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Robert Anthony Flor, 54, fatally shot Newtown Borough police officer Brian Gregg on Sept. 29, 2005, while at St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown Township, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.
Since pleading guilty to first-degree murder and no contest to 39 other counts in 2006, Flor has tried to lessen his sentence multiple times.
The death sentence was affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2010 following a unanimous jury vote.
Flor, formerly of Bedminster Township, then filed a petition under the Post Conviction Relief Act, claiming he is intellectually disabled and therefore legally ineligible for the death penalty.
After numerous hearings over the course of several years, Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Alan M. Rubenstein rejected Flor’s claim of intellectual disability and denied his petition in 2018.
Flor appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and on Sept. 22, a majority of the Court affirmed Judge Rubenstein’s decision and agreed that Flor's claims were unsubstantiated.
On the day of the killing, Flor was taken into custody for suspected drunk driving. He was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for blood-alcohol testing.
There, Flor took a police officer’s weapon and started firing, killing Gregg, and wounding officer James Warunek and hospital employee Joseph Epp, the DA's office said.
Gregg had been a full-time officer for the borough for nearly a year after previously working there as a part-time officer.
"Robert Flor was convicted of killing police officer Brian Gregg, shooting police officer James Warunek, and shooting hospital employee Joseph Epp in 2006 and has been trying to get off of death row ever since," District Attorney Matt Weintraub said.
"All he offers are excuses. We will meet him at every attempt he makes to evade his death sentence, which he earned."
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