GUILTY GA - Lauren Giddings, 27, Macon, 26 June 2011 # 3

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I have a feeling the news show they are doing indicates the police really are stumped. If they had a path they were on, they wouldn't wait for tonight's show. They would have made a major announcement immediately. This story has not been running crazy with national news since it began. It hasn't even raised a blip in the national radar until 3 weeks later. Chief Burns mentioned Dateline had contacted him once, but they didn't even follow up. Nancy Grace is brushing it away, but that is probably because of the Mercer connection. No one seems to really care.

What would Chief Burns be trying to do by going national? He isn't calming the storm of national reporters banging down his door. I think he is seeking help from the only national news show that is willing to talk to him. He is hoping that small coverage will garner more interest. The only reason I can see to do that is because you really need help. Not just for body parts, because that can hopefully be gleaned from interviewing the perp. And national help isn't going to find them, only local help will find body parts in the area. I think they are trying to find out who did this. They are hoping by going national, someone, somewhere will come out with something that can help pin down who. All of which leans away from SM being the perp.

I prefer SM be the perp. It closes this all up in a neat little box. Sadly, if they haven't come out with the great press conference saying they have the man in custody, it is sounding like they do not have the evidence to support him being the one. By going to the national news shows, it indicates they need help and they need it bad. It is not going to calm the locals by going national. And it could do some real damage to the colleges in the area, not just Mercer, but also Macon State and Wesleyan. Because who would want to ship their child off to a school where a vicious killer is running loose? If the kids aren't coming to college here because of this crime, then the businesses lose a lot of money. I can see a lot of reasons to NOT go public. The only one I can come up with for going public is because they are stumped.
 
SM is a decoy for the real killer. Police are playing this whole thing out. Watch what I tell ya! JMO though
 
I can see a lot of reasons to NOT go public. The only one I can come up with for going public is because they are stumped.

(snipped for space)

That, or because they know they're about to nail their guy and want the "happy" ending to be national news... although I think you might be more on point with the former :/
 
Backwoods...I can't get around it either...scenario: this thing is so heinous, so bad, and SM did commit burglary....they cut a deal with him to stay in jail so the real killer thinks he is off the hook and then they slip up on the real killer....or flush him out with SM being the decoy....why else would an attorney as good as Buford go along with all this and not be raising hell about it all.......why else would his hearing for bond be moved to superior court and judge Self delay it again......just doesnt add up......I'm not in LE, but I have served ten years in public safety on the fire/ems side in a small rural county....I know from experience what public sees and hears is never really the way it is or the real way it went down....especially in bad or graphic or heinous situations.....LE can, and needs to be able to do stuff like that to protect the public....it may not be "by the book".....but they do it all the time.....I'm glad they do....it helps protect us and we don't even know or appreciate it....

This is all JMO
 
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That, or because they know they're about to nail their guy and want the "happy" ending to be national news... although I think you might be more on point with the former :/

I thought about that. But since this story has not really exploded nationally, I don't think that fits. If it is SM, and they know it, by going national like this for no other reason than glory, they are showing all these parents out there that Mercer lets murderers in to kill their children. The harm outweighs the benefit. I don't see them going national if they are about to nail SM. It is pointless and damaging. Only if he isn't the one does it make sense to me.

JMO though. That and 3 bucks will almost buy you a cup of coffee.
 
Backwoods...I can't get around it either...scenario: this thing is so heinous, so bad, and SM did commit burglary....they cut a deal with him to stay in jail so the real killer thinks he is off the hook and then they slip up on the real killer....or flush him out with SM being the decoy....why else would an attorney as good as Buford go along with all this and not be raising hell about it all.......why else would his hearing for bond be moved to superior court and judge Self delay it again......just doesnt add up...

Also, SM talking so much might have been putting some other kind of evidence (other than against him, I mean) in jeopardy...that email, for possible example.
 
I've not really understood that either...I mean, the guy is going on 50? Seems like a strange relationship. And his ex-girlfriend supposedly committed suicide 10 years ago...I don't know.

Nothing strange about it - really. They aren't the first and won't be the last couple with a big age difference. As for the police investigation of him, of course they investigated him right away as soon as her body was found. They found him to be a non-issue and any further investigation of him was absolutely a dead end - just like further speculation by the public - an absolute dead end. The police then turned their efforts and attention elsewhere. Her death has absolutely nothing to do with him, his firm or the kind of work that he does.
 
Her death has absolutely nothing to do with him, his firm or the kind of work that he does.

With all respect, how can we know that they might not even now be following a lead about something like I mentioned earlier, some crazy, heartless, retaliatory strike against a powerful man?
 
I thought about that. But since this story has not really exploded nationally, I don't think that fits. If it is SM, and they know it, by going national like this for no other reason than glory, they are showing all these parents out there that Mercer lets murderers in to kill their children. The harm outweighs the benefit. I don't see them going national if they are about to nail SM. It is pointless and damaging. Only if he isn't the one does it make sense to me.

JMO though. That and 3 bucks will almost buy you a cup of coffee.


This isn't Mercer's fault either. There's nothing they could have done to anticipate or prevent this. It took everyone by surprise. If it does turn out to be McD, I can assure you he went through a vigorous screening before he was admitted into the law school. Haven't Yale, University of Virginia, and many many other schools had similar incidents in the news? You simply can't predict or protect against every danger, known and unknown.
 
No matter who the perp, I think that in this day and age, most people realize that these atrocious things can happen anywhere. That said, having the Macon and Mercer name linked in people's mind to this, well, yes, it is going to affect some. Before my daughter transferred to a Macon school, several pretty upsetting things happened at the near-Atlanta school she was at, and yes, it worried me. But realistically I knew that she was probably in no more danger than she had been before those things happened or than she would have been somewhere else.
 
I thought about that. But since this story has not really exploded nationally, I don't think that fits. If it is SM, and they know it, by going national like this for no other reason than glory, they are showing all these parents out there that Mercer lets murderers in to kill their children. The harm outweighs the benefit. I don't see them going national if they are about to nail SM. It is pointless and damaging. Only if he isn't the one does it make sense to me.

"Glory," as you put it, is a powerful motivator. Medium-size city police chief (no jurisdiction in the larger county) presides over the investigation of a once-in-a-century murder investigation, easily the biggest thing that's ever happened to him, and we expect him to resist appearing on national crime shows for the benefit of colleges he didn't attend? That would be nice, but I think it's just too much temptation for Burns (and most folks) to resist.

I expect, however, that he will say little he hasn't already said -- he's too much a professional to jeopardize his investigation. And, my opinion, he will soon be announcing, with Winters, homicide charges against SMD. Going national would not help solve this crime (if, indeed, it's not already solved).
 
<snipped for focus>

midstateMind and others, where are you getting your information about the boyfriend? Is it coming from word-of-mouth, social media ...? Not disputing it AT ALL, please understand ... it just seems that the news media has had precious little to say about him ...though it could be that I just missed it.

Lots of discussion in the LG threads here has touched on him, I know -- and I've seen a few folks get their hands slapped, sorta, for wanting to look at him as any kind of suspect. Probably plenty of solid information behind the hand-slapping, for all I know, too ... BUT...one thing I haven't seen discussed is this: If he is indeed "a top flight attorney from the most prestigious law firm in the state", gosh, isn't it just possible LG's murder could be some kind of retaliatory crime aimed at him? Don't know what kind of law he practices, etc., but somebody that powerful might have some crazy enemies...?
If that were the case, it's more likely that LG's body would have been recovered intact, either in her apartment or on the side of the road somewhere in plain view, or near plain view. No great pains would've been taken to hide the body. If not intact, the body would have been desecrated in such a way as to convey a message. Whether an act of revenge or a warning, this type of crime is useless and derives no satisfaction unless it sends a clear message to the person toward whom it's directed. JMO
 
With all respect, how can we know that they might not even now be following a lead about something like I mentioned earlier, some crazy, heartless, retaliatory strike against a powerful man?


We can sit here all day and dream up scenarios like this and even the one about McD being kept in jail so they can catch the real killer, but is there any rational basis whatsoever for it? What we do know is that the Macon police have investigated the boyfriend and that is not something they are continuing to follow. We know that the've spent a tremendous amount of time investigating McD, and while they haven't charged him, we do know that there is at least some evidence pointing in his direction. They have acknowledged this. They have continuously advised that they are waiting for the results of those investigations, and yet they continue investigating in that same direction and collecting more evidence, BASED UPON CONVERSATIONS WITH THE FBI. This is not a wild goose chase. They have reasons why they have spent so much time in those three apartments. While we all wish they would reveal more information so we could all have answers, they are doing their job, to the very best of their abilities and will release information when they can do so without jeopordizing their investigation and any criminal prosecution resulting from it.
 
I've worked in crim law for a few years now, and I've seen it all. And I don't know why, but I just have a hard time believing it is SM. He honestly just doesn't fit the profile for the particular facts.

I also think it's a bit hasty to rule the boyfriend out. We don't know what, if any, interest the MPD has in him and what kinds of questions have been asked. I'm LG's age...and if I had been dating a guy that was almost 50 years old, had never been married, had an ex that had killed herself, and other than working for a prestigious law-firm doesn't seem to have much to add to a relationship with someone my age? MAJOR red flags. Hate to be judgmental, but I just don't get it. He was born in 63. I assume she was born in 84...just creepy any way you look at it. Sorry if anyone here has a similar age gap.

And to completely indulge my not realistic side...if we were to explore the whole retaliation theory...I would say it might not be for retaliation, but because she knew something. Don't know if any of you watch Damages, but that is the type of law her bf practices. Really nasty people on both sides of toxic tort, products liability and enviro lit. I don't pretend to know how close to accurate a show like Damages is, but I grew up with a girl whose father was a very prominent plantiff's lawyer...think exploding gas tanks cases...and their family used to get death threats all the time.

And even it if was retaliation...couldn't that email to the boyfriend have had something in it that only he would have understood to be a threat?
 
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