Suspect in slaying of abortion doctor is returned to U.S.

Associated Press WriterBUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- The anti-abortion activist suspected in the 1998 sniper slaying of a Buffalo abortion doctor was returned to the United States from France on Wednesday and pleaded innocent to federal charges.

James Kopp, 47, was captured in France more than year ago after an international manhunt. He was put on plane in Paris earlier in the day Wednesday after he dropped his fight against extradition in the slaying of Dr. Barnett Slepian.

Slepian was cut down by a rifle bullet that came through the kitchen window of his suburban Buffalo home.

Kopp was charged with violating a federal law against using deadly force to interfere with the right to abortion.

The federal charges carry up to life in prison without parole. Kopp also faces a state murder charge.

Investigators allege Kopp hid in the woods behind the doctor's home and gunned down the doctor after he returned from a prayer service for his deceased father.

Kopp, known in anti-abortion circles as "Atomic Dog," was captured in March 2001 after a 2 1/2-year international manhunt.

Last week, he dropped his fight against extradition from France and was returned to the United States on the first day authorities were able to take custody of him.