FBI accused of manufacturing map leading to A-Z Pawn Shop
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The first instance of documented evidence contrary to the FBI’s case against pro-lifer James Kopp, accused of killing abortionist Barnett Slepian, has come to light. A Pittsburgh couple swears that Kopp was with them when the FBI alleges he was purchasing the rifle used in the shooting.
Doris and Patrick Grady remember that Kopp was staying with them in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1997. Doris Grady, in a signed affidavit, said Kopp was working for her building a fence on July 16, 1997, when the FBI claims he was buying the rifle more than 500 miles away at the A-Z Pawn Shop in Nashville, Tennessee. In her affidavit, Grady said she has a building permit for the fence dated July 14. “He was here that whole week,” said Doris Grady, a pro-life activist who has known Kopp since 1988. “I told the FBI and a guy from the New York Times that he helped me build a fence. But at the time, I had no idea of the significance.” Three others also attest to seeing Kopp in Pittsburgh during that week.
Patricia Osborne, owner of the A-Z Pawn Shop, has also made conflicting statements regarding the purchaser of the rifle. In April Osborne told The Buffalo News that she remembered selling the rifle to a man she later recognized from television as being Kopp . She said she told the same story to a federal grand jury in Buffalo. However, Osborne later told the Associated Press: “I barely remember the transaction, (and) could never have identified his face. I only know what the FBI told me.”
Mark Crutcher, of Life Dynamics, which has produced a document poking holes in the FBI evidence in the case, commented that “The important point is that James Kopp is not the man who bought the rifle, and that is irrefutable proof that the FBI manufactured the map leading to the A-Z Pawn Shop.”
For more see the AP coverage at: https://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20010722/1000614.asp