Acquaintances recall suspect's unsettling side

ATLANTA --- There were two sides to Gary Michael Hilton, the man accused of kidnapping and then decapitating a 24-year-old hiker in the north Georgia woods.

To some hikers and joggers who he met in parks, he was talkative, lively and even rather engaging, if strange. To others, he was a loner who seemed to have a dangerous dark side.

"He could be very friendly, and he could be very unfriendly," said his former boss, John Tabor. "It just depended on what day it was."

Little is known about the 61-year-old charged with the murder of Meredith Emerson, who was bludgeoned to death three days after she disappeared during a New Year's Day hike. Florida authorities say he is a prime suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found last month in a national forest there.

Mr. Hilton had no neighbors and no fixed address, living most recently in a white van that roamed north Georgia. A few details about him are emerging from court hearings, government records and parkgoers who saw him regularly.

Mr. Hilton has said little at the hearings. He was heard telling court-appointed defense attorney Neil A. Smith he finished two years of college. Public records shed more light on his life.

According to state records, Mr. Hilton was married -- and divorced -- twice between 1977 and 1979. The AP was not able to reach either of the ex-wives for comment. Court documents also show he has a criminal record that includes drug and theft charges and spans metro Atlanta.

He was sentenced to four years probation for marijuana charges in Clayton County in July 1984, and DeKalb officials say he also pleaded guilty in 1987 to marijuana charges there. In June 1995, he was sentenced to five years of probation in Cobb County for telecommunications fraud and in October 1995, he received five years of probation in DeKalb for theft by taking.

Around 1997, he answered a help wanted ad for Insulated Wall Systems, said Mr. Tabor, the company's owner. For the next 10 years, Mr. Hilton worked "on and off" at the suburban Atlanta siding company.

One of his known hangouts was Murphy Candler Park, a 135-acre tract 15 miles north of Atlanta, where residents regularly saw him walking his dog. One resident, Karen Whitehead, told reporters she saw him with a hunting knife in his right hand. When she asked him about it, he told her he was protecting his pet from wild dogs in the area.