The murder of 16-year-old Emma Walker shook the Knoxville, Tennessee community to its core. Nearly a decade later, the case continues to draw attention as Dateline revisits the chilling details in a new episode titled “Noises in the Night.” The episode takes viewers through the tragic events of November 2016, when a promising young cheerleader was shot to death in her own bed. Andrea Canning reports on the case, interviewing Walker’s parents, friends, and investigators who worked tirelessly to bring her killer to justice.
Emma Walker was an honors student and cheerleader at Central High School with dreams of becoming a nurse. Her life was cut short when her ex-boyfriend, William Riley Gaul, fired two bullets through her bedroom wall. Gaul, a Maryville College football player at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 51 years. The Dateline episode provides a complete breakdown of the timeline of events leading up to the murder, the investigation, and the trial.
The Relationship Between Emma Walker and Riley Gaul
Emma Walker and Riley Gaul first met in 2014 while both attended Central High School in Knoxville. Gaul was a junior and a football player, while Walker was a freshman. They began dating shortly after and remained together for about two years.
Walker’s parents grew concerned about the relationship early on. They testified that they had tried to stop their daughter from seeing Gaul, sensing that something was wrong. The relationship became increasingly unstable, and by late 2016, Walker had decided to end things for good.
About two weeks before the murder, Walker told her friends she had made up her mind to permanently end her relationship with Gaul. This decision set off a series of disturbing events that would ultimately lead to her death.
The Bizarre Events Leading Up to the Murder
In the days before Walker’s death, Gaul began a strange campaign to win her back. Prosecutors described a series of calculated ploys designed to manipulate Walker into returning to him.
Two nights before the shooting, Walker received some concerning text messages. She went outside a friend’s house and found Gaul lying in a ditch with a head wound, claiming he had been kidnapped. Investigators later determined this was a fake kidnapping scheme Gaul had orchestrated himself.
The next day, Walker saw a man dressed entirely in black walking through her neighborhood. The man eventually came to her door and started banging on it. Prosecutors said Gaul was the man in black and that he was trying to create potential suspects to throw off investigators once he killed Walker. Gaul’s defense attorney, Wesley Stone, argued that Gaul had no idea who the “man in black” was and that Gaul ultimately showed up at the house to “rescue” Walker.
During the trial, Stone presented Gaul’s actions as part of a misguided plan to be Walker’s “hero”. He argued that Gaul thought scaring her could encourage her to reach out to him for help and rekindle their relationship.
“To be somebody’s hero, to rescue somebody, you have to have contact – and the only way you can have contact is to get their attention. When Riley Gaul fired that shot in the backyard, as crazy as it is, as bizarre as it is, he was hoping that he could come to her rescue.”
The Night of the Murder
On the night of November 21, 2016, around 12:30 a.m., Gaul drove to the Walker family home in the Sterchi Hills neighborhood of North Knox County. He had stolen a 9mm Glock from his grandfather, who had reported the gun missing the day before.
Before leaving, Gaul called a friend to ask how to remove fingerprints from a gun. He then stood outside Walker’s bedroom and fired two shots through the wall. One of the bullets struck Walker behind her left ear, killing her instantly.
Walker’s father had heard a loud noise earlier that night and got up to check on his children. He saw Walker asleep in her bed and didn’t think anything was wrong. The next morning, when her parents tried to wake her, they discovered she was dead. Her mother found her body lying in a pool of blood.
When police arrived, they found a small bullet hole in the wall. A gun had been fired from outside the house, and the bullet traveled through the wall and hit Walker in the head.
How Riley Gaul Was Caught
After the murder, Gaul was questioned by police but denied any involvement. He then confided in two of his closest friends, Alex and Noah, asking them to help him get rid of his grandfather’s gun. He claimed police were going to pin Walker’s murder on him.
But Alex and Noah had already contacted law enforcement. They worked with investigators to obtain Gaul’s confession and agreed to wear listening and video devices. They traveled with Gaul to dispose of the gun in the Tennessee River. When they parked at an apartment complex, Gaul pulled the gun out of a trash bag. Police were following Alex and Noah during the undercover sting operation and arrested Gaul that night.
Gaul was arrested the day after Walker’s murder and charged with first-degree murder.
The Trial and Conviction
During the trial in May 2018, both sides agreed that Gaul fired the shots that killed Walker. The debate centered on his state of mind at the time.
Prosecutors argued that Gaul intended to kill Walker in anger over the end of their two-year relationship. Assistant District Attorney Kevin Allen described Gaul as a “premeditated cold-hearted killer” who acted out of obsession and possessiveness.
“Every person in here that she touched, their lives will never be the same again because of him, and his selfishness, his lies, his possessiveness, his manipulation and his obsessiveness of Emma Walker.”
The defense argued that Gaul never intended to harm Walker. Stone asked the jury to convict Gaul of reckless homicide instead of murder, which would have carried a maximum sentence of 12 years. Stone said Gaul didn’t know a bullet could pierce the wall, but authorities said he did know and knew exactly where to aim.
The eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated for four hours before returning a guilty verdict on all charges. Audible gasps could be heard from the gallery when the jury foreman pronounced Gaul guilty. Gaul, who had been out on bond, was taken into custody.
Gaul was convicted of first-degree murder, felony murder, stalking, tampering with evidence, theft, reckless endangerment, and possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony. Judge Bob McGee imposed a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for 51 years. Gaul was 19 years old at the time of his sentencing.
Gaul’s Legal Challenges
Since his conviction, Gaul has made multiple attempts to challenge his sentence. In 2021, he filed a motion for a new trial, claiming there was insufficient evidence. The motion was denied, with the judge stating there was not enough disputable evidence to order a new trial.
In July 2025, Gaul filed a petition asking the court to reconsider his sentence. In the petition, Gaul claimed he did not have effective counsel during his 2018 trial. He also claimed that a 2024 amendment reducing the number of years a defendant must serve before parole eligibility should apply to his case. However, that bill was not passed, and a similar bill failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2025.
Gaul was expected to appear in court for a hearing on the petition on July 25, 2025. The petition noted that Gaul was not represented by an attorney when it was filed and that he wished to have one appointed.
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Where to Watch the Dateline Episode
The Dateline episode “Noises in the Night” airs on NBC. It is also available for streaming on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The episode provides a detailed look at the case, featuring interviews with Walker’s family, friends, and the investigators who worked on the case. “Talking Dateline,” a companion podcast hosted by Josh Mankiewicz and Andrea Canning, also discusses the episode in depth.
The case of Emma Walker remains a tragic reminder of how toxic relationships and obsessive behavior can have devastating consequences. Her family and friends continue to honor her memory, and her story serves as a warning to young people about the dangers of unhealthy relationships.
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