Missing Georgia hiker--Meredith Emerson, 24 #2

[SeekingJana]

He doesn't look frail to me either. If you look at his arms and neck in the courtroom pics he is quite wiry but seemingly muscular. I would say he is very athletic to be able to climb mountain trails in Georgia...they are not for couch potatoes. Plus, he has those eyes that indicate fierceness.

I guess I didn't phrase it correctly. I am certainly not sypathetic towards this madman.
However, I just saw new video and photos of Meredith. Contrast the two..
She looked so much healthier, more vibrant, and had an air of confidence and strength to her.
I'm sorry that it may have seemed that I was saying he is to be pitied. I definitely don't feel that way at all. He is a good argument for the DP.

 

[MeoW333]

Yes. No one is safe, our daughters, sons, well really none of us.

He does look old, worn and feeble, but we know he was easily angered, and he had weapons!
I wish someone would hve intervened when they noticed he and Meredith on the trails. So many reports have come out that people noticed how strange it seemed to see him with her several times over on the trails!

Why didn't the ex cop step in when he noticed them?

I wonder too, why didn't he? For ex cop, he should have inserted himself into that situation without a problem. He also found her items and turned them in. Hilton must have hit her before she could scream, as a scream would be loud in mountain acoustics i would think. The ex cop should have at least followed them to make sure. Then he would have seen more and been able to save Meredith.

 

[Pharlap]

He doesn't look frail to me either. If you look at his arms and neck in the courtroom pics he is quite wiry but seemingly muscular. I would say he is very athletic to be able to climb mountain trails in Georgia...they are not for couch potatoes. Plus, he has those eyes that indicate fierceness.

YES indeed...:behindbar

 

[SeekingJana]

He doesn't look frail to me either. If you look at his arms and neck in the courtroom pics he is quite wiry but seemingly muscular. I would say he is very athletic to be able to climb mountain trails in Georgia...they are not for couch potatoes. Plus, he has those eyes that indicate fierceness.

I guess I didn't phrase my comment well. I just looked at new videos and photos of Meredith, often with Ella. She was so confident, vibrant, strong looking.

He appears to be the exact opposite in the few photos I have seen of him. I don't sympathize with this madman in any way. In fact, he is the best argument for the DP that I've seen in a long time.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I tried to respond earlier and couldn't. Just wanted to say You're welcome, and that I always look forward to reading your posts.

Thanks again. : ) I know what you mean about trying to respond. LOL Gets frustrating, but they are working on it.

The fact he kept her alive goes along with my theory, sad to say. She had to endure this creep for 3 days. :sick:

 

[SeekingJana]

I wonder too, why didn't he? For ex cop, he should have inserted himself into that situation without a problem. He also found her items and turned them in. Hilton must have hit her before she could scream, as a scream would be loud in mountain acoustics i would think. The ex cop should have at least followed them to make sure. Then he would have seen more and been able to save Meredith.

Oh, Meow, don't you know the man is asking himself all these questions now? Hindsight being 20/20. I'm sure he's regretting not doing something more. I feel for this man. If he's like most of us, he has to have enormous regrets about not doing more or checking things out better.

 

[concernedperson]

I guess I didn't phrase it correctly. I am certainly not sypathetic towards this madman.
However, I just saw new video and photos of Meredith. Contrast the two..
She looked so much healthier, more vibrant, and had an air of confidence and strength to her.
I'm sorry that it may have seemed that I was saying he is to be pitied. I definitely don't feel that way at all. He is a good argument for the DP.

Gosh it is hard to post and this is slow moving tonight. I didn't think you pitied him at all. Yes, she is young and vibrant but she is also female and he has more strength and weapons than she had. Plus, women are not typically aggressive and figure they can talk out of a situation when what we are seeing is not the case more and more. In addition to the fear factor. We are more fearful when accosted than the average man. We don't have a built in bravado we have a learned bravado which may fail us in times of crisis.

 

[MeoW333]

Hilton defense lawyer will try to make him appear even more old and frail looking for the case most likely. I recall reading Meredith had a blue belt, not a black belt. I'm not sure how up in rank it is towards a black belt, as it depends on the karate school. Yet with her good nature, i'm sure she would try to help him if he faked falling or something, then he would hit her unconscious to get into the van. Meredith probably begged him to spare Ella.. poor things.. My prayers for her family, it's devastating..

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Hilton must have hit her before she could scream, as a scream would be loud in mountain acoustics i would think.

My theory is he caught her offguard and stuck a knife near her in some way to threaten her. He was then able to take control of her in order to get her into the van. I don't think he hit her while on the trail, but walked her out instead. There must have been a bit of a struggle when he lost the baton and sunglasses tho, but then he got the upperhand.

 

[misterallgood]

I guess I didn't phrase it correctly. I am certainly not sypathetic towards this madman.
However, I just saw new video and photos of Meredith. Contrast the two..
She looked so much healthier, more vibrant, and had an air of confidence and strength to her.
I'm sorry that it may have seemed that I was saying he is to be pitied. I definitely don't feel that way at all. He is a good argument for the DP.

One thing no one accounts for in this situation -- ruthlessness vs. conscience. Even with a strong sense of self-preservation and martial arts training, no one is ever truly prepared for the reality of being confronted by someone who lacks any semblance of compassion or mercy.

Hilton didn't need to be much stronger than Meredith. He needed only be ruthless in a way she probably couldn't really fathom. What he allegedly did to her, esp. after death, says to me that he had nothing resembling mercy inside him. Therefore he was going to do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

We always err when we apply normal human expectations to the acts of cold-blooded psychopaths. They're playing with a different deck.

Steve/Mr. A

 

[SeekingJana]

Gosh it is hard to post and this is slow moving tonight. I didn't think you pitied him at all. Yes, she is young and vibrant but she is also female and he has more strength and weapons than she had. Plus, women are not typically aggressive and figure they can talk out of a situation when what we are seeing is not the case more and more. In addition to the fear factor. We are more fearful when accosted than the average man. We don't have a built in bravado we have a learned bravado which may fail us in times of crisis.

I know you are right. It's just that she had her blue belt in Karate and seemed to be athletic. You are right though, women are NOT taught to fight back at the first sign of provocation. I mean, I am the one who posted in the JR to " Teach our daughters to just walk away". By that, I meant walk away from trouble at the first signs of it.. We women tend to try to rationalize and reason and we can't do that with psychopaths.

I wish she had had some sort of personal protection device with her. Maybe she thought Ella was her protection. For all we know, the certificate she is holding with Ella is some kind of advanced canine training. ( I can't read the print well enough to know).

Thanks for sharing your insight, CP. I agree with you.

 

[MysteryAddict]

The autopsy showed that Meredith was bludgeoned to death and then decapitated!

 

[SeekingJana]

One thing no one accounts for in this situation -- ruthlessness vs. conscience. Even with a strong sense of self-preservation and martial arts training, no one is ever truly prepared for the reality of being confronted by someone who lacks any semblance of compassion or mercy.

Hilton didn't need to be much stronger than Meredith. He needed only be ruthless in a way she probably couldn't really fathom. What he allegedly did to her, esp. after death, says to me that he had nothing resembling mercy inside him. Therefore he was going to do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

We always err when we apply normal human expectations to the acts of cold-blooded psychopaths. They're playing with a different deck.

Steve/Mr. A

Steve,
You're right and I know this from textbook Psychology principles. It's just so hard to look at her photos and absorb the realization of at least part of what happened to her. I'm sure there's much more that we may never know.. or want to know.

 

[MeoW333]

Maybe he grabbed Ella and stuck her in his van so that Meredith would try to get her.
I believe Ella was trained as a therapy dog and trained not to attack. Poor pup probably got so confused as to what to do while all this was going on.. for her to attack would be instinct, yet with all her training it must have been a war in her head..
Why would Hilton decapitate an already dead person? Does he think if they are found in parts or without their clothes it speeds up the process of decomposition? Does it really speed up the process?
As for psychopaths, they cannot rationalize whatsoever like the rest of us. There is no rationalizing with them.

 

[SeekingJana]

Maybe he grabbed Ella and stuck her in his van so that Meredith would try to get her.
I believe Ella was trained as a therapy dog and trained not to attack. Poor pup probably got so confused as to what to do while all this was going on.. for her to attack would be instinct, yet with all her training it must have been a war in her head..
Why would Hilton decapitate an already dead person? Does he think if they are found in parts or without their clothes it speeds up the process of decomposition? Does it really speed up the process?
As for psychopaths, they cannot rationalize whatsoever like the rest of us. There is no rationalizing with them.

I would have gone after one of my dogs without giving it a second thought. It would be like going after my baby.
The fact that Ella was a therapy dog tears at my heart again. It shows what a great girl Meredith was, to want to help others with Ella.

Why did Hilton decapitate a corpse? Because he's what you said he is- a psychopath without rationalization. I don't think decomp. had anything to do with it in this case. :furious: :furious:

 

[MCDRAW]

The decapitation says to me that this was not his first time. He probably has been doing this for years. There is no telling how many victims there are. I hope they are able to tie him to all the crimes he has committed. And I sincerely hope they do not do away with the death penalty!

 

[SuziQ]

I was afraid Emerson had been kept alive till Friday. I didn't think Hilton would have waited days to clean up. Friday seemed to have been a flurry of activity by Hilton to end this "session". I'm more convinced than ever Hilton is involved with many other cases. Blunt force trauma and dismemberment is his thing. We know he's had a thing for beating up stuff and hitting people for years.

Hilton wasn't smart or wanted to get caught. He was just lucky. As a poster said at Steve's site, IIRC, Hilton was the kind of crazy person everyone turned away and ignored, not the kind of crazy where he walked around with his pants around his ankles that people couldn't ignore. People were happy as long as they weren't the object of his apparently harmless craziness.

 

[SeekingJana]

The decapitation says to me that this was not his first time. He probably has been doing this for years. There is no telling how many victims there are. I hope they are able to tie him to all the crimes he has committed. And I sincerely hope they do not do away with the death penalty!

ITA!! :furious: :furious: And he and the cannibal in TX have caused me to rethink the DP.

 

[SuziQ]

I hope Steve doesn't mind that I posted this here. He posed the question how old is Dandy? Because Lollie Winans and Julie Williams had a golden retriever (strawberry-blonde coat) named "Taj" with them. He doesn't know that "Taj" was ever recovered.

Does anyone know the answer to that question?

http://www.haloscan.com/comments/truecrimeweblog/8599761278446789725/?a=28048

 

[frangi8773]

Suzie I have posted that question over at Zimbio as there seemed to be a few people who knew him over there.
Hopefully someone, even a neighbour or workmate may be able to recall when he first got the dog.