James Charles Kopp

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James Charles Kopp

James Charles Kopp (born August 2, 1954 in Pasadena, California ) is an American murderer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for the murder of medic Barnett Slepian .

Early years

James Charles Kopp was born in Pasadena , California . He was raised as a Protestant Christian but later converted to the Catholic faith. He graduated from the University of California , Santa Cruz with a degree in biology in 1976 . At California State University, Fullerton , he specialized in embryology. After his girlfriend had an abortion, he began to get involved in anti-abortion groups.

Murder and conviction

On October 23, 1998, Kopp shot Barnett Slepian in his kitchen in Amherst, New York . Slepian was there with his wife and four children. Kopp had used a hunting rifle with a telescopic sight for the deed . The bullet barely missed his son's head. Barnett Slepian died two hours later. Dr. Slepian had worked as a gynecologist at Buffalo GYN Womenservices, Inc. Hospital in Buffalo , where he had also performed abortions . He also had a private practice in Amherst.

After the fact, Kopp was on the run and was placed on the FBI's list of the ten most wanted fugitives . Federal investigators had found that Kopp had a relationship with the group The Lambs of Christ (Eng .: The Lambs of Christ ).

James Charles Kopp fled via Mexico and Ireland to France, where he was arrested and extradited to the United States. He was sentenced to a sentence of 25 years to life for the murder in Buffalo. Kopp managed to escape to France using forged passports via Mexico and Ireland. The investigative authorities suspected supporters, in particular from the environment of the Catholic anti-abortion group "The Lambs of Christ"

Slepian's murder was part of a wave of attacks by militant Christian anti-abortionists that killed seven people in the United States.

In March 2003, Kopp was sentenced to 25 years to life for the murder of Slepian. Kopp had argued during the trial that he only wanted to hurt Slepian and therefore should not be convicted of murder.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ed Vulliamy, Henry McDonald, Stuart Jeffries: Abortion death hunt muzzles 'Atomic Dog' . April 1, 2001.
  2. ↑ Amanda Robb: The Last Clinic Standing . In: Marie Claire . September.
  3. ↑ Barnett A. Slepian .
  4. ↑ Jeff Stein: Celebrating murder , Salon.com . April 17, 1999. Retrieved December 18, 2008. 
  5. ^ Ed Vulliamy, Henry McDonald, Stuart Jeffries: Abortion death hunt muzzles 'Atomic Dog' . April 1, 2001.
  6. ^ NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation. (2006). Clinic violence and intimidation ( Memento of the original dated February 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 265 kB). Retrieved February 9, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.prochoiceamerica.org
  7. ↑ Killer of New York abortion doctor gets maximum 25 years to life sentence ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from CourtTV News  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.courttv.com
  8. ↑ Broken link ( Memento from June 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) from The Buffalo News

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kopp, James Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American anti-abortion opponent and murderer
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd August 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Pasadena, California