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Sunday school teacher convicted of murdering husband over porn habit

Patricia Hill's lawyer said she did not mean to kill her husband, that a “warning shot” accidentally struck him in the head.

An Arkansas nurse and Sunday school teacher was sentenced to 16 years in prison Tuesday for murdering her husband after discovering he had paid for porn.

Patricia Hill, a nurse of 50 years, shot and killed her husband, Frank Hill, 65, in a shed outside their Pine Bluff home last July after the two argued about his pornography use.

Hill’s attorney, William O. James Jr., told NBC News that the couple had been married for 17 years and she "kept finding pornography stashed and hidden.”

Patricia Hill, left, and Frank Hill.
Patricia Hill, left, and Frank Hill.Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

James said Frank Hill would often watch pornography in the shed, which he described as his “man cave.” Patricia Hill, a religious woman who taught Sunday school, “felt like the devil was in that shed,” James said.

Hill, 69, filed for divorce in May 2018, but she withdrew the papers after he begged her to reconsider.

Two months later, after Hill discovered that her husband had purchased a pornography channel on their TV, she confronted him.

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James said Hill did not mean to kill her husband. She first shot him in the leg and then fired a “warning shot” that struck him in the head.

“She said she doesn't really remember getting the gun,” James said.

Hill immediately called police.

On the 911 call, Hill said: “I need police and ambulance, my husband’s been shot.”

The dispatcher asked, “Who shot him, ma’am?”

“I did,” Hill responded.

Hill was originally charged with capital murder, but was found guilty of second-degree murder.