Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Murder of Lauren Giddings

Despite not being common for LaurenGiddings, no one in the law library had seen for days and werebecoming worried.

Her studies almost completed at Mercerand preparing to take the bar exam while living in an apartmentacross from her college, Lauren was clueless, despite having a sharpmind, that someone was watching her.

"She never mentioned being infear for her safety," said sister Kaitlyn Wheeler. "Shementioned on one trip a year before when she came home she feltthings had been moved around, someone had been in her apartment."

Lauren's studies kept her busy and shewasn't curious about the incident, so it was not surprising thatLauren was unknowingly someone's prey.

When fellow graduate Stephen McDaniel,who lived across from the law school, asked her out, Lauren declinedwhen she told him she was dating someone else.

A weekend come and gone, and Laurencould not be found anywhere. At first her family wasn't concerned asLauren repeatedly told them she would be studying 24-7 for the barexam. Lauren's friends, on the other hand, were already on the caselooking for answers to Lauren's sudden disappearance, one evencalling police, who showed up at Lauren's apartment, and after seeingno signs of a break-in, left immediately.

Missing for just four days, StephenMcDaniel was one who was involved in searching for law student.

Her sister, Kaitlyn, in desperation,asked a friend to gain access to Lauren's apartment with a hiddenkey.

"She went in and called me backand said that all of her stuff was there: purse, keys, the car wasstill out front, wallet, school I.D.," said Kaitlyn, causingher friends news to be a game-changer with red flags.

When police were called, the case wouldtake a dramatic turn.

"There was no witness it wasjust a matter of interviewing anybody who lived at that complex oranybody who associated with Lauren," said Macon Police Sgt.Scott Chapman.

Lauren's missing-person case wouldbecome more sinister as investigators investigated the outside of thebuilding.

"So started looking a littleclose around the outside and discovered the trash bag that was in oneof the Dumpsters, once they were able to open the bag and look in anddiscovered her body," said Bibb County Sheriff's Lt. RandyGonzalez. "We just found her torso. There was no limbsattached and of course her head was missing as well, so she just hada torso."

At the crime scene, there was two breaks for investigators: (1) adumpster that was supposed to be collected that morning, happened tobe running late, was found to have Lauren's remains and DNA evidencewhen police discovered it. (2) then there was Stephen McDaniel'sweird performance in his interview with Crime Watch Daily at Macon,Georgia affiliate station WGXA-TV. Investigators found McDaniel'sreaction upon hearing that Lauren's body found highly suspicious. But McDaniel instead told reporter he wished he had let Lauren borrowof his guns for protection.

It didn't deter investigators, wholooked closer at McDaniel, a 25-year-old law graduate described as"quirky" but "intelligent" by friends, learned McDanielseemed creepy with an obsession with zombies, and would repeatedlyask friends how to commit the perfect murder.

Then the evidence started piling up!

"He had in his possession botha master key and key to her apartment and he had a flash drive thatbelonged to her that contained hundreds of her personal photos,"said Bibb County District Attorney David Cooke. "His computerhistory showed an interest in her Facebook and LinkedIn pages.Sometimes he would be searching for images of her around the sametime that he was looking up violent pornography. Of course we foundher underwear in his apartment."

The most damning evidence—whichLauren probably had no idea—was when police say McDaniel somehowhad free access to her apartment for awhile and was apparentlystalking her.

"The linchpin in all this waswhen we found deleted video he had used to survey her home,"said D.A. Cooke. "The night it appears that she was murderedand that was found in a camera in his possession, and that was thestraw that broke the camel's back. He had took a wooden pole and hadduct-taped or somehow fixed that camera to the end of the pole andthen held the pole up really high to peek inside her window."

When Lauren's remains were found,McDaniel was arrested on unrelated burglary charges, and policejumped at the chance to interrogate him. Within only a few weeks,McDaniel was charged with the murder of Lauren Giddings.

After years of surmounting evidenceagainst him, McDaniel accepted a plea deal of guilty to murder wherehe confessed to the lurid details in court, telling the court how heentered Lauren's apartment at 4:30 a.m. Wearing a mask.

He explained: "She saw me andsaid very calmly, 'Get the [expletive] out.' I leaped across the bedonto her and grabbed her around the throat."

"He pled to breaking intoLauren's apartment, to strangling her, to moving her to the bathroom,to taking her body apart, to hiding it, to ripping up evidence andputting it down the toilet, cleaning up everything and then actinglike she was still alive," said Kaitlyn Wheeler.

McDaniel said that during the struggleLauren pulled the mask from his face, and pleaded "Stephen,please stop!"

After Lauren was dead, McDaniel draggedher body to the bathtub where he left her. He later returnedsometime that night, dismembering her body with a hacksaw blade. Police found the cover of the blade with Lauren's DNA at McDaniel'sapartment.

"He told us that the rest ofthe remains were placed in a different dumpster but by the time hetold us that there was no way to recover her remains," saidDavid Cooke.

The rest of Lauren Gidding's remainshave never been recovered.

Stephen McDaniel was sentenced toprison with a life sentence—the only justice Lauren Giddings andher family have gotten.