GUILTY GA - Lauren Giddings, 27, Macon, 26 June 2011 #12

[Backwoods]

I don't find the level of contact between Lauren and David odd. IIRC, they have been together for four years or more? They met and started dating during her internship at K&S. IMO, their relationship was that of two very busy, independent people. The number of times they communicated in a week would have no bearing on their commitment to each other.

The email and when it was sent, has always been for me the most relevant marker in a timeline of that night. There were no calls or text messages, no communication from Lauren to anyone after that point. David seems to feel there is a possibility that Lauren was interrupted while writing that email. Many seem to feel that one sentence "Macon hoodlums tried to break into my apartment" is odd. The fact that McD repeated that sentence verbatim on camera, makes me feel he remembered it because he wrote it. One of those things we probably will never know the answer to.

The jewelery is very interesting. Did he stash it as a trophy or is it with her remains? But what about her underwear which was rumored to have been found in his apartment? Was it taken during one of his creepy crawler missions (condoms).

Backwoods, as you pointed out, the time line is very interesting. Lauren was gone for 3 weeks for her sister's wedding festivities, IIRC? She returned home Wednesday and was killed Saturday night? Is that correct? I need to look back and see if that is correct. McD would have had very little contact with Lauren in the period leading up to her death. IMO, that points to obsession and premeditation on his part.

No doubt in my mind he is guilty or that he will be convicted. My thoughts are with Lauren's family and friends, this is going to be a long journey for them.

bbm: One thing I'd like to know, Knox --and we probably won't unless and until this goes to trial -- is how long of an interval there was between the next-to-last communication from Lauren and that final email. (We know that there were some other communications that evening -- think her mom, for one, said she had had texts or some communication from her.)

on the other bbm: What I'm gleaning from the article is yes, she returned to Macon on Wednesday and was last seen/heard from by friends/family Saturday (don't guess we can say for sure that she was killed Saturday)

ETA: ... in fact, this just occurs to me: From the article, about how Lauren's last email to DV began:

QUOTE:

... “I just had an awkward conversation,” her message began.

Giddings wrote that a friend of hers had inquired about her romance with Vandiver. ...

from link at: http://www.macon.com/2011/12/11/1819448/lauren-giddings-and-the-man-whose.html

If she truly had "just" had the awkward conversation with the friend ... I surely wonder with whom (we might learn that at any trial, I bet) and by what method -- in person (doubt it), phone, email ...? Because, if the time of that conversation could be confirmed, it would point strongly toward at least a general time frame in which Lauren began to compose the final email!

 

[bessie]

bbm: One thing I'd like to know, Knox --and we probably won't unless and until this goes to trial -- is how long of an interval there was between the next-to-last communication from Lauren and that final email. (We know that there were some other communications that evening -- think her mom, for one, said she had had texts or some communication from her.)

on the other bbm: What I'm gleaning from the article is yes, she returned to Macon on Wednesday and was last seen/heard from by friends/family Saturday (don't guess we can say for sure that she was killed Saturday)

ETA: ... in fact, this just occurs to me: From the article, about how Lauren's last email to DV began:

QUOTE:

... “I just had an awkward conversation,” her message began.

Giddings wrote that a friend of hers had inquired about her romance with Vandiver. ...

from link at: http://www.macon.com/2011/12/11/1819448/lauren-giddings-and-the-man-whose.html

If she truly had "just" had the awkward conversation with the friend ... I surely wonder with whom (we might learn that at any trial, I bet) and by what method -- in person (doubt it), phone, email ...? Because, if the time of that conversation could be confirmed, it would point strongly toward at least a general time frame in which Lauren began to compose the final email!

Computer forensics will show the exact time she started to compose the e-mail, and might narrow the window between the 6:30 pm Zaxby's video record, and 10:30 pm when LE says telephone and computer communications ceased. Unless she started writing before 6:30 and finished it later.

 

[Knox]

He says they were supposed to go camping this weekend with friends, but he says she suddenly stopped returning phone calls or text messages.
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=134319

Giddings had sent text messages and e-mails to her mother June 25, Mann said.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/07/07/1623060/body-is-lauren-giddings-police.html#ixzz1gG5HQDgA​

“We have some video and we have some receipts” from Giddings’ last-known whereabouts that Saturday, Burns said, declining to elaborate on the place or time.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/07/07/1623060/body-is-lauren-giddings-police.html#ixzz1gG61WaOf​

Two weeks ago, sometime around 6:30 on Saturday evening, someone who authorities believe was Lauren Giddings, alone in her car, pulled up to the drive-through window at a Zaxby’s restaurant in downtown Macon.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/07/09/162...from-74.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1gG7myeDK
​

Police stood watch at the complex Friday as Giddings’ family sorted through her things. On at least two occasions, a police officer retrieved items from the apartment and placed them in brown paper bags.

Burns said family members are turning items over to police that they find that appear to be out of place. Police are then processing the items to determine if they are of use to the investigation.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/07/09/162...from-74.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1gG8MdKPw​

Once, in early 2009, when her dog was struck by a car, and again last November when someone swiped a dashboard GPS from the console of her tan Mitsubishi Galant.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/07/12/162...-called.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1gG9RLOUf​

I had to go back and read a few stories to refresh my memory. IMO, Lauren was confronted (I won't say killed) sometime in the early morning hours of June 26th. Clearly, her lack of communication with anyone after that time indicates she was not in control of herself anymore.

We know very little of McD's activities June 25th to June 28th. I suspect LE hasn't found anything that helps them either.

Do the dashboard GPS units store information?

 

[Backwoods]

Computer forensics will show the exact time she started to compose the e-mail, and might narrow the window between the 6:30 pm Zaxby's video record, and 10:30 pm when LE says telephone and computer communications ceased. Unless she started writing before 6:30 and finished it later.

Yes, and also should be able, I would think, to determine whether the "hoodlums" section was inserted after the other portions were completed (no matter where in the body of the email the "hoodlums" section falls).

But it will be a while before we know about the computer forensics.

 

[Backwoods]

Looks like AP has picked up the story --

QUOTE:


Boyfriend of slain Ga. woman describes last email

The Associated Press

MACON, Ga. -- The boyfriend of a slain Mercer University law student said that she wrote in an email before her death that a friend was asking uncomfortable questions about their relationship.

This example is at: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/12/11/1854209/boyfriend-of-slain-ga-woman-describes.html

 

[bessie]

Oh, heck, Backwoods, I see what you mean now. It would be nice to have that bit of information so we could at least tighten the timeline while we wait for more information. In other cases, it's often reported that the victim spoke to or was seen by someone at a particular time before a crime occurred. So I find it somewhat unusual that no one has offered any specifics about who and when Lauren talked to friends/family that evening. But apparently she did use the phone and her computer. If it's okay to confirm the 10:30 cut off time, why all the mystery about the events prior to?

Her family told 13WMAZ's Lauren DiSpirito Thursday that Giddings visited friends on June 25 and used her phone and email until around 10:30 p.m.

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/article/134886/153/

ETA: What do y'all make of the part 2 title "Unmissable"?

 

[SouthernKate]

Has anyone else read through the comments on the new article? Maybe it's been awhile, but it seems like there are alot more in support of McD. I wonder if this article changed people's perception or caused some doubt for some readers. Perhaps it had a negative effect?

Well, either that or his family is doing it...

 

[bessie]

I noticed that, Kate. It's been awhile since we heard any of the details of the murder. People have short memories. It will swing back the other way as new evidence comes to light. Having said that, some might be family members or friends.

 

[SouthernKate]

Looks like they are having another live chat tomorrow at noon. No link on the website yet, just from Joe on Twitter.

 

[Givsmetheshivers]

Just want to jump in here quickly. It sounds like Giddings and Vandiver were having those conversations that men don't like to have. Like "if I am moving in with you, then I expect to be engaged soon." They probably had been going back and forth about it and he was dodging it as much as possible....She was hitting a milestone in her life and probably having those "where is this going?" talks with him. I am just imagining that he read that first line of that email and was going to ride out the silence as long as possible. He probably thought she was giving him the silent treatment, and he was taking advantage of it. That is just my guess. He probably wishes he could have a big do-over. It does make me sad.

 

[bessie]

Hey, Shivers! Long time, no see. I agree with your take. It was a bump in the road in their relationship just like any other that couples face for various reasons.

 

[SouthernKate]

http://www.macon.com/2011/12/12/1820652/it-was-just-like-her-unmissable.html

Part 2 is up now.

Don't know how many more of these articles I can take. Terribly heartbreaking.

 

[bessie]

A close friend from her days at Agnes Scott College and, later, at the law firm where they interned, thinks she favored pink because of the way she embodied its beam.

“It was just like her. Unmissable,” that close friend recalls in an e-mail.

“Unapologetic in its simultaneous innocence and boldness, and certain to draw a smile and start a conversation. If there are two things of this world that sum (her) up they are champagne and the color pink -- they are sweet, life-affirming and cause for celebration.

:rose: :rose: :rose: :rose: :rose: :rose: :rose: :rose: :rose: :rose:

:cry:

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/12/12/1820652/it-was-just-like-her-unmissable.html#ixzz1gIMlEonZ

 

[Oriah]

Computer forensics will show the exact time she started to compose the e-mail, and might narrow the window between the 6:30 pm Zaxby's video record, and 10:30 pm when LE says telephone and computer communications ceased. Unless she started writing before 6:30 and finished it later.

Even then I would think it would, wouldn't it bessie? Wouldn't it show as saved and then resaved/sent- unless she deleted on email and then rewrote and sent? I know mine do, both from emails (sent from my computers) and txts or emails sent from my phone.
Since I am a spaz, and try not to text or email while operating a vehicle- I frequently wait for a red light or gas station or whatever to send or answer an email or txt. Then before I'm finished, I've timed out so my draft is automatically saved (and time stamped) and when I get the chance to finish it and send, it will resave (additional time stamp for the 'revised' draft.) Could that be what happened in Lauren's case?

I feel so badly for her bf.

Lord, I hope it doesn't turn out to be that he didn't immediately or fully read her last communication with him- and it was really from her murderer. That would be just heartbreaking.

 

[Oriah]

I was wondering when I first read it if the new info on the jewelry might not "fit" somehow into your quest, Oriah!

I know that SM's mom indicated in one Telegraph article that she knew something of what was seized (either from documents given her or SM or their family per protocol or left behind unintentionally).

Thanks, Backwoods- I knew you'd know what I was thinking.

This may be a stupid question, or already asked and answered- but did Lauren have any identifying characteristics such as birthmarks, tattoos, healed fractures, surguries, fixative devices, that sort of thing- located specifically on her remains that have not been recovered?

Thanks if someone can tell me this- I apologize if I overlooked it somewhere.

 

[tut med]

Has anyone else read through the comments on the new article? Maybe it's been awhile, but it seems like there are alot more in support of McD. I wonder if this article changed people's perception or caused some doubt for some readers. Perhaps it had a negative effect?

Well, either that or his family is doing it...

I don't think the article changed anyone's perception-being from the local area. However, I do think those comments are from family and friends. If(or when) this case goes to trial the comments are going to get even nastier.

 

[southern_comfort]

I am also finding the comments to those articles interesting. Posters who were pretty strongly anti-McD in the past seem to be wavering.

I noticed in part two, it says that DVD has never been engaged. Wasn't it reported earlier that he was previously married? I suppose people can be married without having a formal engagement, but "never been engaged" seems a strange fact to point out if a person has been previously married, IMO.

 

[AgentFrankLundy]

Yes, I thought it was reported that his previous wife committed suicide. It would be tough to get through the day having been through what he has , and might explain some of the commitment phobia ..

 

[MaconMom]

Yes, I thought it was reported that his previous wife committed suicide. It would be tough to get through the day having been through what he has , and might explain some of the commitment phobia ..

I think it was his girlfriend (not wife) according to a poster's comment here:

http://www.newscentralga.com/news/l...h-Giddings-Neighbors-Apartment-125463388.html

I couldn't find an actual article on it.

 

[bessie]

Even then I would think it would, wouldn't it bessie? Wouldn't it show as saved and then resaved/sent- unless she deleted on email and then rewrote and sent? I know mine do, both from emails (sent from my computers) and txts or emails sent from my phone.
Since I am a spaz, and try not to text or email while operating a vehicle- I frequently wait for a red light or gas station or whatever to send or answer an email or txt. Then before I'm finished, I've timed out so my draft is automatically saved (and time stamped) and when I get the chance to finish it and send, it will resave (additional time stamp for the 'revised' draft.) Could that be what happened in Lauren's case?

I feel so badly for her bf.

Lord, I hope it doesn't turn out to be that he didn't immediately or fully read her last communication with him- and it was really from her murderer. That would be just heartbreaking.

Oh, sure, Oriah. She could have started and stopped any number of times. But if she initiated the e-mail before 6:30, then it wouldn't narrow the timeline. Based on the information released to the public so far, the window is 6:30-10:30. (Zaxby's video at 6:30 pm -- telephone/computer communications cease at 10:30 pm) If the e-mail was started at 8:30, for example, then we could assume the attack happened sometime afterward, and the window is narrowed to two hours.