{{short description|American convicted murderer}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} {{More footnotes needed|date=July 2011}} {{Infobox FBI Ten Most Wanted | name = James Charles Kopp | image = | caption = Photograph taken in 1997 | charge = Murder, Violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) act | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|08|02}} | birth_place = Pasadena, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | added_date = June 7, 1999 | caught_date = March 30, 2001 | remove_date = | number = 455 | status = Captured |conviction='''Federal'''<br/>Violating the FACE Act resulting in death<br />Use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death<br />'''New York'''<br/>Second degree murder|conviction_penalty='''Federal'''<br />Life imprisonment<br />'''New York'''<br />25 years to life|conviction_status=Incarcerated}} '''James Charles Kopp''' (born August 2, 1954) is an American who was convicted in 2003 for the 1998 sniper-style murder of Barnett Slepian, an American OB-GYN physician from Amherst, New York 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.
He has been referred to as a terrorist by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism,<ref>[http://www.tkb.org/KeyLeader.jsp?memID=31 The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041810/http://www.tkb.org/KeyLeader.jsp?memID=31 |date=September 30, 2007 }} bio sketch of Kopp</ref> and was "well-known in militant anti-abortion circles, where he was nicknamed Atomic Dog".<ref name="Guardian">Vulliamy, McDonald & Jeffries (2001) [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/01/edvulliamy.henrymcdonald Abortion death hunt muzzles 'Atomic Dog': FBI Kept At Bay by Suspect Using A Secret Email System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202010908/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/01/edvulliamy.henrymcdonald |date=December 2, 2016 }}, ''The Guardian'', April 1, 2001</ref>
==Early life== James Charles Kopp was born in Pasadena, California and raised Lutheran, but later converted to Roman Catholicism. Kopp graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1976, with a bachelor's degree in biology, going on to take a master's degree in embryology from California State University Fullerton. 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.<ref name="Guardian"/>
==Murder== On October 23, 1998, at approximately 10 p.m., Barnett Slepian was standing in the kitchen of his home in Amherst, New York. Kopp fired a single shot from an SKS semi-automatic rifle from a nearby wooded area, which entered the Slepian home through a rear window, striking and killing Slepian. Slepian was a well-known obstetrician/gynecologist who performed abortions at a women's clinic in Buffalo, New York. He also maintained a private medical practice in an office in Amherst, New York. 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".<ref name="Guardian" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/kopp-v-fischer|title=Kopp v. Fischer|website=casetext.com|access-date=September 16, 2011}}{{dead link|date=August 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
==Fugitive== The FBI believed that Kopp received assistance in fleeing the US, although Irish anti-abortion groups denied they assisted him.<ref name="Guardian" /><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Irish Times|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/anti-abortion-groups-say-they-did-not-meet-kopp-1.296587|title=Anti-abortion groups say they did not meet Kopp|date=March 31, 2001|first1=Jim|last1=Cusack|first2=Joe|last2=Humphreys|page=7|quote=Irish anti-abortion groups have said they were unaware Mr James Kopp was hiding in Ireland. He spent 12 months in this State using false identities. ... A Pro-Life Campaign spokesman, Mr John Smyth, said "there was not a murmur going around in any circle that he was here," adding that Mr Kopp would have been "very foolish" to try to contact groups here. .. A Youth Defence spokesman, Mr Justin Barrett, was surprised to hear that Mr Kopp spent a year in Ireland.|access-date=February 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063001/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/anti-abortion-groups-say-they-did-not-meet-kopp-1.296587|archive-date=February 9, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
Kopp fled to Mexico under an assumed name and later to Ireland. He then fled Ireland one step ahead of police on a ferry to Brittany, France on March 12, 2001, with two Irish passports besides his original U.S. document.<ref name="Guardian" />
===Arrest and Extradition=== On March 29, 2001, Kopp was arrested without incident<ref name="fbi.gov">{{cite web |title=Public profile on the public FBI's knowledgebase of the FBI |url=https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/topten-history/hires_images/FBI-455-JamesCharlesKopp.jpg/view |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104010442/https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/topten-history/hires_images/FBI-455-JamesCharlesKopp.jpg/view |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |access-date=January 17, 2019 |website=fbi.gov}}</ref> by French law enforcement in the town of Dinan, Brittany, just after picking up a package containing $300<ref name="Guardian" /> outside of a post office.<ref name="fbi.gov" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/03/30/murder-suspect-arrested-in-france/ba76d782-a7ba-456b-83be-ceb889af4f5e/|title=Murder Suspect Arrested In France|newspaper=The Washington Post }}</ref> The United States requested his extradition. Attorney General John Ashcroft promised that the death penalty would not be sought, handed down or applied, a prerequisite according to the extradition treaty between France and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=#253: 06-07-01 STATEMENT BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ON JAMES CHARLES KOPP EXTRADITION |url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2001/June/253ag.htm |access-date=June 26, 2022 |website=www.justice.gov}}</ref> Ashcroft's promise was made over the objections of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark, both of whom wanted the death penalty, then an option 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 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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Richburg |first=Keith B. |date=June 29, 2001 |title=Court in France Approves Extradition of U.S. Fugitive |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/06/29/court-in-france-approves-extradition-of-us-fugitive/4ff5a201-e3fe-4592-acb5-5e52e45d111a/ |access-date=June 26, 2022 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
In May 2002, Kopp waived all possible appeals in France and returned to the U.S. in June 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-28-fg-kopp28-story.html|title=Murder Suspect Agrees to Extradition|website=Los Angeles Times |date=May 28, 2002 }}</ref>
==Trial and conviction== On March 11, 2003, Kopp waived his right to a jury trial. Based upon 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 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, on May 9, 2003.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2003/05/09/Kopp-sentenced-to-25-years-to-life/37771052509699/|title=Kopp sentenced to 25 years to life}}</ref> 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."<ref>[http://www.courttv.com/trials/kopp/050903_sentence_ap.html Killer of New York abortion doctor gets maximum 25 years to life sentence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051205085806/http://www.courttv.com/trials/kopp/050903_sentence_ap.html |date=December 5, 2005 }} from CourtTV News</ref> 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, his BOP ID being 11761-055.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bop.gov/mobile/find_inmate/byname.jsp#inmate_results|title = BOP: Federal Inmates by Name}}</ref>
==Appeals== Kopp filed an appeal with the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. 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 fetuses. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/judge-warns-kopp-that-representing-himself-is-a-mistake/article_5fb813a6-ee98-5b82-b39d-ec0d7e890f7c.html|title=Judge warns Kopp that representing himself is a mistake|date=April 27, 2006 }}</ref> On the second day of the federal trial, and during cross examination, 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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}
Kopp was also charged in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York on a count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Kopp dismissed his court-assigned attorney, an assistant federal public defender, and chose to represent himself. On June 20, 2007, he was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 10 years for illegal use of a firearm.<ref name="BuffaloNews_102613">{{ cite news | title = Kopp gets life without parole in Slepian killing | url = http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/102613.html | work = The Buffalo News| author = Michael Beebe | date = June 20, 2007 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070627045400/http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/102613.html | archivedate = June 27, 2007 }}</ref> 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:
{{blockquote|You served as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. You decided that you know better than any law.<ref name="BuffaloNews_102613" />}}
In his opening statement to the jury, Kopp said that although Slepian's death was "a full-bore, 100 percent 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."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-01-10 |title=Abortion Doc's Killer Apologizes To Widow - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-docs-killer-apologizes-to-widow/ |access-date=2025-11-26 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Abortionist killer: I only meant to injure - UPI.com |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2007/01/11/Abortionist-killer-I-only-meant-to-injure/90981168523471/ |access-date=2025-11-26 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref>
On April 6, 2009, The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the life sentence holding that all issues raised were without merit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30073594|title=Sentence upheld in abortion doctor slaying|website=NBC News |date=April 6, 2009 }}</ref>
==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 area, and three Canadian cities during the fall of 1997, in which abortion doctors were shot in their homes".<ref>[https://www.fbi.gov/libref/factsfigure/civilrights.htm Facts and Figures 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227084159/https://www2.fbi.gov/libref/factsfigure/civilrights.htm |date=December 27, 2016 }} from the FBI</ref> Kopp has been charged by Canadian authorities in the 1995 shooting of an Ontario, Canada doctor, Hugh Short, one of a string of Remembrance Day Shootings.<ref>[http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/james_kopp.html Anti-Abortion Extremists -James Kopp] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060116214857/http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/james_kopp.html |date=January 16, 2006 }}</ref><ref>Doug Saunders, "Hidden Face of Murder Frustrates Pursuers". Globe and Mail, October 22, 2002, pp.A9.</ref><ref>Robert Maas, "Abortion Doctor Stabbed in B.C.". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 12, 2000, page A3</ref><ref>Estanislao Oziewicz, "Potential Jurors Must Reveal Abortion Views". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 4, 2003, page A3</ref><ref>Michael Beebe, "Round Two for James Kopp: Anti-Abortion Activist Goes on Trial Again This Week for the Sniper Death of and Amherst Abortion Provider", ''The Buffalo News'', pg. 1, January 7, 2007</ref> Garson Romalis and Jack Fainman were also shot and wounded by unknown assailants.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/garson-romalis-risked-his-life-to-perform-abortions/article17052093/?page=all|title=Garson Romalis risked his life to perform abortions - the Globe and Mail|access-date=September 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428234102/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/garson-romalis-risked-his-life-to-perform-abortions/article17052093/?page=all|archive-date=April 28, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/A-shot-in-the-dark-133741193.html|title=A shot in the dark - Winnipeg Free Press|access-date=June 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208063339/http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/A-shot-in-the-dark-133741193.html|archive-date=December 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/15/nyregion/metro-news-briefs-new-york-possible-link-reported-in-shootings-of-doctors.html|title=METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK; Possible Link Reported in Shootings of Doctors - the New York Times|newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 15, 1999 |access-date=February 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917083348/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/15/nyregion/metro-news-briefs-new-york-possible-link-reported-in-shootings-of-doctors.html|archive-date=September 17, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Co-conspirators== Kopp received help from a sympathetic anti-abortion activist couple, a Vietnam veteran and former stage and film actor Dennis Malvasi and his wife Loretta Marra of Brooklyn, who pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy 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.<ref name="Guardian" /> 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.<ref name="Guardian" />
==Fictional portrayals and media== The murder of Barnett Slepian inspired an episode of ''Law and Order: Criminal Intent'', "The Third Horseman", in season 1, episode 11.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
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''.<ref>©️ Righteous Babe Records, Buffalo, NY 1999</ref>
==See also== *Anti-abortion violence in the United States *Army of God (USA) *Christian terrorism *Domestic terrorism in the United States *Donald Spitz *Paul Schenck
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060116214857/http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/james_kopp.html Anti-abortion Extremist James Kopp] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050907155108/http://www.courttv.com/trials/kopp/ Court TV complete coverage of James Kopp murder trial] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060117184436/http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/webzine/eyeonextremism/eoe-kopp-chronology.xml James Kopp: A Chronology of Violence] * [http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/news_results.asp?Body=kopp Feminist Daily News stories about Kopp] * [http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/news_results.asp?Body=marra Feminist Daily News stories about Marra] * [http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/kopptrial5.html Kopp Flops in Bid for Martyrdom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508054453/http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/kopptrial5.html |date=May 8, 2006 }} * [http://hatemonitor.csusb.edu/most_wanted/Kopp2.html Archive of Kopp's FBI Most Wanted info] * [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2001/June/253ag.htm DOJ statement on Kopp Extradition] * [http://news.lp.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/kopp/usmalvasimarra101702ord.pdf Findlaw profile of Kopp case] * [http://www.christiangallery.com/koppdidit.htm christiangallery.com] * Public Press Releases * [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2002/June/02_ag_335.htm Department of Justice] * Kopp's Federal Court Case
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopp, James Charles}} Category:1954 births Category:20th-century American murderers Category:American assassins Category:American criminal snipers Category:American people convicted of murder Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Category:Anti-abortion violence in the United States Category:California State University, Fullerton, alumni Category:Catholics from California Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Category:FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Category:Living people Category:People convicted of murder by New York (state) Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New York (state) Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government Category:Perpetrators of religiously motivated violence in the United States Category:University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Category:Criminals from Pasadena, California