Who Is Riley Gaul & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile

William Riley Gaul was an 18-year-old college student and former high school football player when he murdered his ex-girlfriend, 16-year-old Emma Walker, in Knoxville, Tennessee, in November 2016. To many people who knew him before the killing, Gaul did not fit an obvious image of a violent offender. He had been a strong student, played football at Central High School and later joined the football program at Maryville College.

Behind that public image was a troubled relationship with Emma that prosecutors said became possessive and controlling. After Emma ended the relationship, Gaul staged incidents designed to frighten her and draw her back toward him. On November 21, 2016, he fired two shots through the exterior wall of Emma’s bedroom while she slept. One bullet struck her in the head and killed her.

Gaul was convicted of first-degree murder in 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment. As of 2026, his conviction remains intact, and he continues serving his sentence in Tennessee.

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Who Is William Riley Gaul?

William Riley Gaul, who has long gone by his middle name Riley, was born in August 1998 and grew up in the Knoxville area. He was raised in a family that included his mother and grandparents and attended Central High School.

At Central, Gaul was known as a good student and played wide receiver for the Bobcats football team. Friends later described him as more of a jokester and a somewhat nerdy student than the stereotypical high school athlete.

After graduating, Gaul enrolled at Maryville College in Tennessee. He joined the college’s Division III football program and was a freshman when Emma was killed.

At the time of the murder, Gaul was 18. Emma was 16 and still a junior at Central High School.

Riley Gaul Meets Emma Walker

Gaul met Emma during the fall of 2014. Emma was a 14-year-old freshman, while Gaul was a 16-year-old junior.

Gaul was dating another girl at the time but expressed interest in Emma. He told Emma that he intended to end his existing relationship and at one point promised to take her to prom. He attended the event with his girlfriend instead.

Emma and Gaul later began dating. Their relationship lasted for about two years, although it included repeated breakups and reconciliations.

People close to Emma said Gaul appeared attentive and considerate at the beginning. Emma’s mother, Jill Walker, has said that her first impression of him was positive. Nothing about their early encounters caused her to believe that he would become a threat to her daughter.

His Behavior Becomes Controlling

As the relationship continued, Emma’s family and friends began noticing behavior they considered unhealthy.

Gaul became possessive about Emma’s friendships and activities. People around her said he did not want her spending time with certain people or doing things without him.

The relationship became volatile enough that Emma’s parents intervened. By October 2016, they had grounded Emma and told her that she could no longer maintain a relationship with Gaul.

Emma also wanted the relationship to end. Gaul did not accept that decision.

The breakup became the central motive presented by prosecutors at his murder trial. They argued that Gaul’s desire to maintain control over Emma continued after she decided she no longer wanted to be with him.

Gaul Threatens Self-Harm and Refuses to Let Go

Evidence presented after Emma’s death showed that Gaul used emotional pressure during the relationship.

According to witnesses, Gaul threatened to hurt or kill himself when Emma attempted to leave him. Such threats placed pressure on Emma by making her feel responsible for what he might do.

After the final breakup, Gaul continued trying to contact her.

Investigators concluded that his behavior became more elaborate as he tried to find ways back into Emma’s life. Rather than accepting the end of the relationship, prosecutors said, Gaul began creating situations designed to frighten her.

Those incidents became some of the strongest evidence of what was happening during the final days before Emma’s murder.

Riley Gaul Stages His Own Kidnapping

One of the strangest incidents occurred on November 18, 2016, only three days before Emma was found dead.

Emma received an anonymous message telling her to leave her home. She later encountered Gaul, who claimed that someone had kidnapped him and left him unconscious.

Emma did not believe him.

Her friends later testified that she realized the supposed kidnapping was a deception and became angry about what Gaul had done.

The incident became central to the defense strategy at Gaul’s murder trial. His lawyer argued that Gaul was creating dangerous situations because he wanted Emma to become frightened and then turn to him for protection.

Prosecutors agreed that Gaul wanted to manipulate Emma but rejected the claim that the same explanation made the shooting an accident. They argued that the staged kidnapping showed how his conduct was escalating after the breakup.

Emma Becomes Frightened by a Man in Black

Around the same time, Emma reported another frightening incident near her home.

She told friends that she had seen a person dressed in black outside. Messages she sent before her death showed that she was scared.

After Emma was killed, investigators recovered black clothing among items associated with Gaul.

The connection became important because detectives began considering whether Gaul had been responsible for frightening Emma before the shooting.

What may have seemed like unrelated incidents before her death became part of a larger pattern once detectives examined Gaul’s conduct.

Gaul Takes His Grandfather’s Glock

On November 18, Gaul took a 9mm Glock handgun belonging to his grandfather.

The gun had been stored beneath the seat of a vehicle.

When Gaul’s grandfather discovered that it was missing, he feared Gaul might have taken the weapon to hurt himself.

The gun instead became the murder weapon.

Several people knew Gaul had possessed it, a fact that became crucial once investigators established that Emma had been killed with a 9mm firearm.

The Night Emma Walker Was Murdered

During the early hours of November 21, 2016, Gaul left the area around Maryville College and traveled to Emma’s family home in Knoxville’s Sterchi Hills neighborhood.

Emma was asleep in her bedroom.

Gaul remained outside the Walker home and fired twice through the exterior wall into the area where Emma’s bed was positioned.

One bullet struck Emma behind her left ear and killed her. The other entered the bedroom without striking her.

Prosecutors later argued that Gaul’s familiarity with Emma and her home meant he knew where her bed was located.

The placement of the shots became one of the main reasons prosecutors rejected his later claim that he intended only to scare her.

Gaul Returns to College

Gaul did not remain at the Walker home after firing the shots.

Evidence presented during his trial showed that he returned to Maryville College later that morning. His roommate said Gaul came back at about 4:45 a.m.

Hours later, Emma’s mother entered her daughter’s room and found her unresponsive.

Investigators found bullet holes in the bedroom wall and shell casings outside the house, establishing that Emma had been shot from outside.

Police began interviewing people close to her, and Gaul became a person of interest.

Riley Gaul Posts About Emma After Her Death

One of the most striking parts of Gaul’s behavior came after Emma had been killed but before police arrested him.

He posted messages on social media mourning Emma and publicly expressing his love for her. One message referred to her as his “beautiful Emma,” while another indicated that he could not attend events connected with her death because it was too painful.

At that point, police had not publicly accused him of murdering her.

The posts later attracted attention because investigators concluded that the person publicly grieving Emma was also the person responsible for killing her. Contemporary reporting documented Gaul’s public messages in the period between Emma’s death and his arrest.

His behavior after the murder became part of the disturbing contrast at the center of the case. Gaul presented himself publicly as a devastated former boyfriend while investigators were assembling evidence that pointed toward him.

Gaul Denies Having His Grandfather’s Gun

Detectives quickly learned that Gaul had access to a weapon matching the type used in Emma’s murder.

One of his friends, Alex McCarty, told police that Gaul had taken his grandfather’s Glock.

When investigators questioned Gaul, he denied possessing the gun.

He then began contacting friends about what they were telling detectives.

Those conversations increased suspicion. Gaul encouraged people not to continue speaking about the weapon and tried to undermine some of the information they had already provided.

Two of those friends, Alex McCarty and Noah Walton, decided that police needed to know more.

Gaul’s Friends Turn Against Him

McCarty and Walton agreed to help investigators.

Police equipped the two young men with recording devices and arranged for them to maintain contact with Gaul.

The plan was dangerous because Gaul needed to believe that the two remained on his side.

Walton invited Gaul over under the pretext of spending time together. During the encounter, Gaul discussed the investigation and the missing weapon.

He eventually revealed that the gun had been hidden.

The operation gave detectives an opportunity to recover the weapon before Gaul could destroy or dispose of it.

Riley Gaul Plans to Get Rid of the Gun

During the recorded operation, Gaul discussed taking the weapon to an area known as the Bluffs.

Investigators believed he intended to get rid of it there.

The group stopped at a family residence where Gaul had hidden the gun.

Police recovered the Glock along with other items that included gloves, trash bags, black clothing, shoes and tape.

The black clothing drew attention because of the frightening figure Emma had reported seeing near her home before her murder.

Police arrested Gaul before he could dispose of the firearm.

The Evidence Against Riley Gaul

The gun formed only one part of the prosecution’s case.

Investigators also assembled cell phone evidence, witness testimony, information about Gaul’s movements and the recordings obtained through his friends.

His college roommate provided evidence about when Gaul had been absent and when he returned.

Investigators examined the trajectory of the bullets through Emma’s bedroom wall.

The state also presented evidence about the relationship, Gaul’s reaction to the breakup, his staged kidnapping and his attempts to frighten Emma.

Together, prosecutors argued, those facts showed that Emma’s death was not the accidental result of a teenage prank.

Gaul Is Charged With Murder

Gaul was arrested days after Emma’s death and eventually indicted on seven charges.

They included first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, stalking, tampering with evidence, reckless endangerment, a firearm offense and theft involving his grandfather’s handgun.

The case received national attention.

Part of that attention came from the ages of those involved. Emma was 16. Gaul had only turned 18 a few months before the murder.

The circumstances were also unusual. A high school student had been killed through her bedroom wall, and two teenage friends of the suspect had helped police recover the weapon.

Riley Gaul Goes on Trial

Gaul’s trial began in Knox County Criminal Court in April 2018.

Prosecutors Kevin Allen and Molly Martin presented evidence concerning his relationship with Emma and the events surrounding the breakup.

Emma’s friends testified about the staged kidnapping and the fear she experienced shortly before her death.

Jurors heard Jill Walker’s 911 call and testimony from investigators who reconstructed the shooting.

They also saw and heard evidence produced during McCarty and Walton’s undercover operation.

The defense faced a major problem: the evidence connecting Gaul to the shooting was substantial.

Gaul’s Defense Admits He Fired the Gun

Gaul’s attorney, Wesley Stone, did not argue that another person had shot Emma.

Instead, the defense acknowledged that Gaul fired the shots.

The legal fight centered on why he fired them.

Stone argued that Gaul had wanted to scare Emma, not kill her.

The defense connected the shooting with Gaul’s earlier schemes. Under that theory, he created frightening situations so that Emma would need him and see him as someone who could protect her.

The defense argued that the shooting should therefore result in a lesser homicide conviction rather than first-degree murder.

Prosecutors Say Riley Gaul Knew Where Emma Was Sleeping

Prosecutors rejected the claim that Gaul was trying only to frighten Emma.

They argued that he knew the layout of the Walker house.

Gaul knew which room belonged to Emma and knew where her bed was positioned inside that room.

He fired two rounds through the wall toward that location.

For prosecutors, those facts showed intent.

They also relied on Gaul’s behavior before and after the murder, including stealing the gun, staging incidents, trying to control what friends told police and attempting to dispose of the murder weapon.

Riley Gaul Is Convicted

On May 8, 2018, the Knox County jury reached its verdict.

Gaul was convicted of first-degree murder, felony murder, stalking, theft, tampering with evidence, reckless endangerment and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.

Judge Bobby McGee imposed the mandatory life sentence for the first-degree murder conviction.

Under Tennessee law as applied to his case, Gaul must serve 51 years before becoming eligible for parole.

The verdict rejected the defense argument that Emma’s death had resulted from a reckless attempt to frighten her.

Riley Gaul Speaks at Sentencing

Gaul continued to maintain that he had not intended to kill Emma.

At sentencing, he apologized and said his intention had been to frighten her rather than cause her death.

Emma’s family rejected that explanation.

For them, the shooting was the final act in a series of behaviors that began with control and manipulation and escalated after Emma attempted to leave the relationship.

The jury had already decided the legal issue. Its verdict established that the killing was first-degree premeditated murder.

Gaul Seeks a New Trial

Gaul did not accept the conviction as the end of his case.

In 2021, he returned to court and sought a new trial.

Among his arguments was a claim that the evidence had been insufficient to support the verdict.

The trial court rejected that request.

Gaul then took his case to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

His Murder Conviction Is Upheld

In February 2023, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Gaul’s challenges to his murder conviction.

The court considered a series of issues involving evidence, trial procedures and the sufficiency of the prosecution’s case.

His first-degree murder conviction remained intact.

The appellate court did modify his theft conviction, reducing it to a misdemeanor based on the value classification of the stolen property. That change had no meaningful effect on the life sentence he was already serving for Emma’s murder.

Gaul then sought review from the Tennessee Supreme Court, but the court declined to hear his case.

The U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear His Case

Gaul continued his appeals by petitioning the United States Supreme Court.

The petition gave him another opportunity to seek review after his state appeals had failed.

On March 4, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

That decision left the Tennessee judgments in place.

His murder conviction and sentence remained unchanged.

Riley Gaul Files Another Challenge

Gaul later filed a petition for post-conviction relief.

The petition raised a different type of argument.

Rather than focusing only on whether the evidence supported the jury verdict, Gaul alleged that his trial attorney had not provided effective legal representation.

Among his complaints was his attorney’s decision during closing arguments to acknowledge that evidence supported convictions for theft and tampering with evidence.

Gaul also argued that his defense had not handled the legal distinction between second-degree murder and reckless homicide in the manner he believed it should have.

Gaul Tries to Challenge His 51-Year Parole Requirement

Gaul’s post-conviction filing also referred to supposed changes in Tennessee sentencing law.

He claimed that legislation could reduce the amount of time a person convicted of murder would have to serve before becoming eligible for parole.

That argument faced a major problem.

The relevant proposed legislation did not become law.

A bill containing language connected with the issue failed to pass the Tennessee legislature. A later version introduced in 2025 also failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

As a result, Gaul’s existing parole requirement was not reduced on that basis.

Where Is Riley Gaul Now?

As of 2026, Riley Gaul remains incarcerated in Tennessee and is serving his life sentence for Emma Walker’s murder.

Recent reporting places him at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee.

His first-degree murder conviction has not been overturned.

The Knox County District Attorney’s Office confirmed in 2025 that a petition for post-conviction relief remained pending at that point, showing that Gaul continued using available legal avenues to challenge his case.

Nothing in the more recent reporting indicates that those efforts have erased his murder conviction or released him from the sentence imposed in 2018.

When Could Riley Gaul Be Released?

Gaul’s sentence is commonly described as life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 51 years.

The Knox County District Attorney’s Office stated after his conviction that the life sentence required him to serve 51 years before parole eligibility.

Because Gaul was only 18 when he killed Emma, that means he would be an older man before he could receive parole consideration.

Parole eligibility also does not mean automatic release.

If Gaul reaches the point at which he can seek parole, a parole board would have to determine whether he should be released.

Unless his sentence or conviction changes through future litigation, he faces decades more in prison.

Riley Gaul’s Case Remains a Story About Teen Dating Violence

The case continues to receive attention not only because of the unusual murder investigation but because of what happened before Emma died.

Gaul’s conduct showed many behaviors associated with dangerous relationship control.

He objected to Emma spending time with other people, resisted her efforts to leave him and used threats and manipulation to maintain a connection with her.

When Emma ended the relationship, his conduct did not stop.

Instead, prosecutors showed how it progressed into staged threats, stalking behavior and a shooting that killed her in the place where she should have been safest.

From College Athlete to Convicted Murderer

Before November 2016, Gaul appeared to have a conventional path ahead of him.

He had graduated from high school, enrolled in college and joined a college football program.

Within months, that life was gone.

Maryville College removed him from the football team after his arrest, and he soon faced a prosecution that ended with a first-degree murder conviction.

The contrast between Gaul’s outward life and his conduct toward Emma became one of the defining aspects of the case.

There was no long criminal history that warned Emma’s family that he would one day shoot their daughter through her bedroom wall.

Riley Gaul Remains Behind Bars

Nearly a decade after Emma Walker’s murder, Riley Gaul remains defined by the crime he committed against the teenager who had tried to end their relationship.

His defense has maintained that he intended to frighten Emma rather than kill her. His later appeals have challenged different parts of the trial and his legal representation.

A Knox County jury reached a different conclusion.

It found that Gaul committed first-degree murder, and the principal judgment has survived his subsequent appeals. Tennessee authorities continue to hold him under the life sentence imposed after that verdict.

Emma was 16 when she died. Gaul was 18 when he killed her. Their lives had once intersected as two students at Central High School. By November 2016, that relationship had become the foundation of a murder case that ended one young life and left the other facing decades in prison.

More “Noises in the Night”

• “Noises in the Night”: Dateline NBC Revisits the Homicide of Cassy Farrington August 14 2026
• Who Was Emma Walker & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile
• Who Is Riley Gaul & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile