Suspect in murder of abortion doctor extradited to U.S.

PARIS (AP) -- James Kopp, the suspect in the 1998 murder of a New York doctor who performed abortions, was extradited to the United States on Wednesday and was expected to appear in U.S. federal court later in the day.

Kopp left France on a plane with U.S. marshals late Wednesday morning, the Justice Ministry confirmed.

Kopp's attorney in Buffalo, N.Y., Paul Cambria, said Tuesday he had been told Kopp could be in federal court, presumably in Buffalo, as early as Wednesday morning. His French attorney, Herve Rouzaud-LeBoeuf, also said he expected his client to immediately appear in a U.S. court.

Tuesday was the first day U.S. authorities were able to take custody of Kopp after the anti-abortion activist dropped his fight against extradition from France, where he was captured in March 2001 following a 2 1/2-year international manhunt. He has been in prison in Rennes, in northern France.

Last June, a French court recommended that Kopp be extradited after receiving assurances that the U.S. government would not seek the death penalty.

In a statement last week, Kopp, 47, said he was eager to prove his innocence.

The Vermont native, known among anti-abortion activists as "Atomic Dog," faces a state murder charge along with federal charges in the sniper slaying of Dr. Barnett Slepian.

Kopp disappeared 11 days after Slepian's murder. He became a suspect after several witnesses placed him in Slepian's neighborhood.