Elizabeth appeals for people to 'search their hearts' in appeal for information about IRA murder of her UDR brother
The sister of a 22-year-old man brutally murdered outside his Comber home in 1986 has appealed for anyone with information about his killers to come forward.
Elizabeth Woods was speaking just ahead of the 40th anniversary of Robert Hill's murder with an IRA undercar boobytrap device.
The 2kg bomb was so powerful that it scattered the wreckage of his Ford Fiesta over a 100m radius outside his family home.
Robert's family, friends and the wider community are invited to a memorial service for him in Ballynahinch Congregational Church on Sunday 28 June.
Elizabeth said younger brother was, at 22, "still just a boy".
“He loved his cars, his motorbike, holidays in Spain, animals, and tattoos. Because he died so young, I can only ever remember him as being forever young. I never got the chance to know him any other way."
Robert worked at Pinewick Furniture Factory and was a part time member of the UDR.
The four siblings grew up on their family farm at Drumaness with their parents Victor and Amelia.
"He was probably the quietest in the family, except when he was playing the accordion," she added.
"Then there was no such thing as quiet. He drove us mad at times, but we wouldn't have had him any other way."
Elizabeth was pregnant with her first child when the news came of his murder - leaving her especially emotional and very protective of her baby.
She said her mother had "literally been blown out of her bed" by the bomb outside the family home.
On any other Tuesday her mother would likely have been in the car with him, she added.
Her mother, sister and brother-in-law came to her home to break the news.
At first she thought it was her father, as he had heart problems.
"Even though I had seen all the blood, it just didn't register. Then they told me it was Robert."
For her, forgiveness is "a road I will never walk" because she believes only her brother could have offered it.
It took "immense courage" for every man and woman who put on the UDR uniform, "considering the aggressive and relentless terrorist threat," she said. One of them was her sister Pauline.
A UDR Greenfinch once told her: "Of all the innocent people murdered during the Troubles, you couldn't get a more innocent fella than Robert Hill."
She also paid tribute to her parents for what they endured.
Elizabeth takes issue when people say Robert "gave his life" or if they talk about his murder as though it was an accident.
"It wasn't. A bomb doesn't accidentally end up underneath a man's car. It was planted there for him. He was the intended target. That was murder, and there is a big difference."
She added: “Four decades may have now passed since Robert’s murder but in marking this milestone anniversary I issue an appeal that people would search their hearts and that they would come forward with information which could yet lead to those responsible being held accountable for their heinous crime. Robert was worth more then and he is worth more now,.”
Kenny Donaldson, director of Victims Group SEFF, said Robert was "a courageous young man trying to play his part in building a better Northern Ireland".
He added that it is “the wishes of the family that the full community join them” for his memorial service at 3:30pm on Sunday 28 June 2026 in Ballynahinch Congregational Church.