Discovery Channel tapes show in Amherst on Dr. Slepian case
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

It won't be the first time Amherst Police Detective Lt. Joseph LaCorte is on national television.

A veteran with the Detectives Unit, LaCorte said Amherst may not have a lot of serious crimes, but the ones it does, have the "odd" factor.

The oddities surrounding the Dr. Barnett Slepian case caught the attention of the Discovery Channel. Dr. Slepian was killed nearly a decade ago, Oct. 23, 1998, at his Amherst home by a gunshot that came through a window. He was a gynecologist who provided abortions.

A Discovery Channel crew was at police headquarters on Feb. 8 and 9 taping for the upcoming show "Forensic Factor."

LaCorte and Capt. Michael

Melton were interviewed for several hours about their involvement.

Melton had been

in charge of gathering evidence in the case. La- Corte led the task force which began the night Dr. Slepian was killed.

"That night I got the call at home, and we investigated until they caught him," LaCorte said.

The investigation is what caught the attention of the Discovery Channel, LaCorte said, adding that in the Dr. Slepian case it was unusual the way the evidence was found.

James Kopp, who was convicted of the murder in May 2003, didn't take the gun with him after shooting Dr. Slepian.

"You don't often find the weapon behind the property in a hole," he said, adding that Kopp buried the gun at the scene.

Following the murder, an investigator was canvassing the surrounding property, stepped on the spot where the gun was, and it popped out of the ground.

LaCorte recalls that the years leading up to the murder were tense in Amherst. With four abortion clinics in town, protests became common. He said more than 300 people were arrested in each of two separate incidents.

"Doctors were always uneasy. (The murder) was a culmination of the violence in town," LaCorte said.

After the shooting, Kopp fled. LaCorte continued to head the Amherst Task Force. Kopp was caught three years later in France. According to LaCorte, Kopp has confessed to shootings in Rochester and is still being investigated in connection with shootings in Canada.

This isn't the first time LaCorte spoke about a local crime on a national level. During his career as a detective, he has led two major investigations - Dr. Slepian and Altemio Sanchez, known as the bike path rapist.

"It's an interesting point; you take Amherst, which doesn't have a lot of crime, but it has these two very odd cases," he said.

LaCorte has also been interviewed by "Dateline," "Unsolved Mysteries" and "America's Most Wanted."

Kopp, an anti-abortion activist, was given the maximum sentence allowed, 25 years to life, in May 2003 for the murder of Dr. Slepian.

Kopp reportedly waited behind Dr. Slepian's home the night of the murder, firing once through a rear kitchen window after the doctor returned from a memorial service for his father.

LaCorte said the Discovery Channel was planning to include a re-enactment of the murder for the show. He said the show is expected to air first in Canada in August and then in the United States in September.

(Editor's note: Calls to the Discovery Channel were not returned before press time.)