The Hunt for a Killer | The Murder of Meredith Emerson

It was a case that resonated with just about everyone who followed it.

On New Year’s Day 2008, Meredith Emerson set out for a vigorous hike up Union County’s Blood Mountain with her black Labrador retriever mix, Ella. There she encountered a grizzled, toothless drifter searching for his next victim. AJC's Rhonda Cook and Christian Boone talk about covering that story years ago, as well as talk to the lead GBI agent on the case John Cage, who is still moved by the very thought of Emerson, ten years later.
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Meredith Emerson’s killer appealing death sentence again
April 23, 2015

The serial killer who captured and dismembered Georgia hiker Meredith Emerson is asking a court today to set aside his death sentence for a Florida murder.

Attorneys for Gary Michael Hilton, now on death row in Florida, argue that his public defenders didn't provide effective representation for him, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. They are seeking a September hearing to present evidence for that and to try to get a new sentencing trial.

Hilton's killing spree apparently began in North Carolina with the slaying of Bob and Irene Bryant, who were hiking in a national forest. Next, he decapitated a Florida nurse, Cheryl Dunlap.

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-new...

Chapters:
00:00 The Investigation and Search
04:32 Closing in on the Suspect
07:51 The Plea Deal
10:04 What Might've Been