On the evening of October 23, 1998, Barnett Abba Slepian, a 52-year-old Jewish American physician, was in the kitchen of his Amherst, New York, home. He had recently returned from a memorial service for his father at the synagogue. As he stood preparing soup, a single shot from a high-powered rifle shattered the kitchen window and struck him, tragically ending his life two hours later. His wife and four sons were in the house at the time of the shooting.
The investigation into Dr.
Slepian's murder quickly focused on a suspect named James Charles Kopp, an anti-abortion activist. Evidence suggested a sniper-style attack, with the shot fired from a wooded area behind the Slepian residence. Kopp, known in some circles as 'Atomic Dog,' became a fugitive and was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. An international manhunt ensued, leading authorities to Mexico, Ireland, and finally to France, where he was apprehended in March 2001. France agreed to extradite Kopp to the United States on the condition that he would not face the death penalty.
Kopp's legal proceedings revealed the motive behind the deadly attack. He was a militant opponent of abortion and had targeted Dr. Slepian for his work at a women's clinic in Buffalo. During his trial, Kopp admitted to firing the shot but claimed he only intended to wound the doctor, not kill him. This defense was ultimately rejected. In March 2003, an Erie County judge found Kopp guilty of second-degree murder in a non-jury trial. He was subsequently sentenced to the maximum penalty of 25 years to life in prison.
In addition to the state murder conviction, James Kopp also faced federal charges. In a separate federal trial, he was found guilty of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. For these federal crimes, he received a life sentence plus ten years for the illegal use of a firearm. The court also ordered that his belongings be auctioned to pay $2.6 million to Slepian's family. Kopp is also a suspect in several other non-fatal shootings of abortion providers in Canada and Rochester, New York, that occurred between 1994 and 1997.
