For those not familiar with this subject, Gary Hilton is the suspect in the recent brutal murder of young Georgia hiker, Meredith Emerson. He kidnapped her on New Years Day, kept her alive for three days, then bashed her head in and decapitated her. He was caught soon after, and led police to her body.
Hilton’s former boss, John Tabor, has been attempting to “take credit” for Hilton’s capture, claiming he “laid the trap” that snared him. The night before killing Emerson, Hilton called Tabor from inside a “Huddle House” restaurant, asking for money. It is likley that Emerson was restrained inside the van parked at the restuarant during the call. Instead of immedately alerting the cops, Tabor instead played a “game” with Hilton that may have resulted in Emerson’s death.
It would seem that if Tabor (Hilton’s boss) had gotten a message to the cops while he was on the phone w/Hilton, they could have swooped down on the Huddle House while he was still there. There are tons of ways Tabor could have done this, putting Hilton on hold, telling him he’d call him right back, scribbling a note and giving it to someone else, telling them to call, etc. According to the link below, they were on the phone together for about 20 minutes. Considering that, the following day, it only took 12 minutes between the call to police and the arrest, 20 minutes seems to have been plenty of time.
There is an interesting discussion at this wikizine: http://www.zimbio.com/Gary+Michael+Hilton/articles/1/Welcome+wikizine+Gary+Michael+Hilton+Meredith
Quotes from there:
**"Tabor said Hilton apologized for the problems he caused and begged for money and his job back. Thinking on his feet, Tabor played along. He told Hilton he was happy to hear from him, and offered to advance him money to pick up at his northeast Atlanta office the next day. The next day, police nabbed Hilton at a northeast Atlanta gas station. “‘And pretty much the game was over,’ Tabor said”
"The ‘game’? And pretty much the ‘game’ was over? The ‘game’ should have been over the day before – when Meredith could have been saved. "
Tabor’s unsolicited actions actually provoked Meredith’s death. Without the GBI’s direction, he ‘laid a trap’ for Hilton, by telling Hilton he could pick up a check on Friday. This meant that Hilton believed he no longer needed Meredith alive as a possible source of money
"If Tabor had not played a ‘Game’ by luring Hilton he might have been caught that weekend with her still alive in the van.**
Hero? I think not.