Abortion-doctor murderer executed in Florida

Abortion-doctor murderer executed in Florida

STARKE, Florida — Saying he’s unrepentant for murdering an abortion provider and his bodyguard nine years ago, former Presbyterian minister Paul Hill was executed Sept. 3 in Florida.

“I expect a great reward in heaven,” he told journalists the day before his execution at the Florida State Prison in Starke. Hill was convicted of shooting 69-year-old Florida obstetrician John Britton and his 74-year-old security escort, James Barrett, in 1994. Both men died of their wounds.

Under Florida law, Hill’s crime made him eligible for the death penalty. He was the first person executed in the United States for anti-abortion violence. “I feel very honored that they are going to kill me for what I did,” Hill told reporters Sept. 2, one day before his execution by lethal injection.