Defense-Insanity Plea?

[Native New Yorker]

Why would he have PTSD? For some reason, he was never sent to Vietnam, but was discharged by the Army in 1967, this at a time when the war was escalating, and they were drafting young men.

We do not even know if he was taking Ritalin....he might have just said that, or he might have had a stolen scrip ( from a victim!), or he might have been given it, and never taken it....

At this point we only know that he heinously killed several people, and had enough forethought and planning to have not one, but two white vans to use in his crimes, that he seemed able to use ATM machines, and was canny enough to fool a cop, and was smart enough to use a dog to ensnare victims.
I have been in close proximity to several schizophrenics over the years, and neither of them could have done any of these things....just think of all the slip ups he might have made, and did not! His actions took very careful planning, and an ability to hide and conceal.

 

[panglossian]

Why would he have PTSD? For some reason, he was never sent to Vietnam, but was discharged by the Army in 1967, this at a time when the war was escalating, and they were drafting young men.

We do not even know if he was taking Ritalin....he might have just said that, or he might have had a stolen scrip ( from a victim!), or he might have been given it, and never taken it....

At this point we only know that he heinously killed several people, and had enough forethought and planning to have not one, but two white vans to use in his crimes, that he seemed able to use ATM machines, and was canny enough to fool a cop, and was smart enough to use a dog to ensnare victims.
I have been in close proximity to several schizophrenics over the years, and neither of them could have done any of these things....just think of all the slip ups he might have made, and did not! His actions took very careful planning, and an ability to hide and conceal.

In the 1960s, if you were drafted it would be for 2 years,as I recall. Enlistment was 4 years. Or if you got into some minor trouble, a judge could give you a choice of jail or enlist for 3-4 years. The latter happened to my ex who ended up with 3. Could be the trouble Hilton had was prior to his service, not during, to be discharged in 3 years.

 

[Native New Yorker]

In the 1960s, if you were drafted it would be for 2 years,as I recall. Enlistment was 4 years. Or if you got into some minor trouble, a judge could give you a choice of jail or enlist for 3-4 years. The latter happened to my ex who ended up with 3. Could be the trouble Hilton had was prior to his service, not during, to be discharged in 3 years.

Thanks! That could be an explanation for why he only had three years of service, never went to 'Nam.
I do suspect that this monster had serious issues from way, way back, and everyone in his life just passed the buck, tried to distance themselves from him....and he just got worse and worse.

Unfortunately for those who fell into his clutches, he had a very, very HIGH level of functioning when it came to planning and carrying out vicious crimes.....and he was very highly motivated to do so....he does not seem to have been distracted by issues such as drinking...just seemed like a driven monster ( hiding his other van in the wilderness, training his dog to help him) all of this took some serious planning.

 

[Native New Yorker]

( From 11 Alive News, January 10, 2008)

The Cherokee County dash-cam video revealed a side of Hilton's demeanor that is hard to reconcile when compared to the monster behind the murder-decapitation of Emerson. Hilton is seen in the video smiling and joking with the deputy, full of explanations as to why he is trespassing in the private hunting preserve.

"First of all, he's not a person with a mental illness," observed forensic psychiatrist Dr. Dave Davis. "He doesn't have any problem with his speech being able to understand what's going on in the interview. He's actually glib."

11Alive News asked Dr. Davis, who has not treated Hilton, to review and analyze the dash-cam video. Davis said that if Hilton is guilty of the hikers’ murders, he is likely a master conman.

"Psychopathic people, or what we call anti-social personality disorder can appear quite normal," explained Davis. "All these people have sadistic personality characteristics. If he's committed these crimes, he could well be a sadistic psychopath."

 

[s_finch]

The monster knew how to manipulate his victims. Approaching them in a manner that somehow gained their trust.

He knew how to " lay low " when neccessary.

He knew how to chat it up with that sherrif deputy that approached him ( we saw it on the dash cam video ). Remember his parting words to the deputy? " Hey I love ya. " !!!


He is a deceptive evil moster, and to play the mental health card is just plain wrong! :furious:

Agreed. If he were insane he wouldn't have been cleaning the van with bleach because he wouldn't know he'd done anything wrong that needed "cleaning" or covering up. Insane is Andrea Yates (sorry, I know some of you disagree). Sane and EVIL is covering your tracks, staying on the move, knowing how to con people, knowing how to seem non-threatening, masking your face when using stolen ATM cards, and getting away with this for YEARS. I wonder if we'll ever know the true body county. My bet (from research on serial killers) would be he's been killing since at least his twenties if not earlier. Highly unlikely he started as late as his thirties.

As for his family, they probably did all they could. It's darn near impossible to have someone put away these days and to do so you have to have lots of solid proof they are a danger to themselves and society. It would seem to me he hasn't been a threat to himself and obviously the family knew nothing of his murders. I feel sorry for his family, what a load to bear.

 

[sweetmop]

Very well said, s finch.

Yes, the b*****d is not mentally insane! He is pretty cunning, and can think up a lie to cover his a** in a split second! He just finally got caught!

I believe some are just plain old evil! And this guy is EVIL!
I know they're going to play the insanity card, but hopefully the jury won't be fooled! And the judge won't be fooled!

I can not imagine a defense attorney representing such a poor excuse for a human!

 

[s_finch]

Very well said, s finch.

Yes, the b*****d is not mentally insane! He is pretty cunning, and can think up a lie to cover his a** in a split second! He just finally got caught!

I believe some are just plain old evil! And this guy is EVIL!
I know they're going to play the insanity card, but hopefully the jury won't be fooled! And the judge won't be fooled!

I can not imagine a defense attorney representing such a poor excuse for a human!

From the view point of a defense attorney how many angles do you really have???? Not that many. And I don't believe the jury will buy it.

Hilton is old, will no doubt die in jail and wouldn't live long enough to die of the dp even if he were to receive it. In general population he won't last long (IMO)---too antisocial. I do hope he'll survive long enough to decide to reveal all. The families of his victims deserve to know where their loved ones are and I'm going to state again, he didn't just start killing. He's left a path of death for decades. I hope his attorney can get him a safe enough place to keep him alive until he talks,,,,IF he talks.

 

[Native New Yorker]

Very, very well stated...I totally agree with all that you have said...
and I also think that he has been killing for many, many years...

yes, it must indeed be awful to have any connection to him...be it family or friends...I guess they all thought he was weird and unpleasant . I just hope that no one knew any more than that......

 

[panglossian]

I certainly hope that part of GMH's insanity act doesn't include amnesia about the locations of the other victims or amnesia about who all his victims were. His actions could further devastate those families who could be looking for the real killer if it wasn't him.

 

[panglossian]

From what I have been reading, only 26% of the insanity defenses are successful with 90% of the defendants having been previously diagnosed with mental illness. If he has a history of documented and treated mental illness, the people treating him were remiss with all aspects of his medical case, including addressing him psychologically with a follow up on this and medications. Giving an ADHD individual Ritalin should have calmed him, as I understand it works opposite with an ADHD patient than a non ADHD, such as an average kid using Ritalin as speed. A follow up would have revealed whether the medication was effective in this instance. If he committed all the murders that he's been linked to and his defense is claiming mental illness based insanity with historical documentation, then he has been on something for quite awhile and it wasn't being monitored properly.

 

[MeoW333]

There is no way an insanity defense could fly in this case. Hilton is a sociopath, he knows right from wrong, he just doesn't care. He's a chameleon who was able to appeal to whoever the person was he was trying to manipulate at the time. That explains his "solicitation" charges, conning money out of people for fake charities. It explains why he set off alarms for some, and not others.
His ritalin usage sounds like it made him manic, which is not surprising as ritalin is know on the street to youths as "poor man's coke".

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Wow! He pleaded guilty and got the term of Life in Prison. (Parole after 30 years.)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,327087,00.html

 

[chicoliving]

Good to hear!!

 

[Tallytowngirl]

I think it is pretty obvious that he's a sociopath - and I guess it might now be official
(Note: "The official stance of the American Psychiatric Association as presented in the DSM-IV-TR is that psychopathy and sociopathy are obsolete synonyms for antisocial personality disorder."wikipedia)

"Narcissistic behavior is not uncommon among those with antisocial personality disorders," said Davis, a veteran criminal profiler based in San Diego. "He likes the attention he's getting."

UPDATED: 10:33 p.m. February 04, 2008
Hilton likely to be charged in elderly hikers' slayings

He likes the attention he's getting. Sorry, that burns my biscuit...