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Drifter Won't Face Death Penalty

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The Associated Press

Published: January 9, 2008

DAWSONVILLE, Ga. - A drifter agreed to lead investigators to a hiker's decapitated body in the north Georgia woods after prosecutors pledged not to seek the death penalty against him, authorities said Tuesday.

Gary Michael Hilton, 61, was charged with murder after Meredith Emerson's body was found Monday. The 24-year-old died of a blow to the head three days after she disappeared on a New Year's Day hike, Dawson County District Attorney Lee Darragh said.

The finding that Emerson died before being decapitated was made by Kris Sperry, the state's chief medical examiner, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.

Hilton appeared Monday before a judge who denied his request for bail. Hours later, he took investigators to Emerson's body, said John Cagle, an agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Emerson had gone hiking with her dog. Hilton was the last person seen with her on a hiking trail and had tried to use her credit card, according to his arrest warrant. Authorities are not releasing information on how Emerson met Hilton and what happened between the time she disappeared and when she was killed, Bankhead said.

Authorities said they are exploring a possible link between Hilton and Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, whose body was found Dec. 19 in the Apalachicola National Forest southwest of Tallahassee.

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