Federal officials confirmed Tuesday that Robert Dear, the man accused of killing three people during a 2015 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, died over the weekend while in federal custody, as reported by The New York Post.
Dear, 67, died Saturday at a federal medical center in Springfield, Missouri, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Agency spokesperson Kristie Breshears said he died of natural causes.
Dear faced federal charges beginning in 2019 after authorities alleged he targeted the clinic because it provided abortion services.
I made the decision to charge Robert Dear federally in hope of getting a measure of justice for the victims that the state system was failing to bring. I’m sorry we were not able to get there but hope this ending brings them some sense of closure. https://t.co/xUT4QnvyOF
— Jason Dunn (@jasondunnco) November 26, 2025
His prosecution was repeatedly delayed as courts determined he was incompetent to stand trial due to a diagnosed delusional disorder. Legal proceedings centered on whether Dear could be medicated against his will in order to restore competency.
Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael J. Allen, whose office previously handled Dear’s state case, said Dear had most recently been civilly committed within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Allen said the conclusion of the case leaves unanswered the judicial process that victims’ families had awaited. “All three victims, and this community, deserved the full measure of justice in this case but they are now denied that possibility,” Allen said.
Dear’s legal proceedings continued into 2023, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld a 2022 ruling that allowed federal authorities to forcibly medicate him.
His attorneys argued that potential side effects could worsen his preexisting health conditions, including untreated high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
The ruling cleared the way for prosecutors to resume efforts to bring the case to trial, though Dear never reached that stage.
Federal prosecutors said Dear arrived at the clinic in November 2015 armed with multiple firearms, propane tanks, and 500 rounds of ammunition. According to charging documents, he opened fire outside the building before forcing his way inside.
Three people were killed in the attack. Ke’Arre Stewart, 29, was an Army veteran who served in Iraq and was the father of two children.
Jennifer Markovsky, 36, grew up in Oahu, Hawaii, and was a mother of two. Both had accompanied friends to the clinic. Garrett Swasey, a police officer at a nearby college, responded after learning of the shooting and was also killed.
Nine additional people were injured.
The Associated Press reported that a voicemail seeking comment was left with the federal public defender’s office in Colorado. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment Tuesday.
Robert Dear, the man charged with killing 3 people in a 2015 Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting – but who has been repeatedly deemed incompetent since – has died. Now, we’re hearing from survivors of the attack 👇 pic.twitter.com/AdHaeIPRC5
— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) November 26, 2025
Dear’s death closes the federal case that had remained unresolved for nearly a decade as courts grappled with questions surrounding his mental health and legal competency.
