Pictures: Meredith Emerson Decapitated Autopsy?

How fascinating is Meredith Emerson's case.

Meredith Emerson died at age 24 from decapitation. Emerson’s body was located in the Northern Georgia woods in January 2008. Meredith Emerson was hiking when her murdered discovered her, murdered her and decapitated her.

Hustler was about to publish the pictures but now photos of the nude and decapitated body of a murdered hiker, sought by a writer on assignment for Hustler magazine, will not be released, a judge in Georgia ordered Wednesday.

A friend told me that the pictures are on the web but I have searched everywhere and can't find any picture. Are the Hustler photos really on the net?

For some odd and possibly twisted purpose, Hustler Magazine has requested the post-mortem and the crime scene photos of Meredith Emerson. Now I am sure it will not surprise you that the United States Authorities denied the request of Hustler magazine.

Why do you even want to see the photos? They must be really disturbing.

The decision came as state lawmakers considered legislation that would ban public release of graphic photos of crime victims. First Amendment lawyers say the legislation could have a chilling effect on open records requests.

It must be creepy to find a body in the woods.

I cannot imagine what goes through some people's head. So Hustler is assuming that their audience will get off from those pictures. I am so sickened by this. That poor woman. I HIGHLY doubt she would ever want that for herself.

The magazine appealed the The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's decision to not release the photographs along with other documents in response to Hustler's public records request. A Georgia Superior Court judge granted Emerson’s family a temporary restraining order on Wednesday that blocks the photographs' release.

Seems unclear whether Hustler is actually behind the request for the photos, or if it's just the freelancer using Hustler as cover, and betting on the, er, come. Anyway, if Hustler doesn't deny it, we know the answer.

Autopsy photos are currently exempt from the state's open records law. But Ralston, a lawyer, said crime scene photographs of a body fall into a legal gray area.

In a statement, Hustler said the photos would be used in a news story about the crime. Hustler and its publisher, Larry Flynt, disagreed with the GBI's position "and are exploring all legal options available to them should the decision be made to go forward with this story."

I agree that seeing Meredith Emerson decapitated autopsy pictures must be kind of interesting though.