BUFFALO, New York (AP) — Anti-abortion extremist James Kopp was found guilty Tuesday for the 1998 sniper shooting of a doctor who provided abortions.

Judge Michael D'Amico issued the verdict Tuesday, one day after he heard the second-degree murder case without a jury during an unusual single court session. Kopp, 48, waived his right to a jury trial last week.

Dr. Barnett Slepian was struck down Oct. 23, 1998, by a single bullet fired from a high-powered rifle through a rear window of his home in suburban Amherst home.

The judge set sentencing for May 9. Kopp faces a minimum of 15 years to life and a maximum of 25 years to life.

Instead of hearing testimony, the judge was presented with a 35-page list of facts agreed to by both sides — including an admission by Kopp that he fired the shot — and then heard attorneys' arguments.

In arguing for acquittal, defense attorney Bruce Barket said Kopp believed in the use of force to prevent abortions, but meant only to wound Slepian to prevent him from performing abortions.

Prosecutor Joseph Marusak said every step Kopp took in planning for the attack, including his choice of weapon and the use of aliases in buying the rifle, pointed to an intention to kill.

Kopp was lying in wait for Slepian, 52, as the doctor returned home with his wife and four sons from a memorial service for his father. Slepian was struck through a kitchen window as he heated soup.

Shortly after the shooting, Kopp fled to Mexico and then Ireland and was one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives until his capture in France in 2001.

Tuesday's verdict has no effect on Kopp's upcoming federal trial on a charge of interfering with the right to an abortion related to the Slepian shooting. A status hearing in that case was scheduled for Thursday.

Kopp is also a suspect in the nonfatal shootings of four other abortion providers in Canada and Rochester between 1994 and 1997. He is charged in one of the Canadian shootings.