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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A drifter serving life in prison for killing a hiker in Georgia was indicted Thursday in the slaying of another woman whose body was found decapitated in a Florida forest, officials said.
Gary Michael Hilton was charged with one count of murder, one count of kidnapping and two counts of grand theft in the death of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, a Leon County Sheriff’s Office news release said.
The nurse and Sunday school teacher’s body was found in Florida’s Apalachicola National Forest on Dec. 15.
“I am confident that based on the forensic evidence collected and the investigative efforts of all the law enforcement officers involved, a dangerous killer will be brought to justice,” Sheriff Larry Campbell said in the release.
Hilton was not given bond on the murder and kidnapping charges. A $50,000 bond was given on the grand theft charges.
He has already pleaded guilty in the beating death and decapitation of hiker Meredith Emerson, 24, and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Emerson was kidnapped while she was taking a New Year’s Day hike in the north Georgia mountains with her dog, authorities say. Police found her body Jan. 7.
Investigators in North Carolina have also linked Hilton to the deaths of Irene Bryant, 84, and her husband John Bryant, 80, while they were hiking in the Pisgah National Forest.