James Kopp Sentenced

25 years to life for murdering Dr. Barnett Slepian

Kopp's statement at sentencing an incoherent rambling of bizarre religious theories with no sign of remorse.

• James Kopp's statement at his sentencing  June 7, 2003 - The text was scanned by Neal Horsley from the trial transcript and contains several scanning errors that introduce odd characters.

• Transcript of Jame's Kopp's sentencing hearing, in PDF format.   More complete and accurate than Horsley's document. Some of the arguments of the prosecutor have been deleted from this document.

• Kopp Receives 25 Years to Life for Murder  May 9, 2003 - Ms. Magazine also points to the role played by the Army of God: "The Army of God terrorist network must be cracked if violence against abortion clinics is ever to stop." Kopp's accomplices "Marra and Malvasi should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to help shut down this terrorist network."

• Kopp Sentencing: Mrs. Slepian satisfied she's 'done my job'  May 16, 2003 - "Mr. Kopp, when you read this in the paper, rest assured that if I am the reason you got the maximum sentence, as you have claimed, then I've done my job well. Only one thing could make me and my children happier - if we could handpick your roommate."

• Mrs. Slepian makes plea to the judge  May 10, 2003 - "So I would ask you to please impose the maximum sentence allowed by law. James Kopp is an evil man and does not deserve to ever have his life back again. He only deserves to spend the rest of his days behind bars in prison.

• James Kopp's Sentencing  As told by a friend of Dr. Slepian's who attended the sentencing

• Kopp defense was all but indefensible  May 10, 2003 - Buffalo News columnist Donn Esmonde writes "James Kopp isn't crazy, stupid or unprincipled. It's not that simple. He's one of these dangerous people committed to a cause built on half-truths, padded with conspiracy theories, anchored by inanities and injected with an undeserved self-righteousness." "For all of his rhetoric, for all the top-shelf quotations from Moses to St. Thomas Aquinas, Kopp comes off as a man not completely formed; a smug twit convinced his half-baked convictions gave him a license to kill."

• Killer of New York abortion doctor gets maximum 25 years to life sentence  May 9, 2003 - The judge tells Kopp: "You made an attempt to avoid responsibility for the act. What may appear righteous to you is immoral to someone else."

• Abortion killer gets more compassion than his victim  May 12, 2003 - "When we are preoccupied with the war on terrorism, it is good that the courts have leveled the strongest sentence possible on this American who would terrorize others who are acting within the law."

• Kopp fifth clinic shooter to face trial  March 11, 2003 - None of the previous four shooters got away with the crime.

Kopp's Friends Speak After the Sentencing

• The Murder Trial of James Kopp: The Trial That Wasn’t  Writing on James Kopp's website, Elizabeth McDonald argues that Kopp was wrongly denied a chance to prove he was acting to protect others, i.e. fetuses that would have been aborted. She bases her interpretation on a State of Michigan appeals court decision, People v. Kurr. She does not realize that a county court in the State of New York is not bound by Michigan court decisions.
• Jim Kopp Stands Tall  May 9, 2003 - "In the months leading up to this date, both pro-life pacifists and infanticide defenders joined in a hysterical and venomous denunciation of Jim Kopp." "Like Jim Kopp, The Army of God offers no apology to anyone for Slepian the babykillers fate."

• Jim Kopp Stands Tall  May 9, 2003 - The same text as above, but published on a different website.

Related links on James Kopp, his friends, his crimes

• The Extremists Continue to Support James Kopp  Undaunted by Kopp's confession, his extremist buddies continue their campaign to prove he's been framed.

• The Murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian  More about how the antis justified the murder of Dr. Slepian.