The above news clips show Stephen McDaniel behaving 'shocked and distraught' upon learning that a body had been found in the search for missing Lauren Giddings. Unknown to anyone at that time, his behaviour was a facade as he had killed her.
On 30th June 2011, Stephen McDaniel (25) appeared in a televised news interview to discuss the search for his missing friend, neighbour and classmate Lauren Giddings (27). McDaniel told the reporter that Lauren was a very "nice" and "personable" individual, and then theorised that someone had possibly kidnapped her while she was out running.
As live updates come in, the reporter then informs Stephen that a body had been found, to which he responded by needing to sit down and 'sobbing' and gasping for breath. Little did the interviewer know, she was speaking directly to Lauren's murderer. The link to the full news interview can be found here.
As well as being neighbours, Stephen and Lauren also recently attended the same classes at Mercer University School of Law in Georgia, USA. He had become infatuated with her during the months leading up to the murder, to the point where he began stalking her obsessively. He constantly browsed her social media profiles and even went as far as attaching a video camera to a pole in order to spy on her in her home. Lauren had meanwhile been confiding to friends that she didn't feel safe in her apartment, as she felt someone had been breaking in and moving things around.
Due to her recent graduation and lack of safety, Lauren was soon due to move out, and Stephen became devastated at the prospect of not seeing her again. In the early hours of 26th June 2011, he concealed his face and broke into Lauren's apartment using a set of master keys stolen from the landlord. Despite Lauren's pleas for the intruder to leave, he overpowered her and began strangling her to death.
By McDaniel's own admission, it was at this point that Lauren ripped off his face mask while fighting for her life, and she recoiled in horror at the realisation her own friend was taking her life. After Lauren died, he dragged her body into the bathtub and left her there. He later returned with a hacksaw and cut off her head, arms and legs, flushing her fingers down the toilet in the process. He put the rest of Lauren’s remains in various dumpsters, but unfortunately only her torso was ever recovered.
When police searched Lauren's apartment, everything initially seemed to be in order. However, an examination using luminol apparently showed that her bathroom had been drenched in blood and cleaned up afterwards, and a hacksaw covered in blood was found hidden in a closet. An investigation of McDaniel’s apartment turned up the packaging for the bloody hacksaw found in Lauren's apartment, and also identified underwear belonging to Lauren and a stash of child pornography. On a flash drive, authorities also found video footage from inside Lauren's apartment - proving her suspicions that someone had been breaking in.
Stephen McDaniel was sentenced to life imprisonment but will be eligible for parole in 2041. Lauren Giddings' family requested that McDaniel should not face the death penalty, as Lauren was not in favour of capital punishment.
