A man who is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, murder and decapitation of a Georgia hiker has been extradited to Florida to face charges of killing and decapitating a woman in the Apalachicola National Forest. Gary Michael Hilton will face trial for the death of 46-year-old Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, a nurse from Crawfordville, Florida.Georgia allowed Hilton to plead guilty in the death of 24-year-old hiker Meredith Emerson, but Florida is seeking the death penalty in the Dunlap case.
Hilton was transferred from the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center in Jackson to Leon County Jail in Tallahassee. In his first Florida court appearance, Hilton's attorney said she plans to challenge the legality of his extradition.
Public Defender Ines Suber said that a Georgia judge had refused to appoint an attorney for Hilton to help his fight the Florida extradition. Leon Circuit Judge Charles Francis ordered Hilton to be held without bail.
FSU Nurse Disappeared in December
Meredith Emerson, a University of Georgia graduate, was hiking in the north Georgia mountains Jan. 1, 2008 when she disappeared. Hilton held her for three days before beating her to death and cutting her head off.
In December 2007, Cheryl Dunlap (left), a University of Florida nurse, was reported missing after she failed to show up to teach her Sunday School class on Sunday and did not report for work on Monday. After a massive search, her decapitated body was found two weeks later in the Apalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee and close to her hometown of Crawfordville.
Hilton was indicted in February for first-degree murder, kidnapping and grand theft in connection with Dunlap's death.
Hilton is also a suspect in the murder of an elderly couple in North Carolina in October 2007. John Bryant, 79, and his wife Irene, 84, disappeared while hiking in the Pisgah National Forest. Her beaten body was found three weeks later and her husband was found in February.
See Also:
Confessed Killer Transferred to Face Fla. Charge
Hilton's Attorney Questions Legality of Fla. Extradition
Background:
The Gary Michael Hilton Case
Forum:
Discuss The Emerson Case
Photo: Mug Shot
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