If convicted in Dunlap's case, Hilton, who is also a suspect in several other killings, faces the death penalty. Jurors heard Friday that is something Hilton wanted to avoid.
In an audio recording played for them, Hilton tells a Leon County deputy collecting his fingerprints and DNA in February 2008 that he will be glad to give a "full and complete statement" in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Jurors also heard Hilton tell the deputy while being transported from Georgia to Tallahassee four months later he wasn't all bad, that between his savage military training, his sociopathic character and getting sick and old, he just "lost a grip" on himself.
Corrections officer Caleb Wynn testified that he listened in on a conversation between Hilton and another inmate at the Leon County Jail in August 2008.
"He said if the state would give him life he would tell them where the head was and the family would probably want to know," Wynn said.
A few days later, Wynn again surreptitiously listened to Hilton talk further with the inmate about Dunlap.
"He said the only thing he regretted was getting caught, and if he had a second chance he would do it right," Wynn said.
In exchange for a life sentence, Hilton told the other inmate he would answer all of State Attorney Willie Megg's questions, including how he was able to pull off the crime on busy Crawfordville Highway.
Wynn also reported that Hilton said he spent hours or days with Dunlap, who he knew was a Sunday school teacher.
"Plenty of guys must have wanted her," Wynn recounted Hilton saying.
A DNA swab from Dunlap's thigh was a 1-in-22 match to Hilton, but a sexual assault kit test was inconclusive.
At the jail, the inmate also asked Hilton whether he got a rush from killing, like jumping out of an airplane. Hilton said no.
"It's more like being in the military," Wynn said Hilton replied. "You have to go in and destroy the whole village, like a warrior."
During the conversations, Wynn said Hilton was laughing.
Hilton's team of public defenders will present their case when the trial resumes Monday morning.
Read more: Prosecutors rest in Hilton trial | tallahassee.com | Tallahassee Democrat
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/...rosecutors-rest-in-Hilton-trial#ixzz1DlErmuoX
