GUILTY GA - Lauren Giddings, 27, Macon, 26 June 2011 # 9

[Irene_Adler]

I find it strange that he had the pics on a flash drive attached to his lanyard. If they were downloaded to his computer why did he put them on a flash drive that he carries around? If there were pics on his computer wouldn't LE have charged him with those? If the pics were not downloaded from his computer SM can say someone borrowed the flash drive and he had no knowledge of the pics. Since he had a master key I'm wondering if he downloaded them from someone else's computer.

After hearing this latest development, a tidal wave of dread washed over me. As much as I want closure for Lauren, her family, and now these innocent children, I fear that any closure that may come will be accompanied by more gruesome details.

As for the flash drive, and for what it's worth, my class received Mercer Law flash drives the first day of orientation. I'm not sure if McDaniel's class received the same, though. At any rate, he may have had that flash drive for over three years. I'm no techy, so I have no idea whether any deleted files can be traced, but in any case (and in light of the filth he saved on it) it might be helpful in constructing a timeline of sorts.

 

[Destini]

This just gets more & more bizarre & is disturbing on so many levels. Some days I just think I don't want to know anymore, but I keep coming back here like it's a bad train wreck.

So how could a person go from being a pedophile, or at the least an interest in kiddie p*rn, to having an infatuation with (presumably?) & killing a beautiful young woman?

Something is just not right here.

 

[bessie]

August 23, 2011
Child *advertiser censored* Found on McDaniel's Flash Drive
Giddings murder suspect charges with seven counts of sexual exploitation.

Sexual Exploitation Arrest Warrants

August 24, 2011
Child *advertiser censored* Charges for McDaniel
Images show boys and girls having sex with adults, each other, warrant says.

Lawyer Shocked by New Charges Against McDaniel
On Wednesday, McDaniel appeared before a magistrate in a jail courtroom on seven counts of child sexual exploitation -- possessing child *advertiser censored*. The hearing was held to let McDaniel hear the charges against him. He did not enter a plea and there was no discussion of bond.

McDaniel Hears Charges on Child *advertiser censored*
He walked in court with his hair bound in a ponytail and arms motionless at his side.


Woody Marshall/The Telegraph - Stephen McDaniel walks into court for his first appearance on seven counts of sexually exploiting children. At Wednesday's hearing, McDaniel's attorney requested his client have a commitment hearing before a magistrate during which a police detective will testify as to why McDaniel was charged with the additional offenses.

 

[3doglady]

- Any computer/laptop he had is probably clean of any such material. That's what the flash drive was for.
- GBI may not be done analyzing his PC/laptop
- Flash Drives can easily be password protected.

ETA:
The GBI may find additional images within the unallocated space on the hard drives of any PC/laptop they may still be analyzing.
"unallocated space", or "slack area" as the warrant request Knox posted calls it, is where you would find data belonging to files that have been deleted. Recovering such information may require specialized software and could be time consuming.

BBM Well let's hope they don't use the same software the prosecutors in the Anthony trial did, if so you can forget that.

 

[bessie]

After hearing this latest development, a tidal wave of dread washed over me. As much as I want closure for Lauren, her family, and now these innocent children, I fear that any closure that may come will be accompanied by more gruesome details.

As for the flash drive, and for what it's worth, my class received Mercer Law flash drives the first day of orientation. I'm not sure if McDaniel's class received the same, though. At any rate, he may have had that flash drive for over three years. I'm no techy, so I have no idea whether any deleted files can be traced, but in any case (and in light of the filth he saved on it) it might be helpful in constructing a timeline of sorts.

Unless he used one of the new, powerful drive eraser software, deleted files can be located on his computer's hard drive. Also, most flash drives bear a unique marker that distinguishes it from other flash drives. When a flash drive is inserted into a computer's USB port, the "visit" is noted in the computer's registry. In time, I think the computer will tell more of the story, but forensics results probably are not complete yet. As to why the DA is bringing these charges now, I'm going to sleep on that one. I don't believe it's because the murder case is weak, however.

 

[Sandstorm]

Originally Posted by Hyrax View Post
I doubt the LE are going to risk ruining the solid case for murder they have against McD by randomly adding on sensational, but unjustified, charges for child *advertiser censored*.

If the child *advertiser censored* charges turned out to be bogus, it might very well throw the otherwise unimpeachable murder charge into doubt.

So if they are confident enough to bring charges for this, they must have a bombproof reason for doing so.

about the part I bolded: I am sure that they feel they do.

I am sure that they do.
photographs?
Come on.
Yes, LE did find child *advertiser censored* photos on McDs flash drive.
Hyrax is right: LE would not jeopardize the murder case.
IMO, this child *advertiser censored* discovery goes right along with the real Stephen Mark McDaniel that he has kept hidden so very well for years under the "mask of awkward". I would not be surprised at any McD paraphilias LE discovers. In fact, I expect there are many more.

 

[Givsmetheshivers]

This just gets more & more bizarre & is disturbing on so many levels. Some days I just think I don't want to know anymore, but I keep coming back here like it's a bad train wreck.

So how could a person go from being a pedophile, or at the least an interest in kiddie p*rn, to having an infatuation with (presumably?) & killing a beautiful young woman?

Something is just not right here.

From what I've read, which is not much, I would guess that something happened in his childhood.

He might have been abused, emotionally or physically neglected or maybe he witnessed the sister being abused. He might have told his mom and she dismissed his claims. I bet there are many theories as to how a person develops personality disorders, but I am betting he did not learn to read social cues....but if someone dismissed his claims of abuse, that would be very confusing for a child. He never learned to interact with people much less people of the opposite sex.
...this next part is hard to even type. From what I read about child exploitation, some of those people have been abused and/or they are so insecure that they get turned on by those that are less "sexually threatening."
Maybe McD could not read social cues. He had no girlfriend but he was getting sexually frustrated. He misreads Lauren's kindness as a sign of attraction. He might have asked her out and she refused. He gets mad and kills her and keeps her torso for the same reasons as the child *advertiser censored*....or has the stress triggers that Angelanalyzes was talking about and couldn't stand the thought of not seeing her again. I do think the rumors about the torso would make sense now though....or he killed her to have sex with her.

This is NOT an expert opinion....but what I have gathered from reading sites.

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

I was just thinking... isn't most child p*rn shared via special forums or via email from people met in these places?
You don't generally just search on the internet and find that stuff.
In fact, it's probably too risky those who produce/spread that junk to put it on a website.
If so, they may get records from his internet service provider, and possibly the providers of any internet-based email accounts he had.
It's possible we could see the GBI/FBI file charges on some other people connected to this.

 

[3doglady]

Unless he used one of the new, powerful drive eraser software, deleted files can be located on his computer's hard drive. Also, most flash drives bear a unique marker that distinguishes it from other flash drives. When a flash drive is inserted into a computer's USB port, the "visit" is noted in the computer's registry. In time, I think the computer will tell more of the story, but forensics results probably are not complete yet. As to why the DA is bringing these charges now, I'm going to sleep on that one. I don't believe it's because the murder case is weak, however.

Just jumping off Bessie's post. If he didn't use an eraser software and deleted files shortly before his arrest they should be intact and easily extracted. If he deleted files months ago they may be fragmented and difficult to recover. I hope this case doesn't hinge on computer forensics.

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

Just jumping off Bessie's post. If he didn't use an eraser software and deleted files shortly before his arrest they should be intact and easily extracted. If he deleted files months ago they may be fragmented and difficult to recover. I hope this case doesn't hinge on computer forensics.

True. Given everything else they found, it's obvious he was not expecting his apt to be searched
so quickly and to be taken into custody (no chance to clean anything).
I'm sure they'll see what they can recover that may have been deleted recently.
They may find some interesting things there as well.

 

[3doglady]

I was just thinking... isn't most child p*rn shared via special forums or via email from people met in these places?
You don't generally just search on the internet and find that stuff.
In fact, it's probably too risky those who produce/spread that junk to put it on a website.
If so, they may get records from his internet service provider, and possibly the providers of any internet-based email accounts he had.
It's possible we could see the GBI/FBI file charges on some other people connected to this.

That's why I thought maybe he was using some else's computer to access the *advertiser censored*. He was intelligent enough to know it could be traced to his IP address.

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

That's why I thought maybe he was using some else's computer to access the *advertiser censored*. He was intelligent enough to know it could be traced to his IP address.

Yeah, like maybe from his parents house?
Heck, we may see the FBI serve a warrant for that stuff and pull their ISP records too.

 

[3doglady]

Yeah, like maybe from his parents house?
Heck, we may see the FBI serve a warrant for that stuff and pull their ISP records too.

Or his neighbor's since he had their key and probably knew their schedule. In fact he could have been using LG's computer and she caught him.

 

[Backwoods]

Hello again, folks -- been out of touch for a couple of days, tune in local TV & bam! There is new info!

Hyrax makes good points that the kiddie *advertiser censored* charges are likely based on solid, if not unimpeachable, evidence. But the big question for me is:

Why charge SMD with these offenses?

LE doesn't just automatically serve warrants because they have new evidence of an additional crime. The decision to make these charges tells us something about the felony murder case. Our job is to figure out what it tells us:

1) That LE has NOTHING in addition to the hacksaw package (which many here have said just isn't enough to convict and, even if it turns out to be enough in the jury's opinion, is a very weak case). At least, one might conclude that LE found nothing (yet) on SMD's computer that is usable to make the murder case.

2) LE is trying to further convince the public that SMD is such a bad guy that he must've -- therefore -- committed the murder? There are posts on Macon.com and even here that would say, if that is their motive, they succeeded.

3) LE is scared that they might not be able to convince the judge at the upcoming commitment hearing on the low probable cause standard to hold SMD for murder? On that theory, this charge will continue to hold him securely, much as the burglary charge (also probably on a weak evidentiary base) held him until a murder warrant was served.

I'm personally a bit perplexed that the next big news in this case is about a totally unrelated crime allegedly committed by the murder suspect. I fear that LE's murder evidence isn't nearly so strong as I was hoping it would be.

Thoughts?

I think all the possibilities you listed in this post and another one later are worth consideration.

Another -- perhaps the plan, and hence the reason for bringing the charges at this time, is to somehow link this with the murder charges. Evidence that someone else's computer was being used to download the images -- as 3doglady suggests -- more specifically, Lauren's computer and perhaps others in the complex? That she caught in him the act of doing this or had suspicions? Just one more possibility.

 

[al66pine]

If they filed a warrant for each picture he had, they'd probably have to outsource the paperwork.
Then, use a wheelbarrow to bring them to the judge to sign,
at which point he probably would have beat them over their heads with his gavel. :gavel:

LOL

No prob outsourcing above paperwork.
We'll get in touch w. banks, mortgage finance co's, real est. lenders,
lots of experience w. robo-signing for home repossessions.
Fast & cheap.
And some are accustomed to ignoring judges, gavels, and court orders.

Hope I'm not stepping on any toes here.
From time to time, my foot enters my mouth after making jokes.
Occasionally both feet.

 

[Backwoods]

Or his neighbor's since he had their key and probably knew their schedule. In fact he could have been using LG's computer and she caught him.

3doglady, I posted right below you without seeing this post -- didn't mean to echo. Did note in my post that you were kind of heading in this direction in your earlier posts!:seeya:

 

[Sandstorm]

I find it strange that he had the pics on a flash drive attached to his lanyard. If they were downloaded to his computer why did he put them on a flash drive that he carries around? If there were pics on his computer wouldn't LE have charged him with those? If the pics were not downloaded from his computer SM can say someone borrowed the flash drive and he had no knowledge of the pics. Since he had a master key I'm wondering if he downloaded them from someone else's computer.

3doglady, I think you took the very words straight out of Glenda's mouth.

 

[ehmadpotter]

I'm not in the running to win any popularity prizes anyway, so I might as well go ahead and post this: He may not be guilty of these charges.

Fair enough: "Innocent until proven guilty," but Jeeeeeeeeeeeesus H. Christ!!! Have you ever heard of Occam's Razor?? We are not, as a WS group, jurors, judges or hangmen, so we don't have to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. Leave that to the official system of justice with all the myriad forensics and legal gymnastics. I'm left with Occam's Razor and my own instinctive, intuitive, gut feelings.........which are NOT enough to convict SMcD in a court of law.....but enough for me to worry about his nieces/nephews and to know/believe that I would never want him watching my own!

 

[Backwoods]

Hmmm, y'all -- there's a comment posted just a few days ago on the Fox24 web page featuring the full June 30 SM interview, having to do with the "murder theory" allegation. (First comment up, when I looked just now.) This is a new one on me. Have y'all encountered this one before?

http://www.newscentralga.com/news/local/June-30th-Interview-with-Stephen-McDaniel-126361528.html

 

[Backwoods]

3doglady, I think you took the very words straight out of Glenda's mouth.

Huh?? Why would Glenda say that since her son has a master key, he downloaded child *advertiser censored* from someone else's computer?