Meredith Hope Emerson (June 20, 1983 – January 4, 2008) was a 24-year-old woman who was murdered in January 2008 by drifter Gary Michael Hilton. She was last seen alive hiking with her dog on

Blood Mountain Blood Mountain is the highest peak on the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail and the sixth-tallest mountain in Georgia, with an elevation of .Brown (1996), p.93 It is located on the border of Lumpkin County with Union County and is withi ...

in northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on New Year's Day 2008. Witnesses claimed to have seen her with an older man on the Spur Trail connecting the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...

with the Byron Herbert Reece Parking Lot. When she did not return home on January 2, 2008, her friends began to search for her, without success. Her dog, Ella, was found on January 4, 2008, in

Cumming, Georgia Cumming is a city in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, and the sole incorporated area in the county. It is a suburban city, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In the 2020 census, the population is 7,318, up from 5,430 in 2010. Su ...

, approximately away. At the time of her disappearance, Emerson lived in

Buford, Georgia Buford is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett and Hall County, Georgia, Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,144. Most of the ...

Biography

Emerson was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. She was raised in

Holly Springs, North Carolina Holly Springs is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 41,239, a 67% increase from 2010. History Etymology The town's name refers to the free flowing springs that emerge into a ...

, a suburb of

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

, and in

Longmont, Colorado The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Longmont ...

. Emerson graduated from Niwot High School. In 2005, she graduated with honors from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

with a bachelor's degree in French and was given the Cecil Willcox Award for Excellence in French.

Investigation

On January 4, 2008, three days after Emerson was last seen, a witness at a

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

gas station called

DeKalb DeKalb or De Kalb may refer to: People * Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), major general in the American Revolutionary War Places Municipalities in the United States * DeKalb, Illinois, the largest city in the United States named DeKalb **DeKal ...

police and stated that "the guy you are looking for is cleaning out his van." The police quickly arrived on scene and were able to stop the accused before he could bleach the interior of the van. Crime scene analysts obtained blood evidence that was matched to Emerson's DNA. Gary Michael Hilton was subsequently arrested and charged with Emerson's murder. The prosecution agreed to take the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

off the table if Hilton would lead investigators to her body. Hilton agreed and successfully led investigators to Emerson's body. Hilton claimed he had asked Emerson for her debit card PIN and that when she failed to give him the correct number, he kept her for four days before killing her. Hilton stated he could not bring himself to kill her dog and that when it came to the woman herself, "It was hard ... you gotta remember we had spent several good days together."

Conviction

On January 30, 2008, Gary Hilton pleaded guilty to the murder of Emerson. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility for parole in 30 years. Hilton was later linked to and then charged with three additional murders: the October 2007 murders of elderly couple John and Irene Bryant in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and the December 2007 murder of 46-year-old nurse Cheryl Dunlap in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It has been speculated that Hilton might also be responsible for the 1997 murder of Judy Smith. This is because Hilton had left one of his victims in a similar condition near where Smith's body was discovered. In 2011, Hilton was tried for Dunlap's murder and was sentenced to death. In 2012, Hilton pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and murder of the Bryants, for which he was sentenced to life in prison.

Cause of death

Autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

results for Emerson indicated she was killed on January 4, 2008, by blunt force trauma to the head.

Crime scene photo controversy

On February 25, 2010, ''

Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

'' magazine reporter Fred Rosen asked for the Meredith Emerson crime scene and autopsy photos as part of an open records request filed with the

Georgia Bureau of Investigation The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is an independent, statewide agency that provides assistance to Georgia's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investiga ...

(GBI). The victim's family requested that the request must be denied according to attorney Lindsay Haigh. In March 2010, DeKalb

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

Judge Daniel Coursey issued a temporary order restraining the GBI from releasing "any and all photographs, visual images or depictions of Meredith Emerson which show Emerson in an unclothed or dismembered state." This order came on the same date that the Georgia House Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed "The Meredith Emerson Memorial Privacy Act", which prevents crime scene photos from being publicly released or disseminated, according to Rep. Jill Chambers. House Bill 1322 stops the dissemination of images of victims who in the photos appear "nude, bruised, bloodied or in a broken state with open wounds, a state of dismemberment or decapitation." "We 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 bodies for

dissemination To disseminate (from lat. ''disseminare'' "scattering seeds"), in the field of communication, is to broadcast a message to the public without direct feedback from the audience. Meaning Dissemination takes on the theory of the traditional view ...

," Chambers stated. "Meredith isn't in a position to give that kind of permission to have her exploited in that kind of venue...we're not only protecting future victims of crime, we're protecting the integrity of what happened to Meredith." ''Hustler's'' response was through an email that said, "Hustler is aware of the GBI's refusal to honor its reporter's request for copies of the Emerson crime scenes photos, which were to be used in a news story about this crime. Hustler and Mr. Flynt disagree with the GBI's position, and are currently exploring all legal options available to them should the decision be made to go forward with the story."

References