Wild Crime

When you go out to visit with nature,

you don't expect to encounter a monster--

not just a killer, I mean a monster.

It's a very unique type of killer

that is gonna actually hunt humans as prey.

I don't think somebody wakes up at 61

and now they're a serial killer.

It's scary to think how much

Gary could have gotten away with.

- How many more victims are out there,

and where are they?

That's in the back of my head every day with this case.

Hilton was a monster.

- And he even sang as he was taking her dead body.

We're doing it, boy.

He deserves to die.

A life for a life.

- Mr. Hilton, if you would rise, please.

Secrets in the wild,

beautiful yet treacherous places.

These are the stories of the investigators

who solve crimes in the wilderness.

We're in the mountainous region

of North Carolina.

The woods in the mountains here are so big...

and dark.

Honestly, every time I go into the woods,

the thought of that day crosses my mind.

I was looking off down in this hollow,

and I noticed something below the road that--

it looked like a human skull.

I was nervous.

And once I got closer to it...

I knew it was a human skull.

So...

And at that point, I contacted sheriff's department.

February 2, 2008,

I was contacted in reference

to a human skull that had been found

on Nantahala National Forest.

Nantahala National Forest, it's a huge,

huge, huge national forest.

Once you get into the Forest Service land,

it's remote.

There's just no traffic.

Where the call came in at, if you've not been there,

you're not gonna know anything about it.

- When we found out that a body had been discovered

in the Nantahala National Forest,

we were anxious to find out who this was.

We knew there were other missing persons cases

in that area.

And of course, John Bryant was still missing.

- Since this was on U.S. Forest Service land,

Junior Young was the special agent

assigned to the area as the investigator

for the Forest Service.

- I immediately get in my patrol car,

blast out to the area.

We go out there.

We look off a bank, very rugged little area.

And I could see the skull, part of the rib cage,

the spine.

When we walked down to the crime scene,

I noticed inside the rib cage was a pacemaker.

I knew John Bryant had a pacemaker.

I contacted his cardiologist and was able to confirm

that the serial number on the pacemaker

was, in fact, placed inside John Bryant

in a medical procedure.

My heart sank.

It was really sad.

The family was holding out hope

that we would be able to find Mr. Bryant alive,

and then, unfortunately, he was no longer with us.

The remains were collected

and sent to a medical examiner

for an autopsy.

Based on the autopsy,

John had been killed with a firearm.

Now you have the investigation going forward.

John Bryant's abduction, kidnapping, and now his death.

I think it very safe to say that Gary Hilton

was our prime suspect.

But investigators from our agency

attempted to interview him regarding the Bryants,

and he was just arrogant and told us

he had nothing to say to us.

Hilton loved to talk,

but he would not get into the Bryant case.

He just would not talk.

So we have to rely on the evidence.

Everything was in high gear

to link the evidence found in the van

to the Bryant murders.

I'm going through all the inventory items

that the GBI had taken out and cataloged.

- Mr. Bryant had a yellow rain jacket

with a fluorescent stripe,

and Hilton had tried to use their ATM card

wearing that jacket.

Well, when searching the vehicle,

I found a yellow rain jacket with a fluorescent stripe

which the Bryants later identified

as that belonged to their parents.

Also, the GBI found blood in a van

that matched the DNA profile of John Bryant.

- This would be the back of the driver's seat.

That's a blood transfer pattern.

His hair came in contact with the back of the seat,

left a transfer pattern--

so another piece of evidence that helped tie

Gary Hilton to the Bryant case.

- That moment, it's like, OK, it's done.

We know who did it.

- Since this was U.S. Forest Service land,

the FBI got involved,

because if an individual is committing crimes

in multiple jurisdictions,

federal charges would be stronger

than state local charges.

At that point, I finished all of my reports,

and all of that was turned over to the FBI.

In February of 2008,

Hilton was indicted in Florida

for the death of Cheryl Dunlap.

- Florida was chomping at the bit

to go ahead and come get the evidence.

You know, they're ready

to prosecute him right then.

- Florida Department of Law Enforcement

came in a tractor trailer

and actually drove the van

up inside of a tractor trailer

along with all of the evidence,

and it all went to Florida.

Hilton didn't want to be extradited to Florida

because he knew that it was very likely

that he would be found guilty and given the death penalty.

The judge is ruling against Hilton's effort

to fight the extradition, clearing the way

for Florida authorities to pick him up.

The time comes for us to go pick up Hilton

and bring him to Leon County for his prosecution.

When you're riding in a car with somebody

that you know has killed four people,

you have a sense of caution.

We had body chains on him.

We had lead vehicles, we had trail vehicles,

we had SWAT team members,

because you never know what could happen.

This was a several-hundred-mile trip.

We were taking no risks whatsoever.

When we got him to the jail, you do kind of have that...

We've got him now.

He's in our custody.

My name is Georgia Cappleman.

I'm the chief assistant state attorney here in Leon County.

Hilton was charged with first-degree murder

and kidnapping.

At the time, he was already doing life

from the Meredith Emerson case,

and we were not giving Gary Hilton a freebie

for murdering one of our citizens.

And we were gonna be seeking the death penalty.

It's very rare for the death penalty

to be recommended here in Leon County.

Gary Hilton is the worst of the worst.

He's pure evil.

Everyone that encountered him had

sort of a universal experience where the hairs

on the back of their neck stood up

just being in his presence,

and I was no exception.

It's a very unique type of killer

that is gonna actually go out and hunt humans as prey,

and that's what we have here.

It's the stuff of nightmares.

Cheryl Dunlap was minding her own business,

reading a book at the sinks,

shortly before her disappearance.

Hilton probably had already identified her as a target.

She probably made it back to her car

and encountered Gary Hilton.

There was some kind of struggle where she

was taken from her vehicle and put into his van.

He drove around with her for a couple days,

and I think that's probably his MO.