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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Salvi Indicted On Federal Gun Charges Clinic Shootings Suspect To Face State Murder Charges Next

Associated Press

A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted John C. Salvi III on charges he carried across state lines the rifle he allegedly used to shoot up three abortion clinics in Massachusetts and Virginia, killing two women.

The 22-year-old student hairdresser, who was being held in a Norfolk, Va., jail, could get up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of two federal counts.

The indictment should get Salvi back to Massachusetts faster than if he had gone through the extradition process between the states, legal experts said.

Salvi could be returned as early as today to Massachusetts, where he eventually will face state charges that he murdered two receptionists and wounded five other people Friday at two clinics in Brookline. Massachusetts has no death penalty; murder is punishable by life in prison.

Investigators who searched Salvi’s pickup truck after his arrest in Virginia found a receipt from a group called “Mass Citizens in Life,” according to an inventory filed Wednesday.

Mass Citizens for Life is the largest anti-abortion group in Massachusetts. It was unclear if it was the same group listed in the inventory, despite the slight difference in the name. It also was not clear what the receipt was for or the amount of money involved.

Frances Hogan, executive vice president of Mass Citizens for Life, said the group checked its records and found nothing.

The FBI is investigating whether the shootings were part of a conspiracy to attack abortion clinics.