Below is an attempt made to transcribe the interview recording beginning with Part 1. Keep in mind there may be some errors and some parts that could not be heard well, but for the most part you can get the gist of what Gary Michael Hilton's mother had to say about her son, to these agents before she passed away in April 2010. A special thanks must go to Hopeful Poster for her taking the time to transcribe this part. As time permits maybe the rest of the interview will be made available to read.
02/01/08 INTERVIEW WITH HILTON’S MOTHER, PART 1 OF 5, 26.35 MINUTES
Special Agents Matt Howard and Michael Yoder of the GBI and FBI.
INV: Hilton pled to Emerson murder yesterday and he pled.
INV: We want to learn the why now.
INV: Gary admitted and gave a lot of details.
INV: Gary is polite and intelligent and well-spoken and charismatic. I’m going to ask
you details about how he grew up.
MOM: Did you hear what his employer said, I forgot his name. It couldn’t have been too
bad if he kept him employed for 10 years and then all of a sudden he started
wanting money and it got so bad he had to fire him. That’s just about when this
started so I think something just snapped. It’s not in his nature. He read an
encyclopedia like other kids read a book. (10:46)
INV: Tell me a little bit about his father. (11:12)
MOM: He never knew his father. He was in the military. We only lived together 3
months. He went overseas and when he came back, I didn’t know it of course but
he had another wife. So he would come to me on the weekends out of town to
open a jewelry store. So when I tried to find him to get support, an attorney found
in 4 different towns a woman he claimed to be married to for years. They never
could find any records of a divorce so we got an annulment and so he never knew
his father. (12:08)
INV: What military base was he stationed at? Can you remember his name?
MOM: Well, he is dead, I just found out. William Esco Hilton. (12:24)
INV: And he was in the Army:
MOM: Yeah. He was in the medical corps. I still know his serial number after all this
time.
INV: That’s amazing. Can I have it?
MOM: I have my hearing aid out. 06375547 (???) (13:08)
INV: And where was he stationed?
MOM: He was at ? out of Atlanta but then he went overseas to England.
INV: Where was Hilton born at?
MOM: I think it was Alabama, I don’t remember. He said Alabama but I have heard 2 or
3 different tales.
INV: William or Gary (???)
MOM: In Atlanta.
INV: From the time that you remarried was it just you and Gary? (13:58)
MOM: Yes. Gary was about 8 years old.
INV: Did you guys stay in Atlanta?
MOM: No, my work transferred me down to Tampa.
INV: What did you do?
MOM: I was a supervisor in a venetian blind company.
INV: So after the problems with William, you guys decided to move to Florida? (14:36)
MOM: ?
INV: So where was Gary born at?
INV: Did you guys live in an apartment or a house?
INV: Were there a lot of kids his age in the area:
MOM: I put him in a day care but it didn’t work out so I put him in a boy’s club near my
work. (15:37)
MOM: I worked then I would pick him up after work. (15:42)
INV: How did the day care work out?
MOM: ??? I don’t know. He locked himself in the bathroom for over an hour and cried.
They don’t give anybody the attention they want.
INV: Did that happen once or several times?
MOM: Once.
INV: And then you took him out?
MOM: Yeah. (16:05)
INV: (Can’t hear question as investigator is seated away from the tape recorder.)
MOM: Well he was happy at the Boy’s Club.
INV: (Can’t hear question)
MOM: He didn’t say anything about it. Because he was in one in Atlanta. After that a
neighbor said she would keep him, a young neighbor that was married and they
got along. But one day the husband picked Gary up, they were at a park, and
pretended he was going to throw Gary in the alligator pit and scared Gary to death
so that’s when I put him in the Boy’s Club. (16:49)
INV: This person that took care of him before the Boy’s Club, can you tell me a little
bit about that, like just what you remember. And how long did they take care of
him. (16:57)
MOM: Maybe 6 months. I didn’t know of any problem, Gary never said anything. He
didn’t complain much. I can’t remember their name now.
INV: Was it a male or female and how much older? (17:19)
MOM: They weren’t very old. She had a baby about 2 years old I guess. And the man
seemed to be a good influence around Gary. (17:33)
INV: Did Gary like him?
MOM: He never said anything about him. He never minded going over there. They
would go to parks and places like that and they would take Gary.
INV: What happened with the whole alligator thing? (18:04)
MOM: I don’t know. The wife even came to me and said I think it would be dangerous
for Gary to stay with him; he got so upset that Al, her husband, was ashamed to
face me. (18:16)
INV: And what do you know about that incident? Did he pick him up or . . .?
MOM: He picked him up, held him over his head and kept pretending he was going to
throw him in the pit. (18:33)
INV: So you made the decision at that point to take him to the Boy’s Club?
MOM: Yeah. And he really enjoyed that.
INV: What did he like about it? (18:57)
MOM: I think it was just the activity after school.
INV: About how old was he when he went to the Boy’s Club? (19:03)
MOM: Just about 8.
INV: Did he have a lot of friends there?
MOM: He seemed to have. (19:24)
INV: So you say he enjoyed going?
MOM: Yeah.
INV: Did they have programs for sports and things like that?
MOM: Yeah. They had a rifle club and Gary won an award, a sharp shooter’s award.
INV: How old was he?
MOM: 7 or 8. (19:47)
INV: Really. Oh, wow.
MOM: And he never had a gun in his hand.
INV: Did he continue shooting and stuff like that for competition?
MOM: No, he never had a gun. (20:06)
INV: I mean in the Boy’s Club.
MOM: I don’t know.
INV: Were there other sports he was into besides shooting?
MOM: I don’t know. He was always dirty when I picked him up. He had been doing
something. (20:24)
INV: As far as his interaction with other kids, what would he do with other kids?
MOM: They played cops and robbers. Even the day he left to go in the Army I’ve got a
picture of him, he had played the drums and he was sitting there writing a farewell
letter to his girlfriend and you could over under the table a little car. He had been
playing with cars since he was little. (20:59)
INV: Was he very imaginative?
MOM: Yeah. And he was quiet though. He wasn’t rowdy.
INV: As far as when he was about 8 and he began going to the Boy’s Club, did you get
the sense that he had a lot of friends or did he keep to himself? (21:19)
MOM: Yeah.
INV: Was he outgoing or . . .
MOM: Yeah. And the day care in Atlanta also because we had to meet with the teachers
once a month and they would tell us how they were doing and she said he was ???
INV: When did you guys move back to Atlanta?
MOM: Didn’t move back to Atlanta. I married while I was there and my husband had
resources and we traveled a lot with the horses.
INV: So is that when he went to school in ???
MOM: He had to change schools. (22:01)
INV: Can you tell me about your second husband? Can you tell me about the guy that
you married that owned the race horses? Is that your second husband?
MOM: I don’t understand what you said, I can’t hear too good.
INV: ??? he wants to know about ???
INV: Well, just how you met and things like that. How old was Gary when you met
and all that? (22:26)
MOM: Nine. And Gary liked the horses. I would go out and help my husband
sometimes if he was short of help and get back before Gary got up because we
had to go at 5:00. So one day I was sick and my husband heard Gary moving
around in the room and he said what are you doing? And he said, you know, I’m
going to go help you because Mom can’t go. And you know he went out and
helped him. He came back and got ready for school and he did so well my
husband got him to go every morning. (23:06)
INV: Did he like that?
MOM: Oh yeah.
INV: He liked working with the animals?
MOM: Yeah he did. He would put on anybody’s old rubber boots that were in the barn
there and go slopping around in those big old boots. My husband was from
Argentina (???). He had been here about 5 or 10 years, I don’t remember exactly.
But they were very strict in their country because they were old school ??? now
and it used to be very strict. He was very strict with Gary. He always wanted
perfection of him but he was also very jealous of him. (24:01)
INV: Nilo was jealous of Gary?
MOM: Yeah.
INV: How was that? How was he jealous?
MOM: I don’t know. I could tell that he resented him. I did too much for Gary and not
him.
INV: How would he express this? How would Nilo express this? How would he
show that he didn’t like that?
MOM: It’s hard to say. I just knew it.
INV: Would he yell or anything like that?
MOM: Yeah. He would yell quite a bit. He never hit him. He never abused him
physically but would say there was mental abuse. ???and he would say why don’t
you quit, get a job and go to work, and I think, he’s 10 years and he’s going to go
to school as long as I can keep him in school. Well, when I was that age I was
working and supporting the family.
INV: So did Gary and Nilo fight? (25:10)
MOM: Gary wouldn’t argue back when my husband would yell at him ??? he never
physically ???
INV: What would Gary do when Nilo was yelling at him? What would Gary do?
What was his reaction?
MOM: He would just stand there or sit there ??? whatever he was doing.
INV: ???
MOM: I’m sorry. I’ve got an ear ache and I can’t put my hearing aid in.
INV: If Nilo yelled and told him to do something, would he do it?
MOM: Oh, yeah.
