All That is Hidden True Crime
All That is Hidden True Crime presents new and classic cases narrated by Kristen Roberts. Each episode explores solved and unsolved murders, deception, and con games that will leave you breathless.
All That is Hidden True Crime
Meredith Emerson- Part 2: Ending the Killing Spree of the National Forest Serial Killer
The capture of serial killer Gary Hilton marked the end of a terrifying murder spree across three states' national forests. After securing a life sentence in Georgia for Meredith Emerson's murder, prosecutors in Florida and North Carolina built cases that would eventually put Hilton on death row and add four more life sentences to his punishment.
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You're listening to All that Is Hidden True Crime. I'm your host, kristen Roberts. This episode contains discussions of sensitive topics including mental illness, sexual assault and other potentially distressing subject matter. Some content may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to part two of the Meredith Emerson story.
Speaker 1:If you recall where we left off, gary Hilton received life in prison for Meredith's murder. He escaped the death penalty but due to his obnoxious interrogation where he proclaimed no state prosecutor would spend the money to try and convict him of other crimes, guess what? Now that they have the van in custody, it was time to fully get justice for Gary's other victims. Meredith was truly a hero because he may not have been caught before killing over and over again. He was accustomed to attacking people in the woods, but typically there weren't witnesses, and he also didn't get his mm kicked and left his handy police baton lying around for someone to find. Many, many people had seen him over the years with that stupid baton and now that Hilton was all over the news with his white van and red dog, investigators in North Carolina and Florida began to perk up and contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Meredith would be credited with ending an increasing string of killings by the National Forest Serial Killer.
Speaker 1:Although Gary Hilton says he prefers to be called the Beast of Blood Mountain in his court TV interview that he had at the age of 78, the oldest serial killer alive he likes to also brag that he was the oldest serial killer, who began killing at the age of 61. It's very important to him that he admits to nothing before that, so that he is the oldest serial killer he can hold. He can hold some place in history. Isn't that cool? He says. For some reason the killing of Meredith was just so much more important to him than the other victims that he took. Not at Blood Mountain, he says it was because she was promising, graduated from a good college, was a really smart girl in good company, but I think it's because he's a sexual deviant and an ageist. Her youth made her more valuable in his mind and he also put weight on how they bonded. But again, for such a high IQ, meredith manipulated the heck out of him, having him run to five different ATMs, caught on camera and buying her time. She would ask him questions about his hopes and dreams, getting him talking about himself. He likes to say that he would make his victims feel comfortable and that she wasn't in change the whole time in his van. He would allow her to be loose and read books and he allowed her to be comfortable. He made people feel comfortable. Didn't he understand that Meredith was also manipulating his high IQ by getting him comfortable and she stayed alive for four days because of this.
Speaker 1:His next victim that we'll take to court didn't get to live that long, we think, but definitely she played a part in manipulating him, which by now you know he loves talking about himself. We know that he loves talking about himself. So if she was asking him questions about himself, you know he went on and on. So in his head he had a relationship with her and the young person found him valuable. The other discarded lives were older and in the case of Cheryl Dunlap he seemed to have a real disdain for her religion. He never admitted to her murder, but he didn't need to because the white van did all of the confessing for him. Now I will say eventually he is going to confess to her murder, but that's going to be a little later on, as we talk about that interview that he had with Court TV at the age of 78. So at this time he's a little past 61. He's been in jail so about 63, been sitting in jail for two years in Georgia and now we bring forward this Florida case and with Cheryl, the decapitation the hands were removed. This was identical to Meredith's case. He had this thing about decapitation where he said it was all about their hair. It was full of evidence like his dog's hair would be in their hair and you know. But others that got to know him said he just did it because it was sick and he enjoyed it. So but the fact that Cheryl's body was found separate from her head and hands just a month before Meredith, in December 2007, was a real coincidence.
Speaker 1:In the Apalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee, florida, cheryl, a 46-year-old nurse and Sunday school teacher, went for a scenic hike in the 1,000-square-mile park. Unfortunately, she stumbled upon a desperate, broke and hungry Gary Hilton. Again, the ATM card was used and a covered Hilton was captured on camera. A hunter stumbled upon Cheryl's body in the woods. Part of her body and her car was found located on the side of the road with one tire one tire looking like it was slashed with something. Several witnesses had seen Gary Hilton camping in the vicinity at the time of her death and the dots were connected when he started showing up on the news. In Meredith Emerson's case, georgia cooperated by turning the van over to Florida for forensics testing and Joe Ellen Brown, forensics tester, tore the van upside down inside out and tested over 250 items for over two years.
Speaker 1:On January 9, 2008, investigators found what they believed to be the remains of Ms Dunlap's head and hands. The bones were found in a fire pit at an area near the Joe Thomas campsite where he had been seen camping. It was about six to seven miles from the area where her body was found. The bones found in the fire pit were charred and in pieces and the fire that burned the bones was a very hot fire. Leaves on the trees near the fire pit were singed and burned. The medical examiner tested that it was possibly her body that had lain in the woods since December 1st 2007. So it had been there about seven to 10 days. So the bones were so damaged by the fire that there was no DNA. Not even the bones were so damaged by the fire that there was no DNA. Not even the bones were so damaged by the fire that there was not even mitochondrial DNA. So they really couldn't determine for sure that it was, but it had to be because her head and hands were missing. And here we find these parts in a campfire close to where he was camping. A forensic anthropologist could tell there were a couple of things about the bones that you know the size of them. They were adult human being, they were a person who had small hands.
Speaker 1:And Hilton just kept protesting at trial and saying there was nothing that could link him to her kidnapping and murder, apart from the sightings around the body. However, as they took the van apart, they started coming up on more evidence, also that bayonet that was recovered in Georgia. An expert was able to mark identification and testify that that bayonet is what punctured Cheryl Dunlap's tire. So there was also DNA evidence of a cigarette found around the campsite the Joe Thomas campsite where the head and hands were found. That linked Hilton to the murder. So there was a cigarette butt that they tested that had his DNA on it.
Speaker 1:A palmetto piece was found in Hilton's van. Palmetto leaves covered Dunlop's body. Now he will later say about his victims. He liked to leave there. He didn't want to bury the body, he wanted to leave them in the wild so that the elements could take over and hide the evidence when they searched his van remember how it took five hours to process his van. Some of the items found in there were nicotine gum packages and allergy medication blister packs. In a statement to law enforcement, he had claimed he had sinus condition and that he needed to take over-the-counter sinus meds. These same type of medications were found at both of the Hilton's campsites. Beads from a necklace or bracelet were found in Cheryl Dunlap's white Camry, in and around the burn pit at the campsite and in Hilton's backpack. So there's a lot of evidence that's tying him to this.
Speaker 1:On December 3rd, two days after her kidnapping, he made a video of himself on his own video camera. He deleted it and the forensics lab was able to obtain the video. So this is really the major proof that proved that he killed Cheryl. But he was in his van talking to his dog, dandy, and Hilton told Dandy that they were going to the park and he was all jovial about it. He said to Dandy but first, quote, we got to go hide this somewhere else. And then he bragged quote, I killed them. Yeah, I killed those bitches, I killed them. So he's basically confessing to his dog. Of course, his dog he's got. You know his dog is the best thing going to him. So he's going to murder people, but confess the murder to his dog. He's all happy about it. Hey, we're going to go for a hike in just a bit, but I got to hide these body parts first and so they were able to get that back.
Speaker 1:So, even though he deleted it, they were able to find it. They played it in court. They also found high-tech boots, and these boots were found in the dumpster. After Stephen Shaw, the guy who called in 911, saw him dumping things in the dumpster at the convenience store. They also, those high-tech boots had a mixture consistent with two people Gary Hilton and Cheryl Dunlap. Cheryl's DNA was found on the shoestring of the right boot. The chance of the DNA belonging to another individual is one in 63 million Caucasians, by the way, so that's what the forensic scientists said.
Speaker 1:A black duffel bag found with Hilton when he was arrested in Georgia contained DNA that included Hilton and Cheryl Dunlap In that two years of lab testing. Dna was also found on swabs from Dunlap's thighs that were very degraded. However, ms Brown found that his DNA was on her thighs. Now he will also confess on some of that recovered video that he also did rape her, sexual assault her, and it's pretty disgusting how you find that out. He also liked to strip his victims naked before decapitating them and taking their hands. So yeah, finding the DNA there is not surprising.
Speaker 1:Also, she found Cheryl Dunlap's DNA on three items recovered in and outside the van. The first item was a pair of blue pants found in the van, and the chance of the DNA belonging to someone other than Ms Dunlap is one in 29 quadrillion Caucasians. The other was a purple sleeping bag found just outside his van. The sleeping bag tested positive for blood. Cheryl Dunlap was included as a contributor to the DNA found on the purple sleeping bag. And the third item was a blue sleeping bag found alongside Hilton's belongings. This bag also tested positive for blood and the chance of that DNA belonging to someone other than Cheryl is one in 11 trillion Caucasians.
Speaker 1:Hilton's DNA was found on the same sleeping bag. Her DNA was on his boots, sleeping bags and pants, along with other evidence introduced at trial. It was unquestionable that he was there. He kidnapped and murdered Cheryl Dunlap. So Gary Hilton was sent to the Leon County. So Gary Hilton was sent to the Leon County, florida location for trial in the court and all of that evidence was presented and despite a psychologist's effort in testifying that he had a rough childhood and he hit his head at one point which obviously led to his brain damage was not bought by anyone. And in April of 2007, gary Hilton or, I'm sorry, 2011, so several years after her death and several years after Meredith's death, he was handed the death penalty. So he escaped it with Meredith, but he got it for Cheryl, whose life he didn't really seem to value, as you'll hear in an interview that he gives much later in life, at 78.
Speaker 1:But do you remember our Georgia Bureau of Investigation friend, john Cagle? He watched the sentencing on a live internet feed and he stated quote For anyone here in Dawson County, that's in Georgia some people had questions as to why we didn't seek the death penalty at the time. It was the conviction we got for the murder of Meredith Emerson. That was the aggravating circumstance in the Cheryl Dunlap murder. So in other words, that conviction led to the investigation of of Cheryl Dunlap's death. Keiko watched the sentencing and he said well, quote the expression on his face. That was the first time that he actually appeared scared. Cagle said I wish we could carry out the sentence today, I'd be more than happy to assist them. And he said I think the Emersons will be pleased with the sentence and I'm sure they, as I do, look forward to the trial in North Carolina so that that family can get some closure as well. So what? Now? A North Carolina trial as well? He has already received life in prison. Now the death penalty in Florida. And now North Carolina comes forward. What happened in North Carolina? This guy's been in all these parks, but he also committed murders in North Carolina of two older individuals.
Speaker 1:Let's jump back a couple of months in 2007, october 21st, to North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest, and John Bryant, 80, and his 84-year-old wife, irene, were out hiking when they encountered a serial killer. Irene was found dead with head trauma. Now, she was not decapitated and her hands were not taken off, and you'll find out why in a moment. Her body was found on November 9th. Her son all of their kids were worried about them, hadn't seen them. They knew that they often would go hiking. So one of their sons went to a local investigator at the park and said hey, you know, our parents are missing. Where can I hike? What's a common trail that they would go on. Now, you know, eventually her body was found and John was found dead three months later in the Nantahala National Forest, and that was a ways away.
Speaker 1:I really wanted you to hear this interview, though, with Court TV and I keep bringing this up because he never admitted to Cheryl Dunlap's murder until this interview and this interview actually came out this year with journalist David Scott, and here you know he tells the story about. He says I'm giving you something here, I'm admitting to Cheryl Dunlap's death and he had never done that before. So he was like giving this journalist the scoop oh, aren't you so lucky. But the journalist is really handing it to him and he wasn't expecting all of that. And there's a lot more information about Meredith's murder. I found it absolutely disgusting.
Speaker 1:But I wanted you to hear this piece on the Dunlaps because I want you to understand their personality when you hear, because they too put up a fight like Meredith. They were just older and Gary could just like easily take them. But I want you to hear him bragging about how he took these elderly people, how he took them on quickly. He's very braggadocious about it. It's kind of gross. So I want you to kind of get a feel for his personality Again now he's 78. This was a recent interview with Court TV and he's going to ask him about the Dunlap, so I want you to hear what he has to say about their murders, but also I want you to hear what their personality was like.
Speaker 2:Irene and John Bryant right October 2007. Hilton has never discussed exactly what happened to the Bryants until now. The crime scene is North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest half a million acres with hundreds of miles of hiking trails. At what point did you spot the two octogenarians?
Speaker 3:When they got out of their car at the trailhead In the parking lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was just in the parking lot, yeah it was a just a little parking lot, and why then were there no lone girls out there that day to pick on?
Speaker 3:no, I again. I violated one of my rules. I said no couples because two murders would would generate a lot of publicity. I was down to one riddle and two spoons of of coffee two dollars. I'd been living out of dumpsters from a picnic area for two weeks. I'd lost a ton of weight. I think I was probably about down to 140. And I just said, hey, this has got to stop and I had to take some money. I just said, hey, this has got to stop and I had to take some money.
Speaker 2:What do you mean when you say you had to take someone To get money?
Speaker 3:For robbery purposes. Well, yes, I'm going to stake out this trailhead, and the first person that shows up goes.
Speaker 2:It was the Bryants. Yes, okay.
Speaker 3:What happens next. So I kind of geared up and so I said to John Bryant, you know what? We're going to take your credit card and run it. And he said I'll go to hell. And he just rushed right past me and I deployed the baton and hit him on the back of his left knee. So the guy whirls around. He was a big guy, a big, strong man, just as big as can be. He whirls around, he's carrying this trekking stick, this hiking stick that they love to carry. So he goes after me with that. So I just brushed it away and then whack, whack, hit him on the side of the head, then pulled out a pepper, sprayed him in the face. He steps forward a few feet and goes down.
Speaker 3:Where was irene? She was a few feet ahead of him and then he does the craziest thing. I can't believe this. He said, irene, I can't see, hit him. I mean, I just beaten him down and he's a big guy, six foot plus, and now he's telling his wife to fight me. And bless her heart, irene, she was all heart. She comes at you, she springs right into a fencing position you know, like on guard, you know and pop and stabs me in the chest. I go ah, and I brush it to one side and whack, hit her with the expander. She goes down. Then I'm going to take them with me. Brian never gets up. But there's another crazy thing While he's sitting there, he pulls his wallet out and he takes his credit cards out and he throws them.
Speaker 2:Inexplicable. Did you abduct both of them at that point? No.
Speaker 3:No, I only abducted him. She wouldn't get in the van. So what'd you do to her? Well, I put him in the van, locked him in the van, closed the door and I and I went back over to her a few feet away. She knew what was coming and she said I'm not getting in the van. The police always tell don't get in the vehicle, you're as good as dead. And she says I'm not getting in the van. I gave her my dirty Harry voice. I said you're not getting in the van. She said no and I immediately laid into her. I beat her and her blood blew up and it hit me in the eyes and it turned my vision red. Oh nasty. I beat her and her blood blew up and it hit me in the eyes and it turned my vision red. Oh nasty.
Speaker 2:Nasty, nasty, nasty. Hilton dumped Irene Bryant's body near the trail and held a battered John Bryant captive in his white van. He masked his face with duct tape and used the Bryant's ATM card to withdraw his payday for murder and kidnapping $300. There are easier ways to get money. There are. It was all stupid, very stupid. I mean yielding what. A few hundred dollars over the course of six months.
Speaker 3:It was all very stupid. The smart thing to do would be to take people in parking lots, okay.
Speaker 2:What about getting a job and earning some money? You don't take anybody.
Speaker 3:I'm 61 years old, I'm sick with MS, I'm burned out. I have no resume. I'm going to walk into a phone room looking for a job as a telemarketer Better than going out there killing innocent people, right? Well, robbing a band was better than that.
Speaker 2:No, there's no practical way of working Hilton then drove John Bryan deep into yet another national park, the Nantahala National Forest, to end his life.
Speaker 3:I wanted to get him a little further away because there were some houses within earshot. But John tried to run from me and he fell down an embankment and he caught his arm between two trees and and broke it, broke it right here. So I tried to get him up and he couldn't get up like that. So you know, I had the pistol in my pocket. I just shot him in the side of the head, through and through shot.
Speaker 2:John and Irene Bryant left four children and 11 grandchildren behind His dirty, hairy voice.
Speaker 1:He's ridiculous. But Irene really received the same fate as Meredith she was beat to death. Except he told Meredith he was going to let her go. He also had told Cheryl he was going to let her go too, and then he shot her in the back of the head. Now John received the same fate where he was shot. So you would think it's an easier death than being beat to death, but you heard how that went down. It wasn't great.
Speaker 1:So in 2013, he was sentenced to. Because he pleaded guilty to the murder of John and Irene Bryant. He was sentenced to four life sentences in North Carolina, and he pleaded guilty as well to robbery, kidnapping and firearm offenses. So now, four life sentences in North Carolina, but he also received the death penalty in Florida. So he was sent back to Florida, where he still sits on death row, and one thing you'll find out in that court TV interview is, if he's afraid of anything, it's death.
Speaker 1:Being the narcissist that he is is so afraid of getting executed, and John Cagle says he really hopes that he gets to see that in his lifetime. He does have congestive heart failure, though, and the reason he says he admitted to Cheryl Dunlap's murder and talked about John and Irene Bryant is because he doesn't think he's going to make it to execution and he thinks he's going to die soon. So he wanted to tell the story of how it happened. Seemed to me like he just wanted to brag about how he overtook some helpless people and also wanted to talk about how he didn't torture anyone when he tortured everyone, and I really think maybe it's the first time someone handed it to him and let him know what he really is about. So that was kind of cool. I like that someone did that before he died. But I'm sure he's going to pay after his death as well. But I think there's one piece you need to hear just one more piece in that interview about something Cheryl Dunlap said to him before he killed her.
Speaker 3:Cheryl Dunlap. She was all religion and it gave me a kind of a perverse amusement to think I just terrorized an entire church. Okay, I just have affected their life for the rest of their life. They'll never forget it and all those little kids that she taught Sunday school to, to find out that she was killed and her head was cut off and her hands were cut off. You know it could haunt them and, uh well, it will scar them for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 2:Yes, right, you enjoy that and use yourself.
Speaker 3:No, it's just, uh, I I have to admit, yeah, I kind of like ha ha, ha, ha, you know, but she said something that really grabbed me, kind of rattled me. What'd she say? She said before you die.
Speaker 1:Something tells me, as close to death as he is, he's never going to ask for forgiveness. He's never going to ask for forgiveness. Another thing he won't do is admit to any murders before this string that he's been found guilty for and he's actually admitting to. There have been, and investigators are curious how many other people have been murdered out there that he's responsible for. There is a 28-year-old Florida resident, rosanna Miliani, who also went missing and was last seen with an older man with gray hair in 2005 in Bryson City, north Carolina. Someone said they saw someone that looked like Gary Hilton. They were saying they were going to go hiking together and that she looked really nervous. There's no proof that it was him, but you know, it's just strange and he'll even say that he just all of a sudden started killing. He went his whole life until 61. But he loves that idea that he was that old, so he doesn't want to confess to anything else. There are other murders, including a little boy, that they think could be linked to him, of that, because in these cases they were kind of all strung together and they had the van and they could find proof. But they haven't found proof in these other cases and they kind of remain a cold case. No doubt, though, they probably are linked to him. You hear how he has no empathy and no heart, but just keep in mind he's not going to be around much longer and he is going to meet his fate one day very soon.
Speaker 1:Meredith Emerson will always be credited for stopping Gary Hilton's National Forest Killing Spree, but her death brought about other changes. Meredith Memorial Privacy Act was passed on March of 2010 when a writer on assignment from Hustler Magazine requested Meredith's nude photos of her decapitated body, as well as her rape kit. I mean, hadn't she and her family been violated enough? Emerson's family sought a restraining order. After learning of the request for the copies of the crime scene photos, georgia's House Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed the Meredith Emerson Memorial Privacy Act, which would prevent gruesome crime scene photos from being publicly released or disseminated. House Bill 1322 prevents the release of photographs of bodies of crime victims that are nude, bruised, bloodied or in a broken state, with open wounds, a state of dismemberment or decapitation, and the reason is, they said, they have to walk the line between open record laws and the constitutional provisions that allow women to be able to be photographed nude or in pornography when they knowingly and willingly offer their body for disseminations. Meredith wasn't in a position to give that kind of permission to have her exploited in that kind of venue. So they were protecting the future victims of crime and they're protecting the integrity of what happened to Meredith.
Speaker 1:Not long after her death, her roommate and friends formed a non-profit called Right to Hike and they would host a yearly run with her dog, ella. The last run was on Meredith's 10th anniversary of her death. The organization worked to raise money and they used it to install seven emergency mobile phone units on the trails and in the parks in the Georgia National Park area for people in trouble to call 911. So far, 15 GPS units were distributed in the hiking post in North Georgia to enable lost hikers to signal rescuers. Additionally, they would teach people how to hike safely and always tell someone where they're hiking and they will return.
Speaker 1:You may see if you are hiking the trail. Remember ME, meredith Emerson, remember me. It's posted on several trail boards. So if you're out hiking the Appalachian Trail, look for, remember me and you will know what that means. A trail was also named in her honor and the University of Georgia established the Meredith Hope Emerson Memorial Study Abroad Scholarship. I hope you'll remember Meredith and Cheryl and John and Irene and always remember to look around and be aware of your surroundings when you're out hiking, walking or running alone, even if you have your dog. Just remember to be safe and I wish you safety along your way. Thank you for listening and join me next time as we find all that is hidden in true crime.
