Roundup: Colorado judge sets no bond for Planned Parenthood killer, death penalty likely

The Planned Parenthood clinic multiple murder suspect faces first degree murder charges and a possible death penalty sentence, a Colorado State judge said on Monday.

Robert Dear, 57, who stood motionless, wearing a suicide prevention vest, made his first court appearance Monday afternoon by live video feed from the nearby jail, standing next to his public defender Dan King.

Dear, who surrendered to police after a six-hour shootout in Colorado Springs city last Friday, killed three people, including a policeman, and injured nine others in a killing spree at the clinic that performs abortions, among other health services for women.

He was heard saying "no more baby parts" to police officers following his arrest, sources said.

Several family members of the three murder victims -- a wife and mother, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, and police officer Garrett Swasey, stared into the courtroom's video monitor, looking at Dear, in disbelief.

Dear, a large, physically imposing man standing 6-4 (1.9 meters), weighing 250 pounds (113 kg) with a graying beard, said only four words in the 13-minute "advisement" hearing, where he was told of his rights by El Paso County Judge Gilbert Martinez, who said the suspect is being held without bond.

Martinez set Dear's next court appearance for Dec. 9, when he will hear formal charges against him that are expected to be numerous, including possible bomb-making charges, due to propane canisters he set to ignite near the clinic, according to police.

Dear has been in trouble with the law for years, including charges for animal abuse and sexual misconduct, court records revealed. He moved to Colorado in 2014 and lived in a trailer in a remote area 60 miles (97 km) from the scene of the crime.

According to media sources, Dear was a loner who was known by neighbors for his right-wing views, dislike of U.S. President Barack Obama, and his brevity of conversation with them. He lived for years in a small shack in North Carolina with no running water or electricity.

El Paso County District Attorney Dan May addressed the media following the hearing and said the death penalty decision will not be made for at least another month.

Pundits were quick to note the killing of a police officer is a top shelf criterion that warrants a death penalty response, according to Colorado state statute.

The officer killed was 44-year-old Garrett Swasey, a father of two children and former ice-skating national champion who was highly regarded in his community, according to sources.

The condition of the nine injured in the attack -- including four civilians -- has been listed as "good," although no other details about their injuries have been released, a hospital spokesman said.

King, the public defender representing Dear, also represented the Aurora theater shooter last summer during a riveting, three-month trial. The jury in that trial was unable to convict the mass murderer to death because mental illness played a factor in his actions, sparing him from a lethal injection.

Colorado Springs has been the scene of two multiple shooting murders this month.

On Nov. 1, three random people were gunned down by a crazed gunman in a downtown, residential area of this conservative city, 70 miles (112 km) south of Denver, before city police officers shot and killed him.

Incidents of mass shootings around the United States are frequent. Endi