At the Hands of a Stranger (38 page)

Hilton stared into the WCTV camera just minutes before receiving the death sentence for the murder of Cheryl Dunlap.
(Photo courtesy of WCTV)

Following his conviction and death sentence for the murder of Cheryl Dunlap, North Carolina prosecutors took very little time in readying their case against Gary Michael Hilton in the murders of John and Irene Bryant. In June 2011, following his conviction, Hilton was indicted for the murders. A transport order was quickly signed, but the details of when and how Hilton would be moved from Florida to North Carolina were not publicly disclosed for security reasons.

It did not take long for the media in Florida to check court records and learn that Hilton was being transported soon and was set to appear in Asheville, North Carolina's federal court on July 25, for his initial appearance in the case. Because both John and Irene Bryant were killed in two national forests, the case was being handled in federal court.

Hilton was brought to Buncombe County, North Carolina. At his court appearance, his attorney entered not guilty pleas on five counts against him, including the two murder charges. The United States Attorney told the press that the death penalty would be sought, and Hilton would remain in North Carolina until all the federal proceedings in the case were completed. It was announced that the trial was set to begin on September 6.

As was customary in Hilton's court dealings, a delay was soon announced, with the trial date re-set to begin in early January, 2012. Then, within a couple of weeks prior to that date, yet another delay pushed the date back to late February, 2012. Prosecutors and law enforcement who had previously dealt with Hilton in Georgia and Florida speculated that he was once again up to his old tricks of getting delays and postponements while he tried to figure out ways to manipulate the system and out-maneuver the courts. He seemed to be succeeding to a certain extent, since he managed to postpone the start of his case yet again, until March 27, 2012.

When Hilton finally walked into the U. S. District Courtroom, wearing a Buncombe County Jail jumpsuit, he served up a shocking surprise to many of those who were hoping for a death penalty conviction in the case. Many seasoned Hilton-observers, however, were disappointed but not at all surprised when Hilton entered a guilty plea to all the charges in the case. In exchange for a sentence of life in prison without any possibility of parole, Hilton admitted to killing John Bryant with a firearm while in the Nantahala National Forest in Macon County, North Carolina.

Hilton also admitted to the murder of Irene Bryant within the Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County, North Carolina. He pled guilty to charges of kidnapping, robbery, and firearms offenses in connection with the murders.

United States Attorney Anne M. Tompkins expressed sympathy to the Bryant family on behalf of the U. S. Attorney's Office, saying that there was nothing that the criminal justice system could ever do to soothe their pain. She said that it was hoped, however, that the fact that Hilton would be forever locked away would bring some closure, if not comfort, to the Bryant family.

In Florida, Cheryl Dunlap's family was far from satisfied with the outcome of the North Carolina cases. Cheryl‘s cousin, Gloria Tucker, released a statement saying that Hilton had been allowed to manipulate the North Carolina judicial system into a plea agreement.

“That was Hilton's plan in Georgia when he pled guilty to Meredith Emerson's murder. He hoped that Florida would not pursue a case against him for Cheri's murder, but the state of Florida refused to make a deal with him.”

Tucker said that after Hilton received the death sentence in Florida, he had worked toward overturning his conviction or challenging the validity of his sentence, with his appeal to the Florida Supreme Court attempting to make his trial appear invalid.

“I am sure that many people will feel this deal with North Carolina will save the taxpayers a great deal of money,” Tucker said, adding that Hilton had been allowed to manipulate the justice system too many times. “My only hope is that Florida will not allow this monster to continue with his plans and will permanently end any threat to potential victims by carrying out the death penalty.”

John and Irene Bryant were married for 58 years and had moved from Montana to New York State to North Carolina. They had hiked all over the world, across Scotland, New Zealand, Europe, and the Appalachian Trail. One of their long-time friends, Charlie Major, spoke of the Bryants and their extensive traveling.

“And then to go hiking and get killed almost in their own backyard is so awful it's unbelievable,” he said.

“My parents did what they loved,” their daughter, Holly Bryant, told the media. “They enjoyed their lives to the fullest extent.”

 

Sadly, another tragic story would soon be added to the Hilton saga.

During Hilton's Florida trial in February 2011, Sergeant David Graham of the Leon County, Florida, Sheriff's Office, offered key testimony for the prosecution. Graham was the officer who had been a part of the detail that transported Hilton from Georgia back to Florida to stand trial, and along the way Graham had a very long conversation with his prisoner.

Hilton offered up more valuable information during the ride to Florida than he had disclosed to almost everyone else who had questioned him since his arrest for Meredith Emerson's murder. Graham was able to present much of that information in court, a great deal of which was in the form of “hints” Hilton dropped that directly pertained to Cheryl Dunlap's death.

In April of 2011, Graham was named the Leon County Deputy of the Year. A 20-year veteran of the force, his accomplishments and achievements were numerous, and in addition to his invaluable work in regard to Hilton, Graham had also received a Medal of Valor when he risked his own life by pulling two other endangered officers out of the line of fire during a shootout.

It came as a complete shock to the law enforcement community in Leon County, Florida when, on February 19, 2012, Sergeant David Graham was arrested for Grand Theft and Grand Theft of a Firearm. At a press conference held the following day, Sheriff Larry Campbell announced that Graham had been fired from the force and was charged with stealing $9,000 in cash and an antique rifle from the home of a 91-year-old man. Graham had worked with the man during an investigation, the sheriff said, as a part of the Financial Crimes Unit which was investigating a crime against the man, and after that case was closed, Graham pretended it was still active and kept in contact with the man. The sheriff said that Graham had taken the man to the bank several times and had set up surveillance equipment in his home, then watched as the man hid the cash in a bank bag which he then placed under his mattress.

When the cash was discovered missing and the theft was reported, the man told the authorities that Graham was the one who took the bank bag. When Graham was brought in for questioning, he admitted to the crime. The case against Graham continued under investigation, and another shocking announcement was made on March 30, when Graham was arrested on additional charges along with his wife, Vickie Luggi-Graham.

The Leon County Sheriff's Office said that along with the antique firearm and the $9,000 in cash, they believed that at least $53,000 in additional cash and thousands of dollars more in silver and gold jewelry and coins were also stolen from the victim and his daughter.

According to the sheriff's office, Graham had taken the victim to the bank, where the man withdrew $63,000 in hundred dollar bills, which Graham then helped him to divide into two bank bags which were then hidden in a safe. When the man returned home from a weekend trip, he discovered only $17,000 was still in the safe. Soon, Graham deposited $8,000 in his own bank account, all in hundred dollar bills, and made several large purchases which were all paid for in hundred dollar bills.

The victim's daughter also reported that Graham had taken her to the bank, supposedly to inventory the contents of her safe deposit box. Following the inventory, Graham sold coins and jewelry to local dealers, and his wife also sold an antique bracelet, which belonged to the woman, to a local dealer.

Graham was also being investigated for possible insurance fraud, according to the Leon County authorities. During the service of a search warrant at Graham's home, a tractor and a four-wheeler, which had earlier been reported stolen, were found in Graham's yard. Both had been purchased by Graham, then reported stolen, and he had been paid for them by his insurance company.

Graham's co-workers were devastated when his secret life of crime was exposed; Sheriff Campbell told the press he was “shocked and saddened,” and Graham's friends and family begged the public to wait until they heard Graham's side of the story. But unfortunately, as time passed and the additional charges piled up, there appeared to be no explaining his actions as anything other than theft and fraud on a serious scale. It was viewed as a shame that a man with his distinguished service record, and the man best known for having gotten such valuable information from Gary Michael Hilton, had ended his career on such a tragic note.

 

Gary Michael Hilton killed John and Irene Bryant and Cheryl Dunlap in 2001, and Meredith Emerson in 2008. In May of 2009, Congress passed a law that reversed 94 years of National Park Service policy and allowed park visitors to transport only unloaded, disassembled weapons in the trunks of their cars. The new law took effect in February 2010 and allowed park visitors to carry firearms in any national park from Gates of the Arctic to the Everglades, providing they were in compliance with the firearms laws of the park's home state. Guns would not be permitted in any park buildings where park service employees worked, but in almost all other park areas, depending on state laws, they could now be carried openly or concealed.

There was a great outcry against the new law, with opponents describing the hordes of gun-toting campers who would run around, trigger-happy, shooting at every movement in the bushes. A retired National Park Service employee said, “It changes the dynamic in parks. People go there to feel safe and secure, to get away from the stuff they face every day where they live.”

Others, however, felt that the rash of violent crimes committed in parks, with Hilton's leading the list, justified the ruling that guns should be allowed to be carried for protection in parks. There is no way of knowing whether or not Hilton's victims might have met a different fate had they been carrying weapons, and it is likely that Meredith Emerson and Cheryl Dunlap would not have chosen to take a gun with them into the parks, even if they legally could have. But many people are left to wonder if the passage of the new gun laws might have been at least partially fueled by the knowledge that other men like Gary Michael Hilton are out there, lurking in our country's national parks, forests, and wilderness areas, waiting for victims like a spider waiting at its web.