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Half a dozen southeastern states as well as fbi profilers were rummaging through hilton's past. by the time he was captured, he wasn't much more than a vagrant in a van, but his past was more complex. as an army veteran, hilton had earned an associate degree, gotten a private pilot license on the gi bill and been married three times before the wheels apparently came off. "true crime" author fred rosen has written 25 books. his latest is "trails of death" about hilton. >> to underestimate him is foolish. this is a very dangerous person. >> according to rosen, he was shaped by a number of factor...

But ella's owner never had a chance. >> she was dead from the beginning. because i just told you, once you've done it, you're either going to kill her or get caught. there's no other solution. that sounds cold and cruel, yeah, it was. >> in his unbelievable cold recollection of the crime, hilton told meredith he was going to let her go after four days of captivity. >> i told her i'm going to take her and release her. >> instead, hilton went to the van, came back with a tire iron and bludgeoned meredith emerson to death. in an attempt to thwart investigators, he decapitated and poured bleach ov...

Pliers and removed some of his teeth. he said he enjoyed doing that because it frightened people. >> he seemed to enjoy showing himself in that matter, that ghoulish presentation? >> yes. he was very animated, very talkative. >> tabor fired hilton who then turned around and claimed tabor owed him money. by mid-summer 2007, the siding guy said he feared for his safety. >> he finally threatened to kill me. he made it very clear. >> tabor took those threats seriously. >> i immediately armed myself with a glock 9 millimeter and an ar-15 assault rifle. started driving a rental car so he wouldn't kn...

>> the cops commandeered a park building as headquarters. >> we began getting information pretty quickly. >> from people who had hiked the trails that it day. >> right. >> and remembered her? >> right. we got news of a strange looking individual with meredith who also had a dog. >> thumbnail description of this other person. what were you hearing? >> strange looking, just a wiry kind of guy. >> older guy. >> older guy. we even developed a vehicle description, light van. >> the lead on the van came from this photo taken on a hiker in the blood mountain parking lot the night before meredith emer...

Because it frightened people. >> he seemed to enjoy showing himself in that matter, that ghoulish presentation? >> yes. he was very animated, very talkative. >> tabor fired hilton who then turned around and claimed tabor owed him money. by mid-summer 2007, the siding guy said he feared for his safety. >> he finally threatened to kill me. he made it very clear. >> tabor took those threats seriously. >> i immediately armed myself with a glock 9 millimeter and an ar-15 assault rifle. started driving a rental car so he wouldn't know what car i was in. >> he was your boogieman. >> absolutely. to no...