Robert Ward Hall (5 November 1949 – 13 June 2016) was a Canadian citizen kidnapped by

Abu Sayyaf Abu Sayyaf (; ar, جماعة أبو سياف; ', ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, is a Jihadist militant and pirate group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It is ba ...

militants in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on 21 September 2015, and beheaded nine months later near

Patikul, Sulu Patikul, officially the Municipality of Patikul ( Tausūg: ''Kawman sin Patikul''; tl, Bayan ng Patikul), is a 3rd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Sulu, Philippines. According to the 202 ...

Early life and career

Hall was born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Alberta. One of five siblings, he grew up in the city's Midnapore district. A welder by trade, Hall was also an experienced pilot and an amateur actor.

Kidnapping and death

Hall was kidnapped for ransom by

militants in the

on 21 September 2015 in a raid on Holiday Ocean View Samal Resort on

Samal Island Samal, officially the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCOS; fil, Pulong Harding Lungsod ng Samal, ceb, Pulong Harding Dakbayan sa Samal) is a 4th class component city in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 cens ...

near Davao in the southern Philippines. After gunmen disarmed the resort's security guards, four people were abducted: Canadians Robert Hall and

John Ridsdel John Bramwell Ridsdel (9 September 1947 – 25 April 2016) was an English-born Canadian businessman from Calgary, Alberta; kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines on 21 September 2015, and beheaded on 25 April 2016. He was 68 y ...

, resort marina manager Kjartan Sekkingstad (Norway), and Teresita Flor (Hall's Filipina girlfriend) who was released later in the month that Hall was beheaded. Abu Sayyaf demanded $6 million for Hall's ransom. Negotiations for his release failed, and Hall was beheaded on 13 June 2016. The last of this hostage group, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, was released in September 2016. Hall's sister then felt free to speak openly and criticize the failure of the government of Canada to do anything decisive or effective to attempt rescue or save her brother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Robert 2016 deaths People murdered in the Philippines Canadian people murdered abroad Abu Sayyaf Filmed executions Canadian terrorism victims 1949 births