The man accused of attacking a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs made his first court appearance on Monday.
Fifty-seven-year-old Robert Lewis Dear appeared before a judge in a brief video hearing on Monday, standing next to public defender Daniel King. He’s the same lawyer who represented Colorado theater shooting gunman James Holmes.
Dear wore a white vest and blinked periodically as the judge spoke to him. He only spoke once, saying “no questions” when the judge asked him if he had any questions about the first-degree murder charges he faces.
Judge Stephen J. Sletta has sealed court documents in this case. The order was made available Monday after being issued Friday, the day of the attack. Such documents detail evidence gathered by investigators that justify arresting suspects and searching property.
Prosecutors said making them public would jeopardize the ongoing investigation. The judge agreed to keep the records sealed until the termination of the case or a further order of the court.
The only publicly available clue to his motivation so far is that officers claim Dear said “no more baby parts,” while being led away from the scene after his arrest.
Other than that, family members and acquaintances have previously described him as “weird” and “unpredictable.”
After dozens of interviews with his family, investigators are still searching for answers, a source tells CBS News. FBI agents have questioned family members of dear in multiple states — he was a North Carolina resident — finding that Dear was not close to and estranged from most of them, the source said. So far, no substantive information has come from these interviews that would clearly shed light on his motive.
Sources also tell CBS News Dear was heavily armed when he arrived at the clinic on Friday. A law enforcement source says the 57-year-old brought all the guns he had to the scene.
Sources say Dear was carrying duffle bags full of rifles and hand guns. The cache of weapons included “AK”-style rifles. Investigators are in the process of tracing the guns to see if they were all purchased legally.
CBS News’ David Begnaud reports the shooting started shortly after a security guard at the Colorado Springs clinic finished his shift.
The gunman’s actions were calm and deliberate, witnesses said.
Ozy Licano, 61, of Manzanola, Colorado, said Dear raised his gun to shoot him but missed.
“When I stared at him, I saw this stone-cold emptiness, and I look right at him, and then, you know, he shot,” Licano said.
The Associated Press reports that police records show that Dear was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in South Carolina in 1992. He was arrested in North Charleston, South Carolina, on a charge of criminal sexual conduct after a woman said he put a knife to her neck, forced her into her apartment and sexually assaulted her after hitting her in the mouth.
No records show how the case was ultimately handled. Investigators said Dear told them he knew the woman and had consensual sex with her.(CBS News)
Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-lewis-dear-planned-parenthood-first-court-appearance/
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