INTRIQUE SURROUNDS WOMAN WHO FORGED BOND WITH KOPP

She is the mystery woman in the case of James C. Kopp and sniper attacks on abortion doctors.

Loretta C. Marra, a 39-year-old mother of two from Brooklyn, has been an important part of Kopp's crusade against abortion since 1990, when they were first arrested together at a women's clinic in Vermont.

It was Marra's car, according to police, that was seen near Vancouver, British Columbia, before and after the shooting of a Canadian abortion doctor in 1994, an attack that many believe was done by Kopp.

When Kopp fled to Mexico after killing Dr. Barnett A. Slepian, authorities said he sent word to Marra that he was safely out of the United States.

When Kopp was living in Ireland and France after the Slepian murder, FBI agents say Marra corresponded with him by e-mail.

When Kopp wrote to Marra that he was thinking of returning to the United States to commit another "Ronald Reagan," she sent him money and offered him a place to stay.

After Kopp was captured in France, Marra persuaded him to stop fighting extradition and return to the United States to face murder charges.

Finally, it was Marra who met with Kopp in the Erie County Holding Center last year and persuaded him to publicly confess to killing Slepian.

Now she sits in a jail cell, awaiting sentencing for helping Kopp while he was on the run.

Her attorney says she is a sincere defender of the unborn who is being "persecuted" because of her religious beliefs and her friendship with Kopp.

But her critics describe Marra as a dangerous, cunning leader in the world of anti-abortion extremists, and they say she has some questions to answer.

"My question is, "Did she drive Kopp's getaway car?' " said Vicki Saporta, executive director of the National Abortion Federation. "Was she involved in the planning of Dr. Slepian's shooting? Was she involved in targeting doctors? Was she in Canada with Kopp when he shot doctors there?

"These are questions that need to be answered. I think she was involved with Kopp from the beginning. People who help assassins should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Marra's Long Island attorney - the same man who defended Kopp during his recent nonjury murder trial - states that she had nothing to do with killing Slepian and hopes that she will be given leniency.

"It's important for you to know Loretta Marra had nothing to do with the shooting - ever," said the attorney, Bruce A. Barket. "She's never been charged, and they've had 4¹/2 years where they've looked in every nook and cranny."

Barket also dismissed a teenage eyewitness' account of a "getaway car" and a driver whisking a man from the shooting scene.

"That wasn't how (Kopp) got away," Barket said. "That car had nothing to do with the case."

Marra and her husband, Dennis J. Malvasi, are scheduled to take plea deals this week, and admit to providing money and information to Kopp while he was on the run from the FBI. Barket said he hopes that Marra will get a break from the sentencing judge because she helped persuade Kopp to confess to killing Slepian.

That news is not playing well with Slepian's widow, Lynne Slepian, or with pro-choice advocates who knew and worked with Slepian.

"I think (Marra and Malvasi) were an integral part of this whole thing," Lynne Slepian said. "They should take responsibility for their actions."

Marilynn Buckham, operator of the Buffalo GYN Womenservices clinic where Slepian used to practice, said she thinks that Kopp had help - possibly from Marra and from people living in the Buffalo area - planning and carrying out the Slepian assassination.

Furthermore, Buckham is convinced that Kopp gave up his right to a jury trial in his Erie County Court murder case to avoid taking the witness stand and being ordered to answer questions about Marra and others.

"I think he did it to protect Marra and others in their network," Buckham said. "And it would bother me very much if Loretta Marra gets any benefit in her federal sentence because she convinced Kopp to confess.

"This investigation shouldn't be over. The government should be doing everything possible to find out if Marra or anyone else helped James Kopp to commit coldblooded murder."

Kopp's former attorney, Paul J. Cambria Jr., said he thinks that Kopp would "do anything" to help Marra reduce her prison term and be reunited with her two children.

Sources close to Marra said that one of the children is a young boy, James C. Malvasi, who is named after Kopp.

"Last year, (Kopp) got special permission to have meetings in the Erie County Holding Center with Marra and Barket," Cambria recalled. "Soon after that, after hearing the advice they were giving him, I left the case. And not long after that, Kopp made his confession.

"He's clearly devoted to Marra. I think he would do anything to help reunite her with her children. . . . I don't think any of the advice she gave him served to advance his defense."

Although investigators think that Kopp had a getaway driver - possibly a woman - on the night he killed Slepian, Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark said that there "is not one shred of evidence" to prove that Marra helped Kopp in any way.

If police had come up with evidence linking Marra to the murder, she would have been charged, Clark said.

FBI officials said that their investigation is continuing and that they would not rule out the possibility of filing new charges against Marra or anyone else if evidence surfaces to prove that they assisted Kopp.

"This is not a closed case, not by a long shot," said Peter J. Ahearn, special agent in charge of the FBI's Buffalo office. "We're still looking for information about anyone who might have helped James Kopp."

Through her attorney, Marra denied any involvement in the Slepian murder or any other violent crime. A longtime anti-abortion activist, she was arrested by FBI agents March 29, 2001, when she and Malvasi, were charged with helping Kopp avoid capture for Slepian's murder.

Defense attorneys insist that Marra and Malvasi had no foreknowledge of the plans to shoot Slepian plans and only helped Kopp afterward because he was a friend in trouble.

Federal prosecutors confirmed that plea deals are scheduled for Marra and Malvasi on Thursday, but they declined to say whether Marra will receive a shorter sentence because of her assistance in the Kopp case.

Arrested with Kopp

If there was a "Bonnie and Clyde" in the world of anti-abortion activism, Marra and Kopp might have been it.

In the 1990s, they earned national reputations among their fellow activists for their efforts to blockade abortion clinics. They were arrested together several times.

They were known for using heavy chains and steel locks to bind their bodies together and make it extremely difficult for police to move them away from clinic entrances. After one clinic demonstration in Westchester County, it took firefighters about 12 hours to cut away the device Kopp had used to attach himself to Marra.

Two different law enforcement officials and three defense attorneys, all of whom are familiar with Kopp's case, used the same words to describe Marra: "the brains of the operation."

Marra is described as a "real American hero" on the Army of God's anti-abortion Web site. She has been widely known for her anti-abortion activities since the early 1990s.

Her late mother, Marcel H. Marra, was a French freedom fighter in World War II, and her late father, Dr. William Marra, was a Right to Life Party candidate for president in 1988. Her husband, Malvasi, served prison time in the 1980s for bombing New York City abortion clinics.

In a July 2001 interview with The Buffalo News, Marra described her deep respect for Kopp, calling him "one of the finest people I've ever met in my life."

According to court papers, FBI agents began to seek Marra for questioning about Kopp as early as November 1998, within weeks of the Slepian murder. But they have never charged Marra with helping Kopp to shoot Slepian.

Kopp is charged with shooting and wounding a Hamilton, Ont., doctor, Hugh Short, in 1995. He has been identified as the prime suspect in three other unsolved sniper attacks on abortion doctors between 1994 and late 1997.

Two "outcomes'

A series of letters and e-mail messages allegedly exchanged between Marra and Kopp caused investigators to wonder about Marra's role in Kopp's activities.

One e-mail message in particular - which Marra is alleged to have written sometime after March 2000 - is believed to be a discussion of the ethics of shooting doctors who perform abortions. A copy of the e-mail message is on file in Buffalo's federal court.

Much of the letter is written in code, but police think that Marra used the term "Outcome #1" to refer to shootings that injured doctors.

"I see several weighty advantages, both tactical and moral," Marra wrote, allegedly referring to the Slepian shooting. "Only drawback is the hideous emotional stress it will visit upon you. . . .

"Assuming, however, that you're at peace with it, the advantages are immense. (T)here were two possible outcomes (and) the more common outcome is #1 . . . I have, with regret more bitter than you can imagine, come to hold that it is immoral to seek #1, that one has no right not to go for #2 . . . There are now enough examples to form statistics, and the statistical rate of recidivism is just too high to justify pursuing #1, in my opinion."

Investigators think that Marra's reference to recidivism refers to the fact that at least one of the physicians allegedly shot by Kopp - Dr. Garson Romalis in Vancouver - continued to perform abortions after he was wounded in 1994.

In a letter that Kopp wrote to Marra while he was on the run, police think that Kopp used the term "Ronald Reagan" to refer to shooting doctors. In that undated letter, Kopp said he was considering "a return to the field."

"They shared very intense, very intimate thoughts about these shootings while (Kopp) was on the run," one law enforcement source said.

According to federal court papers, Marra told an FBI informant in June 2000 that "she believed that she would be capable of killing for God and a higher good."

Although the FBI said the "outcomes" e-mail message was found in an e-mail account used by Marra, Barket said that there is no proof that Marra is the person who wrote it. He said the FBI's interpretation of the e-mail message appears to be based on guesswork and assumptions.

"I've never even heard that it was suggested she was involved" in any shootings, said one of Marra's brothers, William Marra. He said he considers his sister a political prisoner.

Unusual developments

The strange path that Marra's case has taken through the federal courts has upset pro-choice activists and also Western New York's chief U.S. district judge, Richard J. Arcara.

Last August, Arcara made no secret of his disgust over a proposed plea deal that would have guaranteed Marra and Malvasi prison terms of no more than 33 months. The two were prepared to admit that they helped Kopp to remain a fugitive by sending him cash and information.

In a step rarely taken by federal judges, Arcara refused to approve the plea deals.

"I find that the public good would not be served by acceptance of this plea agreement," he said then.

In an equally unusual move a month later, federal prosecutors dropped their charges against Marra and Malvasi in Buffalo and filed new, greatly reduced criminal charges against the couple in New York City.

The case has been in New York City - where Marra and Malvasi are jailed - ever since. People on both sides of the abortion debate are watching to see how much prison time Marra and Malvasi will get.

In a letter to her supporters in January, Marra accused federal agents of spending more time on her case than they spent trying to prevent terrorist attacks prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

"It's a matter of priorities," Marra wrote. "The Government has a 30-year history of heartily approving of the wholesale massacre of helpless American citizens - small ones, about eight pounds and under. We should not then be astonished that their henchmen were more zealous to capture those who interfere with massacres than to interfere with those who perpetuate massacres.

"While Mohamed Atta and his crew were taking flying lessons - never mind the details like landing - the brave men of (the FBI) were . . . scrupulously listening to and recording every whisper which passed between Dennis and me in our own home."

Saporta, who heads one of the nation's largest pro-choice organizations, disagrees. She thinks that both Marra and Malvasi deserve the toughest punishment available under the law.

"If the full truth about these shootings, and James Kopp, Loretta Marra and others in their network never comes out," Saporta said, "that would be a shame."

COMMENTARY
KOPP VERDICT ISN'T THE END TO VIOLENCE LINK
The Buffalo News
Donn Esmonde
March 24, 2003
     They weren't fully enjoying the moment.
     The two women stood in the hallway Tuesday outside Judge Michael D'Amico's courtroom. Minutes earlier, the judge had found James Kopp - admitted assassin of Dr. Barnett Slepian, an abortion provider - guilty of intentional murder. Pro-choice activists Marilynn Buckham and Vicki Saporta, although gratified, were not celebrating.
     The battle was won, but the war is hardly over.
     "We've sent a message (to clinics and doctors) to be on high alert," said Buckham, director of Buffalo GYN Womenservices Clinic. The fear is that Kopp is a replaceable part. Pro-choice activists think there is a network of extremist pro-lifers that recruits a designated assassin and then helps with money, "safe houses" and other aid.
     Kopp's two-day nonjury trial left unanswered questions. Where did he stay on the days he scoped out Slepian's neighborhood? Who helped him target Slepian? Who supported him with meals, money and shelter during two years on the lam in Mexico, Great Britain and France?
     There's a radical fringe - a few of whom came here for the trial - who think it's justified to murder abortion providers. Authorities say they aren't blind to it, but pro-choice activists wonder how hard it's pursued.
     The network amounts to a terrorist cell, not unlike what the Lackawanna Six are accused of. Although abortion-related violence is down since its mid-'90s peak, the threats, vandalism and attacks haven't stopped.
     Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi of Brooklyn are charged with sending money to the fugitive Kopp. A friend, Jennifer Rock, drove him to Mexico, although she claims she thought he was innocent. No one else has been identified as helping him.
     "He had to have (more) help, not only in this country but abroad," said Saporta, head of the National Abortion Federation. "We need to stop the network that aids these people to stop this kind of violence."
     Kopp's attorney dismissed the claim as a political agenda.
     "Jim acted completely alone," said Bruce Barket, "although people helped him later."
     Yet radical pro-lifers have told The Buffalo News there's an "Underground Railroad" of anti-abortion extremists - estimates range from dozens to hundreds - who provide safe havens. Eric Rudolph, charged in a 1998 clinic bombing that killed a police officer in Alabama, is still at large.
     Kopp is the prime suspect in nonfatal sniper attacks on four other abortion providers (three in Canada) dating to 1994. Before Kopp on the abortion-related assassin list are John Salvi, Paul Hill, Rachelle Shannon and Michael Griffin.
     "The pattern is to recruit another shooter (after one is arrested)," said Saporta, "who will have network support."
     The problem with this kind of terrorist "cell" is you can't arrest somebody for what you think they know. There's no way to prove those who fed and sheltered Kopp - who changed his appearance and used aliases - knowingly helped an accused murderer.
     Buffalo FBI spokesman Paul Moskal said thousands of people were interviewed in the Kopp case.
     "The government is confident that the persons responsible (for aiding Kopp) have been identified," said Moskal. "Those who can be brought to trial in our system (of justice) have been."
     Law enforcement sources say there's no vast network of pro-life extremists who recruit assassins and knowingly harbor fugitives. The notorious annual "White Rose" banquet of militant pro-lifers draws just a couple of dozen attendees.
     Indeed, the vast majority of clinic demonstrations are nonviolent, as are the vast majority of pro-life activists. Kopp was almost universally condemned in the pro-life movement after admitting he killed Slepian.
     But given the years of clinic bombings, threats and other anti-abortion attacks, you can't blame pro-choice activists for being anxious. As the saying goes, you're not paranoid if they're really out to get you.

Give these people, Atomic Dog, Paul Hill and a couple of others Presidential pardons and you'll see abortionists voluntarily going out of business left and right.

Or, possibly, Planned Parenthood would literally roll out the "big guns" among their buddies in organized crime and you could have some really serious civil disorder as they "take out" their critics.

Lest you think the PPs wouldn't do that just consider that their business is to kill babies. Killing you and I and others in this and other threads would be a very casual thing to most of them. I avoid people who belong to that group. They are very, very dangerous to all of us. You can no more compromise with any of them than you can Saddam Hussein and his Baath party cadre members. They are all cut of the exact same psycho-sociopathic cloth.

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