Drifter Gary Michael Hilton Pleads Guilty to Murdering Hiker Meredith Emerson and Gets Life in Prison
Emerson, 24, vanished on a New Year's Day hike in the north Georgia mountains. Hilton led investigators to her body after prosecutors agreed not to seek death.
Published
Meredith Emerson, 24, disappeared while hiking with her dog in the north Georgia mountains on New Year's Day 2008. On January 31, Gary Michael Hilton, 61, pleaded guilty to her murder and was immediately sentenced to life in prison.
Hilton was indicted that morning by a specially called Dawson County grand jury, which accused him of killing Emerson on January 4, three days after he was seen with her on a trail. Prosecutors said he had spent those days trying to drain her bank accounts, and District Attorney Lee Darragh said Emerson kept giving him incorrect PIN numbers, apparently in an attempt to alert authorities. Hilton was caught after he tried to use her credit card, and he led investigators to her body after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. Her body was found nearly 50 miles from where she vanished.
In Dawson County Superior Court, Hilton said little beyond "Guilty." Judge Bonnie Oliver said she accepted the plea deal because even if prosecutors had won a death sentence, Hilton probably would not live long enough to be executed. He could be considered for parole in 30 years, at 91. "Justice, in your case, Mr. Hilton, would be an immediate execution," she told him. "The court is not taking mercy on you because of your age." Authorities said they were also looking at whether Hilton was involved in the disappearance of an elderly couple in western North Carolina and two killings in Florida.
The Associated Press reported that Hilton killed Emerson three days after abducting her, while the Florida Supreme Court later wrote that he held her for four days before murdering her.
Sources
- Hilton v. State, No. SC11-898, Supreme Court of Florida (via Justia)
- Drifter pleads guilty to Georgia hiker's murder, NBC News (AP)
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- February 21, 2011: Florida Jury Unanimously Recommends Death for Gary Michael Hilton in the 2007 Murder of Cheryl Dunlap