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The Tragic Death of Law Student Lauren Giddings|#truecrime #Lauren #Giddings #Stephen #lawschool — Transcript

by Angela Grace · 4,262 words · 747 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:08hi guys welcome or welcome back thank
0:10you so much for being here so greatly
0:12appreciate it before we start let me
0:14give you my usual disclaimer that this
0:16video is for educational purposes only
0:19please do not take what i say is fact
0:21please always do your own research and
0:23come to your own conclusions
0:24next if you have not liked subscribed or
0:27commented yet please consider doing so
0:29really helps me out and i would really
0:30really appreciate it
0:33okay
0:34let's start
0:3527 year old lauren giddings was born on
0:39april 18 1984 in laurel maryland two
0:43parents bill and karen giddings
0:46she had two sisters caitlyn and sarah
0:49she graduated from a fulton high school
0:52in 2002
0:54where she played field hockey and
0:55softball
0:57after graduating high school she moved
0:58to georgia so she could attend agnes
1:01scott college where she graduated with a
1:03degree in political sciences at a minor
1:06in religious studies in 2006.
1:09after graduation she moved back home to
1:12work for the national center for public
1:14policy in washington d.c
1:16before deciding to pursue a law degree
1:18in 2008
1:21lauren began her law journey at mercer
1:23university school of law where she was
1:26the president of the federalist society
1:29she would graduate from mercer on may 14
1:312011 with a juris doctorate degree
1:35after graduation lauren would decide to
1:38remain in macon georgia
1:42lauren was described as sweet
1:44understanding and loving
1:46she was a free spirit loyal to her
1:48friends and family kind-hearted and
1:50accepted others for their faults without
1:52judgment
1:54she was the first in her family to
1:55attend college she was driven
1:57enthusiastic and ambitious
1:59she had initially planned on going to
2:02med school
2:03but she would end up having a
2:04last-minute change of heart and decide
2:06that law school was more suitable for
2:08her
2:11lauren lived at barrenster's hall which
2:14is an apartment complex that
2:16specifically caters to law students at
2:18mercer college
2:20one of her neighbors was a man named
2:22stephen mcdaniel they had actually both
2:25moved there the same week in august of
2:272008.
2:29steven was born on september 9 1985 to
2:33paris mark and glenda mcdaniel in
2:36lillburn
2:37which is a suburb of atlanta
2:40stephen was described as extremely
2:42intelligent and someone that had a large
2:45range of interests including
2:47puzzles lord of the rings star wars and
2:50reading especially history and adventure
2:53books
2:54stephen was obsessively neat
2:56something that started in grade school
2:58and followed him into adulthood
3:00he was always careful to make sure that
3:02everything was neat and in order
3:05he sang with the atlanta boys choir
3:06until he was 13 years old and after this
3:09he traveled around georgia restoring
3:11places of worship
3:13after he graduated high school in 2004
3:16he received a scholarship to mercer
3:18university where he majored in business
3:22after this he decided to go to mercer
3:24law school where his path would meet up
3:27with lauren giddings
3:30he would end up being in the same
3:32starting class with her she had dreams
3:34of a career as a lawyer and he had
3:36dreams of a career as a federal judge
3:41lauren and steven were both part of the
3:43federalist society at mercer throughout
3:46their entire law school career and
3:48during their final year lauren was
3:50elected president of the society and
3:52stephen was elected vice president of
3:54the society
3:56one member of the society just describes
3:58stephen as very dependable
4:01most people described him as lanky wild
4:04unkept and disheveled
4:07lauren found that steven was a little
4:09strange
4:10but she was always nice and polite to
4:12him they weren't friends per se but they
4:15were neighborly
4:17stephen had actually asked lorne out a
4:19few times after they became neighbors
4:22she always let him down easy and even if
4:24she
4:26wasn't interested in him
4:28she had a perfect excuse because she was
4:30in a relationship with a man named david
4:33van dever david was a lawyer in atlanta
4:35and the couple had met in 2007 when
4:39lauren was 23 and david was 43 give or
4:42take david and lauren clicked almost
4:44immediately they had so much in common
4:47and a similar sense of humor
4:49their four-year anniversary would would
4:51have been in the fall of 2011 but sadly
4:55lauren would not make it to that
4:56milestone
4:58or the other ones in her future she had
5:00planned to she had plans to move in with
5:03david after she passed the bar exam
5:07in may of 2011 lauren and steven both
5:10successfully graduated from mercer law
5:12school so all they had left to do in
5:14order to practice law was to pass the
5:16georgia state bar
5:19mercer law students and i'm sure other
5:21law students spend the month of june mia
5:24basically
5:25as they are locked in their rooms
5:27studying for arguably the biggest test
5:29of their careers if not their lives
5:33laura made it clear to friends and
5:35family that if she did not respond to
5:37text messages calls or emails during
5:39this time that it's probably because
5:42she was studying and she would
5:44definitely get back to them when she
5:45could
5:46the last time friends say that they saw
5:48lauren was on saturday june 25th 2011.
5:53the night prior lauren and her friends
5:54had went out to a bar for some music and
5:57drinks then lauren crashed at her
5:59friend's house before leaving in the
6:01morning
6:03after leaving her girlfriend's home she
6:05headed down to the macon county country
6:07club to go swimming
6:09at around 6 30 she grabbed some fast
6:12food and she went back to her apartment
6:15the last person to speak to lauren that
6:17night was her boyfriend on the evening
6:20of june 25th 2011. he was in california
6:23on a golf trip at the time
6:26lauren had written him an email that
6:27spoke about how she had just had a very
6:30awkward conversation with a friend
6:32who was asking a lot of questions about
6:34her and david's relationship
6:37the one part of the email that raised
6:39alarm bells for him was when she wrote
6:40about how she believed that somebody had
6:43tried to break into her apartment
6:45but the way she wrote the email led him
6:47to believe that she was not overly
6:50concerned about it
6:51my theory is one of three things this is
6:54completely my theory
6:56either she believed that it was her
6:58college friends messing with her
7:00she was indeed scared and she failed to
7:03make that come across
7:05properly and clearly in an email
7:08or she was scared but she did not want
7:10to let him know that because he was in
7:13california at the time and there was
7:14really nothing there was wasn't really a
7:16whole lot that he could do anyway
7:19after nobody had heard from her for a
7:21few days
7:22lauren's friends and family become
7:24concerned
7:25her childhood friend katie was the first
7:27person to blow the alarm bells on
7:29wednesday afternoon june 29th
7:33lauren's sister caitlin called the law
7:34school classmate and good friend of
7:36lawrence named ashley and she asked
7:39ashley to go over to lauren's apartment
7:40and knock on the door
7:42when ashley got to the apartment she saw
7:44that lauren's car was parked outside but
7:47the door was locked and there was no
7:48answer
7:50wednesday evening lauren's other
7:52childhood friend laurie who was living
7:54in chicago at the time called police to
7:57file a missing person's report
7:59officers went over to lauren's apartment
8:02at barrister's hall but there was no
8:04sign of forced entry and everything
8:06seemed to look secure
8:08then her friend ashley remembered that
8:10lauren kept the spare key outside
8:13so she and a few friends decide to go
8:15over to lauren's apartment and let
8:17themselves in
8:19once inside they are immediately alarmed
8:21because
8:22lauren was not in the home but
8:25her keys purse cell phone and laptop
8:28were there
8:30her cell phone was dead so they plugged
8:32it in they realized the last time lauren
8:34had made any calls or sent any text or
8:37emails was on saturday night
8:40at some point during the search lauren's
8:42neighbor stephen decides to come by
8:45her friends would later say that they
8:47found his presence to be weird while he
8:50was there
8:51at this point friends decide to call
8:539-1-1 it's been four days since anybody
8:56has heard from her so there's very good
8:58reason for them to be worried
9:00first to arrive is university police
9:02they interview all the friends that are
9:04there at the apartment
9:06after hearing the series of events
9:09they realize that they are in way over
9:11their heads and they decide to call
9:13macon police department
9:15so june 30th at 12 52 a.m an officer
9:19from the macon police department arrives
9:22he and the friend search the apartment
9:24and the complex until 3am
9:26after not finding anything the officer
9:28leaves
9:30on june 30th at 9 00 am an official
9:33investigation into lauren's
9:34disappearance is launched
9:36two detectives show up to secure the
9:38scene
9:40they didn't have to be there very long
9:41before they spelled the foul odor coming
9:44from the garbage bins by the complex
9:48because these were seasoned detectives
9:50they knew that smell
9:52it is said that the smell of
9:53decomposition is something that you know
9:56immediately and you never forget
9:59the detectives begin searching the trash
10:01cans inside they find a woman's torso
10:04dressed only in a pair of jogging shorts
10:07and wrapped in a black garbage bag
10:13stephen mcdaniels does an interview with
10:15reporters
10:16okay on the morning of june 30th i'm
10:19going to play a piece of this for you i
10:21want you to watch his demeanor uh
10:23completely change
10:25once the reporter tells him that they
10:27have found a body
10:30yeah lauren was my neighbor we're just
10:32trying to find out where she is at this
10:34point i mean
10:35no one has seen her since saturday
10:38i mean the last time anyone heard from
10:40her was an email that she sent out and
10:44no one's heard from her since did you
10:46see her hang out with anyone at the time
10:47anything like that
10:49i mean
10:50no no no one has seen her since saturday
10:52i haven't seen anything i mean you've
10:55always heard noise outside but it's just
10:57people walking by pretty much and you
11:00she just recently graduated from mercer
11:02yeah she and i were we were both jd
11:05students
11:07we graduated back in may
11:10what kind of person was she i mean how
11:11did you what did you
11:13she's as nice as can be i mean very
11:15personable very much people person do
11:17you know anybody that any enemies you
11:19might have had somebody that might want
11:20to hurt her
11:21no i mean
11:23we're we all know where she is i mean
11:26the only thing we can think is that
11:27maybe she went out running and someone
11:29snatched her
11:30because i mean we went out we went over
11:33one of her friends had a key we went
11:35inside and tried to see if there was
11:37anything
11:38amiss but i mean she had a door jamb
11:41that was sitting right by it so it was
11:44no sign that anyone broke in
11:46i mean the door was locked when everyone
11:48got here
11:50i mean we just don't know where she is
11:52what about um in the like the parking
11:54lot area i know they've been doing a lot
11:56of i think that's where they have
11:57recovered the body or whatever they
11:59recovered from there
12:01had you heard it had you seen anything
12:02there
12:05had you seen anything there
12:08i mean we don't know if this is the same
12:09person you know what i mean like they
12:10took out a body there earlier we don't
12:12know the same person around so that's
12:14how we're trying to ask people they know
12:15who lived there
12:19are you okay sir
12:20i think i need to sit down okay
12:27crazy right pick up on that
12:32the following day thursday is garbage
12:34day because of all the police presence
12:37the garbage has never picked up if it
12:39had been picked up and taken to the
12:42landfill who knows if they ever would
12:44have found the torso detectives begin
12:47the investigation by asking residents if
12:50they can walk through their apartments
12:52this was voluntary and renters were
12:55within their rights to say no to the
12:57police
12:59however all residents were completely
13:01cooperative except for stephen mcdaniels
13:04who was hesitant to let them in
13:07remember friends
13:09people have nothing to hide hide nothing
13:14after officers let him know that
13:16everybody else was more than willing to
13:17let them in stephen says okay but at
13:20this point the damage is done
13:22you're already on their radar because
13:24you're stupid
13:25you're done sorry
13:30the walkthrough finishes at
13:31approximately 1 40 p.m at the conclusion
13:34of the walk through investigators note
13:36they found a large knife
13:38a samurai sword a rifle and two handguns
13:42in steven's apartment and although none
13:44of this was illegal it absolutely raised
13:47suspicions for police
13:49please brought cadaver dork
13:56police brought cadaverdorg
13:58oh my god i can't get this out
14:01next police bring in cadaver dogs
14:03to pick up scents
14:06dogs alerted of officers too
14:09outside lawrence apartment lauren's
14:11bedroom the apartment below lawrence the
14:14apartment complex's shared laundry room
14:17outside stephen's apartment and
14:18stephen's bedroom
14:22given the array of weapons in steven's
14:24apartment and the cadaver dogs picking
14:26up on the scents in and around steven's
14:28apartment
14:29steven is brought in for questioning
14:31that lasts about two hours
14:36at some point during the police
14:38interviews stephen admits to stealing
14:41condoms from one of the apartments
14:45on july 1st they use this as a way to
14:47keep stephen locked up by charging him
14:49with two counts of burglary and denying
14:52him bail i need you and i'm asking you
14:55as a friend for help
15:00can you help me
15:01i don't know
15:04what do you mean you don't know
15:06you can't help a friend out
15:07i don't know what you need i need to
15:09know where lawrence i am i don't know
15:12when's the last time you seen her two or
15:14three weeks ago
15:17has anybody have you ever seen anybody
15:18over her house last couple nights no
15:22okay
15:23if you knew where she was would you tell
15:25me
15:26yes
15:30what do you think happened to her
15:32i don't know do you even care that no
15:34one can find her yes
15:37do you have a girlfriend
15:38no
15:41did you think lauren was your girlfriend
15:43no
15:44i mean who would who would
15:46do something somebody throw them in a
15:47trash can
15:49i don't know i'm asking for your advice
15:52or your observation
15:54who in your complex
15:57would do something like that you live
15:59over there for three years
16:01that's tonight's the first night i think
16:03i've ever been over there
16:05in your expert opinion
16:09of all your knowledge of going through
16:11law school and all that
16:14who in that complex do i need to talk to
16:18i don't know
16:20and
16:20what and that we hadn't found her
16:25what else did they asked you
16:27i don't remember why don't you remember
16:31i don't you're telling me
16:35that you went through law school
16:37well you went through college first
16:39right you graduated from college yes now
16:41you're in law school do you graduate
16:43from law school yeah but you don't
16:45[ __ ] remember what they asked you
16:46this afternoon no
16:48huh i just don't [ __ ] believe that
16:51[ __ ]
16:53if you had to guess
16:56what was just i mean one time two times
16:58three times what
17:02maybe two maybe two see if i had only
17:06been somewhere twice
17:08i could remember that if i had been
17:10there
17:11over 50 times and you asked me how many
17:13times i've been like i don't know a lot
17:15but the fact that you've only been there
17:16twice when i say how many times been you
17:18say you don't know
17:20that's just odd to me
17:22does that make sense to you
17:24yes
17:25that does make sense so what i'm saying
17:27right now makes sense
17:28no
17:34do you drink it all do you drink beer no
17:42you know
17:46we have to go to our best resources when
17:49we're trying to do anything
17:51you know it's kind of like the guy who
17:52wants to get his oil changed she goes to
17:53jackie luke
17:55you know what i'm saying
17:56we're looking for lauren and you said
17:58you were her friend
18:00on to her friend yes
18:02y'all good friends
18:04yes how good of friends are y'all
18:06good friends like how good of friends
18:13you don't understand
18:15you don't understand how good our
18:16friends all are
18:19you don't understand what you're asking
18:21how good of friends are y'all
18:23friends
18:25are y'all close friends
18:27or y'all just acquaintances
18:31um y'all study i mean
18:33how good are friends y'all
18:35we're friends are y'all really good
18:37friends
18:39i don't know you don't know
18:42how do you not know if you're not a
18:43really good friend let me ask you this
18:46maybe you're saying that because you
18:48don't know how she feels about you
18:52how do you feel about her do you
18:53consider her a really good friend
18:57she's a friend
18:59but not a really good friend
19:02i don't know you don't know how do you
19:04not know
19:05i don't know what you mean by really
19:07good
19:10are y'all really close
19:12no
19:13no you're not
19:15no so y'all you never told her any of
19:17your personal business
19:18no she ever tell you any of hers
19:21no
19:23you ever see her upset
19:26no she was always a happy person wasn't
19:28she yes
19:30no
19:31yes you have stephen
19:36you said she has
19:38when you say you don't know
19:41when the last time you cleaned your
19:42bathroom is
19:45that's a lie
19:49when you say you don't know the last
19:50time you saw her coming out of her
19:53apartment you don't notice whether or
19:54not she comes in and out
19:57that's another lie
19:59your door is only a few feet from hers
20:06you told some lies in this interview
20:08stephen
20:12without a doubt
20:15when was the last time you did laundry
20:18a few weeks ago you ain't wash clothes
20:20in a few weeks
20:23yeah why
20:25i have a lot of clothes no you don't
20:27that's another lie
20:29that's right that's three lives steven
20:31you don't have a lot of clothes yes i do
20:35nope
20:40you got enough underwear to last you
20:41three weeks
20:43yes
20:45do you wear the same pair of underwear
20:46more than one day yes
20:50why
20:52because it's still clean enough to wear
20:55steven i appreciate you coming down here
20:56today
20:58and talking to us okay
21:00i appreciate you cooperating with us and
21:03and helping us along
21:06but you've lied to me about at least
21:08three things in this interview
21:11and people don't lie unless they got
21:13something to hide
21:15why would you lie to me stephen
21:17i didn't lie
21:19sure you did
21:21you said you don't even notice when she
21:22comes in and out of her apartment
21:25that's a lie stephen
21:27i said i didn't remember the last time
21:30have you ever watched her go in her
21:32apartment
21:33no you've never how long y'all been
21:35neighbors three years three years you've
21:38never watched her walk through her front
21:40door
21:41yes
21:44five seconds i said you ever watched her
21:46walk into her apartment you said no
21:53someone asked again if you ever watched
21:54her walk into her apartment
21:56yes
21:58when was the last time
22:01a long time ago how long
22:04before graduation it's been that long
22:08and you graduated when
22:10in may
22:14while in jail officers obtain a search
22:16warrant for steven's apartment and the
22:18laundry list for suspicious items
22:20obtained is rather overwhelming
22:23including but not limited to
22:25two hands a rifle
22:27rope
22:28four baseball bats
22:31a bayonet a chain mail vest
22:34a camera a laptop a cell phone
22:37an external card drive and memory card
22:40reader
22:41receipts including one from walmart that
22:43is dated june 23 2011
22:47a green scrub sponge two keys and a
22:50journal they also search steven's car
22:52where they find dark stains that look
22:55like dried blood and they take samples
22:57of it
22:58they serve stephen with a search wart
23:00for samples of his dna fingernail
23:02scrapings and to take photos of him
23:05july 6 2011 detectives hold a press
23:09conference to confirm that
23:11the torso in the garbage can
23:13is indeed lauren gettings
23:19between july 20 and july 21st
23:22police conducted several more searches
23:25of steven's apartment and collect
23:27additional items including
23:30a sony playstation 3 and a ps2 a
23:34microsoft xbox gaming system with
23:36accessories
23:38compact discs
23:39more memory sticks and memory cards
23:42two adults magazines
23:46a pair of women's underwear that had
23:47lauren's dna on it and packaging for a
23:51stanley hacksaw
23:55the memory sticks were searched by
23:57forensic experts and they found 52
24:00inappropriate pictures of children on
24:02them
24:04sicko
24:06a search of steven's laptop yielded
24:09deeply disturbing internet searches
24:11including
24:13nude lauren giddings and prn sites that
24:17include it
24:19cannibal
24:20and dismember
24:24june 30th 2011 the day that lauren's
24:27torso was found steven searched how to
24:30permanently delete search history from a
24:32computer
24:33i'm guessing he did not get the answers
24:35that he was looking for
24:40sorry
24:41august 2nd 2011 police charged stephen
24:44mcdaniels with the warren giddings
24:49august 3rd 2011 stephen appeared in
24:52court and pled not guilty to the charges
24:54prosecution would show evidence found
24:57including but not limited to
24:59a hacksaw that was recovered at the
25:01laundry room at baristas hall which you
25:04if you remember was also one of the
25:05spots that the cadaver dogs hit on
25:09one of the keys seized from stephen's
25:11apartment turned out to be the master
25:14key to lauren's apartment which if i had
25:16to guess this is how this goes down
25:20he knew that lauren kept a spare key
25:22outside and he took it
25:25copied it and put it back before she
25:27ever knew
25:29which is also what her friends used to
25:31access her apartment that day i know
25:34i've said this before and i'm going to
25:35say it again
25:36give a spare key to somebody that you
25:39trust inexplicably to hold on to in case
25:43of emergencies
25:46don't leave your key outside
25:48just don't it's dangerous i get the
25:51convenience of it is
25:53awesome but it's dangerous clearly
25:57shortly after lauren's torso was found
25:59an ex-roommate of stevens calls police
26:02to let them know that stephen has told
26:04him on several occasions that he could
26:06commit the perfect
26:08murder and get away with it
26:12august 23 2011 steven was charged with
26:15seven counts of child prn
26:18for the pictures on the memory stick
26:21february 21st 2013 prosecutors announced
26:24that they would not be seeking the death
26:27penalty
26:29april 21st 2014 in a shocking twist
26:34stephen mcdaniels
26:35changes his plea to guilty for the death
26:38of lauren giddings
26:40as part of the plea deal if stephen gave
26:43account of exactly what happened that
26:45night
26:46prosecutors would drop the burglary and
26:48the child prn charges
26:53okay
26:55ready
26:56here we go
26:58sunday june 26 2011
27:01at around 4 30 a.m
27:04wearing a mask and gloves stephen enters
27:06lauren's apartment with the master key
27:08he had previously made
27:14he insists that he did not r-word her
27:17he says he watched her sleep until a
27:20creak in the floor woke her up
27:22when she saw him standing over him she
27:24yelled at him get the f out
27:27that's when steven says he jumped on her
27:29bed
27:30put his hands around her neck and her
27:37after he placed her in the bathtub and
27:39went back into his apartment he stayed
27:42in his apartment for the entire day on
27:44sunday before returning back to lauren's
27:46apartment at around midnight wielding a
27:49hacksaw
27:52we all know where this is going
27:55the hacksaw was found in the laundry
27:56room
27:58he then put her parts in garbage bags
28:00and place them in
28:02separate garbage cans around the complex
28:04the law school campus and across the
28:06street from the apartment complex
28:11stephen mcdaniel was sentenced to life
28:13in prison with the earliest possibility
28:15of parole being 2041.
28:57august 6 2011 lauren's family was
29:00finally able to hold a funeral service
29:02for her and to allow her to rest
29:04peacefully
29:06karen and bill giddings say the pain of
29:09losing their daughter
29:11will never go away
29:13but her mother insists that she will not
29:15let the horrific things that happen to
29:16her daughter take away from the
29:19beautiful memories that she has with her
29:21i think that's sweet
29:23they do it's really sweet
29:26haven't been together for four years it
29:29was david's plan to propose to lauren
29:31but sadly he never got that chance
29:33because it got ripped away from him
29:36by this loser
29:41goof goofy loser sorry sorry
29:44sorry
29:48a year after her passing he told the
29:49local news station quote
29:52it's been hell
29:54nothing's really changed time as people
29:56say heal all wounds if it does it hasn't
29:59begun yet it's been a mix of heartache
30:02and anger end quote
30:06okay guys if you're still here thank you
30:08thank you thank you i love you all so
30:09much i truly appreciate it if you have
30:12not liked subscribed or commented yet
30:13please consider doing so really helps me
30:15out and i really really really
30:17appreciate it
30:18if you have any case suggestions please
30:20email me hearting527 yahoo.com
30:24as long as the information is on my side
30:26i'm really good about covering your
30:28cases for you
30:29and until next time
30:32stay safe out there and i love you all

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