When Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller stood trial in March, Scott Roeder was there in the courtroom.

And after Tiller was acquitted on charges he had failed to properly justify late-term abortions, Roeder told a fellow activist that the whole process was a “sham.”

“He seemed to be passionate about that,” said Eugene Frye, a Kansas City area anti-abortion activist for the past three decades. “He felt justice had not been served.”

Now, Roeder will face his own charges inside the same courthouse. Prosecutors say the 51-year-old Merriam man walked into Tiller’s church Sunday morning while the doctor was serving as an usher and shot him once in the face.

District Attorney Nola Foulston said Roeder was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder, not capital murder, because Tiller’s killing didn’t meet any of the criteria required in Kansas. Capital murder charges allow for the death penalty; first-degree murder can carry a life sentence.

“Under the facts and circumstances that are known at this time, the election has been to go with a first-degree murder,” Foulston said.

Tiller’s family said Tuesday there are no immediate plans to reopen the clinic, one of the few in the country to perform late-term abortions.

“The family’s hope is that the valuable work of Dr. Tiller will be able to continue, but there have been no final decisions made about the long-term plans for the medical practice,” said a statement released by Tiller’s attorneys, Dan Monnat and Lee Thompson, on behalf of Jeanne Tiller and the Tiller family.

“No patients are being scheduled at this time,” according to the statement. “The Tiller family’s focus, of course, is to determine what is in the best interests of the employees and the patients.”

A memorial service for the Wichita doctor is scheduled for Saturday morning at College Hill United Methodist Church.

In the days since Roeder’s arrest, his family painted him as a kind man but someone who had suffered from mental illness. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was younger, and court records from a custody dispute in Pennsylvania state that he doesn’t take medication for it.

For the past 15 years, family members also said he has held extremist anti-government views, including at one point refusing to pay taxes. In the mid-1990s he joined the Freemen group.

In the two weeks immediately before the shooting, he had been working at Quicksilver Enterprises, an airport shuttle company.

His work history includes jobs in an envelope company, a fast-food restaurant and a cab company. He also had contracted with The Star’s circulation department for three weeks to deliver circulars to non-subscribers, before quitting May 12.

Over the years, his views against abortion grew stronger, although he was never violent, those who know him said.

When he attended protests, “he was a little sheepish,” Frye said. “When he talked he had a quiet gentle speech about him. Never rude or boisterous. … I never heard one comment that would ever lead you to think he would do any type of violence at all.”

But Roeder does match the description of a man who vandalized a Kansas City, Kan., clinic twice in the past month — including the day before Tiller was killed, the clinic’s office manager said Tuesday.

Jeffrey Pederson, office manager of the Central Family Medicine clinic, 720 Central Ave., said a man glued the locks shut on the clinic’s doors on May 23 and again on Saturday morning.

Pederson said he filed a police report after both incidents and contacted the FBI, giving them the suspect’s license plate number after Saturday’s incident.

On Sunday morning, Pederson said, he got a call from Wichita about Tiller’s murder. At 1 p.m., he said he got another call from his Wichita contact who gave him the suspect’s license plate.

“I was just sick,” he said. “That was the plate I gave the FBI Saturday. I called the FBI back and said, ‘It’s the same car. It’s the same guy.’ ”

The FBI was tight-lipped about the incident.

“When we are notified when vandalism occurs at a clinic, we look into the matter, but we’re not going to comment on anything regarding that incident,” said spokeswoman Bridget Patton.

Pederson said a man the clinic staff knew as Scott and matching Roeder’s description had been protesting at the clinic for years.

A few years ago, Pederson said, Roeder “came every other month, kind of infrequently. He wouldn’t really hold signs, but he would gab with the regular group.”

Last Thursday, Pederson said, he was able to locate the vandalism suspect on the surveillance video. He said he called the FBI and gave them a copy.

“And at 5:50 a.m. Saturday, he attempted to glue the back door, but one of my staff was already here,” Pederson said. “She chased after him, and he called her a baby killer twice.”

At the time of Roeder’s arrest Sunday afternoon along Interstate 35 in Johnson County, a television station captured the vehicle on video. There on the dashboard was a note that read “Cheryl” and “Op Rescue” with a phone number.

Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy adviser for Operation Rescue out of Wichita, said Tuesday that she has spoken to Roeder in the past, but she said he would initiate the contact. She said she hasn’t had any recent contact with him.

Sullenger served about two years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to bomb an abortion clinic in California in 1988. She has since renounced violent action.

She said Roeder’s interest was in court hearings involving Tiller.

“He would call and say, ‘When does court start? When’s the next hearing?’ ” Sullenger said. “I was polite enough to give him the information. I had no reason not to. Who knew? Who knew, you know what I mean?”

The Wichita Eagle contributed to this story. To reach Laura Bauer, call 816-234-4944 or send an e-mail to lbauer@kcstar.com.