Paul Jennings Hill
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Rev. Paul Jennings Hill (February 6, 1954 – September 3, 2003), a former Presbyterian minister and anti-abortion activist connected to the Army of God, was convicted of the murders of abortion provider Dr. John Britton and his driver James Barrett outside a Pensacola, Florida abortion clinic on July 29, 1994. In addition to the two murders, Rev. Hill wounded June Barrett, the wife of James Barrett. During his trial, the judge would not allow Rev. Hill to explain to the jury the reasons why he took this action. Sentenced to the death penalty under Florida law, Rev. Hill was killed by lethal injection, making him the first person to be executed in the U.S. for killing an abortionist.
Rev. Paul Hill's actions in 1994 were part of a wave of anti-abortion violence in the United States in the 1990s which was disowned by mainstream anti-abortion activists. In a statement before his execution, Rev. Hill said that he felt no remorse for his actions, and that he expected "a great reward in Heaven." Hill was completely convinced that his actions were justifiable, because he viewed them as defensive, rather than retributive, acts.
Rev. Hill left behind a manuscript manifesto describing how to stalk and kill abortion doctors. Rev. Hill's backers promised him they would have it published, and it has been available online on his official site since 2004.
At the time of Rev. Hill's death, Michael Griffin was serving a life sentence for the murder of an abortion provider in Pensacola in 1993, and James Kopp was in prison for the killing of a physician in Buffalo, New York. Eric Rudolph was awaiting trial for a 1998 bombing that killed a police officer at an Alabama abortion clinic. John Salvi had committed suicide in prison two years after killing two receptionists in 1994 in Massachusetts.