Robert Dear will appear in court Wednesday for a status hearing on his mental stability.

Dear, 57, is accused of murdering three people and attempting to murder and wounding nine at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs on Nov. 27.

He has been in El Paso (Colo.) County Jail since he surrendered after a six-hour standoff with police.

An arresting officer said Dear muttered "no more baby parts" after he was arrested and Dear, a North Carolina native, blurted out several anti-abortion statements at his first hearing, on Dec. 9.

Killed at the Planned Parenthood clinic were University of Colorado police Officer Garrett Swasey, 44; Iraq war veteran Ke'Arre Stewart, 29; and Jennifer Markovsky, 35, a mother of two, who was there to support a friend.

At the first hearing, Dear's public defender Dan King asked Judge Gilbert Martinez to order a psychological evaluation for Dear, repeatedly interrupted the proceedings.

"Do you know who this lawyer is?" Dear asked in court. "He's the lawyer for the Batman shooter that drugged him all up and that's what they want to do to me."

Dear this year defended mass murderer James Holmes, who killed 12 people and wounded 70 at a "Batman" movie in Aurora, Colo., in 2012. He was sentenced to life in prison.

At the Dec. 9 hearing, Dear yelled, "I'm guilty - there is no trial," and called himself a "warrior for the babies."

King made it clear that he felt Dear's mental health had to be addressed before proceedings could continue.

"I cannot accept that Mr. Dear is competent as he sits here today," King told the court.

The hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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