You have a moniker, the National Forest serial killer. Oh, really? Mhm. I think I prefer the beast of Blood Mountain. A killer perversely proud of his crimes. I set the record. I'm the oldest serial killer in American history. Isn't that amazing? He lurked in the woods, prayed on hiking trails, and displayed the evil that can be found in the wilderness of the human mind. I'm your worst nightmare, David. Gary Michael Hilton is talking about his crimes for the first time ever. After ignoring innumerable requests from every kind of person in the world, it's time to
break my silence. and he'll be confronted like never before. Now, you keep pointing to robbery, but was that just an excuse to torture and kill people? Torture and kill people? Yeah. Hold on. Torture? I didn't torture anybody. Kidnap people, Chain them up in your car, beat them to death, you rape them. Most people would regard that as torture. No. No. Where are we going with this? Well, I think we're going to the mind of a psychopath. A psychopath devoid of empathy, mercy, or decency. Narcissistic. Psychotically so. You're nuts. Kill them with it. Now awaiting a
death sentence in Florida, Hilton says he's finally ready to come clean. I'm going to give you a new scoop. I did it. I'm confessing to her murder on camera and reveal what really happened to his victims. She said something that really grabbed me. What' she say? It's the last chapter of an American crime saga. Do you hate women? Yes and no. Yes. And our last chance to look inside the mind of one of the country's most Terrifying serial killers. You have the power to haunt our dreams. Yes. Turn them into nightmares. Do you enjoy having
that kind of power over us? you know, in a perverse kind of way. I [Music] do [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] By now, I've come face to face with my Share of killers. They've been deranged, troubled, violent, their heinous crimes defined by a lifetime of hate or a split second of evil. But nothing could have prepared me for the likes of Gary Michael Hilton. New questions tonight about whether the man accused of killing and decapitating a Georgia hiker may in fact be a serial killer. In 2007, at the ripe age of 61 years old, Gary
Hilton made national headlines by launching a shocking murder spree in an unexpected Crime scene, the sprawling wilderness of America's national forests. Over 4 months, he abducted, raped, murdered, and decapitated unsuspecting hikers, terrifying park visitors across the country. With Hilton lurking in the woods, no one was safe. It was like something out of a horror movie. Wearing a makeshift mask, Hilton used his victim's ATM cards in the aftermath of each grizzly murder. Then in January 2008, a massive Manhunt led to his capture. Okay, that one. What's the exact location? I had the person of interest in
that missing woman case is at this uh Chevron gas station. He's throwing stuff in the dumpster here. I can go take him down if you want. Stay right there. Here comes the cops. Yes, they got him. Hilton's arrest made national news and brought an end to the carnage. Cops tracked this guy down and captured him. 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton now sits in a county jail. Charged with abducting and killing 24year-old Meredith Emerson. The suspect in this case is also a possible suspect in other murders. His interrogation brought into focus a terrifying villain. Once you've taken
someone, you're either going to kill them or you're going to get caught. Wickedly intelligent, boastful of his crimes. I'm the one that killed the girl. Okay? I'm the one that killed and Contemptuous of his victims. I didn't kill children for any satisfaction. It was distasteful. It was dreadful. Trust me, it was. Of course, I was able to do it because of my general wage against society. Of course. Of course. It's Hilton pleaded guilty to murdering 24-year-old Meredith Emerson in Georgia, as well as John and Irene Bryant, an elderly couple in North Carolina. He was also
tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the murder of 46-year-old Cheryl Dunlap in Florida, a crime to which he has never confessed until now. Today, he awaits execution after more than a decade on Florida's death row. But questions remain about Hilton's terrifying rampage. Many only he can answer. At 61 years old, he claims he became America's oldest serial killer. What caused him to snap? Why did he do it? Are there other victims? Despite all the attention, Hilton has never before spoken to the Media. Okay, so the clock starts now. 10:42. Good. Good. We have exactly
60 minutes. It was my first interview with a murderer sentenced to die. After all these years, why did Hilton finally want to talk? And what would he now reveal? Here you are on death row. Yes. Talking for the first time publicly about your crimes. That's right. We're here today, sir, to to try and understand the Mindset and motivations behind your actions in these cases. Uh, you're 78 years old now, right? Yes. Um, in poor health, you say? Yes. Very poor health. That's one reason I'm doing this cuz I'm going to die soon. I have a
congested heart failure. Tell me in your own words, why why are you breaking your silence? Well, you hit it right on the head. Uh, and and I also an answer is I don't know. All I can say is it's time after 17 years after ignoring Innumerable requests from every kind of person in the world. It's time. That's the way I feel. It's time after 17 years to break my silence. In our correspondence, you said, "I think I'm prepared to give you an interview that's a la palooa. It'll knock your socks off." Yes. I will answer
any question. Yes. About any subject truthfully and completely. Yes. Can I count on you for that? You sure Can. You said be prepared to meet a whole different breed of cat. What breed exactly? Well, I'm just like no one else really, you know. Serial killer? They're a dime a dozen. Psychopath? No. Sociopath? I have part of that in me. In the years since his murder spree, Hilton's infamy has seemingly only grown. He's been the subject of documentaries and internet lore. This is The case of Gary Hilton. His crimes spanned three states and millions of acres
of pristine national forest and terrorized hikers everywhere. What did you think when the media dubbed you the national forest serial killer? I think I prefer the beast of Blood Mountain. The beast of Blood Mountain? Mhm. Does that give you a sense of accomplishment? No. Bound by chains and shackled to a violent past, Hilton may look different Now after 12 years on death row. But he's about to give his first interview ever and open a window into a mind deranged since childhood from a child, a little child. Oh, I was always fascinated with death and destruction
and guns and war as a child at five, six years old. Uh, constantly I've just always been fascinated with it. Born in Atlanta and raised in Florida by his mother and stepfather, Hilton's Troubled and violent mind was evident as a teenager. 4 minutes into the police interrogation, you call yourself a sociopath. You remember that? You said, "I'm a sociopath." And I'm like, "But they call an antisocial." That's that's the new name for it, an antisocial personality. In my day, it was called a sociopathic character disorder. Were you diagnosed as a social? As a matter of
fact, I was. At age 14, Hilton fired a Shotgun at his stepfather, nearly killing him. Authorities ordered a mental evaluation. At 14, I was seeing the head of the Dade County Child Guidance Clinic who was a psychiatrist. I saw saw him for um a year or two and he just flat told me. What did he tell you? You have a sociopathic narrative disorder. Hilton had other textbook markers for psychopathy and a condition called paraphilia, an obsession with violent Sexual fantasies. You admit to paraphilia? Strong. Strong. Strong. That's one of the reasons I I uh I
am a killer. I've had strong paraphilia uh all my life. When I I accidentally discovered masturbation, my paraphilia as I was doing it for years, it was a battlefield and they were women women nude and they were spread over a a tree stump and I would come along with a sword. Hilton went on to describe vile Acts against women. That's how you would get off. This is my first sexual feelings. His adulthood was marked by a string of failed marriages and short-lived jobs until in middle age he found himself broke, homeless, and alone. But for
the pet dogs, he says he felt closer to than any human being. You have an odd relationship with dogs. You seem more bonded with dogs than with the people in your in your life, in your family. A Million times more. Is that fair? Yeah. You told police in the wolf world there are no assault and battery laws. There are no murder laws. Right. Imagine such a world where there are no murder laws. Yes, that's the world they live in. But in reality, in the real world, you're not a wolf. You're a human being and she's
an innocent stranger. So, why kill why murder Meredith Emerson? Yeah, it's a good question. Uh, it's a good question. What's the answer? [Music] It's not clear exactly when Gary Hilton decided to start stalking and killing people, but it is known that for years he frequented national parks in multiple states in his white van posing as an ordinary hiker. What you doing out here? Well, you're the poor person. Come along. Am I ask me that? At some point in his middle age, a Lifetime of madness and failure had pushed him over the edge. Outside of crime,
your life is utterly unremarkable. That's true. That's fair. A complete abject failure, a nothing, a nobody, who never achieved anything, that never followed through on anything, who is a failure at everything except killing. Well, that was that started when I was 61. In January 2008, Hilton was scouting the Trails of Georgia's Blood Mountain for human prey. He was armed with a bayonet, a police baton, and a friendly red retriever named Dandy. Chattahuchi National Forest. 750,000 acres of thick woodlands in the North Georgia mountains. At what point did you first spot Meredith? Can you remember? Yeah.
I was coming down off the Blood Mountain Trail and she was just coming up and she Had stopped and opened up her little collapsible dog bowl. 24year-old Meredith Emerson was hiking with her dog on that day. The recent University of Georgia graduate was just settling into a new career and a bright future when she crossed paths with evil. She fit the profile. Single. Oh, definitely. Goodlook. Single woman. Yeah. Good looking. Young and everything. Unlikely to resist. Or so you thought. You told Police that your MMO was to lurk and sometimes watch with binoculars from a
distance just like a hunter would. Yeah. The Blood Mountain Trail is the most used day hiking trail in the state of Georgia. So on the one hand, that makes it an excellent hunting ground. On the other hand, it makes it no good because there's so many witnesses. You positioned yourself at the intersection of two trails, right? No, I was just coming down off the trail and boom, There she was. At what point did you decide she was the one you were going to strike? I'd already decided the infant I saw her. Closing the distance to
Meredith on the trail was easy with the help of Hilton's dog, Dandy. You deploy your unwitting accomplice, Dandy, right? Ice the icebreaker. I mean, you can't help but not use him. He's so love lovable and everything. Well, you told police that was part of strategy. You see, it's it's reverse Anthropomorphism. Rather than assigning human qualities to an animal, they assign animal qualities to humans. So, he's got this laughing, lovable golden retriever. He must be okay. Right? Reverse anthropomorphism. Some men use dogs to meet women that way. You use your dog to meet victims that way.
It worked on her. Right now you're walking up towards the summit on the trail in close proximity. The presence of so many other people on the Trail didn't dissuade you. I'm telling you it should have. I walked up up the trail with her for a ways and several people saw me with her. Right. And as a matter of fact, one guy and it turns out that he was law enforcement. Yeah. Yeah. One guy said, "Are you with her?" M. And I said, "No, that was that should have killed it right there." Moments later, alone with
Meredith on the trail, the former Army soldier brandished his bayonet blade and prepared to strike. But subduing her wouldn't be nearly as easy as he expected. Meredith Emerson was trained in martial arts and ready for the aging maniac. You confront her with the bayonet, she attacks the weapon. She shocked me. She had real quick hands and she grabbed the knife blade. She cut her hand slightly. Like I said, the vanette was not sharp. She grabbed it and I was so slack. I was like molly gagging around. Didn't have a good firm Grip on it and
she twisted it right out of my hand. So she disarms you. But she loses control of the bayonet too at the same time. Now you know you've badly miscalculated. You resort to your second go-to weapon, the police baton. And she just proceeded to grab the baton and took that out of my head. So now you're getting your ass kicked by a girl in the woods. No. No. Sounds like it. Not at all. Really? I sensed at this moment that pressing Hilton might help Reveal just how prideful and heartless he is. To get inside his head,
I needed to get under his skin. Why do you think you're armed? She's not. You have what, 40 or 50 pounds on her. Not very manly of you, Mr. Hilton. You pick a weak victim, an army soldier would call that a punk move. No one was there but her and me. And I'm telling you frankly, even the best of us have bad days. Okay? And no, it wasn't a punk move Because guess what happened then? After she took the bat, she took the the bayet. What happened then? You had to hand fight her, you said.
And what happened then? Well, you overpowered her. Just barely, it sounds like. No, not just barely. No. Where did you get that at? Well, you said to the police. I had to handight her. I probably have multiple fractures in my right hand. Yes, that's right. I still couldn't get control of her. She would faint or Pretend that I was in control and then start fighting again. So I had to hit her a number of times. Straight punches to the face or the head, right? But I had control of her. I had her had her with
my left hand the whole time. And so what happened? I I beat her ass. Can I ask you this? Uh empathy, mercy, decency. Did those ideas ever register with you at all? Yes. I have four different personalities. a soldier, a scientist, an artist, and a Comedian. Hilton says he has multiple personalities to which he ascribes four respective professions, though he is qualified in none. The soldier and the scientist, they're totally rational, unemotional. The artists are concerned with textures and feelings and emotions and and the comedian wants to make people happy. The soldier personality is is
emotional. Kill them all. let God sort them out. That's the soldier mentality. Is it possible that um all that talk about being an army soldier was delusional on your part? No. No. No. I've been tested too many times. I've been in too too many fights for over over 20 years. Hilton forcibly abducted Meredith Emerson and chained her to the chassis inside his white van. While Meredith languished, a massive search was underway to find her that garnered widespread media attention. But the Scale of the crime scene, nearly a million acres of Georgia's Chattahuchi National Forest, was
daunting. No trace yet of a missing 24-year-old Gwynette County woman. We were there from sun up to sun down. Meredith Emerson could do anything. If anybody can survive this, she can. We haven't found anything here yet. The community rallies. Yeah, I I thought this would just pass unnoticed. Just a another hiker missing in the mountain sand. No big deal. Maybe a Paragraph in the paper. Good grief. Suddenly, the investigation was blown wide open. Police pick up a digital trail as Meredith repeatedly sends Hilton to ATM machines with the wrong PIN number, signaling his location. Hilton
is publicly identified as the prime suspect. Last seen by witnesses with Meredith Emerson alive. The race is on to rescue Meredith and apprehend Hilton. It is going to be a white male between the ages of 50 and 60 Years old approximately. But the next discovery would change everything. The body of 84year-old Irene Bryant was discovered on November 9th in the North Carolina woods and her husband, 80-year-old John, is still missing. It turns out that Meredith Emerson is not the first person attacked on Hilton's killing spree, only the latest. You never intended to let her go.
Never. Now, you keep pointing to robbery, but that sure seems like a pretext for what You describe as paraphilia. Was that just an excuse to torture and kill people? No. Torture and kill people? Yeah. Hold on. torture. I didn't torture anybody. You kidnap people, chain them up in your car, you beat them to death, you rape them. Most people would regard that as torture. No, no, no, no. Where are we going with this? Well, I think we're going to the mind of a psychopath. A psychopath devoid of empathy, mercy, Or decency. narcissistic psychotically. So, you're
nuts. I'm nuts. Yes, you are nuts. Okay, this week, Lorie Val Debel representing herself. What to expect and what to look for each day in the cult mom conspiracy trial. Opening statements with Julie Grant. Mornings at 8:7 central on Court TV. The NWSL is on ion. Barbara Banda and the Pride battle the spirit. Pick it In the box. Then Will Leons and the Current take on the dash. What a strike. Coverage starts Saturday 5:00 p.m. ION. It's on. All day above Blood Mountain, the state patrols infrared detectors scanned for body heat below. The search for
Meredith Emerson made national headlines and was a desperate race against time. Do everything we can do to make sure that uh if she's up there that we get her out of there, get her out of there safely. Police now knew who took her and which way he was driving. They also knew that Hilton could snap at any moment. It's a missing person's investigation right now, and that's how we're pursuing it. And the scale of the investigation had expanded to three states when police realized that Meredith Emerson wasn't Hilton's first victim, only the latest. The body
of 84year-old Irene Bryant was discovered on November 9th in the North Carolina woods, and her husband, 80-year-old John, is still missing. 4 months earlier, John and Irene Bryant had just arrived at Pisca National Forest in North Carolina. The retired couple were 80 and 84 years old, but fit and young at heart and avid hikers. But on this day, the Bryants walked onto the trail head and into an ambush. 61-year-old drifter Gary Hilton was armed and lying in weight. Irene and John Bryant, right, October 2007. Hilton has never discussed exactly what Happened to the Bryants until
now. The crime scene is North Carolina's Pisca National Forest, half a million acres with hundreds of miles of hiking trails. At what point did you spot the two octogenarians? Uh, when they got out of their car at the trail head in the parking lot? Yeah. There was a just a little parking lot. And And why them? Were there no lone girls out there that day to pick on? No. I I again, I violated one of my rules. I Said no couples because two murders would would would generate a lot of publicity. I was down to
one rin, two spoons of coffee, $2. I'd been living out of dumpsters from a picnic area for two weeks. I'd lost a ton of weight. I think I was probably about down to 140. And I just said, "Hey, this has got to stop." And I had to take some money. What do you mean you when you say you had to take someone to get money for robbery purposes? Well, yes. I'm going To stake out this trail head and the first person that shows up goes. It was the Bryants. Yes. Okay. What happens next? So I
kind of geared up and so I say to John Bryant, "You know what? we're going to take your credit card and run it. And he said, "I'll go to hell." And he just brushed right past me. And I deployed the baton and hit him on the back of his left knee. So the guy whirls around. He was a big guy, a big strong man, just as fit As can be. He whirls around. He's carrying this uh trekking stick, this hiking stick that they love to carry. So he goes after me with that. So I just
brushed it away and then whack. He didn't want the side of the head, then pulled out a pepper, sprayed him in the face. He steps forward a few feet and goes down. Where was Irene? She was a few feet ahead of him. And then he does the craziest thing. I can't believe this. He said, "Irene, I can't see. Hit Him for me. I just beaten him down." And he's a big guy, 6 foot plus, and now he's telling his wife to fight me. And bless her heart, Irene. She was all hard. She comes at you.
She springs right into a fencing position, you know, like on guard, you know, and pow and stabs me in the chest. I go and I brush it to one side and whack. Hit her with the expander. She goes down. Then I'm going to take him with me. Bryant never gets up. But he Does another crazy thing. While he's sitting there, he pulls his wallet out and he takes his credit cards out and he throws them. Inexplicable. Did you abduct both of them at that point? No. No. I I only abducted uh him. She wouldn't get
in the van. So, what'd you do to her? Well, I put him in the van, locked him in the van, closed the door, and I and I went back over to her a few feet away. She knew what was coming and she said, "I'm Not getting in the van. The police always tell you, don't get in the vehicle. You're as good as dead." And she says, "I'm not getting in the van." I gave her my dirty hairy voice. I said, "You're not getting in the van." She said, "No." And I immediately laid into her. I
beat her and and her blood blew up and hit me in the eyes and it turned my vision red. Oh, nasty, nasty, nasty, nasty. Hilton dumped Irene Bryant's body near The trail and held a battered John Bryant captive in his white van. He masked his face with duct tape and used the Bryant's ATM card to withdraw his payday for murder and kidnapping. $300. There are easier ways to get money. There are. So you're It was all It was all stupid. Very stupid. I mean, yielding what? A few hundred over the course of six months. very
stupid. The the smart thing to do Would be to take people in parking lots. Okay. What about getting a job and earning some money? Don't take anybody. I'm 61 years old. I'm sick with MS. I'm burned out. I have no resume. I'm going to walk into a phone room looking for a job as a telemarketer. better than going out there killing innocent people, right? Well, robbing a Bank was better than that. No, there's no, there was no no practical way of of working. Hilton then drove John Bryant deep into yet another national park, the Nantal
National Forest, to end his life. I wanted to get him a a little further away uh because there were some houses within earshot. But John tried to run from me and he fell down an embankment and he caught his arm between two trees and and broke it broke it Right here. So I tried to get him up and he couldn't get up like that. So you know I had the pistol in my pocket. I just pow shot him in the side of the head. Threw and through shot. John and Irene Bryant left four children and
11 grandchildren behind. For the next few weeks, Hilton was in between murders, what criminologists called the serial killer's cooling off period. Can you explain to me what happened in your mind In that cooling off period? I'm putting the pizza out of my mind. And I have future poor shortening. I I just get up every day and go hiking. You're not thinking about it at all? Trying not to. Is the appetite for it rebuilding over the course of the weeks in between? There was never an appetite for it. Well, how can that be? Because I told
you as soon as I started this, I said no. Well, why didn't you stop then? as soon as you started it. Well, I didn't see any alternative. What do you mean? That's what I mean. And if that sounds illogical, well, that's that was my state of mind. Your mindset was that you couldn't see a way forward without continuing to kill? Yes. Just weeks after murdering the Bryants in North Carolina, Hilton was yet again broke and out for blood. He had made his way to Florida's Appalachiccola National Forest, a thousand square miles of dense woods, And
set his sights on a nurse and Sunday school teacher named Cheryl Dunlap. She was walking on the trail. She was walking. Now, you've never publicly told exactly what happened there, right? No, I haven't. And uh that case currently is under appeal. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been finally adjudicated. But hey, I'm going to give you a new [Music] scoop. This is Gary Hilton at an ATM Machine in Tallahassee, Florida in December 2007. His face is disguised to hide his identity. He's robbing his latest victim, but that is the least of his sins. You
have the power to haunt our dreams. Yes. Turn them into nightmares. To worry about our daughters. To worry about our mothers. To worry about ourselves. Do you enjoy having that kind of power over us? You know, in a perverse kind of way. I do. The woman I killed in Tallahassee That um I have my current destin. She was a devout Christian and uh a real in the church. Cheryl Dunlap. Yes. Um, now you've never publicly told exactly what happened there, right? No, I haven't. And uh, that case currently is under appeal, right? As a matter
of fact, it hasn't been finally adjudicated. But hey, I'm going to give you a news scoop. I did it. So, there you have it. You did it? Yes. I'm confessing to her murder on camera. That I've never had before. You murdered. So, I'm giving you something, David. You murdered Cheryl Dunlap. Yes, I did. I did it. And I'll be glad to tell anyone I did. After committing a double murder in North Carolina in the fall of 2007, Hilton fled one massive crime scene for another, arriving in Florida's Appalachiccola National Forest. Yet again, Hilton found himself
broke, Hungry, and hunting for a human target. He was living out of his van and living out a fish killing spree. Where did you first spot her? In the um Leon Sinks Recreation Area on the trail. Mhm. Did you follow her? I staked out the trail and I had binoculars. I I was covered with a mosquito net. I see. For camouflage. Now, this is part of the Appalachia Cola National Forest. Another enormous enormous stretch of a,000 square miles. It's about 40 by 40 miles. I finally had to get somebody because I had a little bit
of peanut butter, some fruit juice, one rolin, a few spoons of coffee, and I had to take someone. When Cheryl Dunlab wasn't tending to her patients as a nurse, she was teaching Sunday school. But on this day, she was simply enjoying a walk in the pristine national forest. Hilton Kidnapped and held Cheryl Dunlap captive, just as he had done to other victims, keeping her for days bound by chains to trees and inside his van. After using her ATM card to steal her money, he decided to end her life. But first, he would toy with her.
I put all her stuff together that I take, her car keys and her cell phone and everything and said, "I'm going to let you go." Uh, but at first I'm going to go into town and run your credit card just to make Sure it's good. Did she seem hopeful? Did she believe you? I I believe so. Okay. Tell me, how did Cheryl die? I said, "Come on, let me let's go. I'm going to try train you to a tree." and I have a a chain and a lock and she grabs it and goes right down
and to put it on herself. She was already used to the drill and I kind of had a feeling that she was going to try to not click that lock, you know what I mean? Just pretend it was locked. And as soon as she was Down there and with her back to me, I had my pistol in a a fanny pack there, a little 22, and I pulled it out and shot her in the back of her head. Hilton then dismembered her head and hands and burned her body. Cheryl Dunlap. She was all religion. And
it it gave me a kind of a perverse amusement to think I just terrorized an entire church. Okay. I just I just have affected their life for the rest of their life. They'll never Forget it. And all those little kids that she taught Sunday school to you. to find out that she was killed and her head head was cut off and her hands were cut off. It, you know, it it it could haunt them and uh Well, it will scar them for the rest of their lives. Yes. Right. You enjoy that. Amuse yourself. No, it's
just uh I I have to admit Yeah. I kind of like haha, you know. But she said something that really grabbed me. Kind of rattled me. What' she say? [Music] Cheryl was sitting here and the girls that we mentored together were running through the room and they were smiling and laughing and Cheryl had the biggest smile on her face. She was so proud of them and she loved them so much. She had her scrubs on. Uh, I I love that picture uh because she just it was Cheryl. Cheryl Dunlap had lived a life of service.
There's probably not a day that goes by that I don't think about her. No. Cuz she was really we were like, you know, in each other's lives, you know, in a deep way. When she wasn't treating patients in her nursing job, she was teaching Sunday school. The thing that I miss most about Cheryl is her ability to listen. We spoke every day on the phone. Cindy Wctor and Laura Mayo were Cheryl Dunlap's best friends. I missed the thought that she was always praying for me and I knew that no matter what was going on in
my life, wherever She was and wherever I was, and even if we didn't talk, if something was going wrong in my life, she would know about it and she would be praying for me. On December 1st, 2007, she disappeared. So, I got a call and was told that she didn't show up for Sunday school. And they asked if I had heard from her, and I said, "No." Oh, I said, "Bud, that doesn't sound like Chirro." And I said, "This is concerning." Dunlap's disappearance matched Hilton's MMO. She was last seen in the Appalachiccola National Forest just
outside Tallahassee, Florida. Withdrawals were made from her bank account by a man wearing a makeshift mask of tape. And then two weeks later, her decapitated body was discovered by a hunter. Authorities also believe Hilton may be connected to yet another woman's disappearance in Florida. From the first time I saw him and from the first time I Heard him speak, I knew that something was just not right with him. I just felt this sense of darkness and evil. The first time I heard the name Gary Hilton was, as Cindy said, wow. It was like there was
no soul, but he was definitely an evil person. Hilton had never before confessed to Cheryl Dunlap's murder. We played part of his confession for Cheryl's dear friends, Cindy Wctor and Laura Mayo. How did Cheryl die? Gunshots in the back Of the head. You were walking her behind her? No, no. I I said uh I was letting her go. Oh, that trick. Yeah, that trick. Yeah, he's a tricky guy. 17 years later, Hilton still recalls her final words that shook the hardened killer to his core. But she said something that really grabbed me. What she say?
She said, "Before you die, ask Jesus to forgive you for what You've done." And she just said, "Kind of rattled me." Did that make you think twice? No. Did that make her more human? You know why? Do you? Oh, she was human. Didn't matter. Didn't matter. What I thought about was God's grace was right there with her. Even though she was facing death, you're telling him to ask for forgiveness. I think that's so powerful. She would start sentences off Like if my life is to be prophetic and she would say that in a way that
she knew certain and I don't think she knew all of this but you know how there are times there are people that have a knowing. So when I heard that it just brought me immense joy and I was just so proud of my friend just so proud of her. Back in 2007, there were few clues as to how Cheryl died, and Hilton might have Gotten away with it if he hadn't had the urge to strike again. Just one month after killing Cheryl Dunlap, Hilton prowled another national forest, out of money and out of his mind.
This time, it was Georgia's Blood Mountain, where another missing woman was fighting for dear life. Do you hate women? Yes and no. Yes. Yes. But Hilton's final murder victim, Meredith Emerson, had a clever plan of her own that would lead to Hilton's capture and End the killing. Hi, I had the person of interest in that missing woman case is at this uh Chevron gas station. He's throwing stuff in the dumpster here. I can go take him down if you want. Sir, stay right there. Police are there. Yeah, they got him. Gary Michael Hilton is finally
about to face justice. He lurked in the woods, prayed on hikers, and says he became America's oldest serial killer. I was always real Good to my victim. Until you bludgeon them, until they either shot them or bludgeon them. Once you've taken someone, you're either going to kill them or you're going to get caught. In 2007, Gary Michael Hilton, a deranged 61-year-old drifter, launched a killing spree in national forests spanning three different states. John and Irene Bryan had been slain in North Carolina. Cheryl Dunlap was murdered in Florida. And on New Year's Day in 2008, a
young woman Named Meredith Emerson went missing on Georgia's Blood Mountain. You never intended to let her go. Never. Right. Right. Now, Hilton's talking for the first time ever about his murderous midlife crisis. I'm going to give you a new scoop. I did it. Making news with a murder confession. Yes, I'm confessing to a murder on camera that I've never had before. And opening a window into the mind of a madman. Outside of crime, your life is Utterly unremarkable. A complete abject failure except killing. Well, that was that started when I was 61. Did it really?
Man, I know. I knew that was coming. I set the record. I'm the oldest serial killer in American history. Isn't that amazing? [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] On New Year's Day 2008, 24year-old Meredith Emerson went for a walk on a mountain park trail and crossed paths with evil. You told police that your MMO was to lurk and sometimes watch with the binoculars from a distance just like a hunter would. Yeah. And were you doing that on this day? No, I was just coming down off the trail and boom, there she was. Meredith fiercely fought the
attacker, but Hilton overpowered her and chained her inside the white van he lived in. And thus Begins 4 days of living hell for Meredith Emerson. No. Yes. Sitting across from Hilton on Florida's death row, I'm staring at a real life paradox. He's happy to admit to serial murder, but protests being characterized as inhumane. She had a good time. No, she didn't. Yes, she did. No, she didn't. David, I was there. I know, but I knew you were there. But you were in Gary Hilton world. In the real world, she was being tormented and tortured. She
was Not tormented and tortured. They fight and then they submit, right? And a lot of it is because of me. I reassure that it's going to be okay, but just quit fighting or you're going to get hurt. 17 years ago when he was interrogated, Hilton told police he had a magical ability to comfort and lull his victims into submission. And he still stands by that claim. All of my victims fought me Initially, but I quickly gained control and then they all became strangely submissive. That's because of my power. I could put them at ease. She
stuck in your van, chained to the chassis. No. No. I she was she was unrestrained 90% of the time. Only during transit was was she restrained. You had a collar on her neck. I'm telling you, we had a relaxing time. I I gave her books to read. She would read them and everything. She wouldn't eat Anything. I I kept trying to No. You're so delusional that you think she was having a good time. Well, she wasn't being tortured. You told police um she was she was not having a bad time at all enjoying herself. I
could tell that. Well, in in the sense she did. The advice to people if they're abducted is to engage your abductor and to make yourself a person to them. Hilton offered police this advice for anyone being held captive. Tell them about your family, what your dreams and hopes and plans and schemes are. Because the abductor is psychopathic. He's looking at you in the inhuman way. You want to make yourself a human. Turns out that's exactly what Meredith Emerson tried to do in the clutches of the madman. But the cruel irony is lost on Hilton. She
would joke. This is her engaging you to try and save her life. David, you you are talking through your Ass. You might be you might be telling yourself that to make yourself appear less evil. But she was not having a good time, Mr. Hilton. No, I I'm not. I You're less evil. Uh I'm your worst nightmare. David, you're not trying to appear less evil. No. Here she is fighting for her life heroically, valiantly. That meant nothing to you in terms of empathy, mercy, or decency, did it? Not at that moment. I was always real good
to my victims. I treated them good. You think so? I know I did. Until you bludgeon them. Until they either shot them or bludge them. Yeah. But you have 0.0 empathy. First chance you get, you rape her. Yes. Paraphilia. That was Yes. Mhm. Paraphilia is a fixation on sexual sadism, a condition Hilton admits drove him to rape Meredith Emerson. And yet he denies both the brutality and the Gratification of the act. I didn't I didn't enjoy it. I just did it because I planned it. Come on. No. You expect anyone to believe that? Yes. You
also told the police that you didn't force her? No. That seems ridiculous. You're you're enforc you're forcing this whole circle. Oh, it was a rape. Make no mistake, but I didn't over physically overpower her or anything. No trace yet of a missing 24-year-old Gwinette County woman. All day above Blood Mountain, the state patrols infrared detectors scanned for body heat below. But there's still hope for Meredith Emerson. As news crews and search teams descend on Blood Mountain, we heard that there was a missing hiker January 2nd. It was in an area within the jurisdiction of my
unit. Detective John Kaggel of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation got the call to find Meredith Emerson. We learned that Meredith was a recent graduate of the University of Georgia. She was living in an area north of metro Atlanta uh and and had a a job in marketing. She was an experienced hiker. Uh she also had studied martial arts. So this is not somebody who would have just um gotten lost on the trail. We all became very concerned that uh this was something more than an overdue hiker. We had uh hundreds and hundreds of volunteers just
show up to help look for Meredith. We organized search Teams to go on Blood Mountain and to search not only the trail but off the trails. The search is on. That was a shocker. You told police you didn't like seeing that. You you've ridiculed the people who didn't know her but came out to help anyway. I ridiculed the the people. No, I didn't. You see the candle light marches for Meredith Emerson and other people and people show up and they people that don't even know the girl. I mean 35,000 people a year get shredded And
maimed and beaten to death in car wrecks. Okay. I mean yeah what I'm talking about is a virtual grief. An enormous crime scene. It's it's it's no wonder the police were stymied for so long. You watch this this search unfold, right? civilian, hundreds of searchers, helicopters, dogs, people walking the grid out there in the middle of nowhere. Did you just watch all that play out in I didn't know anything about that? You didn't? Nope. Hilton didn't know it, but He had just become the prime suspect and was about to become the prey. We began to
uh interview people that had been on the trail New Year's Day and had seen Meredith. They began to comment that they had seen her uh talking with uh an older guy. The older guy was acting very strangely. So, we began to put out a description of this person that had been seen with Meredith. And we got a call to our tip line uh from someone who says, "I think I know who you're looking for. His name is Gary Hilton." After stalking and killing unsuspecting hikers in two other states, Hilton is now the one being hunted.
The captive Meredith has a plan of her own. They fight and then they admit and a surprise in store for the aging maniac. She kept on fighting you, right, with her brains outsmarting you with the bank cards. She didn't outsmart. Got you running around. You think so, huh? Oh, absolutely. Did you not figure out what she was [Music] doing? In the days after Meredith Emerson's disappearance on New Year's Day 2008, police are on the brink of finding her and her captor, Gary Michael Hilton. She's an innocent stranger. So why Meredith Emerson? Yeah, that's a good
question. Uh, it's a good question. What's the answer? [Music] It was just the mission at the time. The mission at the time. Yep. The mission to what? To kill, murder, and take her ATM card and uh get the money out of it. But when Hilton demanded Meredith's ATM card, she repeatedly gave him bad PIN numbers, which he used at machines along the escape route, leaving a trail of digital breadcrumbs for Georgia Detective John Kaggel. We found out that There in fact had been activity throughout the week. The first night uh on January 1st, there was
activity about at a bank about 15 miles from Blood Mountain. And then another attempt at a bank about 40 mi south. And then the following day there was another attempt about 70 mi uh southwest of Blood Mountain. So they're all over the place. She was doing that to give us time to try to catch up. She kept on fighting you right with her brains, Outsmarting you with the bank cards. She didn't outsmart. I knew what she was doing. How many times did she have you running to ATMs? One. All I don't know off the top
of my head. Several times. Five times. Yeah. You gave the police a virtual road map as you tried to use her ATM cards. She knew this was the way to hold the window open for a rescue and to be tracked. You think so? Huh? Oh, absolutely. Did you not figure out what she was Doing? I think she miscalculated. Well, kept her alive for 4 days. You might have killed her that first day. Who knows? Thanks to Meredith, police now have a bead on Hilton, but they know that time may be running out for her because
the killer could snap at any moment. We were getting closer to Hilton. Uh, but we were we we seemed to be just a step behind. The longer these things go on, uh, the Less likely there's a good outcome. You told police there was never any plan to let her go, right? I knew that if I let her go, I'd be identified. I knew she couldn't be let go. I knew she was doomed. Yep. I was as good as caught if I let her go. On the last day, you pulled the crulest trick of all on
her. You told her you were letting her go home. Oh, cruel. Very cruel. Pure evil. No. What if I told her uh today I'm going to Kill you? Equally evil. Equal. Equally equal. Yes. You tie her to a tree. You bag up all her stuff. And now it's the iron bar, right? Yes. Solid iron bar. Struck her with that. Yes. She said, "No, let me go." Yes. You remember that? Mhm. Put her hands up. Yeah. You keep striking her. Uh-huh. You'll see some defensive wounds to her hands. Oh god. Yes. Beat her into unconsciousness. Mhm.
And you say, "I kept striking her to ensure she Was dead." Yeah. You feeling anything at this point or Yes. What are you feeling? Loathing. It was terrible. Beating someone to death is is number one, it's a hard way to die and it's a hard way to kill anyone. Oh, I wouldn't have done it if I had my guns with me. Did you ever consider not killing her? No. Not taking her? No. You didn't have to kill her. Yes, I did. If you didn't kill her, you wouldn't have to cut her up, right? If I
didn't kill her, I'd have been caught. And then you decapitate her with what you describe as a standard serrated knife knife. Bread knife. Why'd you do that? because her hair is is full of forensic evidence, including dog hair. Her hair is full of Dandy's hair and they get DNA off dog hairs. You say you did that for forensic reasons, right? Yes. It's like A more common variety paraphilia because defiling a defiling a corpse is a is a telltale sign of paraphilia. No, no, you're barking up the wrong tree there. Sure. positive. It was dreadful. I'd
already told you I couldn't even look. The fact that he had uh decapitated her. Uh I asked him why. What was that about? And he said that he had done that for forensic purposes. And uh if anybody's ever met Gary Hilton, uh he he did that because He liked it. Finally, police use Meredith's ATM smoke signal to hone in on Hilton and spread the word. Okay. 911. What's the exact location? I have this the person of interest in that missing woman case is at this uh Chevron gas station. The van is here. The dog is
the red dog. And I saw the man's face. And I've been watching the news and I know it's him. I know it's him. He's throwing stuff in the dumpster here. I can go take him Down if you want. Oh, there. Stay right there. Okay. You look like he's finishing off. You guys got to hurry. Just hours after Hilton murdered Meredith, police tracked him down outside a gas station. Here comes the cops. Yeah. Yeah, they got him. Brought to heal by a young woman who outsmarted a serial killer and lost her life in the process of
stopping him. Meredith was not with him when he was Arrested. We did not believe this was going to have a good outcome from here. Hilton's arrest made headlines as hikers across the southeast could breathe a sigh of relief. Gary Michael Hilton, of course, is the suspect who is now in custody. Cops tracked this guy down and captured him. 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton now sits in a county jail. One thing I didn't ask you about, did you have to put something to keep her quiet, gag, so to speak, or anything like that? She she was she
unconscious at that point? Never. She was hard to subdue. Prosecutors in Georgia cut a deal with Hilton for the sake of the victim's family. Tell police where he hid Meredith's remains and the state will take the death penalty off the table. Kaggel then set out to bring Meredith home from a remote location in the woods. I found her clothes first and I began to just on my hands and knees began to push Back leaves and and brush next to the tree and and I went probably 15 ft maybe 20 ft doing that until I was
able to uncover the leaves that exposed her her head. I had another agent with me and I said uh I told him to stay with Meredith because we're not going to leave her. The Emersons were finally able to lay their beloved and brave daughter to rest. They had a memorial service for Meredith in Athens, Georgia. And thousands of people came That didn't even know Meredith. Her friends, her family, uh were all alike. They were all just good, solid people. And so it was a tough time for for the family and the friends and the hiking
community. But to authorities in Georgia, there were still unanswered questions. Why did Gary Hilton kill these people? And what set him off? Listen, I I know as well as anyone. I'm a crime expert and I know that serial Killers never ever start when they're 61 years old and they don't wake up and start killing people. It doesn't happen. So, how do you account for that? Well, let me finish. It's never happened in the past and it's never going to happen again. I set the record for I'm the oldest serial killer uh in American history and
I understand that the probability you know that I have been killing people before is perhaps 90%. You know so I can understand someone not believing me and trust me nobody will believe me. My best friend of 10 years of 10 years was visiting me a couple of weeks ago. He still was was not sure. My legal team is still not sure. Do you maintain contrary contrary to common sense and logic and statistics? You hold Let me answer that with a with a saying that I've come up with. You must always leave room for the exception.
So you maintain you must always leave room for the coincidence. All these years later, Hilton remains perversely proud of his crimes. But this deranged serial killer's reign of terror is over. And now Gary Hilton is the one in chains and about to finally face justice. I believe he is nothing more than a bully and a weak-minded coward who prays on others. [Music] Don't make me do this. Run. Damn it. In the 1995 B horror movie Deadly Run, a psychotic killer kidnaps women and releases them into a mountain wilderness only to stalk and hunt them down.
[Music] Gary Hilton is listed on the movie's IMDb page as an uncredited member of the crew. The film's producer, Sam Rail, says Hilton even embellished the screenplay with detailed ways of tormenting the female characters. Some scenes were filmed near Blood Mountain, where Gary Hilton abducted 24year-old Meredith Emerson in 2008. Back in '95, you helped make a movie called Deadly Run. Is that art imitating life or life imitating art? Uh, it's it's neither. This is Sam Real acquired this. Here's here's the genesis of that. Sam Real acquired this property. Uh, in other words, a screenplay. Well,
you did work on the film, right? No, you didn't help him with the film. No, that he Credits with you with ideas like let's have the women fight back. Yes. That that guy has caused me more mischief uh than the world. Not a chance. You say none of that's true. No. Uh-huh. Okay. It's an eerie coincidence that the plot of the movie revolves around hunting women down and killing them. It is. The cabin used to shoot a scene is Stones Throw from one of your old crime scenes. No, it isn't. Blood Mountain. No, it's not
a Stones Throw. Oh, 20 minutes, 20 M. Well, it's a long throw. It's surprising that Hilton would deny an association with the film. In the aftermath of his arrest, he appeared to relish any notoriety. I'm kind of like a Hollywood celebrity that's been bad and now trying to You see what I mean? The the more you limit it, the the bigger demand it makes. You are infamous. Yes, sir. Collectors of murder memorabilia think you're a big celebrity. Oh, yeah. I'm a hot Commodity. You enjoy all that attention? It's It's better than being ignored. After Hilton
cut a deal in Georgia to avoid the death penalty there, police tried to get him to talk about his other crimes, the murders of John and Irene Bryant in North Carolina and the killing of Cheryl Dunlap in Florida. But instead, he put on a dizzying display of derangement. Hey, let me Okay, in 4 and 1/2 billion years, the sun is going to run out of nuclear Pool. It will start to collapse in on itself. Kind of like the Lone Ranger. And the Lone Ranger would come galloping into town. There would be all the schmuckup talents
people, right? And here the Lone Ranger be wearing this mask, a skin tight outfit, a really elaborate two gun rig mounted with silver with chrome pistols. I have a rage against society, and I guess most people would fit the bill as far as the victim goes. Wasn't it you that asked me What's it like to have someone's health? Okay. Uh, it was dreadful. The only thing you can do is so dreadful that the only thing you can do is go on auto. I told you it wasn't worth Hilton's no different than any other serial killer.
They always think they're the most, you know, important and the smartest person in the room. And Hilton's no exception. The only time he's smarter than anybody is when he's alone in his cell. That's the time he's the smartest guy in the Room. Do you think you're smart? Oh, yeah. You do. Now, they say serial killers are the smartest of the killing group. They do. But I can't tell how smart you are. Cunning, sure. Uneducated for the most part. Basing your crimes in such sprawling settings seems clever, but you did a lot of stupid things along
the way, too, right? Sure did. Hilton's many missteps would come back to haunt him. This time in a Florida Courtroom where the death penalty was back on the table. And if they want to spend uh a million dollars uh 2 million to convict me and then uh another 2 million to to get death and then uh another 8 million to uh defend the death penalty. That's exactly what authorities did in Florida State Court for the abduction and murder of beloved nurse Cheryl Dunlap. Gary was not the ordinary killer. There were too many levels to him.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Strauss was one of the first to evaluate Gary Hilton's mind for the Florida court case. I was hired by the office of the public defender in 2009 to see him to do a psychiatric evaluation and I was trying to get a sense of what happened. Why did you not kill anybody until you're 61 years old? Hilton greeted Dr. Strauss with his characteristic grandiosity. I said, "Mr. Hilton, glad To meet you." And he said, "Dr. Strauss, oh yes, I knew you were coming. By the way, did you read the New York Times
today?" And I am there to talk to him about the charges of murder against him. And it seemed almost like it was a deflection of some sort. Gary had a script, obviously very bright, and he basically tried to control the interview. At first, he said that he was happy to be in jail. It took a lot of the pressures off. He didn't have to Worry about anything and he was going to retire in jail. But when we started talking about his mother, things changed. He talked about how indeed he is a misogynist. He hates women.
And his hatred was deep. Do you hate women? Yes and no. Yes. Yes. Here's how you described women to police. You see, part of my dislike, or I wouldn't call it hatred, but almost for women is that they have all the advantages. You don't be fooled by a Woman's nurturing instinct. Look at their free will personalities, and you're going to find women are the most hateful, aaricious, accumulative, greedy, and heartless. You believe all that? Women have all the advantages. They're smarter. They're more intuitive. They're more patience, which is a very prime virtue. Uh it's very
valuable virtue. They're more patient. Uh and they have all the It's not Fair. It's not fair. Are those your reasons for hating? It's just not fair. I can't tell if you're joking or not. No. Dr. Strauss has a theory about Hilton's hatred of women. Apparently, his mother divorced his biological father when he was roughly 5 years old and they got married to this the stepfather and it was not a good relationship. Gary said that his mother would speak to him about the Importance of giving her new husband a good orgasm. How destructive to a kid
who's trying to figure out life to have to live what he knows about his mother's orgasmic history. Strauss testified at the Dunlap trial. State of Florida versus Gary Michael Hilton and presented his findings as a mitigating factor during the sentencing phase. A child can grow up with this emptiness inside of them. I got the feeling that the jury thought I Was giving them a bunch of psychological BS. The evidence against Hilton was overwhelming. Your lawyers are presenting mitigating factors which were underwhelming. And then the state plays videos of you postmurders. Happy golucky. Basically celebrating. At
one point you say in a singong voice, "I had to kill those [ __ ] I killed them with it. That's cuz of the park. Yeah. But first I got To go hide it somewhere else. Yes. You know that was funny because I Funny. This was after Cheryl. This is after Yeah. It It was funny because I wanted to uh erase delete everything on the camera. this is a digital camera and I knew that you just can't hit or delete. I don't remember saying that but it sounds like something I would say. Showed how devoid
of remorse you were. Boy, you you're on a attack. You you've got me at a loss for words, David. In 2011, Hilton was convicted of first-degree capital murder in Florida, where he'll face the death penalty in the killing and decapitation of this woman, Cheryl Dunlap. He also plead guilty to the murders of Irene and John Bryant in North Carolina. Their family took to local media to express their outrage at the serial killer. He beat my mother to death. He shot my father in The head. He murdered two people for no reason other than the trophies
of their clothes and the $300 he got from their bank card. The Brian's children say they don't believe that Hilden is sorry. No empathy, no mercy, no decency. Well, I think let's not go that far. Although, let me tell you, Meredith is the one that really gets to me. She was 24 years old. I stole over 50 years of her life. She was such a great girl. Just graduated from a Fine school, Georgia and was had a bright future and and I took it all from her. Just it's terrible. It's it was terrible. You said
about Cheryl Dunlap. Uh, the community went absolutely nuts over this. Sure, she's a nurse and she teaches Sunday school to fifth graders, but you'd think I killed Mother Teresa. Hey, look, it's just another murderer. So many, you know, there's a million murders. This is how you're discussing The murder victim. You waxed poetic about Meredith and your regrets over her loss. And here you're deriding Cheryl. It's It's just nothing. What do you I I don't know the answer to that. Having terrorized and taken the lives of others, Hilton is now about to reveal the one thing
that terrifies him. You said death is like a roaring fire. It can induce a blind panic that will make you trample your best friend to get away With it. Very true. And Gary Michael Hilton is about to meet his fate. The idea of your own death still frightens you. Yes. You're 78 years old now, right? Time is short. I guess you could you could say that that it is against me. [Music] As far as Gary Hilton getting the death penalty, the law is the law. Laura Mayo and Cindy Wctor were Cheryl Dunlap's best Friends. Cheryl's
life was mercilessly cut short by serial killer Gary Michael Hilton in 2007. I know that my faith dictates that I forgive, but the fact that he got the death penalty is probably fitting for someone like him. He cannot hurt anybody else. And I hope that he can reconcile everything he's done with God. I also felt like he he realizes that he's killed so many people, but yet he realizes he's going to die. And so it Did, like Laura said, it did feel like it was fitting. It was the law and the people who made the
judgments and everything decided that this was fitting. Back in 2008, Hilton taunted investigators and dared the courts to charge him with capital murder. I'm telling you right now, I'm going I'm going to dig my heels in and get around to executing me 17 years from now when I'm 78 years old and I'm I'm decrepiting anything. Hey, they can do it. But now, Exactly 17 years later, I'm sitting across from a decrepit 78-year-old Gary Hilton. And today, it is the death penalty that he fears most. You said something in in the correspondence that uh that I
thought was especially striking. I thought I'd start with this. He said, "Confronting the reality of death." Yes. Is of course much different from the abstract concept. Yes. Death is like a roaring fire. It can induce a blind panic that will make you trample Your best friend to get away with it. Very true. Have you witnessed this intimately in the course of imposing death on your victims? No. Their death was uh to them completely unexpected. And yet what surprises me about that statement is that even after all the cruelty and killing you've done, the idea of
your own death still frightens you. Yes. And for that I'm ashamed and and and I feel guilty because the way you struck down those innocent people, You would think that life is cheap to you. But that's right. Does that just apply to other people's lives, not your own? No, it applies to their lives, too. Does it apply to yours? Yes. And when I say I want to live Yeah. Well, they wanted to live, too. I know they did. And I know what I took from them. He wants people to remember how big a serial killer
he is when he when he dies. U we'll see what the look on his face is when they bring him in to be Executed. Detective John Kaggel once helped bring Hilton in and now hopes one day to see him off by Gary Hilton. I look forward to being there for that. To stave off execution, Hilton has been appealing his death sentence for years. His latest effort is now pending at the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. It's unclear how his stunning admission to the Dunlap murder earlier in our interview will impact his appeal. I'm Going
to give you a new scoop. I did it. You did it? Yes. I'm confessing to a murder on camera that I've never had before. You murdered. So, I'm giving you something. David, you murdered Cheryl Dunlap. Yes, I did. I did it. And I'll be glad to tell anyone I did. Why'd you wait so long to confess to this crime? You know, you have lawyers and they pounded in you, you know, not to say anything. But, As I told you before, I'm to the point where I don't care. I don't care. There's nothing they can do
to me. Hilton may finally be on the brink of his long overdue demise. But 17 years on, will nature take him before the state of Florida can put him to death? You're in poor health, you say? Yes, very poor health cuz I'm going to die soon. Is that why you're here today? Well, yeah. Yeah, time is short. But hey, and then there's the question of Other victims. No prior murders. No prior felonies committed, violent felonies committed against persons of any type until you're 61 years old. It's unbelievable. It's very hard to believe. Isn't that amazing?
[Music] It's hard to imagine that Gary Michael Hilton's compulsion to kill started so late in life. And some in law enforcement suspect that Hilton could be behind Similar unsolved murders. For former Georgia detective John Kaggel, there's one outstanding case that hits close to home. the 2004 disappearance of Patrice Andress, a hairdresser from [ __ ] Georgia. Patrice had been abducted from her hair salon that she had. In his lengthy interrogation with investigators, Hilton revealed that he liked to visit beauty salons to hustle money for a fake charity. That's where That beauty shop comes from. Well,
they they're working on Saturday and that's primarily that's their day. That's when the owner is going to be there. That's the busiest time of the week on any beauty shop this Saturday morning. Do they tend to give up good money as there? Patrice's remains were found near the same wooded area where Hilton hid Meredith Emerson's body. The remains of Patrice Andress were recovered 3 miles From the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area. The loose connection to a beauty salon or a hair salon and then the proximity of the forest where her remains were recovered kind of
reopened our thoughts. No prior murders, no prior felonies committed, violent felonies committed against persons of any type until you're 61 years old. It's unbelievable. It's very hard to believe. Isn't that amazing? When I started doing this, after having all these fantasies and everything for so long, I found that I didn't like it at all. It wasn't anything like the daydreams, the reality. No. And I dreaded it and then putting it off and putting it off, procrastinating it because the impulse was in you. No, I didn't. I once I actually did it. I see. Once I
actually did it. Hilton has come under suspicion in connection with several other missing Persons in the years leading up to his killing spree, including Judy Smith, Jason Knap, Rosanna Millani, and Michael Scott Lewis. all vanished from national forests in the southeastern United States, Hilton's hunting grounds. But he has never been charged in connection with these or any other attacks. When I started out, if anyone saw me in the area or even worse with the victim, it was an abort abortion. However, by the end of the whole thing, My mind was just ragged, you know, disordered.
And as a result of these crimes or some kind of descent into madness? Not into madness. I was already mad. Uh, were you taking these chances to amuse yourself or increase the challenge involved? No. Is there anything that could have happened to prevent you from murdering these people? Is there anything we at large could have done to stop this? How would you advise Us with respect to all the other Gary Hiltons out there? Couldn't help you on that. Yeah, that's a good ending question. Thank you, ma'am. And with that, Gary Hilton's first and likely last
interview comes to an end. If he has any secrets left, he may now take them to the grave. While the families and friends of his victims continue to pick up the Pieces of their lives from the carnage left in his wake. For detective John Kaggel, the Meredith Emerson case would finish a long career in law enforcement. This was the last case I worked at GBI. I retired in April 2008. There are people even to this day, 17 years later, that remember this case and and are still struggling with it. As for Laura Mayo and Cindy
Wctor, the last thing they want to do is think About the man who took their dear friend Cheryl Dunlap's life. When I think about Cheryl, I do think about her life. I don't think about just a random something funny and I would get in her car for lunch and her car would be a mess. I remember the good times. I remember us walking around the lake, Lake Ella. Remember in Tallahassee? And then we would stop and pray and we would talk about things and it she was just always there. You know, I want Cheryl to
Be defined by her life and not her death. [Music]
