Hill Pleads Guilty to Killing Estranged Wife, Boyfriend

In a Doylestown courtroom packed with family and friends of his victims, Lloyd Hill pleaded guilty Monday morning to killing his estranged wife and her boyfriend in January.

Hill's plea enabled him to escaped the death penalty in the killing of Stefanie Hill and Frederick Tarantino Jr. at Schoolhouse Apartments in Nockamixon.

Though the court requested onlookers not react to testimony as it was read into evidence, several graphic passages brought audible sobs from family members of the victims. Several wore buttons with a photo of Tarantino. Others wore a purple ribbon with a heart pattern. 

Hill pleaded guilty to two counts of homicide before Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley as part of a negotiated plea.

Reached with Bucks County prosecutor Robert James, the plea pulled the death penalty off the table, a trade-off James felt was in the best interest of the community. 

"We negotiated a [life without parole] plea because we felt it was the right thing to do for his daughters," James said outside the courtroom in Doylestown. "If we had pursued the case, it could have dragged on for another 30 years." 

Barely looking up, Hill listened as his daughters read statements about how the loss of their mother has affected their lives. 

"You made me see what you did and left the house like nothing was wrong," said his teenaged daughter. "You scared me. Every time I blink, I see it over and over again." 

Hill declined to make a statement in court, a move that didn't surprise James.

"Lloyd Hill is an animal and a coward," James said. "What he did was a cowardly act. The only way Hill is leaving the state prison is in a pine box."

Hill, 41, of Quakertown, also pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and two counts of possession of an instrument of crime, though no additional penalty was imposed. 

The attacks were the culmination of a lifetime of abuse Stefanie Hill endured at the hands of her estranged husband. Court records reveal domestic violence charges dating back years against Lloyd Hill. Prior to her death, Stefanie Hill sought an order of protection against her husband but withdrew the order when she realized she would have to disclose her new address to her ex-husband. 

But the attempt to hide their whereabouts proved fruitless. James told the court that Hill admitted to driving around the area, looking for Stefanie Hill's or Fred Tarantino's car. He found Stefanie's the day before the attack.

Police said Hill had attacked Tarantino first -- outside the couple's apartment -- and beat him to death with an aluminum baseball bat. According to the coroner's report, "The first blow was sufficient force [to kill Tarantino]; every blow after was gratuitous." Tarantino had no defensive wounds, the coroner said.

Hill then entered the apartment building using Tarantino's keys and made his way to the basement apartment where Tarantino and Stefanie Hill lived. Lloyd Hill then entered the bedroom where Stefanie was sleeping and attacked her with a knife.

He then fled the area, driving into both Hellertown and Palmer Township trying to gather money from ATM machines.

According to the evidence read into record, Marissa Hill awoke to her mother screaming for help. When she entered her mother's room, she found her mother bleeding and her father in the room. Lloyd Hill then left the room, walking past his daughter and telling her he also had killed Tarantino.