The Violent Anti-Abortionist's Handbook

None of the violence feared by abortion clinics across the country materialized as the state of Florida put Paul Hill to death Wednesday, but the former Presbyterian minister, convicted of the shotgun murders of an abortion-clinic doctor and his escort in Pensacola, Fla., in 1994, may still prove dangerous even as he fades from the headlines. Hill’s legacy, written in prison as he awaited death: A how-to manual for people looking to follow in his violent footsteps.

According to a close friend and advisor to Hill who spoke to TIME shortly after the execution the manuscript is more than a call to action, or martyrdom, as his supporters term it. Hill details not only how to stalk an abortion doctor, but also advises potential martyrs on a number of other details, such as how to prepare themselves mentally and emotionally to kill a law enforcement officer who might be escorting the doctor. You have to kill the officer first, according to Hill.

Hill also stresses the importance of financial backing, since a potential martyr's family is likely to be left destitute, as Hill's was until an anonymous supporter came forward with a large check.

Much of the book draws from Hill's own experience and also contains theological arguments supporting the use of lethal force to prevent abortions. The manuscript has not been submitted to publishers but Hill's backers, for the most part pastors who lead small congregations or splinter groups on the extreme edge of the anti-abortion movement, promised him it would be published in one form or another. Whether there is anyone willing to actually kill, then die for their crimes, as Hill was, is another matter.