Hilton murder trial underway in Fla.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A jury has been seated in Tallahassee, Fla., for the murder trial of Gary Michael Hilton, who is already serving time for killing a hiker in northeast Georgia three years ago.

Hilton is on trial in Florida for killing Cheryl Dunlap, who was found dead in a norhwest Florida national forest under similar circumstances.

WCTV in Tallahassee reports that the trial may last as long as three weeks and that as many as 165 witnesses may be called. The state is seeking the death penalty.

Hilton avoided a possible death penalty in Georgia by pleaded guilty three years agp to the 2008 kidnap-murder of Meredith Emerson and leading investigators to her body. Emerson was abducted from a Union County hiking trial in January 2008. Several days later after agreeing to the plea bargain, Hilton led investigators to her body in a Dawson County forest.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/2/235865