GUILTY GA - Lauren Giddings, 27, Macon, 26 June 2011 # 4

[MaconMom]

A little OT here but I find it strange that the boyfriend has never been named or offered any type of statement or opinion. I have read conflicting reports that the email was sent to him and in other cases to a friend. I can't think of anyone who would know more about a persons fears of security or discomfort (or lack thereof) than a someone who you are having a relationship with, but yet he has given no opinion relating to McD.

He was named a while back in these threads. I'm not sure where they got his name from, whether it was from the media or elsewhere. My understanding is that he has been cleared and is not a POI. He probably doesn't want to be in the media spotlight so he just doesn't make any statements to the media. Can't say I blame him..

 

[tomkat]

WOW, another body found, tom hill sr blvd
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/article/137441/175/Body-Found-in-Van-in-North-Macon

 

[tomkat]

He went to Mercer. (undergrad in Macon before law school)

A friend of my duaghters is a bit odd, always nerdy, shy, always was different looking, red hair, bushy, smart, but after he got into med school, he became quite narcissistic, not at all the person he was before, same sense of humor, just much sarcasm and rudeness. I guess they get the big head. lol. OR feel like they fit in now.

 

[Classic_56]

A little OT here but I find it strange that the boyfriend has never been named or offered any type of statement or opinion. I have read conflicting reports that the email was sent to him and in other cases to a friend. I can't think of anyone who would know more about a persons fears of security or discomfort (or lack thereof) than a someone who you are having a relationship with, but yet he has given no opinion relating to McD.

I've also found this strange. I read in a post somewhere that he was at her memorial service, and I've also read that he was travelling at the time she went missing and thinking it odd that he/they weren't in better communication. Who knows, maybe he tried to contact her and was in a panic that she wasn't responding to texts or calls.. but I think that if I were in the same situation, I'd contact someone and have them check on her. Not allow days to go by. (Just rambling on here.)

On a personal level, I live and work in Macon and drive past the apartments at least twice a day. It haunts me that I dove past the apartments around 8 a.m. on the way to my office and nothing looked out of the ordinary. Shortly after that her remains were discovered. It leaves an unsettling feeling.

 

[PlainJaneDoe]

http://www.macon.com/2011/07/28/1646328/burns-hunt-for-giddings-killer.html

Very interesting, detailed new article about the murder. Lots of detail given to the immediate time after she was reported missing, as well as the discovery of her remains. Her sister, Kaitlyn, also doesn't seem very impressed with the Fox News program, either.

There wasn't an article there when I clicked...?

 

[ThinMan]

Well, FWIW, several days after the initial announcement of the murder I speculated this regarding motive and why it played out the way it did: http://angelanalyzes.tumblr.com/post/7176057228/lauren-giddings-murder-preliminary-analysis (linked because I'm not sure if I can only post 10% here or not)
Some people find it offensive etc., but I was trying to make sense of why someone risk-averse enough to be able to hypothetically pull off the crime without leaving a huge mess would make such a seemingly stupid mistake. I tend not to think it was a mistake that he held onto her for so long, unfortunately.

I realize the trash comes on Thursday morning, but I highly doubt he had planned to wait all that time for the trash to be picked up to get rid of the remains, because only a part of her was found in the trash, so if it's McDaniel's doing, he had been disposing of other large parts piecemeal in other ways and it's possible IMO that there was a reason he was holding onto her remains and why the rest of her has been hard to locate.
Could be totally and completely wrong and it could just be a bungled attempt at avoiding detection by dismemberment, but IMO it makes no sense to expose yourself to all that DNA risk in your own apartment complex in the murder of your next-door neighbor in hopes of avoiding detection, so that indicates some darker urges, possibly.

AngelAnalyzes' motive theory (or something similarly nefarious, such as necrophilia) is probably going to remain a theory for some time after a homicide charge is made. If (a guess) SMD is charged with LG's murder next week, the DA will be very reluctant to disclose facts that would substantiate AA's theory (if, indeed, there are such facts).

The DA has to anticipate a defense motion to change venue for the trail (along with another conflict of interest motion) and wants to provide just enough public information to get everyone to believe that SMD is the perpetrator, but not so much as to inflame the public and give the defense ammunition for a claim that it's impossible for SMD to get a fair trial in Bibb County.

A public charge of cannibalism or necrophilia would multiply 100x the amount of publicity that's been accorded this homicide. If such a statement is made at the time SMD is charge with the murder, I think it means that there is only trace evidence to sustain the murder charge against SMD, and that it's only weakly probative of his guilt. In that case, the sensational (extra) facts about post-mortem abuse of the corpse would be put into play to create the "he did it" response that is so important for the DA to create with the announcement of the murder indictment. At this point, I'm betting we won't hear next week about post-mortem corpse abuse (other than the dismemberment), even if there are facts that support the theory.

I don't think, however, we will have to wait until the trial to learn whether AA is correct -- the sort of details that go with her motive theory or similar ones will be very hard to keep from leaking. Then we'll be in the same situation we are now, trying to separate rumor from fact (which I think participants on this website are doing a pretty good job of) and drawing implications from the facts that DO leak out from the MPD, DA, Coroner, and/or Grand Jury.

 

[SuperMom1995]

I think people are underestimating McDaniel's intelligence.
I think he got sloppy when he panicked, but I think if he did this, knowing certain things about his personality from what I've heard from locals, he probably had all kinds of neat little tricks he researched to help get away with this kind of thing.
He was also a law school grad who had a very minimal social life.
He was into survivalism, which tends to go hand in hand with a meticulous researching of information that isn't practical everyday kind of stuff. My guess is he would be able to pull off a pretty clean crime if he put his mind to it, and a few prep classes wouldn't have precluded that.
I think if he did it, he could give the FBI lab a run for their money. I'm sure they'll find/have found some evidence, but I think if McD is the perp, he may have approached the dismemberment intelligently but I think he also suffered a period of decompensation as the stress built which lead him to make sloppy mistakes.
It's one thing to figure out how to dismember a body effectively without making a mess, but all the incidental things that come up after the crime aren't as easy to manage especially with stress and paranoia compounding. jmo.

I personally think he is very intelligent. Did not know he was into survivalism.

 

[Givsmetheshivers]

so, do you think he did it or not?

For a moment I thought he didn't, but I think he did. The only way I can see this going down, is....I think he had some deep seeded issues. I think he might have formed a little crush on Lauren because she was nice to him and didn't exclude (which is much different than including.) I think he felt a connection with her because he had been going into her apartment for a couple of months, if not years, and thought from the little clues and signs that he saw that they could be together. He might have had some sort of fantasy that if she would just break up with "that guy" in Atlanta then she would see that they would be perfect together. I think maybe the last couple of times he went in, she might have suspected him as the one going in and wrote an email stating this. She might have expressed fear of him. I think he read it and it enraged him because he had this "connection" with her in his mind and he snapped. I think he probably had some big hatred/jealousy and a sense of superiority over the "good ole boys" in law school that the girls fawned over. He went into their apartments and took tabs on their condom usage. He probably took their last one or two condoms as a little joke thinking that they would get someone pregnant or an STD in the heat of the moment and that would be just deserts for their careless behavior.
Lauren had been working for the underdogs of the world but was dating a high dollar atty who was nothing more than the antithesis of what he thought an attorney should be and what he probably thought she was. I think he probably got a sick satisfaction that the atty boyfriend didn't report her missing and was out of the state. The boyfriend's lack of response was gratifying because it proved his theory that he wasn't in love with her the way he was.

 

[Givsmetheshivers]

You also have to remember that in the comments section on Macon.com that some of Stephen's family are posting there. Lauren's sister is probably making jabs at them in her comments. She is probably 100% sure that it is Mcd and that we are a bunch of bitties sitting around stirring up poop. I feel a little connected because I would have been nice to McD too and it could have been me in the same position. I just didn't want it to be him.

I also think that McD is very intelligent, but he could also be extremely book smart and may not be crafty street smart. He might have over thought it all and was taking body parts out one by one and then ran out of time and dumped her torso. I do not think it was meant to be found. In despiration he could have thought that the trash would be picked up and then he could insert himself into the investigation scott free. I think he did not think he thought that him being so concerned was a red flag because I think he did feel like they were friends and could have been even more had it not been for the boyfriend.

Also, with his home life. I was looking at what appeared to be his Dad's facebook page. I have some thoughts on it, but they could just be my imagination running away with things. He seems to have been raised in an extreme religious setting, which from time to time has its own set of craziness and issues. Dad could be a little Narcissistic with a co-dependent Mom and that would appear to be a happy home from the outside with worlds of trouble inside. Mix in a little abuse at school, some acting out and the co-dependent mom making excuses for him and we have a ticking timebomb.

One of my family members had a stalker situation with someone who was mentally disturbed. It took him a while to figure out that you could not even be cordial because the stalker had made a connection in her head to him. She was reading him just being cordial as a stepping stone to their "life together."

 

[Wondergirl]

Agreed, and co-sign! That said, believe me, there are nights that I go to bed wondering why I'm so wrapped up in being caught up on having read everything on the threads here and in articles elsewhere. This is the first time that I have ever watched an investigation unfold moment to moment with this sort of interest, and quite frankly, sometimes it disturbs me. I can easily see how anyone would look at the discussions here and wonder what prompts 30+ people to jump through the hoops of getting registered, login, post, and send private messages about the sister whose loss I feel so viscerally. I'd kind of think we were a bunch of weirdos, fwiw. :crazy:

You're right---the news article comments are horrendous. They range from supportive to skeptical to conspiracy theory to downright hateful. I can see how looking at any of that nonsense would just bring you to your knees. I can't even look at those comments anymore, and this is not even my loss or grief.

Most people join Websleuths because they care.

They care about the victims, their families, friends and the communities.

Often times, members here have been victims themselves.

Some join just to talk about a case that nobody in "real life" wants to talk about.

Some people want to make a difference by driving public awareness about a case, via many, many different methods.

Often time people at WS make a difference, they find something of so much value that LE would not have found, because they didn't have the time, didn't make the connection.......just look at Zahra Bakers case (or for that matter Jon Benet Ramsey, John Mark Karr was a member at WS and the owner of WS recognized his false confession originated from info gleaned here). Check out the UID threads, where members have ID'd UID people, matching them to missing persons. WS works with LE.

It's definitely a different type of way to past time, I totally agree. But the reasons for the threads here are not the same as the Comment Sections now so pervasive at online news sites. ANY STORY on the news sites, not just murders. It is really ridiculous, and does best to go ignored, IMO.

JMO

 

[cluciano63]

I'm still on board with SM being the suspect...won't be at all surprised if tests show him to have been involved. It is the only scenario that makes sense to me at the moment, although of course, none of it is "sensible."

 

[midstateMind]

Most people join Websleuths because they care.

They care about the victims, their families, friends and the communities.

Often times, members here have been victims themselves.

Some join just to talk about a case that nobody in "real life" wants to talk about.

Some people want to make a difference by driving public awareness about a case, via many, many different methods.

Often time people at WS make a difference, they find something of so much value that LE would not have found, because they didn't have the time, didn't make the connection.......just look at Zahra Bakers case (or for that matter Jon Benet Ramsey, John Mark Karr was a member at WS and the owner of WS recognized his false confession originated from info gleaned here). Check out the UID threads, where members have ID'd UID people, matching them to missing persons. WS works with LE.

It's definitely a different type of way to past time, I totally agree. But the reasons for the threads here are not the same as the Comment Sections now so pervasive at online news sites. ANY STORY on the news sites, not just murders. It is really ridiculous, and does best to go ignored, IMO.

JMO

SO, I think we're actually in agreement, even if I put it in a little bit more crass of a way. I have NO doubt that people here care, and never wrote nor thought that. What I'm trying to say is that from an outsider's perspective, it would be not too unreasonable a leap to wonder or ask what people on this forum get out of it. I've had a few Macon locals wander on to the site and later tell me that they feel like it's spooky or creepy. (Just feedback I've heard----please nobody unleash the flying monkeys on me!)

Please do not misread me, I'm not trying to be divisive. My point is simply that in putting myself in others' shoes, I can see how this is not for everyone and could *seem* strange to others. AND that is okay---it's not for everyone.

You'll also be kind enough to note that I did state or imply that comments on sites with news content are ridiculous and run a wide gamut. I agreed that they are mostly so foul that they are not worth looking at.

Sorry to offend...

 

[Wondergirl]

SO, I think we're actually in agreement, even if I put it in a little bit more crass of a way. I have NO doubt that people here care, and never wrote nor thought that. What I'm trying to say is that from an outsider's perspective, it would be not too unreasonable a leap to wonder or ask what people on this forum get out of it. I've had a few Macon locals wander on to the site and later tell me that they feel like it's spooky or creepy. (Just feedback I've heard----please nobody unleash the flying monkeys on me!)

Please do not misread me, I'm not trying to be divisive. My point is simply that in putting myself in others' shoes, I can see how this is not for everyone and could *seem* strange to others. AND that is okay---it's not for everyone.

You'll also be kind enough to note that I did state or imply that comments on sites with news content are ridiculous and run a wide gamut. I agreed that they are mostly so foul that they are not worth looking at.

Sorry to offend...

No offense taken whatsoever, sorry about that, I should have stated that.

I agree with your post 100%, and can totally understand where the Macon locals are coming from.

I was just trying to offer an explanation of why some people join WS. I only speak for myself, and some people that I have met here.

You raise valid points, and since these points have been raised in the recent article by Lauren's sister, I thought I would add my 2 cents on the issue.

 

[Givsmetheshivers]

No offense taken whatsoever, sorry about that, I should have stated that.

I agree with your post 100%, and can totally understand where the Macon locals are coming from.

I was just trying to offer an explanation of why some people join WS. I only speak for myself, and some people that I have met here.

You raise valid points, and since these points have been raised in the recent article by Lauren's sister, I thought I would add my 2 cents on the issue.

If I had had my poop together in college and had a direction in life back then, I would have had a goal to work for the FBI or been a local detective. I love it. I love to solve things. Those same people who think it is creepy are probably the same ones who give access to their husband's computers when they want to see if they are cheating. I am cusious and a problem solver by nature and it isn't going away any time soon. I was born to do it.

TRUTV loves us creeps because we are keeping them on the air and laughing all the way to the bank. Oh well.

 

[SouthernKate]

WOW, another body found, tom hill sr blvd
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/article/137441/175/Body-Found-in-Van-in-North-Macon

It was an elderly man, found dead in his van, at the grocery store.

Completely unrelated to this case.

 

[SouthernKate]

There wasn't an article there when I clicked...?

It worked fine last night..here it is again:

http://www.macon.com/2011/07/28/1646328/burns-hunt-for-giddings-killer.html

Hope that works for you!

 

[bessie]

WOW, another body found, tom hill sr blvd
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/article/137441/175/Body-Found-in-Van-in-North-Macon

The elderly man's death has nothing in common with Lauren's murder. The first line in the article states that no foul play is suspected. I'm curious why you would introduce it here, as if to suggest it is in some way related to this discussion.

 

[SuperMom1995]

If I had had my poop together in college and had a direction in life back then, I would have had a goal to work for the FBI or been a local detective. I love it. I love to solve things. Those same people who think it is creepy are probably the same ones who give access to their husband's computers when they want to see if they are cheating. I am cusious and a problem solver by nature and it isn't going away any time soon. I was born to do it.

TRUTV loves us creeps because we are keeping them on the air and laughing all the way to the bank. Oh well.

I know what you are saying. I have a law degree (but have never practiced) but I have applied at both the FBI and the TBI (Tennessee) and even after being contacted to sit for the test, I didn't, because I am too much of a wimp. I love the investigative part but not the thought of using a weapon or being in the middle of actual danger. ha ha So, I will remain an armchair investigator.

 

[MaconMom]

The elderly man's death has nothing in common with Lauren's murder. The first line in the article states that no foul play is suspected. I'm curious why you would introduce it here, as if to suggest it is in some way related to this discussion.

To be fair, at the time he/she posted it, it did not say whether it was male or female and did not say foul play was not suspected. I think it just said that a body was found.

 

[Knox]

You also have to remember that in the comments section on Macon.com that some of Stephen's family are posting there. Lauren's sister is probably making jabs at them in her comments. She is probably 100% sure that it is Mcd and that we are a bunch of bitties sitting around stirring up poop. I feel a little connected because I would have been nice to McD too and it could have been me in the same position. I just didn't want it to be him.

I also think that McD is very intelligent, but he could also be extremely book smart and may not be crafty street smart. He might have over thought it all and was taking body parts out one by one and then ran out of time and dumped her torso. I do not think it was meant to be found. In despiration he could have thought that the trash would be picked up and then he could insert himself into the investigation scott free. I think he did not think he thought that him being so concerned was a red flag because I think he did feel like they were friends and could have been even more had it not been for the boyfriend.

Also, with his home life. I was looking at what appeared to be his Dad's facebook page. I have some thoughts on it, but they could just be my imagination running away with things. He seems to have been raised in an extreme religious setting, which from time to time has its own set of craziness and issues. Dad could be a little Narcissistic with a co-dependent Mom and that would appear to be a happy home from the outside with worlds of trouble inside. Mix in a little abuse at school, some acting out and the co-dependent mom making excuses for him and we have a ticking timebomb.

One of my family members had a stalker situation with someone who was mentally disturbed. It took him a while to figure out that you could not even be cordial because the stalker had made a connection in her head to him. She was reading him just being cordial as a stepping stone to their "life together."

You made some very good points in this post, but IMO it's unfair to discuss McD's parent's. We don't know anything about them, nor their home life.

My niece had a situation last year similar to your relatives. It was very scary for her and all of us. Long story short she ended up moving to another state. She was never able to feel completely safe again in that area.