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ShaniFaye · 01-10-2008, 08:45 AM

I dont know how many people know about this case, I will post the story...but here is a readers digest version of it

Meredith went missing on Blood Mtn in Union County Ga Jan 1
Man of interest was taken into custody, he made a deal with Union Co DA to show were the body was in exchange for no death penalty (unless he is linked to 2 other cases in Fl and NC)
Deal was given, man took authorities to body in Dawson Co Ga
Evidence has actully been found in 5 or 6 counties now, but kidnapping took place in Union, body found in Dawson
Now the Dawson Co DA is saying he was never in on the "no dealth penalty" deal

my question is....... Initiation of the crime in one county and that DA promises one thing, end result of the crime in another county...I dont know if anyone is sure which of the 5-6 counties involved the actual death occured in....does the "promise" of one county DA hold water anywhere else? Also, does the disgreement of who/what/when dealing with the different counties and DA's affect "future" deals. What is the significance of the Dawson Co. DA yelling to anyone that will listen that he was never in on the deal?

Story

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/09/...ker/index.html

Quote:

BLAIRSVILLE, Georgia (CNN) -- Authorities are investigating whether a man charged Tuesday in the murder of a Georgia hiker is connected to the death of another woman in Florida.

Gary Michael Hilton is charged with malice murder in the death of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson whose body was found in Georgia on Monday.

He may also have been involved in the death of Cheryl Dunlap, whose body was found last month in Apalachicola National Forest southwest of Tallahassee, said Florida's Leon County Sheriff's Dept. Sgt. Rob Reisinger.

Reisinger said investigators know Hilton was in the area at the time of Dunlap's disappearance because he came in contact with a forestry agent who wrote down his vehicle's tag number.

Leon County Sheriff's Office Maj. Mike Wood described the encounter as a "routine check" and said no warrants came back when the agent ran the tag number.

"Our interest is focused utterly and completely on Mr. Hilton," said Wood.

Wood said Florida authorities have received numerous tips from citizens in the Dunlap case, including one from a hunter who reported seeing a "homeless-looking, disheveled man with a knife" December 7 in the forest, Wood said.

The hunter said he warned the man that the forest was a bad place to be during hunting season. The hunter notified police of the encounter after Dunlap's body was found December 19. Wood said Florida authorities are preparing to travel to Georgia to meet and coordinate with authorities.

On Monday, investigators in Georgia found Emerson's body with guidance from Hilton.

In exchange for leading Georgia authorities to Emerson's body, a Union County prosecutor agreed to drop consideration of the death penalty for Hilton, Enotah District Attorney Stan Gunter said.

But now it's unclear whether that deal will stick.

Lee Darragh, the district attorney representing Dawson County, where Emerson's body was found, tells CNN that he was not involved in that deal.

He said that he learned about it only after Emerson's body was found.

Darragh would not say if that meant he would put consideration of the death penalty back on the table. He said he would likely pursue indictment during the next Dawson County grand jury's term, which begins in March.

Authorities have said Emerson was alive for three days after her disappearance and that she died on January 4.

An autopsy report showed that she died of blunt force trauma to the head and was decapitated after her death.

Emerson, a University of Georgia alumni, was last seen on New Year's Day hiking with her dog in the north Georgia mountains. Witnesses told police they saw her with Hilton.

Charges against Hilton were upgraded to malice murder Tuesday. He was initially charged with kidnapping with intent to harm. He is being held without bond in Georgia.

The same day Emerson is believed to have died, Hilton allegedly made a phone call from a pay phone at a convenience store in Cumming, Georgia, where Emerson's black leather wallet containing her identification cards was discovered in a trash bin.

The bin is next to a grocery store parking lot where Ella, Emerson's Labrador mix, was found wandering Friday, according to a criminal warrant.

In addition to the Florida case, state and federal authorities are also trying to determine whether Hilton may have been involved in a North Carolina case.

In Transylvania County in North Carolina, investigators said Wednesday they were following up leads developed during a meeting with Georgia authorities earlier this week.

Sheriff David Mahoney said the disappearance and deaths of Irene and John Bryant have several similarities to the Emerson case.

The Bryants, an elderly couple, disappeared after going for a hike in the Pisgah National Forest a few months ago. Irene Bryant's body was found near the couple's car, but her husband's body has not been found.

On Wednesday, Hilton appeared in court in shackles and an orange prison jumpsuit. He did not speak as Judge Johnie Garmon read the charges against him. Garmon said surveillance video had identified Hilton as he tried to use one of Emerson's credit cards at a bank in Canton, Georgia.

Authorities arrested Hilton after finding bloodstained clothes consistent with what Emerson had been wearing when she went missing, according to a criminal warrant filed Saturday.

When Hilton's 2001 minivan was searched, agents "determined that the rear seatbelt had been cut out," the warrant said. "Hilton was attempting to vacuum the vehicle and wash portions of it with a bleach and water solution."

Hilton was taken into custody Friday at a convenience store in suburban Atlanta.

As they grieved, Emerson's family members also expressed some relief that her body was discovered.

"We are glad she's found. This brings some sort of closure for us," Peggy Bailey, Emerson's godmother and spokeswoman for the family, said, according to CNN affiliate WXIA.

"It's crippling," Meredith Emerson's boyfriend, Steve Segars, told CNN's Nancy Grace.

"She is the single most brilliant thing I've ever known," he added. "She was the best thing this world had left to give and the fact that we are without her, and the world is without her, as a result of the flippant actions of somebody who was able to gain her trust is a pretty big deal."

This is an earlier story
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/05/mis...ref=newssearch