ATLANTA - Using her wits and training as a martial artist, Meredith Emerson struggled to survive in the north Georgia mountains after she was abducted by a drifter who was looking for easy prey.
Details of an interview with Gary Michael Hilton obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tell the tale of Hilton's four days with Emerson, and how she fought him from the moment he tried to overpower her as she hiked with her dog, Ella.
In the end, it was Hilton who apparently outsmarted her before bludgeoning Emerson to death and decapitating her. But investigators say she never gave up.
Hilton, a wiry man with a slight build, told investigators he targeted the 24-year-old University of Georgia graduate because she was a woman. For a time, they walked together with their dogs on New Year's Day near the Appalachian Trail in Union County, but the 61-year-old Hilton couldn't keep up.
When Emerson headed back down the trail, Hilton was waiting with a military-style knife. He demanded her ATM card and Emerson immediately went on the defensive, grabbing the blade and the baton Hilton countered with.
After punching her, Hilton calmed her down by telling her that he just wanted her credit card and PIN number, and bound her hands with a zip tie.
Hilton told a GBI agent he raped the young woman the first night. He said he was angry she'd made him drive around from bank to bank and still had nothing to show for it.
Thursday
November 14th, 2024
3:36PM
