James Charles Kopp (born August 2, 1954) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

who was convicted in 2003 for the 1998

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

-style

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

Barnett Slepian Barnett Abba Slepian (April 23, 1946 – October 23, 1998) was an American physician and abortion provider who was assassinated in his home by James Charles Kopp, a militant member of the US anti-abortion movement. Life and career Slepian was ...

, an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

from

Amherst, New York Amherst () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. Amherst is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census. The second ...

who performed

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

s. Prior to his capture, Kopp was on the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. On June 7, 1999 he had become the 455th fugitive placed on the list by the FBI. He was affiliated with the militant

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

group known as "The Lambs of Christ". He has been referred to as a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, and was "well-known in militant anti-abortion circles, where he was nicknamed Atomic Dog".Vulliamy, McDonald & Jeffries (2001
Abortion death hunt muzzles 'Atomic Dog': FBI Kept At Bay by Suspect Using A Secret Email System
, ''The Guardian'', 1 April 2001

Early life

James Charles Kopp was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

and raised

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, but later converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. Kopp graduated from the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

in 1976, with a bachelor's degree in biology, going on to take a master's degree in embryology from

California State University Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. Kopp started providing support to anti-abortion groups after his girlfriend underwent an abortion, and used his technical abilities to create special locks that protesters then used on the doors of abortion clinics.

Murder

On October 23, 1998, at approximately 10 p.m., Barnett Slepian was standing in the kitchen of his home in

. Kopp fired a single shot from a

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

from a nearby wooded area, which entered the Slepian home through a rear window. Slepian was a well-known

obstetrician/gynecologist Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...

who performed abortions at a women's clinic in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. He also maintained a private medical practice in an office in

. Within hours of the murder, anti-abortion militants posted Slepian's name crossed out on their internet website, which also served as "a virtual hit list of doctors who carry out abortions".

Fugitive

The FBI believed that Kopp received assistance in fleeing the US, although

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

groups denied they assisted him. Kopp fled to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

under an assumed name and later to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He then fled Ireland one step ahead of police on a ferry to

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 12 March 2001, with two Irish passports besides his original U.S. document.

Arrest and Extradition

On March 29, 2001, Kopp was arrested without an

incident Incident may refer to: * A property of a graph in graph theory * ''Incident'' (film), a 1948 film noir * Incident (festival), a cultural festival of The National Institute of Technology in Surathkal, Karnataka, India * Incident (Scientology), a ...

by French law enforcement in the town of

Dinan Dinan (; ) is a walled Breton town and a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France. On 1 January 2018, the former commune of Léhon was merged into Dinan. Geography Its geographical setting is exceptional. Instead of n ...

, just after picking up a package containing $300 outside of a post office. The United States requested his

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2005. A former U.S. Senator from Missouri and the 50th ...

promised that the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

would not be sought, handed down or applied, a prerequisite according to the

extradition treaty Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

between France and the United States. Ashcroft's promise was made over the objections of

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of ...

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was b ...

and Erie County

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Frank Clark, both of whom wanted the

, though such a sentence is not available in the New York State criminal justice system. Spitzer and Clark argued that the charge of murder was a state charge, not a federal charge, and Ashcroft had no

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

in the matter. The instruction chamber of the Rennes Court of Appeals ruled in favor of extradition. Kopp and his attorney, Herve Rouzaud-Le Bouef, appealed this ruling, stating that the "unsigned embassy letter was 'insufficient' as a guarantee, prompting Ashcroft's unusual direct intervention. In May 2002, Kopp waived all possible

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

s in France and returned to the U.S. in June 2002.

Trial and conviction

On March 11, 2003, Kopp waived his right to a

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a Trial, legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or Question of law, findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or Judicial panel, panel of judges makes all decisions. ...

. Based upon an agreement between the defense and prosecution — Erie County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Maruszak and

defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

Bruce Barkett — Erie County Judge Michael D'Amico would be required to find Kopp guilty or not guilty based on a single document of facts. In addition, the judge could not consider lesser charges; he had to find Kopp guilty or not guilty of second-degree murder. Kopp had confessed his role in the shooting to police, claiming he only meant to wound Slepian. D'Amico found him guilty and sentenced him to the maximum penalty, 25 years to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

, on May 9, 2003. D'Amico told Kopp "It's clear the act is premeditated; there is no doubt about it. You made an attempt to avoid responsibility for the act. What may appear righteous to you is immoral to someone else." The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, upheld the conviction on July 7, 2006 (Shawn P. Hennessy, attorney for respondent and Timothy Murphy, attorney for appellant). He is currently serving his sentence at

Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota The Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota (FCI Mendota) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in California. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. ...

, his BOP ID being 11761-055.

Appeals

Kopp filed an appeal with the

United States District Court for the Western District of New York The United States District Court for the Western District of New York (in case citations, W.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the western parts of Upstate New York. Appeals are taken to the Second Circuit (excep ...

. Judge Richard Arcara was selected to preside. Arcara limited what Kopp could say on the stand and prohibited the defense from showing pictures of aborted

fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal deve ...

es. There are also limitations to witness' accounts. If found guilty in federal court, Kopp faced a mandatory life sentence. Kopp was charged with violating the Clinic Entrances Act and using a weapon in the murder of Slepian. Kopp chose to act as his own attorney. On the second day of the federal trial, and during

cross examination In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and m ...

, Kopp moved to have the court reporter from his previous state trial read back statements pertaining to abortion. Judge Arcara forbade this, holding that under the federal rules of evidence, Kopp was barred from stating anti-abortion, religious or moral reasoning for his actions, which effectively prevented Kopp from giving any rationale for his actions. Kopp was also charged in the

on a count of violating the

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE or the Access Act, Pub. L. No. 103-259, 108 Stat. 694) (May 26, 1994, ) is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May 1994, which prohibits the following three things: ...

. Kopp dismissed his court-assigned attorney, an assistant federal

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

, and chose to represent himself. On June 20, 2007, he was sentenced to

plus 10 years for illegal use of a firearm. Additionally, the court ordered his belongings auctioned off in order to pay $2.6 million to Slepian's family. Arcara told Kopp at the end of the trial: In his opening statement to the jury, Kopp said that although Slepian's death was "a full-bore, 100 percent

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

" it wasn't murder because it was not malicious or premeditated. He did acknowledge that he had planned the shooting for a year, and that he fired a high-powered rifle with telescopic sights, but that he had only meant to wound the doctor (to keep him from performing abortions). Kopp claimed that murder means "Shoot them in the head, blow up a car, riddle their body with bullets like they do in the movies. That's how you kill someone." On April 6, 2009, The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the life sentence holding that all issues raised were without merit.

Other possible crimes

It has been speculated that Kopp has committed other crimes besides killing Slepian. The FBI notes that "the shooting was similar to shootings in the

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

area, and three

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

cities during the fall of 1997, in which abortion doctors were shot in their homes". Kopp has been charged by Canadian authorities in the 1995 shooting of an

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

doctor, Hugh Short, one of a string of Remembrance Day Shootings. Garson Romalis and Jack Fainman were also shot and wounded by unknown assailants. An unnamed Perinton doctor was shot on October 28, 1997, the bullet narrowly missing their head. The doctor's name has been withheld by Monroe County police.

Co-conspirators

Kopp received help from a sympathetic

activist couple, a Vietnam veteran and former stage and film actor Dennis Malvasi and his wife Loretta Marra of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, who pleaded guilty to one count each of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

in helping Kopp avoid capture. Marra and Malvasi had communicated extensively with Kopp, telling him also via electronic communications that "the coast is clear", referring to his proposed secretive return to US via Canada, and also to his use of their home as a safe house. On August 21, 2003, they were sentenced to time served, and released in October that same year. The two fugitive assisters later relocated to Newark, New Jersey and briefly changed their names to Joyce Maier and Ted Barnes.

Fictional portrayals and media

The murder of

inspired an episode of '' Law and Order: Criminal Intent'', "The Third Horseman", in season 1, episode 11. Singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco wrote and performed the song, "Hello, Birmingham" about Kopp's shooting of Dr. Slepian. It is the sixth track on her tenth studio album, ''To The Teeth.''©️ Righteous Babe Records, Buffalo, NY 1999

References

External links

Anti-abortion Extremist James Kopp

Court TV complete coverage of James Kopp murder trial

James Kopp: A Chronology of Violence

Feminist Daily News stories about Kopp

Feminist Daily News stories about Marra

Findlaw profile of Kopp case

* Public Press Releases

* Kopp's Federal Court Case {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopp, James Charles 1954 births 1998 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals American assassins American criminal snipers American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Anti-abortion violence in the United States California State University, Fullerton alumni Catholics from California Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Fugitives Living people People convicted of murder by the United States federal government People convicted of murder by New York (state) People from Pasadena, California Perpetrators of religiously motivated violence in the United States Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New York (state) University of California, Santa Cruz alumni