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Drifter Gets Life in Hiker Murder

'He should stay alive and slowly rot,' says victim's mother

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 1, 2008 6:42 AM CST
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(Newser) – A Georgia drifter who pleaded guilty to killing 24-year-old hiker Meredith Emerson  was sentenced yesterday  to life in prison, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Gary Michael Hilton, 61, led police to the victim's decapitated body on Blood Mountain days after her disappearance. Hilton had been charged with kidnapping and malicious murder and faced a possible death sentence. He is also a suspect in three other killings.

Hilton said he kidnapped Emerson so he could access her money on ATMs, and decided to kill her after she gave him false passwords. He said he decapitated the young woman to make her body difficult to identify. Hilton's plea bargain spares him a death sentence, an outcome that Emerson's mother coldly welcomed. "He should stay alive and slowly rot," she said. "As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing as justice in this case. Nothing will bring our daughter back."

In this May 2007 photo released by Pat B. Mitchell, Meredith Emerson is seen with her dog Ella, in Flowery Branch, Ga. A reader-submitted question related to Meredith Emerson's dog is being answered as part of an Associated Press Q&A column called Ask AP. A reader asked What happened to...
In this May 2007 photo released by Pat B. Mitchell, Meredith Emerson is seen with her dog Ella, in Flowery Branch, Ga. A reader-submitted question related to Meredith Emerson's dog is being answered...   (Associated Press)
Gary Michael Hilton is escorted from the Dawson County Courthouse after pleading guilty to killing hiker Meredith Emerson Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 in Dawsonville, Ga., Emerson was kidnapped while hiking in a trail in north Georgia on News Years Day. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Gary Michael Hilton is escorted from the Dawson County Courthouse after pleading guilty to killing hiker Meredith Emerson Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 in Dawsonville, Ga., Emerson was kidnapped while hiking...   (Associated Press)
Gary Michael Hilton is led into Dawson County Superior Court where he plead guilty to killing hiker Meredith Emerson Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 in Dawsonville, Ga. Emerson was kidnapped while hiking in a trail in north Georgia on News Years Day. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Gary Michael Hilton is led into Dawson County Superior Court where he plead guilty to killing hiker Meredith Emerson Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 in Dawsonville, Ga. Emerson was kidnapped while hiking in...   (Associated Press)
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An account of Meredith's last days
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 
crime • Meredith Emerson • Georgia hiker • Gary Michael Hilton

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