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

[tomkat]

Yeah we got hit hard, lost power until 4 am. Very glad it is back on, if the temperature soars again being without well water or air conditioning is really not a good thing (maybe it will convince me to buy gas for the generator though!).

One more thought on the email, and more on why I don't think McDaniel even knew about that email until the friends found it...

He is dropping names left and right during that interview, giving the names of everyone that was there searching for her and also I think mentioning the names of people she had met early on Saturday. When it comes to the boyfriend he says "She has a boyfriend in Atlanta but I can't remember his name" then regarding the email he says "She emailed some friend...we think he is in Atlanta".

If he sent the email he surely figured out who it was going to, I think he really couldn't remember VanDivers name. He just finished a police interview and generally the goal is to mention as many names as possible, so he likely would have told the press IF he could recall what it was, I surely don't see McDaniel omitting the name in order to protect VanDiver.

I don't mean to trash other people's theories, but the email doesn't sound like it was written to summon help, dialing 911 and hanging up would have accomplished that easily enough. If the killer was that unorganized and impulsive he would have screwed up in other ways and probably cracked under police pressure ages ago.

Sonja, I tend to agree with you on this email thing for the most part.

First of all I dont' think I have ever seen the full email and I haven't given much thought to it becuase of that, only the part about "hoodlum" mentioned many times over but that is a term used around this area all the time, AND I ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT was so "NOT LAUREN" in the last line or paragraph of that email? Just the word "hoodlum"??? Is that the part that throws everyone off? Or the fact that it was brief in description?


Others and then Vandiver have stated that they were certain LG wrote the first part but wern't sure she wrote the last part.......?

Just some thoughts....

I do agree with what LG mother said, "she didnt' know what hit her" and in my mind, someone knocked her out from behind and she never even knew they were there, especially could be so if there were no signs of a struggle inside the apt. She could have been at the computer when she was hit (if hit from behind) and he could have finished it I s'pose. But I wonder if there was any disarray, any, like a keyboard knocked askew or lamp or chair ANYTHING? IF so we would have known where she was at the time of attack and if she was at the computer at the time of attack, the perp may have taken the time to read it and finish it, but why?? Nothing in it was incriminating to him. If apt wasn't in disarray, maybe he cleaned up her apt, he clearly cleaned up alot in the end!!


BUT also, wouldn't the intruder have had to take time to read and think about the email, what it said and what to reply? Wouldnt he have been in a rush to get out of there or whatever he came to do after knocking her out, without worry of an email? I mean, eventually the authorities were going to know she was missing and so the email wasn't finished, so what, it would appear that she got up in the middle of her email to answer the door or something and didnt' finish it (assuming someone else finished it). I think the intruder locked her door when he left to make everyone think she walked outside and so why worry about the email? Clearly the crime occurred that same night, but the email didnt' lead to MCD or anyone else

I just think it was too much going on to worry with her email. JMHO

 

[tomkat]

Southern Lingo:

whoops, a daisy......phrase used when someone slipped on a daisy on sidewalk
Cute as a button/Cute as pie - neither are cute but used to describe something adorable
Sweet as pie - self explanatory
Sweet pea - endearment used to address or describe a sweet child
Honey or Sugah (sugar lol) - endearment used by women of the south
string bean - description of someone tall and skinny

butterbean - southern description of something small and cute

Butterbean's color as a pup was the same as now

but this is how I've seen these terms used, interesting to note,but they are something we see and hear often in the south but dont' really think about and I'm sure there are others I just can't recall at the moment

 

[tomkat]

Haven't been on here in a week, but I did check out BH last week and this and nothing was ever there in LG memory, just apt postings or something like Agent Frank mentioned. I wanted to put a rose on the fence but it is private property and so I did not

 

[Backwoods]

Haven't been on here in a week, but I did check out BH last week and this and nothing was ever there in LG memory, just apt postings or something like Agent Frank mentioned. I wanted to put a rose on the fence but it is private property and so I did not

tomkat, I think one of the news links we had showed a small wreath or something on a fence -- I think with some pink fabric or something flowing from it. It may have just been placed for a brief time, though.

ETA: The pic (may be part of a video) is here: http://www.newscentralga.com/news/local/Lauren-Giddings-1-Year-Later-160971655.html
...and is mentioned in the accompanying print article as well.

 

[Sonya610]

First of all I dont' think I have ever seen the full email and I haven't given much thought to it becuase of that, only the part about "hoodlum" mentioned many times over but that is a term used around this area all the time, AND I ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT was so "NOT LAUREN" in the last line or paragraph of that email? Just the word "hoodlum"??? Is that the part that throws everyone off? Or the fact that it was brief in description?

Maybe it "didn't sound like Lauren" because the break-in attempt was mentioned near the end of the email and Lauren hadn't told ANYONE about it, which just didn't sound like her at all!

Vandiver claims he didn't read the whole thing until she was reported missing. I have to think maybe he DID read the whole thing and thought it was high drama and he didn't believe it, but then after she showed up missing of course he wouldn't want to say/admit to that, so he just said "Oh...I was busy and didn't finish reading it for a few days" because "he knew it would come up again". He had a good 5 hours of boring flight time between CA and Atlanta, he had plenty of time to read through emails and think about his girlfriend.

Boni Bush even said she was "scheduled" to be out by that Thursday but Lauren wouldn't return calls to confirm the date and hadn't started packing. Whatever Lauren's plans had been it surely seems it wasn't working out that way and she wasn't ready to accept that and go with plan B.

 

[GeorgiaSunshine]

Maybe it "didn't sound like Lauren" because the break-in attempt was mentioned near the end of the email and Lauren hadn't told ANYONE about it, which just didn't sound like her at all!

Vandiver claims he didn't read the whole thing until she was reported missing. I have to think maybe he DID read the whole thing and thought it was high drama and he didn't believe it, but then after she showed up missing of course he wouldn't want to say/admit to that, so he just said "Oh...I was busy and didn't finish reading it for a few days" because "he knew it would come up again". He had a good 5 hours of boring flight time between CA and Atlanta, he had plenty of time to read through emails and think about his girlfriend.

Boni Bush even said she was "scheduled" to be out by that Thursday but Lauren wouldn't return calls to confirm the date and hadn't started packing. Whatever Lauren's plans had been it surely seems it wasn't working out that way and she wasn't ready to accept that and go with plan B.

Not True. Her plans were to move to ATL and they were interrupted. No matter how the media construes it. And DV is innocent. LG and DV had a plan, and it was interrupted. My heart aches for him. Relationships aren't perfect but that doesn't mean it is an alibi for murder. :twocents::

 

[Sonya610]

Not True. Her plans were to move to ATL and they were interrupted. No matter how the media construes it. And DV is innocent. LG and DV had a plan, and it was interrupted. My heart aches for him. Relationships aren't perfect but that doesn't mean it is an alibi for murder. :twocents::

Alibi for murder? I am not saying it had anything to do with the murder at all! I am saying it could explain the hoodlum email. This has nothing to do with the media other than they reported Boni Bush's statements in articles that were NOT related to Vandiver, if the media noticed the dates they chose not to focus on that because the love story made for a better angle.

 

[McMunn]

Macon police told to tighten evidence handling

Published: July 6, 2012 Updated 12 hours ago

By JIM GAINES — [email protected]

Vague records, easy access drew auditor’s warning

A review of security at the Macon Police Department’s evidence room found there was no way to tell who had been in the room, if all items there were being documented, or if anyone had changed the evidence record.

When she did a surprise cash count of money in the evidence room’s safe, city Internal Auditor Stephanie Jones found nearly $244,000 in confiscated funds that weren’t being tracked by the Finance Department.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/07/06/2086616/macon-police-told-to-tighten-evidence.html

 

[McMunn]

SMM, stephen mark mcdaniel, i use S MD, for stephen McD(aniel),

Do you mean the swords had been in police custody or the man who owned them was in police custody or IS in police custody??

BUT THAT DOES ALL SEEM A LITTLE TOO COINCIDENTAL !!!

The owner of the store said that the guy who sold them to him, got them from the police. He said that he thought that maybe they were from a police auction. I asked him if he checked them out with the police, and he didn't really give me a clear answer. Toward the end of our conversation, he said that he thought that the guy who sold them to him, said that he got them in Atlanta. That made the wheels turn even more. If the family got them back from the police and hocked them for bail money, Atlanta is not far from Lilburn.

This is probably nothing, but it sure had me wondering all sorts of scenarios.

 

[Sonya610]

The owner of the store said that the guy who sold them to him, got them from the police. He said that he thought that maybe they were from a police auction. I asked him if he checked them out with the police, and he didn't really give me a clear answer. Toward the end of our conversation, he said that he thought that the guy who sold them to him, said that he got them in Atlanta. That made the wheels turn even more. If the family got them back from the police and hocked them for bail money, Atlanta is not far from Lilburn.

This is probably nothing, but it sure had me wondering all sorts of scenarios.

The police surely wouldn't engrave items, they would tag items with a case number, engraving would damage the property which could belong to an innocent defendant (in this case).

High end swords do come with engraved or imprinted manufacturers/serial numbers. I seriously doubt the McDaniel's have gotten police seized evidence like swords back, and if they did I would hope they would auction them on Ebay if they need the cash and not resort to pawn shops.

It is an exciting idea no doubt, but realistically the swords are not murderabilia related to this case.

Regarding the article on Macon.com....I saw that earlier and immediately thought of Hogue filing the complaint regarding evidence handling. Coincidence? Probably not! It has Hogue written all over it!

 

[tomkat]

tomkat, I think one of the news links we had showed a small wreath or something on a fence -- I think with some pink fabric or something flowing from it. It may have just been placed for a brief time, though.

ETA: The pic (may be part of a video) is here: http://www.newscentralga.com/news/local/Lauren-Giddings-1-Year-Later-160971655.html
...and is mentioned in the accompanying print article as well.

Must've been VERY brief, I have been by there atleast 3 times in the past few weeks and only saw the signs. Owners must've taken it down

 

[tomkat]

Maybe it "didn't sound like Lauren" because the break-in attempt was mentioned near the end of the email and Lauren hadn't told ANYONE about it, which just didn't sound like her at all!

Vandiver claims he didn't read the whole thing until she was reported missing. I have to think maybe he DID read the whole thing and thought it was high drama and he didn't believe it, but then after she showed up missing of course he wouldn't want to say/admit to that, so he just said "Oh...I was busy and didn't finish reading it for a few days" because "he knew it would come up again". He had a good 5 hours of boring flight time between CA and Atlanta, he had plenty of time to read through emails and think about his girlfriend.

Boni Bush even said she was "scheduled" to be out by that Thursday but Lauren wouldn't return calls to confirm the date and hadn't started packing. Whatever Lauren's plans had been it surely seems it wasn't working out that way and she wasn't ready to accept that and go with plan B.

Ok, so the whole scenario about whether it was lauren who wrote that email in the end or not was based on the fact that she never told anyone about the alleged break in. So we think maybe it was SMD who might have been trying to break in at that time and after he did break in or sneak in possibly, he saw the email after he snuck in hitting her from behind and hung around to read it and altered it? But I thought you disagreed with the scenario about the email being written by SMD. But I guess he was gutsy enough in the whole endeavor so why not linger here for a moment, throw another rock in teh engine to confuse. But I just would think he'd be in a hurry to get the heck out of there, if it happened inside her apt

 

[tomkat]

The owner of the store said that the guy who sold them to him, got them from the police. He said that he thought that maybe they were from a police auction. I asked him if he checked them out with the police, and he didn't really give me a clear answer. Toward the end of our conversation, he said that he thought that the guy who sold them to him, said that he got them in Atlanta. That made the wheels turn even more. If the family got them back from the police and hocked them for bail money, Atlanta is not far from Lilburn.

This is probably nothing, but it sure had me wondering all sorts of scenarios.

OH wow, that is crazy! The one problem I see is the initials. SMM "I THINK" would be more likely if S McDaniels. BUT WHO KNOWS, he may have had them but had someone elses initials similar to his

 

[tomkat]

The police surely wouldn't engrave items, they would tag items with a case number, engraving would damage the property which could belong to an innocent defendant (in this case).

High end swords do come with engraved or imprinted manufacturers/serial numbers. I seriously doubt the McDaniel's have gotten police seized evidence like swords back, and if they did I would hope they would auction them on Ebay if they need the cash and not resort to pawn shops.

It is an exciting idea no doubt, but realistically the swords are not murderabilia related to this case.

Regarding the article on Macon.com....I saw that earlier and immediately thought of Hogue filing the complaint regarding evidence handling. Coincidence? Probably not! It has Hogue written all over it!

Why wouldn't the police give back property not related to the crime once it's been tested? Also, he said possibly from a police auction also, not necessarily from the family. The family would certainly not make near as much at a pawnshop as maybe ebay or advertising them but not sure they'd want to advertise swords of SMD at this time. And what is murderabelia? I was thinking they weren't related to the murder, just his collection possibly

 

[tomkat]

Not True. Her plans were to move to ATL and they were interrupted. No matter how the media construes it. And DV is innocent. LG and DV had a plan, and it was interrupted. My heart aches for him. Relationships aren't perfect but that doesn't mean it is an alibi for murder. :twocents::

I thought so as well, it was repeated that she was moving out the week after the bar, right? Moving in with Vandiver in ATL. But she was murdered. I dont' think anyone thinks DV is guilty maybe not the most loving but that's why hes almost 50 and single all these years, but I am sure he has regrets and aches miserably.

 

[tomkat]

Not to be a stick in the mud, but I do not think LGs family or friends nor DV would appreciate albums and information from LGs private fbook page being posted here. I do not even know how people are friends of hers, as she had a private site and maybe her family member or members is controlling it now and accepting people, but let's please respect her. Alas maybe her page is public now and I guess then its fair game, but I have been a friend for years, and to me she was private before, and I will never bring over her personal information to the public.

Respect is what this vigil is about........I thought. There is probably alot out there her parents or family dont' like, I surely hope this vigil with a few pics isnt' one their hating on. This case has moved her parents and family more than anyone of course, but indeed has moved MANY MANY people outside of her family as well and the community in a way that will never be easily forgotton.

God Bless Lauren and her family and friends as well as SM family and friends. I'm still not sure which side of this story would be worse to live with, meaning they are both terribly tragic

 

[Sonya610]

Ok, so the whole scenario about whether it was lauren who wrote that email in the end or not was based on the fact that she never told anyone about the alleged break in.

I am saying I think she wrote the part about hoodlums in an attempt to influence Vandiver. In my mind that option makes more sense than the other two considering the situation.

Why wouldn't the police give back property not related to the crime once it's been tested? Also, he said possibly from a police auction also, not necessarily from the family. The family would certainly not make near as much at a pawnshop as maybe ebay or advertising them but not sure they'd want to advertise swords of SMD at this time. And what is murderabelia? I was thinking they weren't related to the murder, just his collection possibly

I would think if they were selling MCD's personal possessions he probably told them what to sell, and if the swords had value he would probably tell them where to sell it so they could get a decent price (but I could be wrong, just my opinion). Murderabilia can be anything previously owned by an infamous killer, most muderabilia consists of letters, artwork, etc... Examples: http://www.supernaught.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=28

 

[tomkat]

I am saying I think she wrote the part about hoodlums in an attempt to influence Vandiver. In my mind that option makes more sense than the other two considering the situation.



I would think if they were selling MCD's personal possessions he probably told them what to sell, and if the swords had value he would probably tell them where to sell it so they could get a decent price (but I could be wrong, just my opinion). Murderabilia can be anything previously owned by an infamous killer, most muderabilia consists of letters, artwork, etc... Examples: http://www.supernaught.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=28

Okay so if the Police confiscated items and iddnt' have to return them, why would they need any McDaniel telling them what to sell? Why not just sell it or return it and who gets the money, do they split it?

Murderabelia sounded like you were saying the swords were used in the murder, if this was them at the antique shop, clearly they weren't used in the murder or they'd be tagged as evidence for trial.

McMunn wasn't sure those were SmD swords anyway, but it was very very odd to find such and with that story and initials but the man selling them may have been using all that as a selling point too to entice some collector of (murderabilia?)

 

[tomkat]

Macon police told to tighten evidence handling

Published: July 6, 2012 Updated 12 hours ago

By JIM GAINES — [email protected]

Vague records, easy access drew auditor’s warning

A review of security at the Macon Police Department’s evidence room found there was no way to tell who had been in the room, if all items there were being documented, or if anyone had changed the evidence record.

When she did a surprise cash count of money in the evidence room’s safe, city Internal Auditor Stephanie Jones found nearly $244,000 in confiscated funds that weren’t being tracked by the Finance Department.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/07/06/2086616/macon-police-told-to-tighten-evidence.html

hmm, well whatever else was mishandled? I do hope the evidence collected for LG case was not marred before making it to the evidence room. Either the intruder and perp was really really good at hiding his hair, dna whatever or maybe it was gathered improperly?? WOW, this doesn't make MPD sound very professional AT ALL! I had an incident reported to them years ago and the officer who took the report didnt' turn it in and went on vacation and had to be called to find the report in which it finally made it in the next week upon his return.

 

[Sonya610]

Okay so if the Police confiscated items and iddnt' have to return them, why would they need any McDaniel telling them what to sell? Why not just sell it or return it and who gets the money, do they split it?

Oh I don't think the police could auction off any of McDaniel's possessions, he has not been convicted of ANYTHING. Maybe if the items were released and the family didn't pick them up after a long time they could be auctioned, but I don't see that happening in this case.