Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting suspect had targeted organization before, says ex-wife
Barbara Mescher Michaux has been divorced from Robert Lewis Dear since 1993, but as soon as he was identified as the man who allegedly killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs last week, she told NBC News on Tuesday, she knew he wasn't at the clinic on accident. "For him to plan this and go there, he meant to go there," she said. "There is no doubt in my mind."
Mescher Michaux, who lives in South Carolina with her current husband, described Dear, 57, as volatile and violent and said that while they were married he once put glue in the locks of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Charleston, South Carolina. "He was very proud of himself that he'd gone over and jammed up their locks with glue so that they couldn't get in," she told The New York Times. After police arrested Dear, he said "no more baby parts," officials told several news organizations, but his statement was "so rambling that it has been challenging to pinpoint what motivated the attacks," The Associated Press reports.
Mescher Michaux had also characterized Dear as physically and emotionally violent in a 1993 affidavit she filed during their divorce, AP notes, saying he would listen to music on headphones for hours and disappear on gambling trips to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. "He claims to be a Christian and is extremely evangelistic, but he does not follow the Bible in his actions," she added. "He says as long as he believes he will be saved, he can do whatever he pleases. He is obsessed with the world coming to an end."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dear's third wife, Pamela Ross, also reported domestic abuse to police in 1997, and he has been accused of rape and stalking by women he was not married to. Neighbors of Dear in North Carolina and South Carolina describe him as "silent and sullen, a recluse notable for odd behavior: cruelty to his own dogs, bizarre mutterings about government conspiracies, skinny-dipping, and angry rebuffs when they tried to say hello," The Washington Post reports. "One person who had discussed politics with Dear said he had often praised those who attacked abortion clinics as 'heroes.'"
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Sleaze baack!'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 20 - 26 April
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Trump criminal trial starts with rulings, reminder
Speed Read The first day of his historic trial over hush money payments was mostly focused on jury selection
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for fraud
Speed Read Former "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried will report to federal prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Goon Squad' cops sentenced for torturing 2 Black men
Speed Read The former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Michigan shooter's dad guilty of manslaughter
speed read James Crumbley failed to prevent his son from killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Shooting at Chiefs victory rally kills 1, injures 21
Speed Read Gunfire broke out at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade in Missouri
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published