<p>In chilling detail, a man convicted of killing an Emory University student in 1994 told authorities Monday how he raped and strangled the victim, then burned her body and disposed of her ashes to make it unlikely her remains will ever be found.</p><p>Colvin Hinton invited law enforcement, the victim's father and a newspaper reporter, among others, to a state prison in Reidsville to hear his two-hour confession to Shannon Melendi's murder.</p><p>The father refused to listen in, saying he didn't want it to become a circus.</p><p>"He wanted to tell me how he raped and murdered my daughter and that sounds like control," Luis Melendi said. "I wasn't going to be part of it."</p><p>The 19-year-old Miami woman disappeared after leaving a softball field near Decatur. Her body has never been recovered; based on Hinton's claim of how he disposed of it, it is unlikely that Melendi's remains will ever be found, though authorities will try.</p><p>"There were nothing but ashes left," DeKalb County District Attorney Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming said Hinton told authorities. She described the confession as "what may be the final chapter in the Shannon Melendi case."</p><p>Defense lawyer B.J. Bernstein said Hinton had wanted to tell the truth since his appeal failed in the Georgia Supreme Court.</p><p>"This is a unique thing for a client to want to do this, but this was his idea," she said. "He needed to tell the truth about what happened.</p><p>"Obviously, he had never confessed to me before. Today was the first time. This was my first hearing of this," Bernstein said.</p><p>The sit-down with Hinton was brokered over at least a week. No promises were made to him, and the prosecutor said she will push to make sure he is never released on parole.</p><p>A reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was present for Hinton's confession at Hinton's invitation.</p><p>"I hate what I done," Hinton said, according to the newspaper. "I know I'll never, ever be forgiven by most people. And I accept that. But I am so sorry. I've hurt so many people with the lies I've told."</p><p>No one was allowed to tape the interview, and prosecutors did not plan to release portions of the statement, prosecution spokeswoman Adora Andy said.</p><p>Melendi's father said the confession doesn't do much to help him heal.</p><p>"What kind of message are we sending that you can burn somebody's body in a backyard and then get away with it," Luis Melendi said, noting it was 10 years from the time of the murder before Hinton was charged.</p><p>If anything helps, it's knowing Hinton will be locked up forever, Melendi said.</p><p>"He will never do this to another human being. Period," Melendi said. "I hope the judges out there are listening."</p><p>The father added, "I want people to know the Melendi family pursuit of this conviction has been for only one purpose, to make sure this animal is put away forever."</p><p>The prosecutor said Hinton told police he kidnapped Shannon Melendi at knifepoint from the softball field, took her to his home, tied her up, raped her and later strangled her.</p><p>He then burned the body in several fire pits he dug in his backyard and disposed of the ashes somewhere else, Keyes Fleming said.</p><p>"He said he is in fact Shannon Melendi's killer," Keyes Fleming said.</p><p>Asked about a motive and Hinton's reason for confessing, Keyes Fleming said, "It's very hard to get into the mind of any killer. There's some indication he was clearing his conscience."</p><p>The prosecutor added, "I think it's very clear he's a murderous predator."</p><p>Earlier Monday, the state Supreme Court rejected a request by Hinton to reconsider its decision upholding his conviction.</p><p>That means the court's June 12 decision affirming Hinton's conviction will stand.</p><p>Melendi had worked as a scorekeeper at a game where Hinton was an umpire. For years authorities suspected that Hinton, who had served time previously for abducting women, was involved in the slaying, but he wasn't charged until 2004.</p><p>Hinton was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Fellow inmates with whom he served time in federal prison testified that Hinton had made incriminating statements to them about the Melendi case.</p>
