Dateline Tonight NBC

[Lady Cop]

i usually watch Dateline on Friday nights, from 9 to 11 Eastern. it covers murder cases, solved and unsolved. tonight, ⁸⁄₂₆ they will cover a case i remember well, this lovely young woman was hiking in the Georgia mountains and this filthy bastard killed and beheaded her. it became clear he was a serial killer.

Meredith Emerson











Gary Michael Hilton

taking police to body






The Bryants
The Bryants had disappeared Oct. 21, 2007, in the Pisgah National Forest.



Cheryl Hodges Dunlap decapitated in florida



August 25, 2011

BlueRidgeNow.com


Two of John and Irene Bryant's children say their parents deserve justice in court regardless of whether their accused killer has already been sentenced to death for another murder.

Daughter Holly Bryant will also appear on Dateline NBC Friday to talk about her parents, who were Horse Shoe residents, during the show's segment on convicted murderer Gary Michael Hilton.

A federal judge recently agreed to delay Hilton's latest trial in Asheville for the murder of the Bryants in order to give the defense more time to prepare.

Hilton, 65, is accused of killing the elderly couple nearly four years ago. Hilton has been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and violent crimes in connection with the kidnapping, robbery and murder of the Bryants on national forest lands, according to court records.

In April, a Florida jury sentenced Hilton to death for the murder of Cheryl Dunlap in Leon County, Fla. He is also serving a life sentence for the 2008 murder of Meredith Emerson in northern Georgia.

With the North Carolina trial approaching, Dateline has planned a show on Hilton that will focus on the Emerson murder.

"I was interviewed by Dateline," Holly Bryant said Wednesday. "It was great to talk about how great my parents were."

Holly Bryant has said from the beginning that she believes Hilton is guilty.

"The trial is necessary," she said. "Until he is convicted, he is not proven guilty, and my parents deserve to have their time in court just like the other victims did.

"I am just glad the killings have stopped. I will be glad when all of this is over and done with."

Holly Bryant said she wouldn't have much to say to Hilton if she gets the opportunity to address him during the trial.

"He has taken so much of our time and stolen so much from my family, I don't want to give him any more of my time," she said. "I do want to know why he chose to victimize my parents and the other women so maybe we can learn how these murders could have been prevented."

Holly's brother, Bob Bryant, said he didn't talk to Dateline reporters other than when they called to get an update on the North Carolina trial date.

"The trial is on my mind a lot lately," he said. "I know it's going to be difficult."

Bob Bryant said there should absolutely be a trial for his parents. "I don't think the expense will be as much as people may think," he said. "These attorneys are salaried and they would be paid if they were working on this trial or another one. The value to my family and the community outweighs the cost incurred by the trial."

If convicted in North Carolina, Hilton faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty. The indictment includes a notice of special sentencing factors which could be considered for imposition of the federal death penalty if convicted.

The Bryants disappeared in October 2007 while hiking in the Pink Beds area of Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County.

Hilton's first-degree murder charges are for the murder of Irene Bryant in Pisgah National Forest on Oct. 21, 2007 and the murder of John Bryant on or about Feb. 2, 2008 in Nantahala National Forest in Macon County, according to the indictment.

His kidnapping charge stems from the kidnapping of John Bryant also on Oct. 21, 2007 from the forest.

AJC
A federal judge in Asheville, N.C. has agreed to delay the trial of Gary Michael Hilton in the killings of a couple nearly four years ago.

Hilton had been scheduled for trial Sept. 6 in the deaths of John and Irene Bryant. The Bryants, of Hendersonville, N.C., disappeared Oct. 21, 2007, in the Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County.

The case has been postponed until Oct. 31 to give Hilton's attorneys more time to prepare.

In April, a Florida judge sentenced the former Atlantan to death for the 2007 decapitation of a nurse, Cheryl Hodges Dunlap.

Hilton already was serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in Georgia to murdering hiker Meredith Emerson of Athens.