Starke, Fla. ? Smiling and occasionally chuckling, a confident Paul Hill predicted Tuesday — a day before his execution — he would receive a “reward in heaven” for slaying an abortion doctor and his escort.

Anti-death penalty groups warn that Hill’s execution today could spur a renewed round of violence against abortion clinics, and as police outside Florida State Prison set up the tightest security since the 1989 execution of serial killer Ted Bundy, Hill spent his next-to-last day on earth defending his actions.

“To be quite honest about it, I’m expecting a great reward in heaven for my obedience,” Hill told 40 newspaper and TV reporters in a visiting area inside the prison where he is scheduled to be put to death tonight for the 1994 shotgun shooting deaths of Dr. John Britton and his driver, retired Air Force Col. James Barrett. “God put me in extraordinary circumstances, and under those circumstances I needed to act.”

“I’m looking forward to glory, no doubt about it,” said Hill, who will be the first murderer to be executed for the death of an abortion doctor.

In the hourlong interview, Hill appeared relaxed and said he was without remorse. He provided a chillingly detailed account of the shooting, telling reporters how he hid the shotgun in an anti-abortion protest sign and arrived early at the Pensacola clinic that day to avoid police. He said he killed Barrett first, then he pointed the shotgun at “the abortionist,” reloading and firing five more rounds “until all moving stopped.”

Most anti-abortion groups have taken pains to distance themselves from Hill and his belief that he was justified in killing Britton to save “innocent children,’ but the one-time Presbyterian minister said he hoped his death would inspire others to take the “necessary means” to prevent abortions.

“I say to the pro-life community, that if you believe abortion is lethal force, you should uphold the force needed to stop it,” Hill said.