Kopp Expected to Waive Appeal to Extradition and Return to New York

Anti-abortion extremist James Charles Kopp is expected to end his fight to avoid extradition to the United States from France. According to Paul Cambria, Kopp’s Buffalo, NY-based attorney, the alleged murderer may be moved to New York as soon as this summer. “The only thing that could change that is if his French lawyer takes some action I am not aware of,” said Cambria, “and I don’t expect that to happen.” Kopp is charged with the 1998 murder of Amherst, NY obstetrician/gynecologist and abortion provider Dr. Barnett Slepian. Kopp had been a fugitive on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List for over two years before being captured in Dinan, France last year. Since then, Kopp has been resisting extradition to the US. His lawyer, however, has suggested that Kopp will plead innocent to the Slepian assassination.

Kopp, known as “Atomic Dog” in the Army of God, a clandestine anti-abortion extremist group known for using violent tactics, has also been indicted for the 1995 shooting of Ontario abortion provider Dr. Hugh Short and is the primary suspect in three additional shootings of abortion providers in Canada and New York.

For more information on James Charles Kopp, see previous stories on the Feminist News.

Media Resources: Buffalo News, 5/22/02; Feminist Majority Foundation

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