Update: Meredith Emerson murder *Meredith died from blunt force trauma, also decaptitated*

January 8, 2008 — mylifeofcrime

meredith2.jpg
    Meredith Emerson

Autopsy: Hiker died from blunt force trauma to the head
Autopsy: Blunt Force Trauma Killed Hiker
GBI: Slain Hiker Bludgeoned, Decapitated
Autopsy Performed on Ga. Hiker’s Body
Ella — hiker’s dog — taken by Emerson’s family

Posted in crime, high profile, murder, murder in the 21st Century. Tags: , , , , , , . 14 Comments »

14 Responses to “Update: Meredith Emerson murder *Meredith died from blunt force trauma, also decaptitated*”

  1. craig Says:
    January 8, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    This is most definitely a death penalty case and honestly this animal should get the most painful method possible. To take such a promising young beautiful life in such a cruel manner and remain stoic throughout the whole process is worthy of nothing but execution…

  2. debra Says:
    January 8, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    Why does he get to continue to live? I guess it is the judicial system, right? It seems it should be an eye for an eye in this case. It is just plain wrong that he continues to receive care and defense and this wonderful young woman is gone from this earth due to his violent actions. From all indications, Meredith was a productive and contributing person in society. The fact that she cared for her dog Ella so much, instantly made her a good person to me. Maybe one day the justice system will weigh more in favor of the victim. I think the public witnesses and law enforcement folks all did a good job in finding Meredith and her dog. Maybe this will help bring some closure to her family. It is just a really sad case. I would never have thought you would have to be so careful about hiking on the wonderful trails in this country. My husband and I have met many people while hiking and never gave it a thought that something like this could happen.

  3. Jon Says:
    January 8, 2008 at 8:24 pm

    Don’t worry – - he will get what he deserves. He may not get the death penalty specifically for the abduction and brutal murder of Meredith Emerson but I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t eventually charged (and convicted) with at least one other murder. He will, then, get the death penalty.

    Still, though, the whole thing is unsettling.

  4. infuriated Says:
    January 8, 2008 at 11:46 pm

    It sickens me that Meredith and Ella could not even take a walk in the woods without some freak attacking them. I am one of many outdoorswomen with dogs who could just as easily have been victimized this way. This feels particularly personal to me, although I don’t know Meredith or her family. My heart goes out to them and to her boyfriend. What are we supposed to do–get our dogs and hold a Take Back the Wilderness march?

  5. Disheartened Says:
    January 9, 2008 at 10:09 am

    I, too, am as furious as Infuriated. I hike alone along the trails of Montana, though never consider myself truly alone while in the company of my dog. The wilderness is a place of great consolation for me, and for anyone’s (and particularly that of women) sense of peace and security in the outdoors to be compromised by the actions of one man is the greatest tragedy.

  6. Brian Says:
    January 9, 2008 at 11:10 am

    Why don’t victims’ families ever take the law in their own hands?

  7. Teresa Says:
    January 9, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    My heart goes out to family and friends. I feel so disgusted by this. I live up in the mountains of Colorado and I shuddered when I heard this. It’s just too bad he cannot go through the same Hell Michelle went through. May he go straight to Hell.

  8. Anna Says:
    January 9, 2008 at 5:20 pm

    I live in the North Georgia Mountains not very from where this crime took place.This has really hit close to home and saddened so many people.We live in this paradise so that we can hike these beautiful areas and admire the peace and beauty.It is unimaginable to me how anyone, like Gary Michael Hilton, could spend time in these gentle mountains and have a violent thought. I like to think that I can hike with my dog and not have to worry about a twisted serial killer stalking me. A lot of women are afraid to hike in this area now, maybe we need to start carrying some good protection!

  9. Betty Says:
    January 9, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    I have followed this story since day one. I am a retired woman living in western NC but I spent 38 years of my life in DeKalb & Gwinnett County Ga. I am not a hiker nor have I ever been but my heart breaks that this beautiful vibrant young woman’s life was snuffed out by this piece of “pond scrum”. ….I have prayed for the past couple of days since her body was found that God would comfort her family and that justice would come to this monster. I honestly feel that “justice” in his case is not the death penalty but yet to suffer abuse in prison from fellow inmates or guards. Don’t let this man die until he he has suffered in the same way that this precious woman must have. God!!! take this devil and deny him every breath in hell. He snuffed out the life of someone who was loved by so many and if everything we are taught as Christians is true…..he deserves to burn in HELL!!!

  10. Birmingham Says:
    January 10, 2008 at 12:21 am

    I live near Atlanta, am a rock climber and trail runner too. I volunteered to help with the search for Meredith beginning on jan 2. The police told people not to come search, that only Law enforcement personnel were allowed to search.
    I eventually went to vogel state park and directly offered to help anyway.

    This is my conclusion:
    1. The police did not solve this, the public and the media solved this.
    2. The police were too focused on treating this as a crime investigation, rather than a search and rescue effort, for too long, and Meredith could easily have been found and saved while the cops held the public at bay so they could ponderously, slowly, and ineffectively proceed as if Meredith was already dead. They acted as if she was already dead from the beginning.
    Read this story about how Hilton sat in a Huddle house for AN HOUR making A SCENE while Meredith was tied up in the back of his van, but because THE POLICE HAD NOT RELEASED INFO ABOUT HILTON, nobody at the Huddle House knew to have him detained. It is sickening:
    http://www.11alive.com/news/arti…? storyid=109301
    3. The police had all the info they needed to have found Meredith, alive, during the three days that Hilton had her. They also had literally hundreds of volunteers that could have checked roads in every state park in North Georgia, had they simply told people to go look.
    a. They knew Hilton was the prime suspect (thanks to the public and Meredith’s friends) but only called him a “person of interest”.
    b. They knew Hilton favored driving his van deep into state parks and forests (they have a 20 minute video of him being evicted from a forest 2 months ago..posted at: http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/content/ multimedia/video/index.html?clip=55847
    c. They knew they had two unsolved abductions and murders in which the victims bodies were dumped in this same forest. One body was dumped less than a mile from where Meredith was found. They knew that the clues in those murders matched Hilton (witness description, same white van).
    d. They had reports from the public saying that Hiltons van was seen in the area of the Dawson wildlife refuge.
    e. They knew all this ON OR BEFORE MEREDITH WAS KILLED.

    ..and yet, they didn’t encourage the public to look in other state parks. They prohibited the public from even driving into the area for 2 days. They didn’t publish the info that they had about Hilton. Why? Because they didn’t focus on saving Meredith…they focused on getting a conviction.

    Meredith’s body was found ON A DIRT ROAD 2 MILES OFF THE MAIN ROAD….had anyone at all driven down that road in the 3 days that Hilton had her, she would have had a chance.

    How is it that the focus and expertise of the public is so disregarded by the police department during missing person’s cases? The cops set themselves up as the communication hub for tips, but then didn’t share what they were told, and didn’t act on the info that was given to them.

    They didn’t even find the bloody clothes and wallet UNTIL THE PUBLIC TOLD THEM TO GO LOOK IN THE PARTICULAR DUMPSTERS: http:// http://www.associatedcontent.com…to_missing.html

    This is, in my opinion, a loss that was caused by the police department’s own mistrust of the publics usefulness beyond phone calls, and by the police department’s ineptitude in using the information and resources which was given to it by the public.

    In the future, if someone I love goes missing, I will insist that information about my loved one, and about potential locations for my loved one, get broadcast. Saving the life of a loved one should be more important than proceeding so slowly and restrictively that you guarantee their death, in the name of ‘preserving evidence’.

  11. Lana Says:
    January 10, 2008 at 1:56 am

    I moved from Roswell last year and have lovely friends who still live in the Atlanta area so I keep up with the news from the area. It is a sin that such a disgusting excuse for a human being even shows his face in a courtroom!! What a wicked evil creature! I pray to God that Meredith’s family can make it through the pain and grief. Poor Ella – if she had only known what was happening she would have torn him to pieces.

  12. anonymous Says:
    January 10, 2008 at 2:46 pm

    Have to whole heartdly agree with Birmingham, what a disgrace to the entire Police force back there working on that case. To think she could have had a chance to get help if they had let the public help with the search. I know what they would say, it’s to dangerous, but come on, if it was me being held or a loved one, I would want as many people armed, and out looking! And the fact that they had info. on that abducter, wow, that’s such an alarming bunch of stuff that Birmingham states above, disgusting for the Police?

  13. Reb Says:
    March 24, 2008 at 9:23 pm

    Dont blame the police,,,blame Mr. Trash! and blame a society that discourages women like Meredith to become proficient with handguns and allow them to carry them on the trail

  14. Michelle Says:
    July 7, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    I was hiking alone at Stone Mountain, North cArolina in January 2007, and was aproached by a man that looked just like this Hilton. he kept aggravating me wanting me to hike with him, and I told him to GET LOST! He gave me the jitters. When I saw his photo and heard what he did to Merideth, I just about passed out. cos he looks just like the man that approached me. Its a shame that we women that like to hike alone have to put up with scum like him. the big bully. For what ever reason that day, he decided to leave me alone. that could have been me instead of her.
    I am 46 years old and it seems that he didn’t care how old someone was, he just wanted to be a pig. I hope they fry his hind end. Merideth was alot like me. she liked to hike and read. it’s a shame that people like us can’t enjoy our lives for scum like him wanting to destroy every thing.
    from here on , I am going to make sure I got something to take with me to protect me. I am not giving up hiking cos of the likes of him. may he rot in hell.


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