BUFFALO, N.Y. - Ottawa may still seek the extradition of anti-abortion activist James Kopp - already imprisoned for killing a doctor near Buffalo - to face charges that he shot and wounded at least one abortion provider in Canada in the 1990s, according to Canadian police.
"You have shootings where no one has been held accountable," said Sgt. John Burchill of the Winnipeg Police Department and a spokesman for the Canadian task force on the doctor shootings, the Buffalo News reported Saturday.
"People are looking for closure for the victims, but also a broader closure for the community," Burchill said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Mehltretter, who won Kopp's conviction last month on federal charges related to his 1998 killing of Dr. Barnett Slepian, said Canadian officials could request Kopp's extradition after his sentencing, which is scheduled for June 19.
But, she said, "we don't have to turn that person over until he is finished serving his sentence."
Kopp is already serving 25 years to life for his state murder conviction in the Slepian case and now faces life without parole in federal prison after his conviction for violating clinic access and firearms laws when he killed the doctor.
Kopp admitted shooting Slepian - claiming he wanted only to wound him and prevent abortions - but has refused to discuss the attacks in Canada.
Known as the Remembrance Day shootings because they each happened around the time of the Nov. 11 Canadian holiday honouring veterans, none of the targeted doctors was killed and Kopp has been charged in only one of the cases.
U.S. prosecutors detailed the Canadian cases outside the presence of jurors during the recent federal trial.
They said Kopp is suspected of shooting Dr. Garson Romalis in the leg at his home in Vancouver in 1994; Dr. Hugh Short in the elbow at his home in Ancaster, Ont., in 1995; and Dr. Jack Fainman in the shoulder at his home in Winnipeg in 1997.
Canadian authorities have charged Kopp only in the Ancaster shooting.
Burchill said any extradition request would come from the crown prosecutor in Ontario and the Canadian Justice Department.
"I've been asked if we were to continue the investigation and ultimately lay charges to prosecute, do I think this is double jeopardy or trying to get blood from a stone," Burchill said.
"I think it's just holding people accountable and holding people responsible for the shooting of Canadian doctors."
Mehltretter told the Buffalo News she hoped Canadian authorities will be satisfied if Kopp is imprisoned for life in the United States.
"It's appropriate for Canadians to be sure their victims have appropriate closure," she said. "If we obtain a life sentence in this case, I feel that will appropriately resolve all the crimes Mr. Kopp committed."
