GUILTY GA - Lauren Giddings, 27, Macon, 26 June 2011 #14

[pearl]

bumping up

 

[Sonya610]

I did note that the NAMUS profile for Mr. Donovan said they have dentals for him, so if the found skull had teeth present, I would think they would be able to rule him in or out from that.

The bones included a skull didn't they? If a skull was found then they can probably tell the race of the deceased which might rule Mr. Donovan out without dental records.

 

[Backwoods]

The bones included a skull didn't they? If a skull was found then they can probably tell the race of the deceased which might rule Mr. Donovan out without dental records.

That is likely true, too!

 

[Backwoods]

The bones included a skull didn't they? If a skull was found then they can probably tell the race of the deceased which might rule Mr. Donovan out without dental records.

bbm: Sonya, just jumping off your post (since it is brief) to correct my own error (which you, understandably, repeated) -- because I realize now that somewhere along the line I started calling this missing person Mr. Donovan.

Duh -- his name is Troy Donovan Burnett, so obviously my brain was not working. So he is Mr. Burnett, or, in what I believe is accepted WS fashion, Troy. (I have been interested in his case from its beginning but, for some reason, it seems I have always had one problem or another with getting his name correctly.)

So sorry for any confusion I may have caused!

 

[Sonya610]

bbm: Sonya, just jumping off your post (since it is brief) to correct my own error (which you, understandably, repeated) -- because I realize now that somewhere along the line I started calling this missing person Mr. Donovan.

Duh -- his name is Troy Donovan Burnett, so obviously my brain was not working. So he is Mr. Burnett, or, in what I believe is accepted WS fashion, Troy. (I have been interested in his case from its beginning but, for some reason, it seems I have always had one problem or another with getting his name correctly.)

So sorry for any confusion I may have caused!

I have not followed that case but it looks like Burnett disappeared in late December of 2011, right? And the bones were discovered in early March, that is only 2.5 months. Since it was during the winter when temps at night drop to freezing I don't think the body would be reduced to bones that quick in those conditions. I could be wrong though.

 

[Backwoods]

I have not followed that case but it looks like Burnett disappeared in late December of 2011, right? And the bones were discovered in early March, that is only 2.5 months. Since it was during the winter when temps at night drop to freezing I don't think the body would be reduced to bones that quick in those conditions. I could be wrong though.

That is a good point, and I surely don't know enough about the weather conditions' effect, etc., to say otherwise.

It does seem from the couple of media reports that came out about the discovery of the partial skeletal remains that the bones were scattered -- perhaps animal scavenger activity, I guess, which might hasten reaching the skeletal stage. Media gave an account of what was found originally but I think there was never an update to what, if anything, further was found with the additional searching.

I feel relatively sure that, at the very first, there was some thought in many quarters (including LE) that those might be Lauren's remains, even if it happened that that was quickly disproved.

 

[Sonya610]

I feel relatively sure that, at the very first, there was some thought in many quarters (including LE) that those might be Lauren's remains, even if it happened that that was quickly disproved.

Oh yeah, it sounds like the bones were scattered so until they found them all (or someone determined the sex/race of the skeleton) they would naturally wonder if the remains were Giddings.

The body could have also been a homeless person or some such thing, there are a lot of pretty bizarre people in Macon and it is always amazing how often someone gets themselves killed while wandering around in the middle of the night (crossing a major freeway at 2 am, riding their wheelchair into a drainage ditch full of water at 3 am, toddlers getting hit by cars while on a "stroll" with their parents at midnight, etc...)

 

[pearl]

Shouldn't we be hearing about court motions soon?

 

[tomkat]

Shouldn't we be hearing about court motions soon?

Wondering that myself

 

[bessie]

Wondering that myself

Me, three.

 

[Backwoods]

Regarding when the next official word in this case will be, I know the judge set some dates for different things a while back, and then about mid-June we heard from defense attorney Frank Hogue (and I posted this a few weeks back --the all caps and syntax error are in the original):

DEFENSE ATTORNEY FRANK HOGUE SAYS THEY LIKE WON'T HAVE ANY MORE HEARINGS THIS SUMMER.... BUT RATHER, THEY'LL SPEND THE MONTHS COMBING THROUGH EVIDENCE AND PREPARING FOR TRIAL.

MOTIONS IN THE CASE ARE DUE AUGUST 31... BUT HOGUE SAYS AFTER LOOKING AT THE BODY OF EVIDENCE... THE DEFENSE TEAM WILL PROBABLY NEED MORE TIME.

http://www.13wmaz.com/archive/article/185648/340/Tuesday-June-19-Eyewitness-News-at-6

And that is absolutely the last peep I have heard or seen in any local media. While I may have missed something, I do keep a pretty close lookout for news, but just haven't heard anything further.

I'm wondering, too (four??)!

 

[bessie]

Thanks, BW. The wheels of justice turn slowly, as they say. We'll just have to be patient and keep bumping Lauren's thread.

 

[Backwoods]

Thanks, BW. The wheels of justice turn slowly, as they say. We'll just have to be patient and keep bumping Lauren's thread.

I'm thinking (hoping) that maybe a media outlet will do some kind of check-in update at least by around the time the next proceeding was originally scheduled (Aug. 31), even if it is indeed delayed.

 

[Backwoods]

I'm pretty sure that it was at the arraignment/initial bond hearing (the one at which the infamous post was read) on April 3 that the judge sketched out a schedule for motions, etc. I don't believe the schedule was reported in any print media.

I tried looking on 13WMAZ's site for the bond hearing video but could only find "part 1", no "part 2" -- and as far as I could determine, the scheduling conversation was not in the part 1 that is on the site. (I really thought it might have been -- in conjunction with arraignment portion, perhaps -- maybe it was edited out, if it was.)

Maybe someone else can sleuth out part 2 and/or the schedule better than I did -- here's the 13WMAZ home page:
http://www.13wmaz.com/

 

[Backwoods]

Just as a matter of interest: I recently saw evidence online that steps are being taken with Lauren's estate. Nothing unusual, just a pretty routine sort of filing. It was made in Bibb County, Georgia (that's Macon) -- so that answers the question about where her legal residence was at the time of her death, I guess -- some of us were wondering a while back.

I saw, too, evidence that early steps are happening in settling the estate of Stephen's grandfather, who died in April. Again, nothing unusual, just a routine filing. (I was never able to find any obituary online for him -- I was a little surprised at that.)

Below is a link to the Georgia Press Association site's Public Notices section, which can be helpful at times -- it sure can be a pain to search, though, I'll warn you now!

http://www.georgiapublicnotice.com/pages/what_is_public_notice

 

[Backwoods]

Two items from Macon media Monday:

Rules for new memorials in Macon parks draw grumbles

http://www.macon.com/2012/08/06/2125727/roasted-cafe-fence-appeal-postponed.html

Macon Council Debates Memorial Donations

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/topstories/article/191351/175/Macon-Council-Debates-Memorial-Donations

 

[Backwoods]

Looks like Lauren's memorial bench will happen!

Giddings Memorial Bench - YouTube

Macon City Council Approves Lauren Giddings Memorial Bench in Washington Park

http://www.41nbc.com/news/local-new...en-giddings-memorial-bench-in-washington-park

Council OKs Giddings' Bench, Sets Standard for Future

http://www.newscentralga.com/news/l...Bench-Sets-Standard-for-Future-165370466.html

Macon City Council Approves Giddings Memorial Bench

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/topstori...City-Council-Approves-Giddings-Memorial-Bench

Macon approves memorial bench for Lauren Giddings

http://www.macon.com/2012/08/07/2127453/macon-police-and-fire-pension.html

 

[Backwoods]

Wow, the memorial bench sure is getting a lot of media coverage! There's more today:

Macon Council Approves Giddings' Park Memorial

... The lush landscape of Washington Park will soon include a memorial to Lauren Giddings, the Mercer Law Graduate who was murdered last summer.


Her sister Kaitlyn Wheeler spoke to us from Maryland.

Of Lauren's love for Washington Park she said, "She had a dog that everybody has heard about, Butterbean, that she'd take for walks and she'd also go running there. It was just a place where she spent some of her free time." ...

print story and video at: http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/article/191556/153/Macon-Council-Approves-Giddings-Park-Memorial

Bench In Memory Of Slain Law Grad Approved

more at: http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/08/08/bench-in-memory-of-slain-law-grad-approved/


It's great! (But I do wish we'd get a little reporting about the pending trial, along with it.)

 

[bessie]

Of Lauren's love for Washington Park she said, "She had a dog that everybody has heard about, Butterbean, that she'd take for walks and she'd also go running there. It was just a place where she spent some of her free time."
​

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/article/191556/153/Macon-Council-Approves-Giddings-Park-Memorial

What an appropriate way to memorialize Lauren. I hope to visit there one day.

 

[Sonya610]

Wow, the memorial bench sure is getting a lot of media coverage! There's more today.

Yeah apparently the powers that be in Macon did NOT want to see a bench donated to the park by family and friends in her honor. Tis a mystery as to why that was a problem!