Death for drifter convicted in Fla. forest slaying

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A drifter convicted of killing a woman whose beheaded body was found in a national forest has been sentenced to death.

Gary Michael Hilton was sentenced Thursday morning. He was convicted in February of killing 46-year-old Cheryl Dunlap. Days later, a jury unanimously recommended a death sentence for Hilton.

Dunlap — a nurse and Sunday school teacher — was found dead in north Florida's Apalachicola National Forest, where Hilton had camped.

Hilton already has been sentenced to life in prison in Georgia after pleading guilty to killing 24-year-old hiker Meredith Emerson. Her headless body was found in a wooded area where Hilton had camped in north Georgia.

He still is a suspect in three other killings in Florida and North Carolina.