Police Find Rifle Near Home of Slain Abortion Doctor

A rifle was found buried near the home of an abortion doctor who was killed in his kitchen by a sniper’s bullet last fall, investigators said Friday.

The rifle was sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington to determine whether it was used to kill Dr. Barnett Slepian.

“If it’s not too badly rusted, they may be able to match the bullet back to the weapon,” said Walter Rowe, forensics sciences professor at George Washington University.

Bullets fired from high-powered rifles can become disfigured and provide few clues, but the rifle might yield clothing fibers, fingerprints or a serial number that can be traced to the buyer, Rowe said.

Authorities have said Slepian, 52, was killed by a bullet from a high-powered rifle fired through his window from the woods behind his home Oct. 23.

No arrests have been made.

A rifle, buried a foot beneath the ground, was unearthed during a search of a heavily wooded, four-acre area Thursday.

“Due to weather and ground conditions previously in existence at the site, this search, although planned early in the investigation, was not conducted until this time,” Amherst police, the FBI and state police said in a statement.

Investigators did not say how close the weapon was to the house.

Anti-abortion protester James Kopp is being sought as a material witness in the shooting.

Investigators said Kopp’s car was seen in the neighborhood in the days before the slaying. Kopp vanished after the shooting, and the car was found abandoned at the Newark, N.J., airport in December.

Officials said DNA test results showed a likelihood that a strand of hair discovered behind Slepian’s home came from Kopp.