Book description
The True Story of Anti-Abortion Killer James Kopp
Sniper opens in October 1998 near Buffalo, NY. A man is alone
in the dark in a forest. He clutches an assault rifle and is thinking
about his mission. "You can cut holes in the fences around the
death camps," he thinks. "A trickle of relief in the
abortion holocaust. It is your duty to do it." He nestles the
rifle into his shoulder and shoots at his target through the back
window of a house, then flees. Barnett Sepia, a doctor who provides
abortions, is fatally wounded.
The shooter is James Kopp, the son of a Marine, who came to embrace
the pro-life cause and ultimately the notion of "justifiable
homicide: against abortion providers. Kopp fancies himself a lone wolf
in the movement; a celibate man driven to "defend the
unborn." He is nicknamed "Atomic Dog" in the movement
and helps orchestrate assaults on abortion clinics. As the story
unfolds, he becomes the central figure in an international manhunt for
multiple shootings in Canada. On the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted list,
Kopp flees to Mexico, Ireland, and France. Award-winning journalist
Jon wells followed Kopp's footsteps, traveled to his hometown, and
interviewed investigators in the U. S., Canada, Ireland, and France to
tell this gripping detective story and dark psychological drama.
Jon Wells has written six multi-week book-length
true crime stories for the Hamilton Spectator. His 2003 story
"Poison" won a National Newspaper Award. A graduate of the
master's journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa, Jon was
named Journalist of the Year in 2005 for Sniper. The author's
research for the crime stories has taken him to India, Ireland,
France, San Francisco, New York city, and western Canada, and Into
prisons where he has interviewed five convicted killers. He has also
conducted research in forensic labs and on shooting ranges.
