But Hill, who was executed Wednesday for the murder of an abortion doctor and his bodyguard in Pensacola, wasn't the first volunteer. Six of the last nine people executed in Florida have dropped their appeals to expedite their deaths - a trend that has increased since 1990.

The reason inmates give up the fight to stay alive vary, legal experts say. Some may have abandoned hope. Others may find spending year after year awaiting execution a living hell. Others may be insane. Even the state's switch to lethal injection from the electric chair may be playing a part.

"Each case is an individual story," said Martin McClain, a defense attorney who has represented many death row inmates. Some just see it as a way out, he said, and others are "not the most mentally stable individuals."

Nationwide, Florida has the second largest number of inmates executed who have dropped their appeals since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide in 1976. Texas leads the country with 19. Florida and Virginia have seven each. Overall, 98 inmates have volunteered nationally to die for their crimes, according to Robert Deans, information specialist at the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington.

Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton Jr., who teaches classes on the death penalty at the National Judicial College and the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies, said the court system has had to learn to deal with criminals wanting to put an end to years of legal appeals.

"There are several times during a trial or post-trial that a defendant may want to fold his tent and give up," said Eaton, who sits in Sanford just north of Orlando.

Judges are now taught the procedures to follow when someone wants to end their cases, including ensuring that the defendant is competent to make the ultimate life and death decision, Eaton said.

Abe Bonowitz, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, believes many of the inmates who drop their appeals are wanting the government to help them commit suicide.

"They have a governor perfectly willing to give them an easy way out," he said.

Bonowitz believes deteriorating conditions on death row are leading inmates to opt for execution. Metal plates have been welded to death row cells, cutting down on ventilation in stifling hot prisons and are making it harder to communicate with other inmates.

"Their spirits are being broken and they don't see any other way out," he said.

Hill, the first killer executed in the nation for anti-abortion violence, wanted to use his death to push his belief that the killing of those who perform abortions was justified to defend unborn children and to encourage others to follow his path.

After his automatic appeals ended, the 49-year-old former minister ended legal attempts to spare him from lethal injection.

Another reason for an increase in execution volunteers may be the decision made in 2000 to change the method of execution from the electric chair to lethal injection, which many people consider a more humane method of death, said Roger Maas, executive director of the Florida Commission on Capital Cases, which tracks death penalty cases and issues for the Legislature.

"The electric chair kept a lot of people from doing that (volunteering)," said Maas, who routinely sends to the governor's office a list of people whose appeals have run out and those who have dropped their appeals.

Prior to the switch, only inmate Michael Durocher dropped all his appeals and was executed. Durocher died in the electric chair in 1993 for the 1983 killings of his girlfriend, Grace Reed, and her two children in Clay County

McClain, who challenged the constitutionality of the electric chair after two botched executions, also believes the perception that lethal injection is an easier way to die may behind some choosing to drop their appeals.

"For the average person, lethal injection is just a needle giving a drug. I can see a difference," he said.

Another issue that frequently comes up when an inmate drops all appeals is mental competency.

In Florida, competency to be executed is a low standard. Basically, inmates need to know why they are being executed and the results of being executed.

Serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who murdered six men along central Florida highways, and Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco, convicted in the rape and murder of a girlfriend's daughter and slaying of two other death row inmates, both had mental competency exams before their executions last fall.

Newton Slawson's death in May was delayed 13 hours to give psychiatrists time to rush to Florida State Prison for a quick competency examination. Slawson was convicted in the deaths of four members of a Tampa family 14 years ago.

The vast majority of Florida's 367 death row inmates are fighting their cases in the courts.

Danny Rolling, who killed five college students in Gainesville in 1990, vowed in an interview late last year to continue his fight to stay alive.

Rolling's time may be nearing an end. His final appeals are before federal courts.

"I do deserve to die, but I don't want to die," he said in a 2002 interview. "Life is difficult to give up."

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On the Net:

Florida Commission on Capital Cases: http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/

Death Penalty Information Center: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty: http://www.fadp.org

AP-ES-09-05-03 1359EDT