Riley Gaul Was an Obsessed Stalker Who Turned Into a Murderer — Where Is He Now?
By Jennifer TisdaleFeb. Five 2024, Published 10:22 p.m. ET
On the outdoor, Emma Walker and Riley Gaul's highschool dating appeared like the stuff of films, excluding this film is not a romance. Sadly, it is a horror film that ends with considered one of them dead. Walker used to be a pretty, fashionable, and bubbly highschool freshman. Her boyfriend, William Riley Gaul, was a celeb on the soccer workforce and his grade point moderate was once simply as impressive. John Hughes himself couldn't write two extra highest characters.
Beneath the sheen of young love bubbled toxicity that slowly eroded the relationship. It started when Gaul started setting apart Walker from her pals and escalated into abusive, frequently threatening Snapchat messages, in line with ABC News. Walker's folks tried everything they might to get their daughter to get a divorce with the person who needed her useless. It wasn't until she found the courage to do so that Walker met a dangerous destiny. Where is Riley Gaul now? Here's what we know.
Riley Gaul is now in the back of bars and likely will be until he is in his 70s.
In October 2023, nearly seven years after Walker was once murdered while asleep in her mattress, Gaul's ultimate bid to get his conviction overturned was denied. According to Knox News, his case had gone all the way to the Tennessee state Supreme Court which is regularly referred to as the "state court of last resort." He used to be "found guilty in 2018 of first-degree murder for shooting Walker and is serving a 51-year prison sentence at Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tenn.
This wasn't the first time Gaul attempted to free himself from his lengthy sentence. In 2021, his lawyer requested a new trial, citing insufficient evidence, but that was denied. Gaul then "filed an appeal with the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals the similar 12 months. An appellate judge dominated in February 2023 to uphold his murder conviction and modified the prison theft conviction, which had no effect at the time Gaul must serve in prison." The felony theft conviction was related to the stolen gun Gaul used to kill Walker.
The state Supreme Court automatically reviews capital cases, which Gaul's was not. It's also unlikely he'll be able to appeal their decision because "simplest capital circumstances get an automatic overview," per Knox News. In all likelihood the Court of Criminal Appeals ruling will stand.
Riley Gaul's behavior leading up to the murder was bizarre and alarming.
Keegan Lyle, a friend of Walker's, told ABC News that Gaul and Walker's relationship seemed "commonplace" at first. When Gaul wasn't very interested in getting to know Walker's friends, Lyle wrote it off as him being shy. That all changed when he grew more and more possessive of Walker's time. "He was roughly controlling over her, what she did, her actions," said Lyle.
Soon they were arguing constantly over text and via Snapchat, breaking up and getting back together numerous times over the next two years. Gaul would often wait for hours outside of the supermarket where Walker worked. When the threatening messages began, that's when Walker's parents stepped in. Gaul was no longer welcome in their home and they took Walker's phone away. The couple finally broke up when Gaul was a freshman at a nearby college while Walker was a junior at their old high school.
Gaul attempted to take his own life by chasing a bunch of Vicodin with alcohol, although friends felt that was just a cry for help. Then three days before Walker's death, she was at a party and she started getting strange texts from a number she didn't recognize. This person told Walker they had kidnapped Gaul and sure enough, she and a friend discovered him in a ditch outside of the party. No one believed he was kidnapped, and Gaul walked home.
The next day Walker texted friends to let them know that "anyone in all black walked down my side road and got here to my door and rang the doorbell over and over again." Despite Walker's hatred for Gaul, she was frightened and asked him to come back over. He rushed to her house however that used to be temporarily nipped in the bud by means of her folks. Two days later, Walker's mom found her daughter dead in her bedroom.
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