John 81 & Irene 84 Bryant NC & other Innocent Victims...

Last edited by Wolfscratch on Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:50 am; edited 6 times in total

http://www.ajc.com/news/tragic-end-for-unique-983470.html

Tragic end for 'unique' couple - "An Understatement"..WS

A lifelong passion

Married for 58 years, the Bryants shared a lifelong love of the outdoors, a pull so strong it steered many of their life decisions. Both were successful professionals, with Irene Bryant something of a pioneer in veterinary medicine.

Born in the Pacific Northwest, they lived for a time in Montana, then moved to the picturesque Finger Lakes district of upstate New York. For retirement, they chose Horse Shoe, N.C., a small town in the southern Appalachians just 20 miles from Pisgah National Forest, a hiker's dream of steep mountains, lush forests and roaring white-water streams.

Friends and family describe the couple as remarkably generous, adventurous, engaging and unpretentious. Jack Bryant had a moral compass so strong he consistently under-billed his small upstate New York village for his work as town attorney, even after colleagues told him he should raise his rates.

"He said all these other people volunteer as firefighters and in other ways, " said Charlie Major, who served as a local official alongside Bryant for more than two decades. "Jack said, 'This is my donation.' "

"My parents were unique people in that they considered what they wanted out of life and then pursued it, " said their daughter, Holly Bryant, who lives in Florida. "Everyone thinks they do this, but few actually do. Little things that are in reality unimportant tend to get in the way. My parents lived a full life and were a delight to know. They will be missed by so many."

The couple hiked since their youth, and as they prospered became world travelers with a taste for adventure that stunned many of their friends.

Jack Bryant was initially an engineer but later earned a law degree at Cornell, settling into a practice in Syracuse but also serving as town attorney in Skaneateles, a nearby town of 7,500 where the couple lived. He worked summers on the St. Lawrence Seaway while attending law school.

Irene Bryant, the first in her family to attend college, took her doctorate from Washington State College and opened a veterinary practice concentrating on large animals, becoming one of the first women vets in Montana. That's where the couple met and married, often going for hikes on their dates.

Irene had a large-animal practice for a time in New York but gave it up while raising the couple's three boys and one girl. She was driven by an insatiable curiosity and took graduate-level college courses in everything from psychology to forestry and ichthyology (the study of fish).

"She gave up her practice because I think she liked going to school better, " Holly Bryant said. "She was a scientist at heart. She had an extensive insect collection, and she loved gardening. She was a very interesting character. My father said she wasn't cut out of a cookie-cutter. She was unique."

The outdoors and travel were the couple's passion. As their children grew up, they expanded their horizons with trips around the globe. They loved New Zealand and Switzerland but also traveled the United States, particularly the Southwest.

Town workers in Skaneateles delighted each Christmas in receiving cards from the Bryants, which often showed them on some far-away mountaintop but included hand-written personal notes for each recipient.

Each year, Skaneateles officials would attend an annual conference in New York City, and Major was amazed at the unofficial tours that Jack Bryant would lead.

"He knew all these places in the city that tourists never go, and we'd walk everywhere, " he said. "He wasn't afraid of any part of town. He'd sway from left to right as he walked, and he could go forever. He had this back condition, and I think he took up hiking so he wouldn't get worse."

Jack suffered from arthritis of the spine, his daughter said, and doctors at one point advised him to cut back on physical activity, especially hiking. His response was to soldier on.

read more at above link..

WS

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Georgia Slaying Suspect Linked to N.C. Killing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHpH6cVkXGk&NR=1

I'm Your Angel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W44Ndo0mm4

________________________________________________________________

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44288468#44288468 Dateline NBC
Good morning! For those of you who missed Friday night's 'Mystery on Blood Mountain' with Dennis Murphy, you can now watch the full episode online belo
www.msnbc.msn.com

WS

_______________________________

Subject: Meredith Hope Emerson: 'Trail Angel' Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:17 pm

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44288468#44288468 Dateline NBC
Good morning! For those of you who missed Friday night's 'Mystery on Blood Mountain' with Dennis Murphy, you can now watch the full episode online belo
www.msnbc.msn.com

WS
**********************************************************

Look what I found:

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=%2Fmp4%2FSUE248_JenniferPharrDavis_083111_WS WSJennifer Pharr-Davis: 'Becoming Odyssa' - CBN TV - Video
www.cbn.com
Jennifer shares how her faith helped her set the unofficial record for fastest hike through the Appalachian Trail...
Jennifer Pharr Davis hiked the AT in honor of Meredith Hope Emerson and John & Irene Bryant in the summer of 2008, setting a new womens record for hiking the Appalacian Trail..
Now she has set an all time record. She is an amazing person, as was GMH's many innocent victims.

Wolfscratch

.Snipet from the DawsonNews.com article dated 02-09-11: (GBI Special Agent/Cleveland, GA Office; was in charge of the Meredith Hope Emerson Investigation) now retired Major for Dawson Co, GA, Sheriff Office - CID..
__________________________________________________
Cagle has been following the case through a live Internet feed from the Leon County courtroom, where Hilton is dressed in a suit and tie.

Cagle said Hilton, who wore an orange inmate jumpsuit when pleading guilty to Emerson’s slaying on Jan. 31, 2008, isn’t fooling anyone with the “get-up.”

“They may have dressed him up a little bit, but you really can’t take away the sociopath in somebody by putting a coat and tie on him,” he said. “He is absolutely the same person that was here.

“You can look at him and see the same person we saw the night we arrested him — just a coward sitting there.”

Cagle said he’s looking forward to Hilton’s conviction in Florida, “so North Carolina authorities can proceed with the case they have against him.”

Hilton is also suspected in the 2007 double slayings of John and Irene Bryant in Pisgah National Forest, though he has not been charged in that case.

Once this one is done in Florida, hopefully I’ll get to go to North Carolina,” Cagle said. “I think once this case is concluded, North Carolina will step in, indict him and move forward with their case.”

cp by Wolfscratch.

Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A hunter stumbled across camping supplies, clothes and books belonging to convicted killer Gary Michael Hilton in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

Related
Hilton may be linked to missing Miami woman
More on Meredith Emerson's murder

http://www.ajc.com/news/hilton-items-found-in-139999.html

Metro Atlanta / State News 8:23 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, 2009 Text size: Decrease Increase Hilton items found in concealed Ga. campsite

The hunter came across the items last Friday at a concealed campsite, and thought they might be stolen or illegally dumped.

“This is an area that we know he frequented,” Fannin County Sheriff's Sgt. Justin Turner said of Hilton.

Hilton is serving life in prison for the January 2008 murder of Buford hiker Meredith Emerson and is awaiting trial in the decapitation of hiker Cheryl Dunlap, a Tallahassee Sunday school teacher.

Emerson, a 24-year-old UGA grad, was hiking with her dog in the Union County mountains when Hilton kidnapped her. Hilton pleaded guilty and avoided the death penalty in exchange for leading authorities to Emerson's body.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation turned over the items to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.

Hilton also is suspected in the slayings of an elderly North Carolina couple, John and Irene Bryant. They disappeared in October 2007 while hiking in the Pisgah National Forest.

Bankhead said the N.C. Bureau of Investigation has been notified, and that Florida authorities will contact that agency if any items can be tied to the Bryants' killings.

_____________________________________________________________

Son/daughter of Hunter/camp host that found GMHs Cache at Coopers Creek WMA Chattahoochee Nat Forest, GA 09/2009:

Jul 24, 2010 Don’t know how I missed this post 10/2009:
http://prairiechicken.blogspot.com/2009/09/hu...
Anonymous said…
My father was the hunter who found Gary Hilton’s belongings. He and my mom are the camp hosts at the campground near where Hilton was “living” in the North GA mountains. There was hard evidence linking Hilton to the NC murders. We are anxiously awaiting his conviction.
October 29, 2009 9:5

cp by Wolfscratch .

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Killer Gary Hilton may be linked to missing Miami woman

By CHRISTIAN BOONE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The father of a missing Miami woman said a man seen with his daughter the day she disappeared bears a strong resemblance to convicted killer Gary Michael Hilton.
“It looks like [Hilton],” said Anibal Miliani, who lives in Miami. A newly circulated sketch from an FBI-trained artist is breathing new life into suspicions that Hilton may have been involved in Rossana Miliani’s disappearance.
Her father hasn’t seen or talked to Rossana since Dec. 7, 2005, when the then-26-year-old was spotted with a graying stranger purchasing a backpack in a Bryson City, N.C. general store.
Hilton, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Buford hiker Meredith Emerson and awaiting trial in the decapitation of a Florida Sunday school teacher, is the sole suspect in two other murders and has been termed a “person of interest” in a third.
The store clerk who waited on Rossana said the man accompanying her was in his late 50s or early 60s and appeared to have been wearing a hairpiece. He told the clerk (who didn’t come forward until hearing about the Miliani case some two years after she was reported missing) that he was a preacher who traveled to various campgrounds across the region.
Private investigator Steve Siske, hired by the Milianis to find Rossana, said the clerk thought Rossana appeared nervous.
North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation told Siske they plan to interview Hilton, but so far that hasn’t happened.
“The NC State Bureau of Investigation is still considering a possible connection between Hilton and Miliani’s disappearance, but that is not the sole focus of our investigation,” said Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for the North Carolina bureau of investigation...
More:

http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/killer-...may-92170.html

cp WS

Last edited by Wolfscratch on Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:01 pm; edited 2 times in total

From Facebook Chat:
Maurice Godwin: Geographical Profiler .Clear Window· ReportToday
Report · 12:16pmA search for Tara Grinstead just took place based on a new tip.

http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=14258097#

(snipet)

Dive team searches Irwin Co. creek for Tara Grinstead remains
Posted: Mar 15, 2011 5:20 PM CDT
Updated: Mar 15, 2011 5:20 PM CDT
Video Gallery
More tips in Tara Grinstead case
2:39

OCILLA, GA (WALB) –Divers spent much of the day in an Irwin County creek looking for the remains of a school teacher who disappeared five and a half years ago.

Tips in the Tara Grinstead case continue to come in. Investigators say the one that led them to that creek Tuesday is the most substantial they've gotten in a year.

A neighbor who claims to have called in the tip to the sheriff says just a few days after Grinstead disappeared he saw two men acting very suspiciously down by the creek. He says it has been weighing heavy on his heart, so felt it was time to tell someone.

She disappeared after attending the Georgia sweet potato pageant in 2005, but there have been no solid answers as to what really happened to the Irwin County teacher.

Cp Wolfscratch: 'So where is a sketch of the suspicious acting men'? I am confident that Tara Grinstead, is one of GMH's unknown victims..Too many parall;els...
Back to top
.
Wolfscratch
Angels Assisted

r Gary Hilton may be linked to missing Miami woman

The father of a missing Miami woman said a man seen with his daughter the day she disappeared bears a strong resemblance to convicted killer Gary Michael Hilton.

“It looks like [Hilton],” said Anibal Miliani, who lives in Miami. A newly circulated sketch from an FBI-trained artist is breathing new life into suspicions that Hilton may have been involved in Rossana Miliani’s disappearance.

Her father hasn’t seen or talked to Rossana since Dec. 7, 2005, when the then-26-year-old was spotted with a graying stranger purchasing a backpack in a Bryson City, N.C. general store.

Hilton, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Buford hiker Meredith Emerson and awaiting trial in the decapitation of a Florida Sunday school teacher, is the sole suspect in two other murders and has been termed a “person of interest” in a third.

The store clerk who waited on Rossana said the man accompanying her was in his late 50s or early 60s and appeared to have been wearing a hairpiece. He told the clerk (who didn’t come forward until hearing about the Miliani case some two years after she was reported missing) that he was a preacher who traveled to various campgrounds across the region.

Private investigator Steve Siske, hired by the Milianis to find Rossana, said the clerk thought Rossana appeared nervous.

North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation told Siske they plan to interview Hilton, but so far that hasn’t happened.

“The NC State Bureau of Investigation is still considering a possible connection between Hilton and Miliani’s disappearance, but that is not the sole focus of our investigation,” said Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for the North Carolina bureau of investigation.

Miliani’s father doesn’t believe his daughter, who suffers from bipolar disorder but has traveled extensively, ran away or committed suicide.

“She called me most every night, to check in” he said. On Dec. 6, 2005, she rang her dad from a Cherokee Ramada Inn roughly five miles from Bryson City. Rossana, who had taken the bus from south Florida to North Carolina earlier that day, told him she wanted to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Emerson, Hilton's first identified victim, was abducted from Blood Mountain in north Georgia on New Year’s Day 2008. Authorities in North Carolina have implicated him in the October 2008 murders of an elderly North Carolina couple, John and Irene Bryant, last seen hiking in Pisgah National Forest.

Prosecutors in Leon County, Fla., plan to seek the death penalty against Hilton for killing Cheryl Hodges Dunlap. Her dismembered body was found Dec. 15, 2007, in the Apalachicola National Forest — roughly 200 miles from where Ormond Beach, Fla. stock clerk Michael Scot Louis’ decapitated remains had been located eight days earlier.

Hilton is deemed a “person of interest” in Louis’ murder.

“We know [Hilton] was in the area at the time, and dismemberment is very uncommon,” said Sgt. James Gogarty with the Ormond Beach Police Department. Their evidence “links with what they [Leon County investigators] have on [Hilton],” he said.

There’s no evidence connecting Hilton to Miliani -- just a sketch and some striking similarities to other cases involving the erstwhile drifter.

“The frustration I have with the case is, if it’s not Hilton, who is it?” Siske said. “If he’s not involved, then we can eliminate the only real lead we have so far.”

Ormond Beach investigators say they, too, want to question Hilton, but he’s not talking, Gogarty said.

“It’s so painful not knowing,” Anibal Miliani said. “I hope she never met [Hilton], but I want to know one way or another. It’s been almost four years.”

Answers in the Louis case are also proving elusive. Investigators are waiting for DNA evidence from a California lab that might link Hilton to Louis’ murder, though officials say it could be months before results are available.

http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/killer-gary-hilton-may-92170.html

A newly circulated sketch of a man seen with a Miami woman on the day she disappeared resembles convicted killer Gary Michael Hilton, the woman's father said. The store clerk who described the man to the sketch artist suspects he was wearing a hairpiece.

Hilton's booking photo

WS

Bryant family speaks about Hilton, possible charges

Family members of John and Irene Bryant say it's been a hard three years since the death of their parents, but they believe justice may be served after a man linked to their parent's murder stands trial in Florida on an unrelated murder charge.

Opening statements began Friday in Florida in the murder trial of Gary Michael Hilton, 64. Hilton has already pleaded guilty to the murder of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson in Georgia, where her beaten body was found in a forest. Now he is standing trial and could face the death penalty if convicted in Tallahassee in the murder of Cheryl Dunlap.

Hilton still has not been charged in North Carolina for the murders of the Byrants, an elderly couple who were hiking in Pisgah National Forest in October 2007 when they disappeared. Irene's body was found in November, and John's in February.

“It's been extremely hard,” Holly Bryant said Friday. “We would like to see justice done. I am just glad he is off the street. Unfortunately he was able to do this to two other people before he was caught.”

While the U.S. Department of Justice has not released any information to the public or media since 2008, Holly Bryant said that a lot has been happening behind the scenes.

“We have been told that anything he (Hilton) says at his current trial can be used against him in a trial in North Carolina,” she said. “The Department of Justice has said they are waiting for the outcome in Florida then plan to pursue charges in North Carolina. They have promised us they will seek charges and they plan to seek the death penalty.”

Lia Bantavani, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Friday that nothing had been filed in the case for Hilton and the U.S. Department of Justice could not comment.

The Bryants, an older but fit and active couple, had gone on a hike in 2007 and never returned. John, 81, and Irene, 84, of Horse Shoe, were avid hikers and often took strolls in the trails near the Pink Beds in Pisgah National Forest.

The missing persons case quickly turned into a homicide investigation in November 2007, when deputies found Irene's body along Yellow Gap Road. An autopsy showed she had been beaten to death. In February 2008, a hunter found her husband's skeletal remains near Franklin. An autopsy showed he died from a gunshot to the head.

It did not take long for Transylvania County officials to name a prime suspect — drifter Hilton, identified by police in January 2008.

Seeking the death penalty is now important to Holly Bryant because of her parents' stance on capital punishment.

“My parents strongly believed in the death penalty for horrendous crimes,” she said. “For that reason I am for it as a way to speak for my parents.”

“We've been told there is DNA evidence that links Hilton to our parents' murders,” she added. “Another reason they have not sought charges, they have told us, is he is in a place where he can't get away and they assured us they will seek the death penalty.”

Holly Bryant, who lives in Palm Bay, Fla. , aid while she considered going to Tallahassee to witness Hilton's trial first hand, she has not done so.

“I don't want to take attention away from Ms. Dunlap's family,” she said. “I don't think I could do any good and it would upset me, so I haven't gone.”

While Holly Bryant said she is thankful Hilton was caught and appreciates what the authorities have done in their investigation, she said it was a citizen's information that led to his arrest.

“I want to thank the citizen who reported what they saw that led to Hilton's arrest,” she said. “It is my understanding that this citizen saw him cleaning blood out of his van and called the authorities.”

Holly Bryant also has some words of wisdom for older residents who may have restricted their lives after hearing about the Bryant's tragedy.

“Something was said at my parents memorial service that stuck out to me,” she said. “They went out and enjoyed life. They weren't scared. I hope that people will continue to live their lives and don't let monsters, like Hilton, make them restrict their lives.”

Holly Bryant, who also enjoys hiking, said that now when she hikes it makes her feel close to her parents.

“I think of my parents every day,” she said. “I use their values to help guide me.”

Holly's brother, Bob, said while the past three years have been hard, he has healed some.

“I am a member of a support group for survivors of crimes, and that has helped,” he said. “It has still been difficult.”

Bob Bryant said he is disappointed with the length of time it has taken the U.S. Department of Justice to do something in his parents case.

“I understand there are multiple cases, but these families deserve justice,” he said.

Bob Bryant said that it is his understanding the Hilton couldn't be indicted in his parents death until the Florida trial is complete.

“He is guaranteed a speedy trial after he has been charged and the Florida case would have tied that up,” he said.

To keep his parents memory alive, Bob Bryant keeps pictures of them around him.

“It helps me to remember their pleasant attitude and what great people they were,” he said.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/...news?p=3&tc=pg

cp Wolfscratch

GMH, applied for Green Beret training…trained SpeciaL Forces: Airborne… failed psychological evaluation…denied ..went awol…Army found that recruiting officer was duped..GMH was under psychiatric care for three years for shooting stepfather Nilo DeBag at age 14 years old…Army realized that they had trained a psychopath, to be a lethal killing machine…

‘released him on society’,

with an honorable discharge, and a thirst for violent death….

“GMH, “You have to Kill the Whole Village” !!

SSgt Barry Sadler, Ballad of the green beret

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH4-tOqLH94

Wolfscratch .

.wctv video of day 8 of GMH DP trial for the abduction & murder of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap:

http://www.wctv.tv/floridanews/headlines/Hiton_Trial_Now_Shifts_to_Defense_116153539.html?storySection=comments

Wolfscratch.

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/investigators/serial_killers.html#4

Serial Killers – A Homicide Detective’s Take
By Lieutenant Nelson Andreu (Retired)
Miami Police Department
Submitted May, 2005

1.Credentials and Interest
2.Common Knowledge
3.Genesis of a Serial Killer
4.Victim Selection
5.Victim Objectification
6.Denouement
7.Case Histories
1. Credentials and Interest
It was during my tenure of over 20 years as a homicide Detective and Detective Sergeant with the Miami Police Department that I investigated six serial murder cases. I like to think that the experience I gained in those investigations has given me a most rudimentary glimmer of understanding as to what motivates a serial killer in undertaking his atrocities.

These six serial murder cases, which accounted for the murders of nearly 50 people, all took place in the Miami area. All six offenders were men: two Hispanic/white males, two African-American males, and two white Anglo males. They all had different, although equally macabre, reasons for their acts. Three of the killers confessed their crimes while the others took their reasons to their graves, dying of AIDS while in prison or taking their own lives. The three men who confessed provided us with many, sometimes distressingly vivid, details of how, why, and when they committed their crimes.

Although part of my job as a homicide detective is to analyze the motives of killers, my interest goes beyond the requirements of my job. I have acquired and extensively studied a lengthy and well-written dissertation prepared by a convicted and, to me unknown, serial killer, and material from this document is incorporated into this article. Because I do not know his name I cannot give specific credit to its author.

I can, however, vouch for the validity of this document by providing some history about how I obtained it. While working the Rory Conde case, the investigative team was receiving copious leads, but none were panning out. One of the investigators assigned to the Task Force received by mail a letter from a local therapist. The author of this glimpse into a killer’s mind prepared it as part of his psychological treatment at the request of his therapist, who chose to protect the identity of his source. The document that we received was a photocopy of what had apparently originally been handwritten on a lined legal pad in a consistent fine point that appeared to have been ink. The letter was perfectly legible and the printing was so nearly perfect that at first glance it appeared almost to have been typewritten. Close inspection revealed, however, the slight variations of human penmanship. The writing was meticulous, a nearly perfect hand that neatly compacted two rows of text between every two lines. Approximately five pages long, the document showed no mistakes and appeared completely free of erasures, strike-outs, even hesitation. If the writer employed such precision and planning in implementing the hideous deeds he described, it seemed nothing short of miraculous that he was ever caught. With hundreds of years of collective investigative experience behind the assembled investigative team, or Serial Killer Task Force as we were called, we harbored no doubt that whoever had written this document was a perverse, sadistic, frighteningly sick individual who was highly likely to have committed the unspeakable acts that he reduced to writing.

Revealed in this article are presumably candid thought processes provided by this protected source, as well as information provided by serial killers whom I have investigated. Although serial killers vary in the details of their mental constructs, certain procedural similarities are common among them, and enable us to construct a very general profile. In this article I attempt to track similarities among people who kill strangers.

2. Common Knowledge
During the six serial killer cases I investigated, I dealt extensively with Criminal Profilers from both the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Their training and work experience are extensive and years in the making, and I have found these specialists to be truly invaluable resources.

First, a few statistics. Keep in mind, of course, that these are generalities; always there will be those who fall outside the bell curve. The following is a consensus of the majority of criminal profilers, based on actual cases they have investigated. Serial killers tend to be mostly white males; between 20 and 40 years of age . Most, although not all, serial killers begin their lives as petty criminals; initially they may have been peeping-Toms, animal torturers, arsonists, or any other of a wide range of pre-killing crimes. I have yet to hear of a provably “upstanding” citizen who begins his life of crime by killing people for personal and/or sexual gratification. In addition, as you may have observed from the examples given above, the “petty crimes” engaged in by nascent serial killers tend away from harmless “pranks” such as vandalism and opportunistic burglary and in the direction of more highly “anti-social” behaviors.

3. Genesis of a Serial Killer
Serial killers frequently suffer from low self-esteem, often complicated by some sort of sexual dysfunction. Many were themselves the victims of sexual abuse and/or were raised in violent households. Never having received much training in social graces and lacking in confidence, they tend to be introverted and friendless. Some, like emotional adolescents that never reach adulthood, maintain unhealthy ties to a family member, often the mother. And although certain serial killers have counted their mothers among their victims, in my belief such instances are not sexual in nature, but more a revenge or to halt years of real or perceived domination. In nearly all cases, deviant and recurring sexual desires and fantasies are what drive these people to murder multiple victims.

Spending much time alone, those who will depart the social norms tend to inhabit an imaginary world. Their fantasies, which in my experience always involve sex, begin small. At first they are able to achieve gratification merely by imagining these scenarios, and in that way they may not differ from other people who for reasons of their own concoct socially unacceptable fantasies that never see the light of day.

For those who develop into serial killers, at some point imaginary scenarios start to become insufficient. When thoughts and self-stimulation no longer suffice, some of these people may act their visions out in the limited but sometimes quite realistic realm of sado-masochistic sex. In time, even that is not enough. For reasons of their own, some people require more and greater stimuli to satisfy their turbulent desires, until finally they enact the killing of their first victim.

This is a big step, even for a highly aberrant mind. The perpetrator himself may be shocked and frightened, even disgusted, and it may take a while for the first-time murderer to reestablish his personal mandate. While doing so, he may relive his actions over and over in his mind, thus receiving again that gratification obtained during the actual murder and, perhaps, by doing so actually setting the stage for his progression. Some killers take something, a trophy if you will, from their victim. It may be an article of clothing or a photograph, a swatch of hair or piece of jewelry, something of use to embellish their mental re-living of their actions. This suffices for a while but, in time, their ability mentally to revisit their victim’s demise will fade. By the time this happens, if he has reconstructed his entitlement and begins to hunt another victim, such a person has come to fit the classical mold of a serial killer.

4. Victim Selection
How does a serial killer select victims? The traditional school of thought holds that generally they select victims based on certain physical and/or personal characteristics. This assertion presupposes that, within the mind of each serial killer, there evolves synthesis of preferred characteristics and, ultimately, a clear, specific picture of his “ideal” victim, be it male or female, black or white, young or old, short or tall, large busted or small, shy or forward, and so on. Then, when that “typical” serial killer begins an active search for human prey, he will go to certain lengths to capture and victimize only those individuals who closely fit the mold.

Unexpectedly, I have observed that most serial killers never actually find and kill their “dream victim.” People fitting such detailed and perfected images may not only be hard to come by, but may also not be easily available in the venues haunted by “hunting” serial killers. So when that ideal victim cannot be found, and when their internal impetus becomes powerful enough, they will settle for a substitute. Ignoring for a moment the disparity between deviant human and normal feline behavior, a serial killer can be compared to a hungry lion that lies in wait for his favorite meal. It may be the lion knows an impala has the most tender or tasty meat. He waits for an opportunity to kill and eat the impala and in doing so may allow easy but not-so-attractive prey to pass unmolested. In time, hunger pains growing and no impala in sight, the famished lion will settle for an unwary bird that happens by. After devouring the bird, which gives his hunger a brief respite, the lion again has time to savor the taste of an impala, and the cycle begins again.

Like the lion, a serial killer just will not defer acting out his urge to kill simply because his “ideal” victim refuses to materialize at his beck and call. But his reason for settling for something less divulges from that of the lion. There are two basic, interrelated reasons for this disparity. The first centers on the extra caution exercised by a serial killer in his search for a victim; the second, upon the nature of the compulsion that drives him to violence.

CP Wolfscratch.

Before January 2008, I couldn’t spell cereal killer.. With the exception of TV Shows and the News, about serial killers prior, I had limited knowledge with the exception of the Wayne Williams; ‘Missing & Murdered’ Children of Atlanta.

As an Atlanta Fire Captain, I had experienced the tragic aftermath of many Arson Fires & Murders, of which a few may have been comitted by psychopathic serial killers.

Serial Killers such as GMH, are very creative, deflective, intelligent, manipulative, has keen instincts, and is very knowledgeable of human behavior.

GMH, is/was a ‘Hunter, and a Professional – a Soldier on a Perpetual Mssion.’
After suffering through the GBI/FBI interview of his Mother, it is obvious that GMH would have met all the characteristics & traits on Dr. Hare’s Checklist.
Gary Michael Hilton, in not your ‘run of the mill’ serial killer, or rampage serial killer, that began his reign of terror in October 2007 with John & Irene Bryant(NC).

Gary Michael Hilton, was an emulator/copycatter of many serial killers prior; a ‘Stealth Predator’, who had confused VICAP and the Experienced and Expert Behavior Analysis Profilers of the FBI, time & time again.

As in any culture, or in any community spread across this great Nation, there are those who refuse or are unable to adapt to a civilized society, skirting the rules and laws that guide the rest of us through life. Fortunately they are the exception rather than the rule…

Due to their selfish need to fulfill their evil desires or sexual fantasies, their lack of empathy for others, as well as their self assurance of remaining anonymous or stealth by hiding behind their masks of normalcy (at least in the darkness of their minds), they resort to the unimaginable, or unconscionable..

These psycopathetic predators, who know no boundaries of sanity, prey on unsuspecting innocent victims. Many of these predators hone their skills with each innocent victim devoured, increasing confidence and causing escalation.Although, most of these predators have an uncanning ability to shield their motives, their expressionless face, hiding behind their fake smiles, combined with their evil lifeless eyes, can not conceal this deceit, to those who are aware or in touch with their natural born instincts.

Once in the grasp of a prolific Serial Killer, such as GMH, the odds of escaping are severely diminished. The only effective weapon that we all posses, is knowledge and detection:

Be cautious, adhere to personal Safety Rules, and ‘Trust your Natural Instincts’.
We all have to be on guard 24/7 and look out for each other to prevent becoming another innocent victim of a Serial Killer or Sexual Predator…

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder/serial-murder-1

Wolfscratch

Rob Neufeld on books: WNC novel fictionalizes trails serial killer

Rob Neufeld • COLUMNIST • February 28, 2010

Romance, a sociopath, and a Blue Ridge Mountain summer camp compete for top billing in Rose Senehi’s novel “The Wind in the Woods,” and you might say the camp wins. The novel is one of 15 current books published by the new Boone-area outfit Canterbury House, which seeks to advance good writing, regional settings, suspense and stories of hope.

Canterbury’s best-selling titles are the “Ride” series by Alabama writers Edie Hand and Jeffrey Addison (a.k.a. Don Keith). Their novella, “A Christmas Ride,” tells of miracles of reconciliation experienced by a family on Christmas stays in the mountains.

“The Soldier’s Ride” involves visitations in a cemetery and an appreciation of war veterans’ struggles.

Senehi taps another inspirational source: efforts to preserve wilderness and use its effects to build character in youth. She launches her book at four locations in Western North Carolina, March 7-14 (see box).

Creepy entrance

“If they only knew who they ushered out of that cell,” Gary Skinner, a sociopath, mutters to himself after being let out of the Buncombe County jail at the beginning of “The Wind in the Woods” (trade paperback, $15.95).

“If everything went the way he planned, by the end of the week he’d have enough cash to head back down to Satellite Beach” in Florida, where the murder of Melissa Hunt should have become a cold case.

Skinner murders people on hiking trails to get their money and bank cards.

Senehi drew some of her details from the October 2007 murder of John and Irene Bryant and from the confession of Gary Michael Hilton, the 61-year-old killer of Meredith Emerson in north Georgia in 2008.

Senehi’s lead chapter, in which the reader catches up with the mind of Skinner, is literary and disturbing. Skinner’s modus operandi is believably detailed and improvisational.

Very good suspense writing, however, cannot fully deepen the unambiguous division of good and evil in the novel. Skinner’s story does not connect with the themes of the other characters’ stories except as someone who generates fear and heroism.

(2 of 2)

The flip side

Romance is another matter. A love of Camp Green River is integral to lovers’ love. “Almost every couple he knew,” Senehi writes of the camp owner, “Tiger” Morrison “met at camp, worked together at camp, or got together through some camp connection.”

Morrison breaks up with his stylish companion, Liz, because of her disdain for the commonness of camp. Liz wants him to turn over the camp to Sammy, his daughter by his late wife, who died in a car crash with a drunken driver.

Sammy lives and breathes the camp. “She practically grew up learning to look for and recognize anything that grew or crawled around on the forest floor. Over the past 24 years she’d hiked every trail on their three thousand acres a hundred times.”

When Sammy goes on a hike to Ruby Falls with Patrick, a smitten camp counselor, they talk about one of Patrick’s charges, Tucker, a math prodigy with a nature deficit disorder.

“Are you familiar with the Fibonacci ratios?” Patrick asks Sammy. Yes, she had read about it in “The Da Vinci Code.” The ratios show up in pine cones, flower petals and other natural patterns, and Patrick figures he “can teach it to Tucker and try to draw him into connecting his number fetish to nature.”

That’s the third element in the book: connecting children to an ethic that goes back to the Cherokee, from whom Morrison’s ancestors got the land, and to Ernest Thompson Seton, the Scots founder of the League of Woodcraft Indians.

It’s an ethic that this region can boast.

“The year 2010,” Senehi writes in her acknowledgements, “marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of summer youth camps in the Hendersonville/Brevard area, which contains the highest concentration of camps in the United States.”

Rob Neufeld writes the weekly book feature for the Sunday Citizen-Times. He is the author and editor of four books, and the host of the Web site The Read on WNC at http://TheReadonWNC.ning.com. He can be reached at RNeufeld@charter.net and 505-1973.

Rob Neufeld on books: WNC novel fictionalizes trails serial killer | citizen-times.com | Asheville Citizen-Times

THE BLUE RIDGE SERIES…
The Wind in the Woods is my second book in
the Blue Ridge Series. Woven through this
story is the 100-year-old history of summer
youth camps in the Hendersonville/Brevard
section of Western North Carolina–which has
the highest concentration of summer camps in
the United States. Hundreds of thousands have
had the most unforgettable summers of their
lives there. The 15 camps in this area comprise
over 10,000 acres, and therefore make up a
considerable section of unspoiled, undeveloped
mountain forests. Loosely modeled on The
Green River Preserve in the Green River
Valley. The Wind in the Woods tells the story
of one camp owner’s struggle to preserve his
3000-acre youth camp with the help of the
Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and The
Nature Cosnervancy.

One of the major plot lines traces the
murderous rampage of 61-year-old alleged
serial killer, Gary Michael Hilton, who
confessed to the murder of 24-year-old
Meredith Emerson who went hiking with her
dog in the Northern Georgia mountains on New
Year’s Day 2008 and never returned. I used his
confession to create, in my novel, his stalking
of a young camp employee and the abduction
of Katie Warlick, the 41-year-old camp cook.
Hilton is also the sole suspect in the killing of
John and Irene Bryant, a couple in their
eighties, who were murdered in October 2007
while hiking in North Carolina’s Pisgah National
Forest. In deference to the Bryant family, I have
changed them to two widows in their seventies
and put the scene in neighboring Rutherford
County. The book opens with their
disappearance and traces an exact timeline
sequence of the Bryants’ disappearance and
subsequent murder investigation.

http://www.rosesenehi.com/Page4.html

CP by Wolfscratch

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20080116/NEWS01/80116072/Sheriff-Hilton-has-positive-link-Bryant-case

Sheriff: Hilton has "positive link" to Bryant case

Sheriff David Mahoney said investigators have established a positive link between the murder of Irene Bryant, the disappearance of her husband and Gary Michael Hilton.

At a press conference today, Mahoney said because of the complexity of the investigation that he couldn’t discuss details and that he said, “details regarding the timing or venue of criminal charges will not be released at this time.”
Searchers found Irene Bryant, 84, dead on Nov. 9. She and her 80-year-old husband had been missing since Oct. 21 after going on a hike in the Pink Beds area of the Pisgah National Forest.
Someone used their ATM card at a bank in Ducktown, Tenn., the next day. Jack Bryant has never been found.
A license plate police found on Hilton’s van in Georgia had been stolen from a car in Brevard.
With Wednesday’s announcement, Hilton is now linked to two murders and remains a suspect or person of interest in two other killings in Georgia and Florida. They all involve hikers or state parks and national forests.
N.C. State Bureau of Investigation agents are also looking into whether he may have been involved in the disappearance of Rossana Miliani in Bryson City. She was last seen was last seen on Dec. 7, 2005. The 26-year-old had told her family she was going hiking.

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2011/jun/21/8/gary-hilton-indicted-murders-john-and-irene-bryan-ar-2007200

Federal Grand Jury Indictment for Gary Hilton for the abduction and Murder of John & Irene Bryant-

http://www2.wspa.com/mgmedia/file/579/gary-hilton-indictment/

Wolfscratch

http://www.pacer.gov/

U.S. District Court
Western District of North Carolina
(Asheville)
CRIMINAL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:11-cr-00049-MR -DLH-1

Case title: USA v. Hilton
Date Filed: 06/20/2011

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assigned to: District Judge Martin
Reidinger
Referred to: Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell

Defendant (1)
Gary Michael Hilton

Pending Counts

Disposition
MURDER, FIRST DEGREE
(1)

KIDNAPPING
(2)

MURDER, FIRST DEGREE
(3)

MARITIME - ROBBERY
(4)

VIOLENT CRIME/DRUGS/MACHINE GUN
(5)

Highest Offense Level
(Opening)
Felony

Terminated Counts

Disposition
None

Highest Offense Level
(Terminated)
None

Complaints

Disposition
None

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plaintiff
USA represented by Corey F. Ellis
U. S. Courthouse
100
Otis Street
Suite 233
Asheville, NC 28801
828/271-4661
Fax:
828/271-4670
Email: corey.ellis@usdoj.gov
ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED

#Date Filed Docket Text
06/20/2011 1 INDICTMENT as to Gary Michael Hilton (1) count(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
(Attachments: # 1 Unredacted Signature
Page, # 2 Cover Sheet) (emw)
(Entered: 06/21/2011)
06/21/2011 2 Arrest Warrant Issued (Sealed - Case Participants) in case
as to Gary Michael Hilton. (Attachments: # 1 Warrant Identifier
Page)(emw) (Entered: 06/21/2011)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PACER Service Center Transaction Receipt PACER Login: Client Code: Description: Search Criteria: Billable Pages: Cost:

06/22/2011
12:32:02
pi

Docket Report 1:11-cr-00049-MR -DLH

1 0.08

.
GeorgiaPeach
Angels Were Near

Number of posts: 155
Reputation: 5
Registration date: 2008-03-19

CP WS

WNC case against serial killer to get started with hearing Monday

10:15 PM, Jul. 23, 2011 |

Gary Hilton
Written by

Clarke Morrison

•Suspect Gary Michael Hilton linked to John and Irene Bryant case

•Sheriff: Hilton has "positive link" to Bryant case

•Bryant, Hilton photos

•

ASHEVILLE
— Florida jurors who heard the grisly details of how Gary Michael
Hilton kidnapped a Sunday School teacher and cut off her head decided he
should die for the crime.
Now, the
justice system in North Carolina will get a crack at the serial killer
in the equally heinous slayings of a couple out for a hike.
There
are reasons to hold another costly capital trial, experts say, even
though Hilton has already been sentenced to death in Florida and to life
in prison in Georgia for the killing of a hiker there.
“The
family has an interest, the local citizens have an interest in seeing
that whoever committed a crime in Western North Carolina actually faces
justice,” said Richard Myers, an associate professor at the UNC School
of Law and former federal prosecutor. “This is a very serious crime.”
Hilton,
65, is scheduled for an arraignment and detention hearing Monday in
U.S. District Court in Asheville. He is housed in the Buncombe County
jail, and the Justice Department said he will remain here until the
case's conclusion.
A
grand jury sitting in Charlotte indicted Hilton last month in the
kidnapping, robbery and murder of John and Irene Bryant, who disappeared
Oct. 21, 2007, while hiking in the Pink Beds area of Pisgah National
Forest in Transylvania County.
Investigators
say Irene Bryant, 84, was beaten to death and her body left in the
woods near the couple's car. John Bryant, 80, was kidnapped and forced
to withdraw money with an ATM card. His body was found three months
later in an illegal dumping area in Macon County.
Federal prosecutors said in court papers they plan to seek the death penalty.
“Conventional
wisdom would say there's only so many times you can execute a person,”
said Asheville attorney Steve Lindsay, who defended murderer Richard
Allen Jackson in federal court. “Certainly, the public may share
concerns about spending a lot of money on a second death penalty.
“But
the family members of the victims here also have a right to have
justice. And if for some reason the death penalty that was imposed in
Florida gets set aside, this idea of seeking a death penalty a second
time takes on a different perspective.”

(Page 2 of 3)

The
U.S. Attorney's Office said in a written statement that it is pursuing
Hilton's prosecution because his alleged crimes occurred within its
jurisdiction.
“Crimes committed within our
national forests represent a federal interest, and, that
notwithstanding, the prosecution in Florida, that interest, as well as
the interest of the victims' families, will only be vindicated by a
federal prosecution,” the government said.
The Bryants' daughter, Holly Bryant, said she won't be able to attend Monday's hearing but plans to be at the trial.
“I
look forward to justice being done,” she said. “I want to hear exactly
what the evidence is, I want to hear what (Hilton) has to say, if
anything, and I just want to see his face in person.”
Bryant
said she's glad the government is seeking the death penalty because she
believes the punishment fits the crime. But it's unclear whether
prosecutors will be allowed to pursue the ultimate penalty.
The
indictment against Hilton includes a Notice of Special Sentencing
Factors to be considered for imposition of the federal death penalty.
The document notes the death sentence he received in April in the murder
of Cheryl Dunlap, whose beheaded body was found by a hunter in north
Florida's Apalachicola National Forest in 2007.
Asheville
attorney Sean Devereux said Hilton's prosecutors and defense attorneys
will make their cases before a committee in Washington. The Department
of Justice will have the final call on whether the case can proceed
capitally.
“Whoever
represents Hilton will have the chance to argue that another death
penalty is not necessary here,” he said. “So, it's not a foregone
conclusion.”
Devereux said he understands why federal prosecutors are pursuing death.
“I
think the primary reason would be just to make sure that a death
sentence somewhere sticks,” he said. “Here's an elderly couple that were
hiking in the Pisgah National Forest. It would be difficult for the
government just to ignore that.
“There
is a certain symbolism to the death penalty. When the government seeks
the ultimate punishment, I think in some ways they are making a
statement about the offense.”

(Page 3 of 3)

The
average cost of defending a trial in a federal death case is $620,932,
according to a 2008 report by the Office of Defender Services of the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
That's
about eight times the cost of a federal murder case in which the death
penalty is not sought and doesn't include costs associated with
prosecuting a case.
Myers said such costs must be weighed against the circumstances and seriousness of the crime.
“There is a national interest in seeing that people who commit murder on federal land will be prosecuted,” he said.
Since
reinstatement of the federal death penalty in 1988, 69 defendants have
been sentenced to death, of whom three have been executed and eight have
had their sentences vacated.
The
three whose sentences have been carried out include Timothy McVeigh,
sentenced to death in 1997 for the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal
building that killed 161 people.
Three
defendants from North Carolina sit on federal death row, including
Richard Allen Jackson, a Candler dishwasher convicted in 2001 in U.S.
District Court in Asheville for the 1994 kidnapping, rape and murder of
Karen Styles.
Styles,
22, disappeared while on a run in the Bent Creek Recreation area of
Pisgah National Forest in Buncombe County. Her body was found about a
month later duct-taped to a tree following one of the largest
search-and-rescue operations ever in the county.
Jackson
confessed to investigators that he abducted the woman at gunpoint and
tortured her with a stun gun before ending her life with a single bullet
to the head.
Jackson
was first sentenced to death at the conclusion of a trial in state
court in 1995, but the conviction was overturned when the state Supreme
Court ruled that jurors shouldn't have heard his confession because he
had invoked his right to counsel.
He later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, then was indicted on federal charges.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110724/NEWS/307240037/Hilton-may-face-2-death-penalties.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Defendant’s Motion to
Continue [Doc. 22]:

The Government does not oppose the motion.
On June 20, 2011, the Defendant was charged in a bill of indictment
with two counts of murder within the special territorial jurisdiction of the United
States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1111; one count of kidnaping within the
special territorial jurisdiction of the United States resulting in the victim’s
death, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201; one count of taking an automatic teller
machine access card by force, violence, and intimidation, in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 2111; and one count of using and carrying a firearm in furtherance
of a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(iii) and
924(j)(1). [Doc. 1]. The Defendant’s initial appearance was on July 18, 2011,
at which time counsel was appointed. The Defendant’s arraignment was held
Case 1:11-cr-00049-MR -DLH Document 23 Filed 10/21/11 Page 1 of 3
2
on July 25, 2011, at which time this case was placed on the September 6,
2011 calendar for trial. His case was continued to provide additional time for
pre-trial preparation, discovery and trial preparation. [Doc. 15].
Defense counsel seeks a continuance citing the voluminous discovery
produced, over 250 compact disks and 44,000 pages of text. The possibility
that the Government will provide a notice of intent to pursue a death sentence
has not been eliminated, a factor which greatly increases the amount of
discovery provided and to be reviewed. The case is therefore complex due
to the nature of the prosecution and it is unreasonable to expect adequate
preparation for pretrial proceedings or the trial itself within the time limits
established by the Speedy Trial Act. 18 U.S.C. §3161(h)(7)(B)(ii).
The Court also finds that without the continuance counsel would not
have an adequate opportunity to review the discovery and otherwise prepare
for trial. The Court therefore finds that a failure to continue the case "would
deny counsel for the defendant . . . the reasonable time necessary for
effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence." 18
U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B)(iv).
The Court further finds that with a continuance, the parties would be
unable to conduct meaningful plea negotiations prior to the start of the trial
Case 1:11-cr-00049-MR -DLH Document 23 Filed 10/21/11 Page 2 of 3
3
term. As a result, a failure to continue the case would result in a miscarriage
of justice. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B)(i).
The Court therefore finds, for the reasons stated herein, that the ends
of justice served by granting the continuance outweigh the best interests of
the public and the Defendant in a speedy trial. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A).
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Defendant’s Motion to
Continue [Doc. 22] is hereby GRANTED and this matter is continued from the
October 31, 2011 term of Court in the Asheville Division.
Signed: October 20, 2011.

info by GP
CP WS

12/13/2011 36 Unopposed MOTION to Continue Docket Call/Trial by Gary Michael Hilton. Responses due by 12/23/2011. (Von Kallist, Joe) (Entered: 12/13/2011)
12/15/2011 37 [color=551199]ORDER granting 36

Motion to Continue Docket Call/Trial as to Gary Michael Hilton (1)
Docket Call set for 2/27/2012 09:00 AM in Courtroom 1, 100 Otis St,
Asheville, NC 28801 before District Judge Martin Reidinger.

Signed by
District Judge Martin Reidinger on 12/15/2011. (pdf) (Entered: 12/15/2011)
01/20/2012 41 SEALED DOCUMENT (Sealed - Attorney): by USA; (available to: USA, Gary Michael Hilton) (Gast, Don) (Entered: 01/20/2012)

Wolfscratch