Robert Dear Headed To Court As Ex-Wife, Neighbors Describe Two Very Different Men

Robert L. Dear Jr.’s ex-wife, Pamela Ross, remembers a very different man than the one accused of killing a police officer and two civilians at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood last week.

Ross described Dear, whom she called Rob, was “well-groomed, gentle, and pleasant” man who didn’t chat much, the New York Times reported. They were married for 12 years, together for 16, and parted ways in 2000.

Known for his quick temper, Robert was accused of hurting Pamela at one point but was otherwise described as religious but not fanatic, opposed to abortion but not political, a hard worker, dedicated family man, and someone who kept guns for hunting and protection.

They lost touch over the years, and Ross only saw Robert Dear twice in 15 years. When she saw Robert on TV, along with the rest of the country, as the alleged shooter at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood last week, she said, “My heart just fell to my stomach.”

“Something must have happened to him when he moved away, that’s all I know. Me and our whole family are extremely devastated and heartbroken by the victims of these families, and we have no words that can ever comfort them other than to say we’re sorry for what he did.”

Planned Parenthood shooting suspect Robert Dear was also charged with animal cruelty in 2002 https://t.co/bzPbxxeNVX pic.twitter.com/Go6QpZwMSh

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 28, 2015

Neighbors, reports from police sources, and a series of online profiles possibly linked to Robert Dear tell a different story.

Dear will face a judge on Monday afternoon, and so far, it’s not clear what charges he’ll face. Robert stands accused of killing three people and shooting nine during an hours-long standoff at the clinic, NBC News recounted. Among the dead are Police Officer Garrett Swasey, who responded to the attack with other officers; Jennifer Markovsky, a mother of two who had accompanied a friend to the clinic; and Ke’Arre Marcell, 29.

The U.S. Attorney’s office has been in contact with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights and National Security divisions, which, according to the Associated Press, hint that authorities could pursue both federal charges and state homicide charges. Robert Dear could also be charged under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits intimidation of patients and employees at clinics. It could also “fit the criteria for a federal domestic terrorism case,” said Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers.

The only possible motivation is a murky one: Dear reportedly uttered “no more baby parts” to officers during questioning and ranted incoherently about politics and President Barack Obama. So far, no credence has been given to this alleged statement from Robert.

Some reports of Robert Dear’s life after his marriage ended indicate a troubled, overzealous man who creeped out his neighbors and was an infrequent, if unsettling, presence in the towns nearby his sparse homes in North Carolina and Colorado. Dear has been variously described by a series of neighbors as a loner, survivalist, and incoherent man often spouting politically-motivated nonsense and paranoid advice.

The small shack in N.C. where Planned Parenthood shooting suspect Robert Dear spent time https://t.co/bT59JRCHY8 pic.twitter.com/arFdvVwgu6

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) November 28, 2015

One neighbor, James Howie, who lived near Robert in North Carolina, said Dear asked him to drive with him to a secluded property to help with some work there. Unnerved, he turned him down, according to the New York Daily News.

“I wouldn’t ride with that fellow from here to the mailbox now…I was just glad to get home.”

The News also uncovered a series of online profiles dating back 10 years. These posts included Biblical rants (“god made us so he can kill who he wants… the lord giveth the lord taketh away blessed be the name of the LORD” and “accept the LORD JESUS while you can” among them); profiles describing himself as a pot smoker who “loves to party”; and dating profiles seeking BDSM and spanking from prospective partners.

However, the photos accompanying these ads feature a stock, clean-shaven man; these days, Robert Dear sports a beard and is much thinner. Dear’s criminal past included an accusation of being a peeping Tom and the suspicion of violence against his ex-wife, but nothing that kept him from buying the high-powered rifle he allegedly used in last week’s shooting.

“All indications are this guy, as I say, was off the grid,” said Mayor Suthers. “[It’s] very hard to ferret out these folks.”