Sword and Scale - Episode 188

Episode Date: May 31, 2021

On New Year's Day 2008, 24-year-old Meredith Emerson went missing after setting out on a hike up Blood Mountain in Union County, Georgia. Search teams combed Blood Mountain for days in an effort to find the missing hiker, but they never did. Meredith was not on Blood Mountain. She was fifty miles away, held captive by a deranged serial killer.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences Listener discretion is advised This is season 8 episode 188 of sword and scale a hero that reveals the worst monsters are real. We got a really, really big episode. It's going to be a long one. So strap in and it's about a serial killer. No, some of you love those. So here it comes. Thank you for joining us today.

We're going to keep the announcement short because we got so much content. On January 3rd, 2008, Amanda Peacock clocked in at the Huddles House restaurant just off of Highway 53 in Marble Hill, Georgia, where she worked as a waitress. Alongside her fellow servers, Amanda prepared for the expected dinner rush. The winter holidays had come and gone, and now it was back to business as usual. For Amanda, this was just a typical Thursday evening. That is, until a bizarre man entered the restaurant. A 60-something white man, slender, scraggly, and in desperate need of a shower. Dressed in a dirt-stained hikers jacket and worn pants, he looked like he had just crawled

out of the woods after having slept there for weeks. When Amanda approached the man, he asked her if he could use the restaurant's telephone. Amanda apologized but told him, no, explaining that they don't allow non-employees to use the phone. But the man persisted. While poorly suppressing his agitation, he babbled on about his long and successful journey to find a pay phone and his desperate need to make an urgent call. Amanda became unsettled.

The man was talkative, loud, and animated, and obviously anxious about something while attempting to hide his nerves behind an excessively friendly disposition. He was the very definition of a suspicious person. Even more off-putting was the man's smile. Amanda did her best, but it was impossible not to notice the lonely three or four brown and rotting teeth Curtained behind his chapped lips Again Amanda tried to politely tell the man that she couldn't just allow him to use the phone

But still He persisted Promising to be quick Against her better judgment and really just hoping to get this guy to leave. Amanda relented. She hoped and assumed that he would make his call and quickly be on his way before he could disturb any of the customers. But Amanda was wrong.

She directed him to the phone and returned to work, but it wasn't long before many of the other employees and customers Took notice of the bizarre man on the phone As he spoke to whoever was on the other side of the call his conversations became heated and the man burst into fits of yelling only to calm down before becoming agitated all over again only to calm down before becoming agitated all over again. This went on for some time until finally one of the other servers had had enough and told the man that he needed to hang up the phone and leave. What she did. On his way out, the man thanked Amanda saying, I just got my job back.

That phone call helped me out a lot. It was just after 5pm when the man left the huddle house. Amanda watched as he got into his white, Chevy van and drove away. She was glad to see him go and assumed the ordeal was over. But again, Amanda was wrong. Approximately two hours later, agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrived at the restaurant with photographs of this strange man. They knew he had been there and they wanted to know the details of his phone call and where

he went. Amanda did all she could do to help, but she hadn't paid much attention to his call and the man had left hours ago. She had no clue where he was going. Even more tragic is what Amanda realized later when she turned on the news. The strange man was wanted for kidnapping and murder. And while he had been inside the restaurant using the telephone that she let him use, there was a young woman tied up inside his van by a chain. And at that particular moment in time, she was still alive. What if, should have, could have? All of us look back at a specific moment in time where we wish we hadn't done something

or maybe done something differently, or just that some circumstances had worked out more in our favor. But the past is more stubborn than a two-year-old, and no matter how badly we wish to change it, we can't. All we can do is deal with the here and now, while doing our best to plan for the future, based on the learnings of the past. And the future is what two young Georgia women had on their minds in late December of 2007. On the night before New Years, in the Atlanta suburb of Buford, 24-year-olds Meredith

Emerson and Julie Karen Bauer were discussing their New Year's resolutions in their shared apartment. Meredith had just returned home after having surprised her parents with a holiday visit in Colorado where she grew up. And Meredith was thrilled to be back in Buford, reunited with her adopted black Labrador mix, Ella. Meredith was a dog lover. Having been around her parents' dogs all her life, she knew that after college, she would want to eventually care for one on her own. In early 2007, Meredith spent several weeks visiting rescue shelters, searching for the perfect furry companion

And she finally found that in Ella After Ella's adoption the two became inseparable and Meredith enrolled her new best friend in school Ella learned her training diploma from super duper dog training school in flowery branch Georgia Superduper Dog Training School in Flowery Branch, Georgia. Needless to say, Meredith Adored Ella and Ella Adored Meredith right back. Now after having been apart for Christmas, they were reunited, bringing in the New Year two days early, along with Meredith's roommate, Julie. Julie had different plans than Meredith for New Year's Eve, so the tutors see much of each other over the next few days.

But on the morning of January 2nd, Julie noticed that something was off. That morning Julie got out of bed and began her normal routine. Typically, by the time she got up, Meredith was already at work and Julie would let Ella outside, but Ella was gone. Julie searched her apartment for the dog she knew to always be eager to go outside, but she couldn't find her anywhere. Concerning and hoping that Ella was simply with Meredith somewhere, Julie called herself phone, but it went straight to voicemail.

Even more worrisome, Meredith's job was now calling Julie, telling her that Meredith didn't show up for work, which was completely out of character. Clearly something was wrong. Where was Meredith? Where was Ella? Then Julie noticed a note that Meredith had left on a small chalkboard that hung in their kitchen. Taking Ella Hiking, hope you had fun, smiley face.

Normally this note would put Julie's mind at ease, but there was a problem. The note was left over from the day before. Julie knew that Meredith had taken Ella hiking on New Year's Day. Having not seen her since, Julie was now wondering, did Meredith and Ella ever make it back from their hike? Had they been gone all night? Julie called Meredith's boyfriend, who also hadn't heard from or seen Meredith since before she went hiking the day before. Concerned for her friend, they decided to go search where Meredith usually went hiking. A place appropriately named Blood Mountain.

Blood Mountain is one of North George's most popular day hikes, offering several trail options, stunning views, and a rigorous workout. The Mountain Summit is the highest peak of George's section of the Appalachian Trail. And although nobody really knows for sure, Blood Mountain possibly derives its ominous name from the reddish color of fungi and grapes that grow near its summit. Julian Meredith's boyfriend arrived at Vogel State Park, which is the base of Blood Mountain, at around noon on January 2nd, and they found Meredith's Chevy Cavalier parked at the trailhead parking lot.

They began searching the trails for their friend, worried that Meredith had twisted an ankle, or was somehow otherwise stranded, but they couldn't find any sign of her. With few other options, they reached out to park authorities and reported Meredith missing. Gwyneth County Sheriff's Deputies arrived at Vogel State Park this afternoon to join the growing number of people now searching for Meredith Emerson. Meredith! All of them sounding optimistic and all of them eager, they say at first light tomorrow morning to get back up the mountain and look for Meredith Emerson.

Initially the search teams were optimistic and they had good reason to be. Meredith was smart and tough. Born June 20th, 1983, Meredith Hope Emerson was raised in Longmont, Colorado. Growing up, she was thought of as energetic, spontaneous, outspoken, and courageous. A blonde-haired, green-eyed, all-American girl that never did anything halfway and lived life with gusto. What really stood out about Meredith, however, was her wide range of interests. She read and wrote poetry and fiction. She loved to debate politics, discuss current events, and had a passion for learning about history. Meredith loved animals and the outdoors.

She enjoyed snow-showing and was an avid hiker. She was also a martial artist and had spent the last three years earning blue belts in judo and a keto. In fact, her martial arts instructor described Meredith as quote, 120 pounds of pure tough. Not only was Meredith creative and smart, but she was strong and resilient, capable of defending herself. If anyone was going to survive a tragedy on Blood Mountain, it was going to be her. Let me tell you something, Meredith Emerson could do anything. She is feisty. She is strong.

She's tiny and petite, 120 pounds, but let me tell you, I have every hope that if anybody could, she can run those mountains. Meredith's notable strength and endurance wasn't the only thing giving her family and friends hope. So too was the fact that she wasn't alone. After a full day of searching, there was no sign of Meredith, but there was also no sign of her dog, Ella. They had to be together.

She left me a note that just said gone hiking to Ella. They had to be together. She left me a note that just said gone hiking to Ella. And that was normal. The one thing that we're all, we know if it's married at this there, then her dog is there. And it was just when we were siphoned for anything. So we're hopeful that if they're out there, that they're together. As January 2nd came and went with no sign of Meredith Ur Ella, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or GBI was called into assist local authorities with the search and a helicopter was deployed to scan blood mountain for body heat. Authorities in volunteer spent the day searching the area on foot. There it is. And from the air, but still no sign of Meredith.

Meredith's middle name is Hope, and that's exactly what the Lord gives us for her. So we are hoping that we're talking of Meredith in the present tense, and that we will be finding her, and that she will safely come home to us. By now, the mountain had been thoroughly searched and investigators began to wonder if Meredith was on Blood Mountain at all. They had been mostly operating on the assumption that Meredith simply lost her footing, that she was injured and stranded somewhere on the mountain. But that explanation was now becoming less and less plausible.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation began interviewing Meredith's friends and acquaintances in both Georgia and her home state Colorado, trying to find any other reason why she might have disappeared. The GBI also took full advantage of the media and conducted several press conferences, giving reporters all the information they had, who in turn ran countless news broadcasts about the missing hiker. Now, they're not gonna give up hope.

I'm not giving up hope. I'm hoping there's a cave or an area where a helicopter couldn't see it, but these sands on foot can. Authorities, friends, and volunteers held on to hope that someone, anyone, might come forward with information about Meredith. And finally, someone did.

The GBI received a phone call from retired police officer Seth Blankenship. Seth had been hiking on Blood Mountain on January 1, the same day as Meredith, and he saw her hiking toward the mountain summit, along with her dog. Trailing not far behind Meredith was a strange, elderly man, about 60 years old. Seth described him as weathered with no teeth, and appearing as if he had been hiking for several days. And he also had a dog with him, a dark reddish retriever. What had struck Seth most about this strange man was that holstered on the man's hip was a retractable police baton.

Being a former police officer, Seth recognized the weapon immediately. Seth continued up the mountain, passing the old man and Meredith, thinking they might be father and daughter. On his return trip, he came upon the area of the trail where the ground had been significantly disturbed, and several items had been recently dropped.

Two bottles of water, dog treats, sunglasses, a leather leash, a woman's hair beret, and the police baton he saw earlier on the old man's hip. Before he got to the parking lot is when he saw that there was a pile of these items. The glasses, the Aspitan, two water bottles, a dog leash and the dog treats. And at that point he felt really uneasy about a situation. Recall the girl hiking with the dog on the leash and recall the gentleman with the baton. As Seth was looking over the area, recalling the young woman and baton carrying old man, another hiker Bill Klassen came upon the scene.

They both agreed that something seemed off and decided to collect the items and drop them off at an outfit or shop at the bottom of the mountain. Unfortunately, neither man decided to phone police or alert park authorities. Nonetheless, after hearing from Seth, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation

now had a description of a person of interest. And in keeping with their strategy, they shared their information with the media. Well, Amanda Meredith Emerson has been missing now for two bitterly cold nights. We just received information from authorities that they have named a person of interest in our disappearance. Let me go ahead and give you that description.

We just received authorities are looking for a 50 to 6 year old white man about 160 pounds. They say he may have some missing teeth. He had a dark reddish retriever who was wearing a yellow jacket and backpack. They are looking for him. He was seen on Monday when Meredith disappeared. They very much want to know who this person is. If anyone has any information, they are asked to call the Union County Sheriff's Office. As news of this person of interest hit the airwaves, it wasn't long before Atlanta

businessman John Taber saw the coverage on CNN. On January the 3rd, I woke up and as soon as I turned on the television, the news story appeared that described this monster in detail. Investigators say he's a 60-year-old white man and he might be driving a white minivan. The man's dog is reddish in color and answers to the name of Dandy. When they mention the name of the dog, I believe all the pieces came together. My heart literally sank to my stomach. I immediately contacted the authorities and told them that I knew who this person of interest is.

I was 99.9% certain that I had the information I needed. John Taber did indeed have information that authorities needed. Having previously employed the man they were looking for, John gave the GPI the man's vehicle tag numbers, driver's license information, and of course, his name. Investigators are looking for a Gary Michael Hilton. This is a person of interest. Mr. Hillen is an individual who is believed to have contact with Miss Emerson on Tuesday

along the hiking trails in Vogel State Park. Mr. Hillen also has the dog that we've identified as a red, large dog with the name of Danny. Authorities now had a name to go along with their person of interest. Gary, Michael, Hilton. Why is it that serial killers always have two first names? I'll never understand that. Anyway, as the investigation continued, and the more the GBI learned about this man,

the more concerned they became about the safety and-year-old Meredith Emerson went missing on Blood Mountain in Union County, Georgia. After an exhaustive search of the mountain, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation received a tip about a suspicious person that was seen hiking near Meredith shortly before she went missing. The GBI was now looking for 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton. And not long after his name and photograph

were broadcast on the news, they began hearing from people that knew this bizarre man. What do you know about Mr. Hill? Quite a bit. Quite a bit. I've known him since I'm 52. And I've known him since I was 23 or 4, I guess.

OK, I see you've known him all the time. This is GBI's special agent Matthew Howard speaking with Walter Goddard, a former co-worker and longtime acquaintance of Gary Hilton. He doesn't have any family, he's kind of a loner, he's kind of a homeless guy. I don't think he's capable of doing something like that. Although he recently, I believe, went through some bad times as far as his employment with this John paper guy. They had either parted ways or he was screwing him out of some money or something like that.

Gary Hilton and John Taber did in fact have a dramatic falling out over Gary's employment. But we'll get to that later. He probably would have a poster and talked to her very nicely and everything. He had a dog, he had a dog. He's a nice guy, I'm telling you, he really is. Now, you know, if it went from bad to worse, you know, and she told him to get lost or something like that, you know? I mean, he might have gotten a little pissed off. I don't know.

I'm not saying he's capable of that. No, no, I understand what you're saying. In determining if Gary Hilton was capable of kidnapping Meredith Emerson, or was otherwise somehow involved with her disappearance, insight into his personality was valuable. But what the GBI was really interested in was Gary's criminal history. You know, basically he's a con man.

When it falls right down to it, you know, he's a con man. He's a nice guy, but he's a con man, aren't he? How do you mean by he's a con man as far as money wise or just in general, he's not honest or what do you mean by that? He, you know, I mean, he's got, I know y'all have his record and he's been a little time in jail recently Gary Hilton had actually been arrested several times throughout his life for various reasons,

including drug possession and theft. But Gary's criminal activity primarily revolved around illegal phone solicitation. He apparently had a knack for convincing people to donate money to fraudulent charities over the phone, and had been doing so for decades. The information that was coming in about Gary Hilton was obviously concerning, but initially there was nothing suggesting a history of kidnapping or severe violence. That is until the GBI started digging a little deeper into Gary's past. Born in Atlanta on November 26, 1946, Gary Hilton moved to Hylia, Florida, at age 9 with

his mother and stepfather. Ah, Florida. Again. According to his mother, Gary never knew his biological father. Well, he never did know his father because he was in the military. We only lived together three months. He went overseas. And when he came back,

we didn't know it, of course, but he had another wife. So anyhow, when we tried to find you to get a divorce, so I could get some support from him. He wants to support him at all. Cleo Hilton divorced Gary's father and soon remarried. Gary's stepfather transported race horses for a living, and this occupation had the entire family constantly moving around. Gary attended several grammar schools throughout his childhood.

Despite the frequent classroom changes, he apparently did pretty well. He was highly intelligent and showed a lot of promise. Every time he would change schools, the new teacher would try to promote him up a grade. Because he read so much and every teacher said that he did good work but he could do better. I think I want to move him up about three grades when it was in the seventh grade. For a young Gary Hilton school was easy. His home life, however, was a bit of a different story.

Gary and his stepfather competed for attention from Gary's mother, Cleo. According to her, his stepfather never physically assaulted Gary, but there were many instances of mental abuse. He never hit him. He never abused him physically, but I would say it was a mental abuse. One time had a belt or something, and it would hit the door and hit the door frame and like that, but never, never hit Gary. According to Cleo, her husband was prone to fits of angry outbursts.

Many of them driven by jealousy directed at a stepson Gary. As a result, Cleo separated from him no less than eight times before Gary was a teenager. But he always courted her back by minimizing his outbursts, convincing Cleo to move back into his home with Gary and Toe. Then in 1959, Gary's feud with a stepfather over Cleo's attention came to a head. He would come to the apartment where I was every day. They get us to come back. He'd promise Gary I'll come to things, you know. He did all every time we left him promised Gary. And not Gary had a gun. That was a friend he is a gun and he's a total neighbor said

Nanello mom doesn't want you here and she doesn't want to go back to you and if you don't leave I'm going to call the police he said call the police I don't care he said well I'm going to shoot you then and he said shoot me, go ahead, shoot me. And he grabbed the mattress off the day and held it in front of him. He says, now shoot me, shoot me, I'll bury it, shoot me. You ever shot him. After shooting his stepfather at the right page of 13, Gary was admitted to a mental hospital. Lucky for him, his stepfather survived the shooting and didn't press charges. While

Gary was away, his mother went back to his stepfather, and when Gary was released from the hospital, his mother didn't allow Gary to come home, using her pile of shit boyfriend instead, and making arrangements for Gary to live with neighbors that agreed to take him in. What a mom. From there, Gary's relationship with his mother was almost non-existent, and in 1964, Gary joined the army, serving the majority of his time in Germany as a paratrooper. While there he got married, honorably discharged, and returned to America with his

new wife. Though their marriage wouldn't last long, nor would any of the three other marriages that eventually followed. Throughout most of Gary's 30s and 40s, he struggled to maintain steady employment. Basically, a career criminal, he made his living through illegal phone solicitation, only occasionally stopping to do legitimate telemarketing or other odd jobs here and there. Interestingly, or actually, horrifyingly, in 1995, Gary helped produce a feature-length film. Yeah, no shit. Although crediting him as a producer might be a little generous. According to one of his lawyers, Gary was more of a creative influence behind the project. Check out this trailer. The past determine our future. Some people can shape their own destiny.

Others have no control over their fate. How long can we hold back our deepest secrets? We may have bona fide serial killer on our heads. I think Nancy's been abducted and she's most probably dead. And the guy that did it to her has done it before to a whole lot of other women. The sky picks up his victims and bars. Kills them, there's more than 200 miles away. You know, it's just no fun when a girl can't put up a little fight.

Where's the challenge? Danny Fendley. Don't be moving around too much now. Didley Run. How much does our past determine our future? You think I could do this for a living? I've always wanted to be that movie trailer announcer guy. Dare to dream.

In case he didn't piece together the plot of this movie from the trailer, Deadly Run revolves around a wealthy Atlanta realtor that abducts women, brings them to a remote wooded area, and then murders them. The protagonist is a serial killer, and the concept of this film was concocted by Gary Michael Hilton. If you're interested and really, really bored, the entire film is available for free on Vimeo. But before you turn off the Netflix and run off to watch it, keep in mind it's not

exactly a cinematic masterpiece. And popping your corn may actually be more entertaining. Hey baby, I knew you'd look at for a good time. You're sure you have a pretty nice car, mister. Yeah. I've got a nice layer of plain too. Don't say we didn't warn you. In any event after inspiring the production of a poorly made movie about a serial killer, Gary Metton began working for Atlanta Businessman John Taber.

First met him about 10 years ago. He had responded to a health wanted ad, placed in a local newspaper for a telemarketing position. And he came to the office interview, he had experience working as a telemarketer, so in the same line of work. And he was hired at that point. John owned a siding company, insulated wall systems, and Gary worked for John, selling building insulation and siding over the phone out of an office apartment in Shambly, Georgia. Although it's not clear why John also allowed Gary to live in his office apartment.

As you'll soon come to realize, the relationship between John and Gary was more than just a little strange. Have you ever had problems with him during that time? No. For the first number of years, I got really to call any problems at all. I know that he didn't interact well with others on a personal basis, although he was a talkative person on the telephone. In person with strangers I would notice that he would be awkward and uncomfortable. I remember at one point seeing him with teeth missing,

which he had never had that issue before. And he seemed to delight in the fact that his appearance would actually scare people. But nothing in his history that would have led you to believe he would be a violent person. John realized that Gary was considerably odd, often creepy and socially awkward. Nonetheless, for the majority of Gary's 10-year tenure at insulated wall systems, John was pleased with Gary and the work he was doing as a telemarketer for John's

business. Apparently, all those scams over the phone had made him a pretty good salesman. And he was doing a pretty good job until he wasn't. Last year is when things seemed to change. He was not doing his job. He wasn't working. He was becoming more with John, more difficult to talk to. He complained of being ill quite often. Whether real or not, I don't know, but I know that he wasn't working and he still needed and wanted money to simply survive. So I helped him out the best I could. They got to the point where I told him that there was to be no more. He wasn't working.

I had been discussing this with him for several months now and he wasn't doing anything about it and that he was going to have to move on. And at that point, he told me he wanted $10,000. He basically threatened to kill me unless I gave him $10,000. This is where the details of John and Gary's falling out start to get a little hazy. The interview that you're hearing with John was conducted by 11 live news out of Atlanta sometime in 2008. And some of the details in John's story aren't entirely accurate.

On September 8, 2007, John filed a complaint with the Fulton County Police Department in which he alleged harassing communication from one of his former employees, Gary Michael Hilton. Fulton County Police told me that based on what I told them, and I also let them listen to several voicemails that he left on my cell phone that clearly demonstrated his unpredictable state. They basically told me that all they could do was fill out a report for harassing phone calls. According to the police report, John alleged that Gary had made several violent threats

over the phone to John, demanding sums of money anywhere between $500 to $2500. There is no mention that any of these threats were death threats. The most violent these threats appear to be is Gary telling John, quote, I will fuck you up. John felt that the best way to deal with these threats and demands for money was simply to pay Gary the money he wanted. Seems like a bit of odd logic, but okay.

In an envelope which John labeled with the word ransom in huge bold letters, John left Gary a check for $2,500. Also in the envelope was a letter from John to Gary. Gary Hilton, you are a tough guy. Threatening me if I don't pay you money that I do not owe you. You are an ungrateful piece of shit. I have done more for you than anyone else

in your miserable fucking life. But for me, you would either be in prison or dead by now. You shut up on my doorstep, a homeless bum, and I took you, and your dog in, and gave you a job and a place to stay. When your van broke down, it was me who rescued you, and bought you a new van. I have paid you every penny I ever owed you you and at least $18,000 more by your own admission. Not to mention $70,000 worth of housing and utilities for free. No one else on Earth would have given you these things but me. So fuck you, here's your $2500 ransom.

Here's your $2500 ransom. Seems more like a lover's quarrel than a severance letter, doesn't it? Weird. Anyway, as expected, after receiving this letter, Gary confronted John in person, and the two had a heated argument. But thankfully, it ended without violence. After this bizarre drama, John and Gary

went their separate ways, and John had no further association with this former employee, until hearing him described as a GBI person of interest on CNN. By now everything the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had learned about Gary was only making them more confident that Gary was involved in Meredith's disappearance in some way, and their concern for Meredith's safety would only amplify after being contacted by detectives in Leon County, Florida. The GBI was informed that Meredith's disappearance appeared eerily similar to two other active investigations, one in Florida and another in North Carolina.

one in Florida and another in North Carolina. Two months before Meredith's disappearance, a North Carolina couple went missing while on a hike. And none were more concerned than their children, especially their daughter. They always let us know if they were going on one of their many trips. So it was totally unlike them to just disappear. 80-year-old John Bryant and 84-year-old Irene Bryant were experienced hikers, and despite

being in their twilight years, they remained considerably active. They loved the outdoors. When they were first married, they used to go out hiking in the mountains. They would take us hiking. And as they got older, it'd take the grandchildren out hiking to my father completed the Appalachian Trail, which is 2,000 miles, named. They traveled extensively to New Zealand

and all through Europe, all through America, especially the Southwestern and Northwestern United States. In early November, the Bryant children were unable to contact their parents for several days, so their son went to go check on them. The newspapers were around the doorstep. He broke into the home and found their breakfast. We still had on the table, but obviously many days old and he knew something was terribly wrong. And you could see that there was, that they had just perhaps gone out for a hike and expected

to come back. Not unlike Meredith Emerson, authorities initially believed that John and Irene Bryant's disappearance was a result of a hiking mishap. Given their age, it was more plausible that the couple somehow became stranded on a hiking trail as opposed to being met with foul play. But the Bryant children did not agree. In my heart, I knew that wasn't the case. There was just no way.

They would both be hurt like that. They were very, very experienced. As it turns out, their daughter's instincts were right. The search for two missing North Carolina hikers in the PISCA National Forest is now a murder investigation. Police say 84-year-old Irene Bryant was killed from a blow to the head. Her husband John is still missing and police say he may have been kidnapped to access the couple's bank account. On the day following their disappearance, the Bryant's

bank card was used to withdraw $300 from an ATM in Ducktown, Tennessee. Surveillance photos taken at the time showed a masked man wearing John Bryant's rain jacket, making the withdrawal. Although he could not be positively identified, the man's description did match that of Gary Michael Hilton. The other case that detectives believed could be linked to Meredith Emerson's disappearance was that of a missing nurse out of Wacula County in Florida. On December 1, 2007, Cheryl Dunlap had a plan. Her plan was to go to Leon Saints and sit quietly and read her book.

46-year-old Cheryl Hodges Dunlap was a mother of two sons, a graduate of the nursing program at Tallahassee Community College, and a registered nurse at Florida State University. She was also a devout Christian and a member of the River of Life Church in Crawfordville, Florida, where she taught Sunday school classes. But on Sunday, December 2nd, Cheryl was not at church, and her fellow Christians took notice. Sunday morning at church, I turned around and looked at her usual spot and she wasn't there. And immediately we knew something was wrong because that's just not like her.

After Cheryl had missed church service and her Sunday school classes, a friend drove to Cheryl's home. I went back down to our house and saw that the dog was at the house, but the car was gone, so I called her off as several times and they hadn't seen her. Knowing Cheryl to be reliable and not the type to miss church or work, her friend filed a missing persons report with police and soon a discovery was made. His done last car was discovered on the side of Crawfordville Highway, just south of Leonshanks.

Over the days that followed the disappearance of Cheryl Dunlap and the discovery of her vehicle, a massive search effort was made for her. The search effort for Cheryl Dunlap was primarily focused on the area where her car had been discovered. The Appalachia Cola National Forest. And while search teams combed the forest, Cheryl's bank card was being used to make withdrawals. A man used her pin number to get money out of her account from an ATM at Hancock Bank on West Tennessee Street. This same man would make two additional trips to that ATM over the next two days. This man fit the description of Gary Michael Hill.

As was the case with John and Irene Bryant, the ATM surveillance photos taken when Cheryl's bank card was used to withdraw cash, showed a masked man that fit the description of Gary Michael Hilton. And 11 days after the final ATM withdrawal was made, Cheryl Dunlap was found. Ms. Dunlap found herself in a situation and ultimately came to an end that is something that we only think about in nightmares. On December 15, 2007 some hunters discovered her body at that location. Her head and her hands have been removed." Cheryl's body was found in the Appalachicola National Forest. She was decapitated and dismembered. Seven miles south of where she had been found,

authorities also discovered a burn pit. And in this burn pit, law enforcement recovered the charge remains of a human head and hands. Due to the burn damage, no DNA could be recovered from the human head and hands. But it didn't take a forensic scientist to realize that these remains were the dismembered body parts of Cheryl Dunlap. Back in Georgia, things have changed dramatically for GBI agents. What began as a search effort to find missing Hiker Meredith Emerson, who was initially thought to be stranded somewhere on the mountain, had now become a manhunt for a serial killer. Meredith was likely in the clutches of a madman, and the clock was ticking

on her life. Then, on the early evening of January 3rd, about 52 hours after Meredith had gone missing, Gary Hilton's former employer, John Taber, received a phone call. I was out on business and I got a phone call and the person on the other end just started talking and after just a few seconds to my shock I realized it was Hilton. After months of no contact with the man and on the same day that he identified him to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as their person of interest, John was now on the phone with Gary Michael Hilton. He told me that he was ready to come back to work, that he cleared his mind, that he felt good for the first time in a long time. And I was listening to this and here again I was still in a state time. And I was listening to this, and here again,

I was still in a state of shock, but I think I did my best to remain, retain my composure and not let on to him that I had already turned him into authorities. And I pretended as though I was actually happy to hear from him, and that he would be welcome back to work, and that I would be willing to advance him $800 to get started.

So I told him I would leave a check for him and he told me that he was extremely grateful and that he would come by to get it sometime Friday afternoon, Friday evening, or possibly Saturday morning. John took it upon himself to set a trap for Gary. And what did he do after setting a trap for a man that was now the subject of a nationwide manhunt? I didn't think so. I, of course, immediately called the GBI as soon as I could locate their phone numbers. I gave them the number of the pay phone that he had called me for. Gary hadn't called John from the pay phone.

He called from a huddle house restaurant in Marble Hill, Georgia. But when GBI agents arrived at the location, Gary was gone. Still, the GBI had another chance to capture Gary. And I told them of my plan to bring him to Atlanta, to the office to get the check. They advised me not to go anywhere near the office. They told me that the entire area would be put under surveillance and they would just hope that he showed up. But Gary never did show up because he would not get the chance.

OK, I have the person of interest in missing woman case. Is that this neuron gas thing on your gun? Chevron gas thing to the ass of the elderly? Yeah. You get the man is there. The man is here. The dog is here. The red dog, and I saw the man facing up. Why do serial killers always drive a white van? Is it like for the aesthetic? In any case, is there a nationwide registry for people who buy white vans with no windows?

There should be. There really, really should be. And the dumpster is not allowed like you, if you'll be a threat. Okay, sir, and the dumpster is not the random location? Yeah, the dumpster. Well, it's kind of right in the front, because I don't know the car wash. Okay. I can't wait to take him down if you want.

No, they're okay right there. Okay. Okay, hold on there. You know what I mean? Instead of just telling you guys they're hurting, you just roughed in the ass, but you have to be out of the ground and you can't get bored by load

to just stand behind the car wash. Car wash, you can get scared. Do you guys, are, is there somebody in the room 4th, 2008. They got him out. Get some papers. I'll be up on them. At 8pm on January 4th, 2008, four days after Meredith Emerson went missing. Gary Michael Hilton was arrested by the cab county police while clearing out his Chevy Astro van at a Chevron gas station in Shambli, Georgia. Among the items that Gary had discarded in a nearby dumpster were blood-soaked clothes, and there was still no sign of Meredith or her dog Ella. 24-year-old Meredith Emerson went missing on January 1, 2008, New Year's Day. Four days later, 61-year-old homeless drifter Gary Michael Hilton was arrested and suspected

of kidnapping her and her dog. One month after his arrest the Georgia Bureau of investigation conducted what is known as a background interview with Gary in an attempt to create a timeline of his life. After I got up here within about that I don't know why I'm just spreading in movies and showing up Here's that time I'm the new man you guys are doing this Well, yeah, I was still drunk I was still drunk until September 7th And I got married to a prostitute

And over there I got her married You know, I married an importer to a married woman Throughout the course of this nearly 5 hour mind numbing interview, special agents Clay Bridges and Matthew Howard occasionally try to keep Gary on topic as he just rambles on and on about his life and his philosophies like we give a shit. an intellectual thought. It was the awareness that my future is not within. The human is our own animal that I know that we're really after coat with and all of the truly our dept. It's a tremendous psychic world. It is the knowledge that our future not being around you, knowing the way of our death is the flame of the flame that

saves our entire life. At a young age, Gary Hilton assumed the belief that life is meaningless and rejected any established ideas of inherent human morality. If we're all destined to become skeletons, then what's the fucking point? Of anything. Gary's nihilistic beliefs surely placed him as an outsider as he grew up in the deep and then dirty south during the 1940s and 50s. But eventually Gary just accepted that he would never fit into society. It's got to be that highly a effect.

I'm guessing. the fastest thing in the world. It's a loner, which I was. A loner trying not to be one. In other words, a loner that doesn't know themselves, wouldn't have them to evolve their lives. All the way through the present day, a program that they're bummed bored and by hundreds of methods is everyday. It's programming you to the fact that any activity you do is not deviate it, you give it to someone else. So the problem with these poor numbers the associate has is that their program like that that in spite of themselves they don't know themselves. They don't understand that they're around haggings for the whole thing that they're never going to be in. They don't understand that there's no way in the world that they are around haggings, we're holding this, they're never gonna be in it. They don't understand that there's no way in the world that they're gonna get some real

satisfaction out of a human relationship. Gary acknowledges his anti-social personality disorder many times throughout this interview, and like a true sociopath, thinks of himself as the victim. Except for this rampage, I was in Andrew Party. I said, you're five. I kid you not. They have screwed, dude. And I said, in the every every which was his idea, they called the police on me 30 times

when they were the transgressors trying to get in the vehicle in the car type. Yeah, yeah. And all of the society tried to get me in trouble and say, had their way, they would tell, got rise to the cops, they'd talk with a resume and send me to the penitentiary, take my dog away, and ruin my life. OK, is as simple as that.

He talked about cruel and hardless man. For the majority of his life, Gary Hilton made a living by stealing people's money through illegal phone solicitation. He was a career criminal. Somehow he concludes that being sent to prison for this kind of behavior is cruel and heartless. Poor Gary. And Gary's irrational thinking only continues as he reveals himself as a misogynist. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money.

I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money.

I'm going to get you a lot of money. I'm going to get you a lot of money. women stems from his own insecurity, a sense of entitlement, and the belief that women owe him sex. And you take that part of my dislike, I wouldn't call it hatred, but they're all mobs. But when they did that, they had all the advantages. They want to show you, no,

you don't want to get the push No, she's the one that got the full ticket for any time she wants. For women to threaten to give it away, they're pushing them. And for a number of us, you know, that they should give it away. They have to give it away. Increases the volume of it. So I probably came to the conclusion, I mean, the last piece that I had, except for right here, wasn't even knowing. Once he stopped getting laid around by the So that's what I think that I had except for right here, within the nine. What keeps up getting laid around by the gift and we all are and how we know so happy after I did that. Oh yeah.

As far as what triggered Gary to go from fraudulent phone solicitor to prideful rapist and murderer is anyone's guess. The go to theory and the one argued by his defense attorneys is that an abusive childhood, a lack of loving parents and the drug riddeline made him do it. Now I know people that have taken riddeline and I don't think they've ever killed anyone. I could be wrong, but I just don't think that's true. But according to Gary, his actions were brought on by desperation. And an artist, and as a subject of that,

when you're going to have to kill somebody, you would like to select your victims rather than just a faceless person you're gonna kill. But when you get down, you procrastinate, and you get someone who's got a ball, when you get down, you procrastinate, and you get someone you gotta call. If you get it, you know what I mean? And you let it go, and you say, I don't kill anyone today.

And so you get down to the point where I had $40. And so they stood. And I'd kill somebody, never, every time. Surely there are other ways to make a living that don't involve killing people and stealing their money. I mean, Jesus, I podcast for a living. So there's a lot of opportunities out there. Let's just put it that way.

At the very least, you could rob a bank or steal a car or maybe even get a job. There's those things. And Gary knows this. As it turns out, his need for money to survive was really only a small part of the equation. And as to why I chose to kill for money, that's part of that was rage against society, social and classic rage against society. I didn't kill them because for any satisfaction, it was just a tool, it was dreadful. Trust me, it was.

Of course, I was able to do it, but that was my general regime in society. And it's not to say my mind could not have been changed, you know, with American people, but I don't have a regime in society, and I guess most people would get the bill as far as the victim does. Gary points to his rage against society as the reason behind his murderous behavior, enabling him to disassociate from the horrors of killing victims. And in keeping with his sociopathic nature, Gary thinks very highly of himself. We're dealing with a concept of virtual reality, of hyper-reality, and the fact that we are so divorced because of all these distractions that we emit because of the totally artificial world and environment, and environment, thought that we built a model that we can't know what's real and which is even true.

And you can't. That's just a new hit run on it. It really not seemed to be intelligent. The dialogue alone had the time to think. So what profound insight can we gain from this man? This self-proclaimed anomalous thinker? One of my favorite observations that I come to learn through my little talk on the lens side is that her full integrity is so hard to judge because everyone has different degrees of integrity according to what they're doing and who they're doing with.

Wow, how perceptive. And this right here is one of the more tragic aspects of Gary's life and his crimes. As far as killers go, he's useless. He's boring. A pathetic, woman-hating, narcissistic sociopath. Nothing more, nothing new, nothing interesting, and nothing at all to learn from him. But like most things, this is lost on Gary, But like most things, this is lost on Gary, as he relishes in his perceived notoriety and spins a yarn. deliberately kept coverage of me. You never just want to try to be the front wall. And I want to just run, you know, so kind of like a Hollywood celebrity that's been bad. And now the only lepid is the bigger demand it makes. But you know, like running out there and then diving to the goal, wearing the bed. It's a mistake. Let's be clear, in reality, there is not a shred

of mystique about Gary. If this background interview tells us anything, anything at all, it's that Gary is just a third rate serial killer and a basic bitch. Again, this interview was conducted one month after Gary's arrest, but it actually wasn't the first interview that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted with him. Shortly after the GBI apprehended Gary, he was interviewed by an agent while being escorted

in an unmarked police car. The topic of the interview was the abduction of Meredith Emerson. Gary Hilton arrived at Bloodmountain on December 30, 2007 and set up camp with his dark red retriever, Dandy. Meredith Themerson arrived at Blood Mountain two days later on New Year's Day, at around 1pm and began her hike up the mountain alongside her dog, Ella. Not long after she began her hike, Meredith encountered Hilton, and they struck up a conversation about their dogs. Gary and Meredith began walking the same direction of the mountain. Likely put off by the weathered homeless and toothless man, Meredith began to outpace

Gary. It was at this point that Gary decided he was going to abduct Meredith and steal her bank cards. And he chose Meredith because she seemed like an easy target. I'm not a troll over a beefy lady. Rather than a bigger guy, I could work a couple with a guy that might really fun. Hilton intercepted Meredith on her way back down the mountain,

brandishing a bayonet. He demanded Meredith's spank cards. Meredith, a blue belt in judo and a keto, fought back without hesitation. She grabbed a knife for a loss of soul. and Akito fought back without hesitation. Meredith successfully disarmed Hilton of his weapons, but lost the upper hand when the two of them stepped off the trail and tumbled down a slope.

From there, Hilton punched Meredith in the face and head and gained control. Well, I got her to stop fighting and stop yelling at her and I said, all I wanted to do was credit card and never move off the trail. And if that point I produced the one that I was like handcuffs that police used. At the time? For zip ties. So I zip tied her two or three and I knew that I had to go and recline the clients, This was the point at which retired police officer Seth Blankenship and Hiker Bill Klosson had come across Meredith's items that were thrown about the trail. Gary, still there, watched as they collected the items and walked them down the mountain. Then he returned to Maradeth. Went back to the house and cut her loose and told her that we moved down the old

to the park. So she was compliant and he made it down to the parking lot. Like 70 of the parking lot. Okay. Then I secured a tow. Secured a tow and that's three. Yeah. One is two. One is two.

Oh, I told her I told her well I was going to have to get her cars and pin number out of a car which was in her purse. Gary walked to the trailhead parking lot and collected Meredith's purse from the car. Then he parked his van next to her car and went back for Meredith. Then I walked up, I'm sure, walked her down, but I'm not going to lay her down. And I had two lengths of chain, but it ran to the road. Just tied enough to get her over her head. You have to falter into the manor. Now she run past it, but there was no physical force at the time.

I'm by the end. Y'all course her doll was a little lazy. Gary put Ella in Meredith's car, then got into his van and drove North away from Blood Mountain. Meredith was now chained around her neck, the prisoner of a psychopath and undoubtedly fearing for her life, yet she was still thinking of the well-being of her dog. Gary drove several miles, but Meredith eventually convinced Gary to turn around and go back to Blood Mountain to retrieve Ella. After driving back to Blood Mountain to pick up Meredith Stog, Gary drove to Blair'sville, Georgia,

where he stopped at a bank ATM and attempted to withdraw cash with Meredith's cards. We didn't even work anymore. We didn't work. I mean, cards. I'm really not sure because she had me run them so many times. It was either invalid or unauthorized. So I came back one day to the van,

she convinces me to, I think, try to third, and maybe even a work time. It didn't work. It's not a bit more. In a effort to buy time and likely realizing she was expendable once Gary had what he wanted, Meredith never gave him the correct pin number for any of her bank cards.

Gary then drove to downtown Gainesville where he attempted to withdraw money from a Wacovia bank ATM. Four or five times she kept trying to convince you that it would work. She did convince me. She ran me back. I'd come back. Which is funny. I had to go on the man walked the 100 yards or wherever to run it. Come back. She gave me some other story. It's all another car.

I was getting late. The streets are freaking in. Unable to withdraw money at yet another ATM, Gary left Gainesville and began looking for a place to camp for the night. He and Meredith ultimately ended up camping at the Chattahoochi National Forest in Northern Georgia. he held me out of the van. And while we were asleep, I would tie a long list of Nileye Ford around the Wrangler. He said, honey, I'm just going to have the tirelessly. That was simply to keep her from jumping off the take novel out of the sleep. The next morning with Meredith still

chained in the back of his van, Gary drove to Canton, Georgia, in search of an ATM. Again, none of the pins Meredith gave Gary allowed him to access any of her accounts. I think we spent two nights there because we went hiking the next day. In order to keep Meredith from running off while they were talking, Gary briefly brandished a BB gun and threatened to shoot Meredith in the back if she tried to run away. Likely not realizing the weapon was only a BB gun, this frightened Meredith enough to maintain her cooperation. I don't want to stay good, so I'm one time, that was good. She was not having a bad time at all, and enjoying herself on the high, I could tell the

head. According to Gary, despite being kidnapped by a 61-year-old stinky homeless toothless psychopath, and threatened with death if she tried to run away, Meredith was not having a bad time. Gary and Meredith camped in Dawson Forest near Shull Creek for the next two nights, on January 2nd and January 3rd. There were no more recorded ATM withdrawal attempts on Meredith's bank accounts. So Gary must have given up trying to rob her. Speaking of which, in 2021, in this day and age with the technology we have

available to us, how are you allowed to withdraw money from an ATM while wearing a mask? We have facial recognition on social media apps like Facebook that can immediately point out a face and match it with you if your picture has been taken and you're in the background. How have the goliaths that are JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America not implemented this technology into their ATMs for the safety and security of their customers? I mean, for fuck's sake, they make enough money, don't they? In any case, at this point, Gary and Meredith only left Dawson Forest once. They made a stop at a gas station in Jasper, Georgia, then went to the Huttle House, where Gary called John Taber. Then they returned to camp in Dawson Forest,

and on the morning of January 4th, Gary bagged Meredith's belongings and told her he was going to release her. Then he walked Meredith into a remote wooded area and tied her to a tree. Security to a tree, walk back to the van, I'm staggering around by the aisle. You know, I'm just, I'm headed. I can't even think straight. I kind of got myself together, made some coffee and everything. Got an iron bar, a jack handle, a walk back and

At that point she was and she said I was a breakeworn coming back and I walked up and made a zip to Unsecure the chain struck her with the bar. It was a jack handle a solid iron bar handle the solid iron bar. Struck always that, she said no, let me go, put her hands up, I kept striking her, you'll see some defensive wounds to her hand. She lost consciousness and I kept striking her till she was dead. On December 31st, 2007, 24-year-old Meredith Emerson had surely thought about the year ahead, making resolutions and setting goals to improve herself and her life. Given her known drive and determination, she likely would have fulfilled those goals, if only given the chance. But four days later, on January 4th, Gary Michael Hilton tied her to a tree in a remote wooded area and beat her over the head with a tire iron until she was dead.

Then I insecure her, removed her clothing. She was wearing a lot of my clothes because I can't get dressed more. So removed that remove that clothing and at that time remove the head with a serrated knife. A serrated knife. Yeah, like a butcher knife when sharpened edge. It's just your standard generic cheap 12 inch. You would call it a butcher knife. I mean, is that difficult to do? Take somebody's head off.

I'm not sure. I can't imagine a kitchen knife have to be able to do. Just a knife with a blade this long. Okay. It's serrated and so it's a saw. Oh, okay, I got you. It's just sawing. All you gotta do is keep sawing, sawing, sawing, sawing,

sawing and then get through the joint. It's just like you would guess what is made born the kitchen to cut up meat. Did you conceal your head in anything or did you? No, I bagged her head in a white bag and took it with me trash bag. White trash bag. After beating her to death, Gary Hilton stripped Meredith naked and cut off her head with a serrated kitchen knife. He then poured liquid bleach on her body in an attempt to destroy any DNA evidence.

Gary hid Meredith's decapitated head under a log a short distance away. Then he got into his van with the dogs Ella and Dandy and drove south toward coming Georgia. I took her dog with me and I found a location where I knew the dog would be okay. I mean, you actually took her dog loose in income. If I wanted to ensure that no one would associate the dog with her, I would have killed the dog. But there's no way I could do that. I wouldn't have felt right about that. Gary's compassion for dogs is unusual. Given that many serial killers start out by killing animals before moving to humans, but I'm sure fans of Sword and Scale will be happy to know that Ella was fine. She was found wandering outside a Kroger grocery store in coming Georgia

that evening. She was eventually adopted by Meredith's parents, Dave and Susan Emerson. After Gary's arrest, his dog Dandy was adopted by someone associated with the investigation, but their name was never released. We hope Dandy is doing fine with her new and presumably much better owner. Yes, one time, first night. It wasn't forceful, but of course it was unwanted. Right, it was. But it wasn't forceful. And I told her, honey, told you I was going to let you go. You run me around.

You run me all over in North Georgia. May be 150 miles on my van. You lied to me. You run me around. Give me some food. Okay, as she did. Gary's rationale for raping Meredith is that she repeatedly lied to him about her banking pins and therefore she owed him sex.

This irrational thinking is only compounded by Gary's belief that the time Meredith spent with him was not unpleasant for her. I say in all the state, I just don't know. It was hard. It was hard. I knew you got to remember we spent several good days together, actually. We did all the camping activities together. Actually, she did not have a unpleasant time. This interview was conducted while GBA agents escorted Gary Hilton to Dawson Forest

so that he could show them where to find Meredith's remains. After Gary's arrest, his defense attorney cut a deal with Georgia prosecutors. The state agreed to take the death penalty off the table if Gary agreed to plead guilty to Meredith's murder and lead authorities to her body, which he did. unity. You use justice in your case, Mr. Hilton, we bid an immediate execution. I will accept your plea of guilty to the crime of murder, which I understand is contingent upon you're not being sentenced to day up. First, because I'm a parent, and I realize the importance of your leading state to the body of your victim for the family and the friends of the victim.

One of the reasons prosecutors were so quick to accept this deal was because of Gary's age and his poor health. And weighing heavily in the course decision is the fact that you are 61-year-old man with approximately a 17-year-old life expectancy. And should the state seek and receive a death sentence in your case, the likelihood of your living long enough to be executed is highly unlikely. Let there be no mistake. The court is not intending mercy on you due to your age, but rather recognizes in the natural course of

things you likely will die of natural causes before any death sentence the state might obtain could be carried out. Another reason for accepting the deal was that prosecutors in Georgia knew that North Carolina and more likely Florida could still put Gary on death row. With their investigation spilling into three states, officials from Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina are now working together to see if any links exist between murders of hikers in the last few months and the man at the center of the investigation Gary Hilton. He's already been charged with the killing of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson in Georgia and now police confirm that Hilton is a suspect of the deaths of both an elderly

couple in North Carolina and a woman in Florida. Gary received a life sentence in Georgia for Meredith Smirter, but was still in the hook for three additional murder prosecutions out of state. After Georgia was done prosecuting in sentencing Gary, he was sent to Florida, where prosecutors immediately went to work on convicting him. But in this case, his victim's body had already been found, and Gary didn't have a bargaining chip.

He was on the fast track to death row, so Gary pleaded not guilty to the murder of Cheryl Dunlap. On January 4, 2008, Gary Michael Hilton was identified putting some trash bags into a dumpster at a convenience store in coming Georgia. Among the items recovered were a pair of hiking boots. These hiking boots have Cheryl Dunlap's DNA on them. Among the items recovered at that scene include a sleeping bag which has Cheryl Dunlap's blood on it.

Investigators believe that Gary Kiddnaps Cheryl from the Leon Sink's Geological Area of the Appalachia Cola National Forest, where she planned to go read a book. Gary kept her alive for two days in order to withdraw money from her bank accounts with her ATM card. She was abducted on the first. That means she spent two days with Mr. Hill. Before he decided it was time to murder her in cold blood, chop off her head and hands, and dump her body in the unspeakable manner

that I have just attempted to describe to you. And upon considering the statements of Mr. Hilton himself, along with all of the other evidence in this case, I am confident that when it becomes time for you to deliberate and render a verdict in this case, you will render a verdict that begins to do justice in this case. At the end of Gary's Florida trial, it would only take a jury one hour to convict him and recommend a death sentence. On April 21, 2011, Gary Hilton was sentenced to death in Florida, but the justice system wasn't done with him. Gary still had to answer for what he'd done to John and Irene Bryant. In North Carolina authorities had already

pieced together what happened to them. And they'd found John Bryant's body. Today investigators confirmed the remains found near Franklin, North Carolina. On Saturday are those of John Bryant. His wife Irene's body was found November 9th about two hours away in the Pizca National Forest. Beneath a yellow crime scene tape often isolated road near Franklin, North Carolina, you can still see small markers pointing out evidence. This is the place where John Bryant's remains were found. In October of 2007, Gary Hilton drove from Georgia to North Carolina and arrived at Pizca National Forest just outside of Asheville.

It was here that John and Irene Bryant encountered Gary, unfortunately, who beat Irene over the head until she was dead and then kidnapped John. Through violence and intimidation, Gary coerced John into providing his ATM pin, then took John into the Nanta Hala National Forest and shot him in the head. John Bryant's DNA was found inside Gary's van after Gary was arrested in Georgia. In 2012, Gary pleaded guilty to the murders of John and Irene Bryant. David Cereal killer Gary Hilton was sentenced in Asheville Federal Court today for the murders of John and Irene Bryant of Henderson County.

A hildden received four life sentences and apologized to his victims' family. Bryant's children say they don't believe the hildden is sorry. I wanted to say that he beat my mother to death. He shot my father in the head. He murdered two people for no reason, other than the trophies of their clothes and the $300 he got from their bank card. Gary Hilton is currently on death row

at the Union Correctional Facility and Rayford, Florida. In March of 2013, his appeal to overturn his death sentence for the murder of Cheryl Dunlap was denied. What makes the tragedy and horrors that came upon Gary's victims so hard to accept is that there were so many chances to stop him beforehand. I had to call on me every time I had a leash and no vibration in 17 years. No vibration at all. I leaped 30 times. And in every single time that the police would call on me, the police would confirm that I did not act on the waffle.

As a drifter, Gary was constantly being stopped and questioned by state park authorities and police. Usually for trespassing. What's going on here? I just called you didn't it? Yes it is. I've got maps of the area and I was headed to Cucumberhut. I was looking for lowers with water road.

I just couldn't seem to locate it. I just wanted to place a camp with them on my way to Cucumberhut. I'm leaving. As a matter of matter if I come getting my maps together. Okay, get your ID. We're quick. Yeah, just your can. This particular incident of trespassing took place in Cherokee County, Georgia on October 26th, 2007. Just five days after Hilton killed John and Irene Bryant. one month before he killed Cheryl Dunlap, and two months before he kidnapped Meredith Emerson. At the time there was an outstanding arrest warrant for Gary out of Miami, but because the offense was so minor, it was never added to the national database.

If Gary had been arrested that one day, maybe authorities would have found evidence in his van that linked him to the Bryant murders and stopped him before he would murder Cheryl Dunlap and Meredith Emerson. But just like every other time Gary had been stopped and questioned, the deputy just let him go. In Meredith's case, it is particularly agonizing to think about the missed opportunities to stop Gary before he killed her. First, there was Meredith's belongings and Gary's retractable baton.

Retired police officer Seth Blankenship and Hiker Bill Kloss and found these items thrown about the trail on Blood Mountain shortly after Meredith was abducted. If one of them had notified Park Ranger instead of just leaving the items at a retail store, who knows what Meredith's fate might have been. The story of those items wouldn't be weaved together until a full two days after Meredith was abducted. Likewise Bill Kloss and actually saw Gary when Gary was headed back to clean the area where he abducted Meredith.

At the time Bill was only 40 yards away from Meredith. It was beaten and tied to a tree. If Meredith had screamed out at the right time, maybe Bill would have heard her and done something. On January 3, when Gary and Meredith were camped at Dawson Forest, a truck driver stopped and spoke to Gary who appeared weirdly nervous. Unfortunately, the truck driver hadn't watched the news and hadn't seen Gary's face was literally being broadcast nationwide. Then, there were Meredith's ATM cards.

Meredith was actively trying to buy herself time, giving Gary incorrect pins, knowing that the location of each failed withdrawal could be tracked if anybody at any of these stupid banks had any clue with the hell they were doing. But the GBI didn't obtain Meredith's bank records until January 4th, the day Meredith died. Also on January 4th, a police officer passed Gary on the back roads of Dawson Forest when Gary was on his way to murder Meredith.

Gary even waved at the officer, but no stop was made, probably because of that polite wave. And finally, there was the phone call that Gary made to his former employer, John Taber, from the Huddlest restaurant in Marble Hill. When Gary made this call, Meredith was alive, chained to a seat in Gary's van. How agonizing for that poor waitress to now know that. After John Taber got this call from Gary, he contacted the GBI, or so he says. Remember this? I didn't think twice. I, of course, immediately called it and the GBI as soon as I could locate their phone

numbers. This isn't actually true. In fact, it's a blatant lie. GBI agents didn't know about Gary's call to John Taber until two hours after it happened, when they reached out to him. The GBI's investigative summary on the incident reads as follows. Special Agent Howard asked Taber if he attempted to contact the GBI when Hilton called him on January 3rd, 2008.

Taber became visually upset and began to cry. He stated that he did not attempt to call anyone. Taber only provided the information about Hilton's call when he was directly asked. After the GBI learned about the call that Hilton made the taber, they immediately traced the number and dispatched agents to the

Huddles house Gary had called from. They arrived within 10 minutes. But as you know, Gary and Meredith were long gone having left two hours prior to the arrival of law enforcement. With the benefit of hindsight, it's easy to pass blame onto John Taber, just ask Gary Michael Hilton. When I called him, that girl was a lie. She was in my man. If paper instead of trying to trap me, if paper just said, Gary, they know she is guilty for you. So go and be a lot. Listen, the reason for killing the girl, it was either why she'd taken someone,

you're either going to kill them, or you're going to get caught. But if you're already caught, definitely you can kill him. We certainly can't take Gary's word for it that he wouldn't have killed Meredith, had John told Gary that the police were onto him. But what would have happened if John called the GBI immediately after his call with Gary,

would Meredith still be alive. Maybe then again, maybe not. The license plate information the GBI had on Gary was incorrect. They were looking for a white van with Georgia plates, but Gary had previously swapped his plates with tags he'd stolen from a woman's car in North Carolina. Even if the GBI arrived at the Huddles House minutes after Gary called John, Gary still might have slipped right by them. We can speculate all day about what should have could have and would have been. But the truth is, the only reason Meredith Emerson is dead

But the truth is, the only reason Meredith Emerson is dead is because Gary Hilton tied her to a tree and beat her over the head with a tire iron. Nobody is to blame for Meredith's death except for Gary Michael Hilton. I said, I'm sick of it from the hurt. Because as you said, she on sweat my ass. You said, I, didn't you say I, I bet that 120 pound girl on the sweat your ass. She on sweat my ass. She didn't have shit with it. I lost control of both of them, both of them not and for that.

Grab the band head and somehow I lost control of that head and it lost it. Periodic, and it went down. I pulled the back, deployed it. Grab, grab, I mean, she had no cheese, real quick with her hands, and had no hesitation about running work and everything. And not only that, she was harnessed up there. And I thought like y'all man.

Meredith Emerson didn't go down without a fight. And her refusal to give into Gary's demands likely saved lives. It was the brawl on Blood Mountain and giving Gary incorrect banking pins that delayed him, keeping him without money and putting him on the path to arrest. Meredith's resilience put Gary in custody before he had a chance to choose another victim. Meredith might have saved your mother, or your father, or your brother, or your sister, or maybe even you. as far as her interest goes. Multi-passing, this girl with so smart, and just love people, love animals,

love being outdoors, and she was passionate about everything that she cared about. She didn't do anything halfway. She was just the kind of person you just felt happy when you were a rounder. She was just so enthusiastic, and somebody you really established a connection to. Meredith lived her life in a way that was enthusiastic and positive. She was making a difference in the world in the life of our friends. Foundless energy, enthusiasm, spirit,

she had a great positive attitude. She never gave up, and she was always striving to improve herself. There are people out in the world who are truly wonderful, incredible people who touch the lives of many others, and that we should all strive to be that sort of person. That's the sort of person the Meredith was. As much as we might want to change any of the circumstances that led to Meredith's murder, we simply can't.

But in the same way that Meredith's family and friends must accept her death, so too does Gary Hilton have to accept that Meredith is the person that took him down. And when he dies, in prison, be it by execution or natural causes, he won't be remembered like Meredith Emerson, whose joy and enthusiasm for everything she did in her short life was immense and undeniable.

He will be remembered as a boring, third-rate sociopath who blamed the world and his parents for the peace of shit crybaby that he became. Or maybe if there's any justice in this world, he won't be remembered at all. Well that does it for this marathon of an episode. Almost 90 minutes long we'll be enjoyed it and stay safe.

Hey Mike, I just wanted to call in to thank you for this amazing podcast. You do the victims, their stories back. Instead of just telling us about a terrible person and what they did to someone one day and Because that I never stopped listening Even though the episode is involving abusive relationships fucking broke me I was in an abusive relationship for about four years and I'm partially blind in what I know and I live with PTSD but I got out and thanks to you and the podcast,

I'm never too careful to be grateful for that. And if you happen to play this on the podcast and someone listening to feels like best dark, the best advice I can give you I'm listening to the feels like best, dark. The best advice I can give you is just be a selfish if you want, because it's your life and you get to waste it. It's not bad. you