James Kopp

Case record: James Kopp

Background

James Charles Kopp (born in Pasadena, California on August 2, 1954) was an American citizen who was convicted in 2003 for the 1998 sniper-style slaying of Dr. Barnett Slepian, an Amherst, New York physician who performed abortions. Prior to his capture, Kopp was on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. On June 7, 1999, he had become the 455th fugitive placed on the list by the FBI.

Kopp was affiliated with anti-abortion activist group "The Lambs of Christ". The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism referred to him as a terrorist.

Kopp was raised Lutheran, but later converted to Roman Catholicism. While staying in Ireland, Kopp began practicing Traditionalist Catholicism. After his arrest, his fellow parishioners at the Society of Saint Pius X's Chapel in Dún Laoghaire were shocked to learn his real identity. He eventually went on to live in France.

The offence

On October 23, 1998, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Dr. Barnett Slepian was standing in the kitchen of his home in Amherst, New York. Kopp fired a single rifleshot from a nearby wooded area, which entered the Slepian home through a rear window.

Dr. Slepian was a well-known obstetrician-gynecologist who performed abortions at a women's clinic in Buffalo, New York. He maintained a private medical practice in an office in Amherst, New York.

Slepian had returned home from a memorial service for his father, entered the kitchen, put a bowl of soup in a microwave oven, and walked to a desk in the corner of the kitchen where he routinely put his keys, wallet and pager. Slepian’s wife and four sons were home at the time. A single shot broke the kitchen window and struck Dr. Slepian under his left shoulder blade, tore through his chest and exited from his right shoulder; it then ricocheted past his wife and two of their sons, finally lodging in the fireplace of the living room, where a third son was watching television. About an hour later, Dr. Slepian was declared dead.

In later federal proceedings and statements described during the trial, Kopp said he intended only to wound Dr. Slepian. In opening statements to the jury during the federal trial, Kopp described Slepian’s death as "a full-bore, 100 percent tragedy" but said it was not murder because it was not malicious or premeditated. He acknowledged he planned the shooting for a year and fired a high-powered rifle with telescopic sights. He stated that, for him, pre-meditation meant:

"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"

Investigation

Gov. George Pataki denounced the murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian as "terrorism" and said:

"It's beyond a tragedy. It's really an act of terrorism and, in my mind, a cold-blooded assassination"

Attorney General Janet Reno issued a statement saying federal law enforcement officials:

"will do whatever it takes to track down and prosecute whoever is responsible for this murder."

Reno also said the Justice Department was "actively investigating the possibility that Dr. Slepian was murdered because of his work providing abortion service." Reno stated:

"The federal government will continue its vigilant defense of constitutionally protected rights to provide and to obtain reproductive health service,"

Local police had not discussed a motive.

A helicopter search for the suspect was fruitless, and the shooter remained at large Saturday after the attack.

The slaying came just days after authorities warned abortion providers in the area to be on guard for possible violence. Since 1994, there had been four other sniper attacks—one in Rochester and three across the border in Canada—that all took place in early autumn and none of the previous attacks killed anyone. All occurred within weeks of November 11, Veterans Day. Inspector David Bowen said:

"There's some type of connection on the date. We don't know what it is"

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials said they believed the same people were responsible for all of the earlier attacks. Canadian and American authorities issued safety tips to abortion providers throughout the region. Frank Olesko said providers were told:

"They were told to stay away from windows that weren't covered with curtains or blinds and to be aware of their surroundings and anything suspicious at their clinics,"

Arrest and capture

Kopp fled to Mexico under an assumed name and later to Ireland.

He was arrested by French law enforcement in the French town of Dinan, Brittany, on March 29, 2001. The United States requested his extradition.

Extradition

Attorney General John Ashcroft promised that the death penalty would not be sought, handed down or applied. Ashcroft’s action was described as a prerequisite according to the extradition treaty between France and the US. It was also described as being done despite the fact that the murder charge Kopp faced was a state charge over which Ashcroft had no jurisdiction and despite objections from New York State attorney general Eliot Spitzer and Erie County district attorney Frank Clark, both of whom sought the death penalty.

The instruction chamber of the Rennes court of appeals ruled in favor of extradition, and Kopp appealed the ruling.

In May 2002, Kopp waived all possible appeals in France and agreed to return to the US, which he did in June.

Trial and conviction (state)

On March 11, 2003, Kopp waived his right to a jury trial. Based on an agreement between the defense and prosecution—Erie County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Maruszak and defense attorney Bruce Barkett—Erie County Judge Michael D'Amico was required to find Kopp guilty or innocent based on a single document of facts. The judge could not consider lesser charges and had to find Kopp guilty or not guilty of second-degree murder.

Since Kopp had confessed his role in the shooting to police (claiming he only meant to wound Slepian), Judge Michael D'Amico found him guilty and sentenced him to the maximum, 25 years to life, on May 9, 2003. The court 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 was identified as attorney for respondent, and Timothy Murphy as attorney for appellant.

During sentencing proceedings described, Lynne Slepian and three of the couple’s four sons were in the courtroom. Kopp addressed the court before he was sentenced, saying:

"Why should the safety of Dr. Slepian be put over the safety of unborn children?"

Kopp said:

"I was innocent of murder then. I am innocent of murder now,"

Kopp also said:

"I have separated murderers from their weapons of mass destruction. I wish I could do 10 life sentences or 10 death penalties to save them,"

Prosecutor Joseph Marusak said Lynne Slepian, along with other family members, submitted letters to the judge in advance of sentencing, and Marusak said the law prevented him from revealing the contents of the pre-sentencing letters.

In the described one-day non-jury proceeding at Kopp’s request, Judge D’Amico was presented with a 35-page list of facts agreed to by both sides, including an admission by Kopp that he fired the shot that struck Slepian.

Barket had argued that Kopp meant only to wound the 52-year-old obstetrician/gynecologist, and Marusak countered that Kopp’s actions—including his choice of weapon, a Russian-made scope-equipped assault rifle, and the use of aliases in buying it—pointed to an intention to kill.

Federal trial and proceedings

Kopp was convicted again on federal charges stemming from the 1998 sniper attack. A jury convicted him on a federal charge of targeting and killing the man because he provided abortions. The jury deliberated about four hours over two days before deciding Kopp violated the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in the 1998 slaying of Dr. Barnett Slepian.

Kopp represented himself during the two-week trial and tried to convince jurors during closing arguments that he did not mean to kill Slepian when he fired from woods into the doctor’s Amherst home. Kopp said he intended only to wound him to prevent him from performing abortions the next day. Kopp said:

"If it happened the way I wanted it to, he would have his arm in a sling,"

The federal conviction carried a potential sentence described as life in prison without parole.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Mehltretter argued that Kopp’s long and careful planning and his choice of weapon—identified as a Russian military assault rifle—proved his deadly intent. Mehltretter said:

"If you want to injure a person, you don't shoot them with a high-powered rifle,"

Kopp fled to Mexico, Ireland, and France, and was captured in March 2001. He had been added to the FBI’s list of the 10 Most Wanted fugitives in June 1999.

Kopp still faced a federal trial described as interfering with the right to an abortion. He was also charged in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on a count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Kopp was accused of violating the Clinic Entrances Act and using a weapon in the murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian.

Kopp dismissed his court-assigned attorney, an assistant federal public defender, and represented himself.

During cross examination in the federal trial, Kopp attempted to have the court reporter from the previous state trial read back statements pertaining to abortion. Judge Richard Arcara precluded this, holding that under the Federal Rules of Evidence Kopp was barred from stating anti-abortion, religious or moral reasoning for his actions.

Judge Arcara limited what Kopp could say on the stand and prohibited Kopp from showing pictures of aborted fetuses.

During the federal trial, the judge’s pretrial rulings barred the defense from making abortion views the centerpiece of its case, including refusal to allow Kopp to show the anti-abortion movie "The Silent Scream" to the jury. The trial was described as expected to last about two more weeks.

In an exchange described during the federal trial, Kopp stated:

"If I’m guilty, weakness is guilty,"

Kopp stated:

"If I’m guilty, innocence is guilty. Those who can’t protect themselves ——"

Judge Arcara cut him off during the opening statement, which had been interrupted multiple times either from the bench or by sustained objection from the prosecution. The judge ruled that references to Kopp’s views on abortion he made in a rambling 90-minute presentencing statement in 2003 were “irrelevant”. A man seated two rows behind Lynne Slepian shouted:

"Judge, what are they irrelevant to?"
and was escorted from the courtroom.

When Dan Herbeck, a reporter for The Buffalo News, testified about a jailhouse confession in an article published in November 2002, Kopp attempted multiple times to bring up quotations related to his beliefs. The prosecution objected successfully on several occasions before he finished his question.

U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara told Kopp at the end of the trial:

“You served as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. You decided that you know better than any law.”

Sentencing (federal)

On June 20, 2007, Kopp was sentenced to life-imprisonment plus ten years for illegal use of a firearm. The court ordered his belongings auctioned off in order to pay $2.6 million to Slepian's family.

Other crimes and related incidents

The FBI noted:

"(t)he shooting was similar to shootings in Rochester, New York, and three Canadian cities during the fall of 1997, in which abortion doctors were shot in their homes."

Kopp had been charged by Canadian authorities in the 1995 shooting of Ontario doctor Hugh Short, one of a string of Remembrance Day shootings.

Kopp was also a suspect in the nonfatal shootings of four other abortion providers in Canada and western New York between 1994 and 1997, including a suspect in the nonfatal shootings of four other abortion providers in Canada and Rochester between 1994 and 1997.

Pre-offence history involving Dr. Slepian and protests

Dr. Slepian had been the target of anti-abortion protesters since the 1980s. In 1988, as Slepian’s family opened gifts during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, protesters in front of his home taunted him, calling him a "murderer." An altercation ensued in which one of the protesters claimed Slepian attacked him with a baseball bat. A misdemeanor assault charge against Slepian was settled in March 1989. The doctor paid about $400 for repairs to a van and for part of the man's medical bills.

In 1992, Slepian closed his Amherst office during a protest by Operation Rescue in the Buffalo area. He said he closed the office to avoid inconveniencing other doctors in his building, but vowed to continue providing abortions at his Buffalo clinic. Harvey Rogers, Slepian’s lawyer, said Slepian stated:

"He said, 'They're not going to scare me. They're not going to threaten me,'"

Allies and help in avoiding capture

Kopp had received help from sympathetic anti-abortion activists Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi, who pled guilty to one count of conspiracy in helping Kopp avoid capture. On August 21, 2003, they were sentenced to time served and released.

Public reactions and remarks

Abortion rights advocates called on law enforcement officials to step up their protection of doctors and clinics who provide abortions. Eleanor Smeal said:

"We are very upset. We are seeing extremists using bullets and bombs to get their way in our democracy,"

Smeal said:

"We believe the authorities must consider this political terrorism and act as if it is."

President Clinton said in a statement from the White House:

"No matter where we stand on the issue of abortion, all Americans must stand together in condemning this tragic and brutal act,"

Karen Swallow Prior said:

"For anyone to take it upon himself to be judge, jury and executioner is nothing but sheer evil,"

The Rev. Flip Benham said his organization did not support Slepian's killing, even though the doctor "murdered countless thousands of innocent children." Benham said:

"He has been a killer for a long time .... (but) I am sad to learn of his death,"

At the scene, neighbors lamented the loss of a friendly guy who always built elaborate Halloween displays. Suby Shastry said:

"This is sad, to kill someone to prove a point,' said neighbor Suby Shastry."
Shastry also said: "He has a family, too. Killing someone doesn't solve a problem."

Susan Ward, a clinic spokeswoman for Buffalo GYN Women’s Services, said:

"He was one of the few physicians with the integrity to stand up for what he believed in,"
and: "He was a strong supporter of women's right to choose. He had some fearfulness, I'm sure, but he was determined to continue the work he was doing and was not going to let extremists interfere."

Timeline

• August 2, 1954 — James Charles Kopp was born in Pasadena, California.
• June 7, 1999 — Kopp became the 455th fugitive placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
• October 23, 1998 — Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot to death in his Amherst, New York home.
• March 29, 2001 — Kopp was arrested by French law enforcement in Dinan, Brittany.
• May 2002 — Kopp waived all possible appeals in France and agreed to return to the US.
• June 2003 — Kopp returned to the US.
• March 11, 2003 — Kopp waived his right to a jury trial in Erie County.
• May 9, 2003 — Kopp was sentenced to 25 years to life by Erie County Judge Michael D'Amico.
• July 7, 2006 — The Appellate Division, Fourth Department upheld Kopp's conviction.
• January 25, 2007 — Kopp was described as having been convicted by a federal jury on a federal charge stemming from the 1998 sniper attack.
• March 2007 — Kopp was described as serving a 25-year-to-life state sentence and facing life in prison without parole for the federal conviction.
• June 20, 2007 — Kopp was sentenced to life-imprisonment plus ten years for illegal use of a firearm in federal court, and the court ordered his belongings auctioned to pay $2.6 million to Slepian's family.
• August 21, 2003 — Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi were sentenced to time served and released.