Spitz was "best friends" with
Paul Jennings Hill until Hill, who murdered physician
John Britton and retired
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (and Britton's bodyguard) James Barrett, was executed. Spitz was one of the 29 signers of the Defensive Action Statement, which he posted on Army of God's website. The Defensive Action Statement argued that the murders Hill committed were justified to protect unborn children. Spitz was ordered to appear before two separate
grand juries. The grand juries were held in
Alexandria, Virginia and, in
Philadelphia during separate investigations into Hill and
Clayton Waagner, a man who sent hundreds of
anthrax scare letters to abortion providers in 2001. Spitz held a
prayer vigil outside Salvi's jail cell. Spitz was ejected from Operation Rescue. He formed Operation Rescue Chesapeake, but after a year and a half, when Flip Benham took control of the national organization, Spitz was ordered to separate himself and his organization from the Operation Rescue name because of his support and friendship with Hill. Spitz changed the name of his organization from Operation Rescue Chesapeake to Pro-Life Virginia. who sent hundreds of
anthrax letters to
abortion clinics throughout the United States. In response to the 1998 shooting death of
Barnett Slepian, Spitz said: "What would I say to the family of Slepian? They live in a $500,000 house that was paid for with blood money – the blood of those babies that Barnett Slepian murdered... He knew what he was doing, he was murdering children. That's too bad if he was killed in front of his family..." Spitz has been watched by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for over 20 years. In 1994, the FBI suspected that he and other anti-abortion figures might be developing "a conspiracy that endeavors to achieve political or social change through activities that involve force or violence." Spitz has published prison writings of fellow extremists including Hill, Waagner,
Eric Rudolph,
Shelley Shannon, and
Michael Bray, on Army of God's website. Spitz was in constant contact with
Scott Roeder while he was awaiting trial for
the murder of
George Tiller.
Shelley Shannon, an anti-abortion extremist, made her first phone call when she was released from federal prison to Spitz. It is reported they had been in close contact the whole time of Shannon's incarceration. ==References==