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Gary Hilton tried to murder me in 1985
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:13 am    Post subject: Gary Hilton tried to murder me in 1985 Reply with quote

I didn't recognize Hilton at 61, but the name sounded familiar. But Clairmont Road was too much of a coincidence to be believed, and there was the Cumming, Ga. connection. Still, 1985 was a long time ago.

And then I looked at his record, and it was him. The guy who tried to murder me with a hunting knife in a biker bar parking lot at Clairmont and Buford Highway one night at closing those many years ago, a guy I had to sit next to at a probable cause hearing as my testimony was the basis for charging him and a cohort for something from hit and run to aggravated assault, actually back over, take the truck out of reverse, and re-run over a guy we were drinking with.

Yeah, I was drinking with Gary Hilton before he tried to murder me. Sort of. They came over and sat down and tried to buy cocaine from us, then went out at closing and waited for us to come out to kill us. Thought we were undercover or something. The guy was crazy.

Bill, a guy that lived in the apartments on Clairmont where I did, we went from the dayroom to the bar down the road to talk about trying to make some money off of developing some software, some things never change, he went out first carrying a pitcher of beer, take home I guess you could call it. Not that we needed it. I testified at the grand jury that I estimated I drank two or three pitchers, but who's counting?

I have posted about that grand jury testimony several years ago in Chandra Levy discussions as we discussed grand jury testimony. I ended up writing a chapter in Murder on a Horse Trail, Grand Jury, to explain the grand jury aspect in Chandra's disappearance. But my posting on my testimony in Atlanta back in 1985 is lost in the internet cloud by now.

When I came out of that bar Hilton was kicking Bill in the head on the ground. I tried to calm him down and he pulled his hunting knife on me. As I testified at both the grand jury and hearing, he was lunging at me with that big knife and I was going backwards as fast as I could, trying to stay out of reach of that knife and not trip on anything, not daring to turn my back because he looked like he could throw it. He finally gave up and went back to his pickup. He backed up over Bill, put it into drive, and ran over him again. He seemed pretty determined to kill him.

I got the license plate number while he was trying to back up over me too. Hell, it was almost imprinted on me if I hadn't dived out of the way in time. I yelled the license plate to the bar manager at the door, who was calling police, and police brought them back a few minutes later. They nailed that pickup going up Buford Highway in no time.

Bill ended up living through that. He had a collapsed lung, cracked skull, and broken ribs, but he got well enough that I went to see him at the hospital one day, and he told me he was going to sue the SOB. He wanted that truck, the truck he survived.

I next saw him at the probable cause hearing where I testified, and he lived to see Hilton and his friend Rodney fingerpointing at each other claiming that the other one was the driver.

But it was Hilton. Hilton wanted to kill people, even back then.

One other note of interest. Hilton and his friend Rodney and the people they brought with them, family and Rodney's girlfriend who audibly gasped at my testimony, were living in Cumming at the time.

That's apparently why we keep seeing Hilton's name come up in Cumming in murders. It's not a coincidence.

Hilton should have been put away a long time ago and never let out. May Meredith Emerson and all of Hilton's other victims rest in peace.

This victim got lucky.

rd

click to read the online true crime mystery novel Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy
Meredith Emerson, 24, Buford GA - Missing Hiker
Blowup of Jennifer Kesse person of interest / suspect
www.justiceforchandra.com home page
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gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
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Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh My God RD. What a scary story. You never forget those that have harmed you.

Also, all the areas of Atanta you mention sound familiar to me.

You are very lucky to be alive. I thank you for bringing a tad bit of reading and writing back to me.

I hope they string Hilton up by the -----!

Thanks for sharing this. I would love to hear more.

May his victims rest in peace (I'm sure many we don't even know about)

Bless you kid.

With Care and Friendship
Goz
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maresy



Joined: 30 Aug 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You are very lucky to have survived this. Was Hilton convicted of any crime and did he serve time for this?
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looking at his record no he didn't, maresy. The other guy, Rodney, may have taken the rap, and certainly they were already plea bargaining even as the probable cause ruling was found based on my testimony.

Hilton did have a hit and run in 1982. When I saw he had a hit and run I thought this was it, but this was 1984-1985. He was given probation just prior to this in July 1984 on possesssion of grass, and for all I know the other guy got probation for this hit and run.

You could tell Hilton was on probation, showing a $100 bill and trying to buy cocaine in a biker bar.

Well, when women like Meredith die that's the reason. People have to die before anyone does anything about it.

rd
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maresy



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My God, he slipped through the cracks so many times. I wonder how many people would be alive today if he had been punished for his crimes. It's disgusting.
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jane



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Usually, you think of hit and run as ACCIDENTALLY hitting and then running (in panic or out of caring more about keeping out of trouble than about the condition of the victim). But I'm thinking Hilton's hit and run conviction was probably over a DELIBERATE hit (which I assume wasn't known or the charge would be more severe).

Your friend sounds like one tough person. You were very brave to risk your own safety to help him. Sounds like an exciting night for you, rd! Let the dull times roll...!
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Sparta



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

daaaaaammmn

I'm glad you ended up okay rd!

Amazing how all of these monsters walk freely among us....maybe the authorities should stop worrying about drug users who aren't hurting anyone and start worrying about killers, rapists, and child molesters.

Gary Hilton maybe be one of the worst people that's EVER lived.
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gozgals



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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Amazing how all of these monsters walk freely among us....maybe the authorities should stop worrying about drug users who aren't hurting anyone and start worrying about killers, rapists, and child molesters.


Good pt. Sparta.

Gary is one evil monster who should have been locked up years ago. Another one who has slipped through our system.

Goz
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gozgals



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:13 pm    Post subject: More victims of Gary Reply with quote

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328186,00.html

Sheriff: Skeletal Remains Found in Western North Carolina Are Missing Hiker
Monday, February 04, 2008


BREVARD, N.C. — Authorities say skeletal remains found in western North Carolina during the weekend are those of missing hiker John Bryant.

Transylvania County Sheriff John Mahoney said Monday that a body found Saturday by a hunter in Macon County has been identified as John Bryant. He and his wife, Irene, disappeared while hiking in the Pisgah National Forest.

Irene Bryant's body was found near a hiking trail in November.

Mahoney has said he believes 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton is responsible for the deaths. Hilton pleaded guilty to murdering a hiker in Georgia last week.

Thank God you are OK Rd. This guy is a madman.

Goz
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the GMH sheriff dashcam video in GA. I was amazed as to how young and vibrant his mannerisms were. He behaves and moves as someone much younger would.

I agree with that from my experience. He was nearly 40 years old at the time but was very into survivalist if you will. He talked about Nam a lot and when the guy he later ran over a couple of times with his pickup pointed a finger toward him to make some point (I'm not sure exactly, I wasn't paying that close attention), Hilton said "I'll eat that finger". I had to intervene to sort of cool things off before he jumped across the table.

He was just very physical and moved around pretty well as he swung that big knife at me later out in the parking lot when I came out and he was kicking that guy's head in. I was fortunately fast enough to backpedal for all I was worth and keep from getting stabbed. So yes, he looked pretty much the same build as then when I saw his picture, much balder though.

rd
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that gives some details on Hilton, including references to some other crimes he committed back in those early '80's.

rd

from www.ajc.com (fair use)




Gary Hilton: Misfit with a mean streak
By JEREMY REDMON, JEFFRY SCOTT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/13/08

He fancied himself a soldier "on perpetual field maneuvers." He recently lived and camped out of his minivan, purposely subjecting himself to hardship. He used to carry a gun because, he said, there's "a lot of crazy things going on in the world."

He was a petty criminal, a transient workman who pulled his own teeth, someone who made people uncomfortable with his odd mannerisms.

And Gary Michael Hilton, the 61-year-old man accused of killing Buford hiker Meredith Emerson and a suspect in the beating deaths of two other females, generally did not like women, his onetime landlord said.

"He was a weird character," said Chris C. Johnson, who rented a room to Hilton for several months in 1995 in the Marietta area. "I remember him referring to women very negatively. He kind of had a real bad, negative attitude against everyone. He really didn't like anyone ... women specifically."

John Tabor, who recently gave Hilton a place to stay and hired him to do odd jobs, said Hilton in September threatened to kill him if he didn't give him $10,000. Hilton needed the money because his mental and physical health had deteriorated to the point where he couldn't work, said Jana Tabor, John's wife.

It was the Tabors who first tipped authorities to Hilton's identification after they saw an artist's sketch of him on CNN. They spoke about him on Saturday, the first time they've discussed details about the man they knew peripherally for about 10 years.

(snip)

Leon County, Fla., authorities say they will charge Hilton in the slaying of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, 46, of Crawfordville, Fla. She went missing Dec. 1 and was found dead in Apalachicola National Forest on Dec. 15.

Also, North Carolina officials have named Hilton as a suspect in the slaying in October of an elderly couple.

Avid hikers John, 79, and Irene Bryant, 84, were last seen alive on Oct. 20 in the Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina. Her body was found bludgeoned three weeks later while John Bryant remains missing and is believed dead.

In each case, officials have placed Hilton in the vicinity. Further, each of the victims' ATM cards were used, and the bodies were recovered in state or national forests.

(snip)

Hilton piled up a record of charges in DeKalb County before those encounters. Jail records show Hilton had been charged with theft, stealing a shopping cart, possession of marijuana, hit and run and arson between 1979 and 1995. His record dates to 1972, when he was charged in Miami with dealing in stolen property.

(snip)

Beyond the personal relationships, he made customers uncomfortable as he worked for Tabor, who owned Insulated Wall Systems. The first time Robyn McKinney met Hilton, he made her uneasy.

"He was a crazy man," said McKinney, who, along with her husband, hired Tabor's company to do some work on their Snellville home in 2004. "He had rotted teeth. He acted and talked really strange."

Tabor said Saturday that his relationship with Hilton was almost exclusively over the phone, though Tabor let Hilton live at a building he owned on Clairmont Road in Chamblee. Tabor kicked him out in September after Hilton threatened to kill Tabor.

Jana Tabor said Hilton's behavior had become erratic, and she attributed it to his medication.

"He had self-diagnosed himself as having M.S., and he was going to this quack doctor and he was taking an incredible amount of Ritalin," Jana Tabor said. "He already had one of those upbeat energetic personalities, and that just make it warp speed, made him crazy."

Jana Tabor disputes that Hilton's teeth were rotten.

"They weren't rotten," she said. "He pulled them out himself."

Despite their falling out, the Tabors were stunned that Hilton could be accused of such heinous killings.

"We were not harboring somebody who was a monster," she said. "My god, it's just unspeakable what he has done."

Well before the Tabors met him, in 1983, Hilton was convicted in Clayton County of carrying a pistol without a license in a trial that also saw him convicted of a drug charge. Asked in court why he carried a gun, he pointed out he didn't need one, but that he had one "for protection."

"There is a lot of crime," he said, "and a lot of crazy things going on in the world."


— Staff writers Yolanda Rodriguez, Kathy Jefcoats, Christian Boone and Tim Eberly, and staff researcher Alice Wertheim contributed to this report.

click to read rest
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/01/12/hilton_0113.html

Copyright© 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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gozgals



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PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My God, Gary is nuts. Thanks for the long article. He is just plain crazy. I'm glad they got him off the streets so we can all be safe.

Goz
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And unfortunately he hated women. I think there's a little, or a lot, of him in all the silent ex's.

Well, no need to generalize about silent ex's, I guess. People can read each case in Case summaries for missing women on justiceforchandra.com and see for themselves. They are a sorry lot.

rd
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

StrangeThingsHappen over at zimbio.com has been doing some excellent investigating. The link contains a lot of other information STH has posted on Hilton, but the latest post references interesting reporting from Nic Corbett at the Tallahassee Democrat and this thread:

from www.zimbio.com (fair use)

StrangeThingsHappen said...
Mar-3-08 7:59pm

A glimpse into the history of murder- suspect Hilton
Former co-workers, neighbors of prime suspect in Dunlap case say he was 'off his rocker'

Story by Nic Corbett • Tallahassee Democrat staff writer • February 24, 2008

A glimpse into the history of murder- suspect Hilton | tallahassee.com | Tallahassee Democrat

"Hilton was 'off his rocker'

Fred Johnson owned a neighboring auto-repair business in Chamblee. About three years ago, Hilton called police after catching someone trying to steal a car battery from the garage. Hilton later testified in court in the case, but Johnson decided not to pursue charges. That made Hilton mad. "He just didn't like criminal, thieving people around the neighborhood," Johnson said.

About two years ago, Hilton came to Johnson after being accused of beating another man's dog in a park. He wanted Johnson to be a character witness in court. Johnson declined. "He was just kind of an angry man," Johnson said. "I think he felt that people were treating him unfairly, that the people in the park were picking on him."

Johnson's wife, Jennie, said Hilton seemed to get "crazier" over the years. One day, out of nowhere, he came to the business, pointed to a plant outside her office and told her he hadn't urinated on the plant and killed it. "I totally didn't understand what he was saying because it did not make any logical sense," she said. She later told mechanics at the business to be prepared to defend themselves if Hilton ever came back "because this guy is off his rocker."


Nic got the story above from Fred Johnson after she obtained the names of Hilton's neighbors at 4169 Clairmont Rd. Further information was later uncovered related to the above story which also led to finding a story of an event in 1985 involving Hilton and a guy named Rodney. The person Hilton was fingering for the theft crime which Fred Johnson later decided not to prosecute was a guy named Rodney Carson Dunkleberger. It turns out this Rodney and Hilton possibly had a long relationship apparently involving cocaine use that may go all the way back to 1985. In May of 1985 at a biker bar off Clairmont Rd. after failing to buy cocaine, apparently Hilton along with a Rodney severely beat and tried to kill two individuals. Hilton and Rodney waited for their victims in the parking lot, attacking both men as they left the bar at closing. Hilton first beat and kicked the first guy Bill to a pulp and attacked the second guy Ralph with a large knife. When the police were called they both jumped into a truck and ran over the guy Bill who was laying on the ground, driving over him several times, before retreating up Bufford Hwy. The Police in Dekalb caught up to them and both were taken away in the squad car. According to Ralph, at the probable cause hearing Rodney and Hilton were each pointing the finger at the other as the culprits, which apparently led to neither one of them being punished for this vicious crime.

http://www.ojs.dekalbga.org/

A faint record of the event still remains on the Dekalb Criminal Records for Rodney who apparently continued a life of petty crimes but the records under Hilton's name do not reflect the event, however it may be there hidden under a different name Hilton may have been using at the time. The details of this story were recalled by one of those victims after reading the news about Hilton and seeing his photo in connection with Meredith Emerson's murder. Both victims in this story lived around Clairmont Road at the time. Ralph later went on to become a well respected investigator and author of the true crime mystery novel "Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy." Bill eventually recovered from his serious injuries but certainly was left with lasting physical and emotional scares from that event. We are still trying to locate this guy named Bill, so if he reads this, please contact Ralph or me. What a total shame Hilton escaped being put away in 1985!

http://www.justiceforchandra.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3501 [this thread]
Murder On A Horse Trail: The Disappearance Of Chandra Levy by Ralph Daugherty (Paperback - April 30, 2004)
Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy click to read the online true crime mystery novel written by one of Hilton's 1985 victims that survived.
Meredith Emerson, 24, Buford GA - Missing Hiker
www.justiceforchandra.com home page

click to read rest
http://www.zimbio.com/Gary+Michael+Hilton/articles/1/Welcome+wikizine+Gary+Michael+Hilton+Meredith
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is bizarre beyond words.

Hilton Helped with Murder Movie
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=112422

and the person making the murder movie?

his lawyer.

and what was the movie they made about?

taking women captive in the north Georgia mountains and then murdering them.

his lawyer said Hilton had all kinds of ideas for the script.

you can't make stuff like this up.

rd


"It was clear he was a sociopath," said [Hilton's lawyer Samuel] Rael. "But I thought he had a very creative imagination."

Rael said he and Hilton parted ways shortly after the release of the movie. The lawyer said he never imagined that the man who helped a fictional killer would wind up behind bars, a convicted killer.

"What got me is I always believe there are no coincidences in the world," Rael said. "This just seemed real coincidental. It just struck me."


from www.11alive.com (fair use)



Hilton Helped With Murder Movie
Reported by: Jerry Carnes
Web Editor: Michael King
11alive.com
March 5, 2008

In an 11Alive exclusive, a Metro Atlanta attorney said he worked on a movie with the confessed killer of a Gwinnett County hiker. The film's plot: a serial killer who murders women in the north Georgia mountains.

The film was made in 1995. Fast forward to 2008 -- Gary Hilton has confessed to killing a hiker in the north Georgia mountains. He is also suspected in three other murders, each in National Parks.

Samuel Rael is not only a lawyer, he has also produced movies -- including one that went straight to video in 1995. The title: "Deadly Run." It's about a man who stalks and kills women in the north Georgia mountains.

Rael said Gary Michael Hilton helped him with the plot -- the same Gary Michael Hilton who has admitted he stalked and killed Meredith Emerson in the north Georgia mountains in January.

A bearded and much younger Gary Michael Hilton is pictured long before he would earn a reputation as one of Georgia's most notorious killers. In those days, Hilton faced a variety of criminal charges, like arson, theft and drugs. In those days, Hilton's lawyer was Samuel Rael.

click to read rest
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=112422

Copyright ©2008 WXIA-TV Atlanta
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