Justice Denied – Killer Dies In Police Custody

Officer escorting handcuffed person down hallway.

A decade of legal limbo ends not in a courtroom but in a prison hospital, denying three families and a nation the justice they deserved.

Quick Take

Robert Lewis Dear Jr., who killed three people at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic on November 27, 2015, died on November 22, 2025, at age 67 from natural causes while incarcerated at a federal medical prison in Missouri
Dear was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial on state charges in May 2016, preventing Colorado from prosecuting him on those counts despite his federal prosecution under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act
His death occurred just five days before the tenth anniversary of the shooting, eliminating any possibility of trial, sentencing, or public judicial accountability for the three deaths and nine injuries he caused
Federal prosecutors expressed frustration that victims and the community were denied the full measure of justice, as the 68-count federal indictment will never proceed to trial

The Standoff That Changed Everything

On a November morning in 2015, Robert Lewis Dear Jr. walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs and opened fire. Law enforcement received reports of an active shooter at approximately 11:38 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. What followed was a five-hour standoff that gripped the nation’s attention. At 4:52 p.m., Dear surrendered to police SWAT teams. Three people lay dead. Nine more suffered injuries. The shooting represented one of the most significant acts of violence targeting abortion providers in recent American history.

Dear, then 57 years old, had traveled from North Carolina to Colorado Springs. During his initial court appearances, he repeatedly interrupted proceedings and made statements affirming his guilt without entering a formal plea. He called himself a warrior for the babies, revealing the ideological motivation behind his violence. His statements referenced baby parts, directly echoing the 2015 Planned Parenthood undercover videos controversy that had dominated national political discourse.

The Mental Health Complication

The legal system faced an unprecedented challenge. In May 2016, just months after the shooting, a Colorado state court declared Dear mentally incompetent to face trial on state charges. This determination transferred him to the Colorado State Mental Health Institute in Pueblo rather than placing him on trial. The incompetency finding effectively shielded Dear from state prosecution, even as federal authorities pursued a different path.

Federal prosecutors, however, refused to let the case die. In early December 2019, a federal grand jury issued a 68-count indictment against Dear: 65 counts of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and three counts of using a firearm to murder. This federal prosecution proceeded despite his state-level incompetency determination, as federal authorities operated under different legal frameworks and maintained the authority to pursue charges regardless of state court findings.

A Justice System Frustrated

The case created a legal paradox. Dear sat in federal custody, facing federal charges, yet never stood trial. The criminal justice system, designed to provide public accountability through judicial proceedings, ground to a halt. Victims’ families waited for closure that never came. The community sought understanding through testimony that would never be given. Prosecutors invested resources in a case destined never to reach a jury.

Federal prosecutors later expressed their frustration candidly. According to official statements, all three victims and the community deserved the full measure of justice, but they were now denied that possibility. The words carried the weight of systemic failure, a recognition that the machinery of justice had broken down before it could deliver what victims’ families needed most: accountability and recognition.

The Timing That Haunts

Robert Lewis Dear Jr. died on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. He was 67 years old. The Bureau of Prisons confirmed his death three days later on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, stating that he died of natural causes. The announcement came with minimal fanfare and no detailed explanation of the specific circumstances surrounding his death.

The timing created a cruel symmetry. Dear’s death occurred just five days before the tenth anniversary of the shooting. On November 27, 2025, the nation would mark a decade since three people died in Colorado Springs. Instead of marking that anniversary with news of justice served, Americans learned that the perpetrator had died in prison without ever facing trial. The symbolic convergence of these dates underscored the incompleteness of the legal resolution.

What Remains Unfinished

With Dear’s death, the federal prosecution effectively concluded without trial or sentencing. The 68-count indictment will not proceed to trial. No jury will hear evidence. No victims will deliver impact statements from the witness stand. No judge will impose sentence. The case transitions from active prosecution to historical record, joining the tragic catalog of American mass violence that ended without full judicial resolution.

The case demonstrates a fundamental vulnerability in the American criminal justice system. When perpetrators die in custody before trial, the system offers no mechanism for public accountability. Victims’ families receive no formal recognition of their loss through judicial proceedings. Communities receive no cathartic moment of justice. The machinery of law simply stops, leaving everyone involved suspended in incompletion.