GUILTY GA - Lauren Giddings, 27, Macon, 26 June 2011 # 5

[Backwoods]

BBM ... not sure if it matters either way but she is apparently being cremated, not buried.

http://www.macon.com/2011/08/02/1651895/police-da-set-meeting-on-giddings.html
(second paragraph)

some of the funeral announcements do mention that information regarding burial is "pending" -- and some do choose to bury cremated remains

 

[Pig]

I'm still under the impression that there has to be some concrete evidence pointing to McD. Not to say that he is definitely guilty, but I find it hard to believe that Macon law enforcement wouldn't be a little more adamant about taking safety precautions if they suspected some sort of murderer were on the lose. If not McD, I'd assume some evidence points specifically to one person, someone that Lauren knew (or at least someone that knew Lauren, but I'd suspect at least some interaction occured between Lauren and her slayer) and who felt comfortable with her apartment complex.

 

[MissingLovedOnes]

I can't see LE saying it's ok to go on air and contradict them about the number of POIs. JMO

I can't see it either.

(Sidebar: In the investigation of what happened to Caylee Anthony, the investigators firmly told
the grandmother that, basically, it was wrong of her to say things to the media that (a) weren't true, and (b) revealed things they weren't out there saying. They told her she was not helping. It begs to be answered as to why she would distract, lie, deceive, misdirect, and intentionally impede an investigation.)

I have a few questions that pop into my head at this juncture.

1. When Kaitlyn made the 911 call to the Macon PD, where were the parents of LG?

2. Why did Kaitlyn make the call and not mom or dad?

When Macon PD arrived at LG's apartment and got some info on what the concerns were, the officer tried to reach LG's parents on 2 different numbers. No answer.

I don't believe Kaitlyn would call 911 without first calling her parents to ask if maybe THEY had heard from LG, just to see if maybe they had information about her sister's whereabouts that Kaitlyn may not have known about yet.

If she had alerted her parents and the concern was there for the safety and well being of LG by her Kaitlyn, I'm sure the parents were concerned and fearful, as well.

3. If your daughter (in another state, away for college) is not answering her phone & your other daughter is distraught enough to call 911, and you are aware of the 911 call, why would you NOT answer your phone if it rang?
(It could be your child trying to reach you.)

4. If Kaitlyn had NOT alerted her parents before calling 911, why not?

5. If she didn't tell them that night, at what point the next morning did she tell them?

I'm curious because LG's father stated that at 10 am when a body was found on the premises, he was actually in his car halfway between Macon and Maryland.

6. Did Mr. Giddings call the Macon PD before leaving his home to drive for half a day to determine the outcome of the visit by police to his daughter's apartment?

I wish someone could ask Kaitlyn when her parents first became concerned for the whereabouts of Lauren.

7. Was it the parents who first worried and perhaps they called Kaitlyn to see if she heard from her, or was it the other way around?

8. Either way, if you are aware that your daughter (recent college grad in another state) could be in trouble/cannot be located, do you fail to jump on EVERY call that comes in to your phone? Why would you not answer?

9. And do you leave your home, states away, to drive all day or night to go check on your child in college without calling the police department, notified by a 911 call, to see what they found, didn't find, what the outcome was? Surely he called, but if not, why not?

I'm anxous to just have a clear picture.

10. Kaitlyn, when did you and your parents first discuss your concerns for Lauren and who decided to call 911?

11. If you didn't discuss it with them prior to calling 911, why not?

12. Did Mr. and/or Mrs. Giddings make contact with Macon PD when they saw they had a missed call?

13. If they did make contact with Macon PD after they saw a missed call, what time was that?

 

[tomkat]

I'm still under the impression that there has to be some concrete evidence pointing to McD. Not to say that he is definitely guilty, but I find it hard to believe that Macon law enforcement wouldn't be a little more adamant about taking safety precautions if they suspected some sort of murderer were on the lose. If not McD, I'd assume some evidence points specifically to one person, someone that Lauren knew (or at least someone that knew Lauren, but I'd suspect at least some interaction occured between Lauren and her slayer) and who felt comfortable with her apartment complex.

1 .........body (torso) was found on the complex indicating the perp was someone who lived on the premises and

2...........the master key, SMcD claims he didnt' know was a master key according to an earlier article AND I read elsewhere it was found by police in the refrigerator of SMcD. Is that correct? Not to mention the video but like they say............you can make anything fit if you try.

but obviously nothing is in... that screams "guilty"

I sure hope like 3doglady......that it doesnt' boil down to all circumstantial evidence, apparently jurors dont' know you can convict with such evidence

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

1 .........body (torso) was found on the complex indicating the perp was someone who lived on the premises and

2...........the master key, SMcD claims he didnt' know was a master key according to an earlier article AND I read elsewhere it was found by police in the refrigerator of SMcD. Is that correct? Not to mention the video but like they say............you can make anything fit if you try.

but obviously nothing is in... that screams "guilty"

I sure hope like 3doglady......that it doesnt' boil down to all circumstantial evidence, apparently jurors dont' know you can convict with such evidence

Where did you read this?

What video?

 

[AgentFrankLundy]

Interesting sit down that Chief Burns had with Kenny B on Live @ 5 News Central GA . I cannot find it posted but I saw some of it. Kenny asked him point blank, is Stephen McDaniel the only person of interest in this case? He thought about it for a very long time, then said "I'm not going to comment" Also said blood was found in Lauren's bathtub/drain , first time I have heard that . I hope they will post the interview on-line.

 

[currcat]

It just occurred to me... the GBI is gathering info from McD and Lauren's computers.
If McD was an avid gamer and played certain things regularly, message boards, etc...
They would know if there was a major change in habit that week.
Of course, with BAR prep, that might not be much - just a tid-bit.

But, if he wasn't really skilled with computers, they'll be able to easily tell what he may
have been researching, etc... for the past several months. And even if he knew how to
clean up after himself (browsing histories, temp files, etc.), they have data recover methods
which can rebuild that information. Only way to prevent that (supposedly) is with some
"secure" unallocated space cleaner. So, it's possible the info the GBI gets from those
computers could be extremely valuable.

Tried to reply to this post earlier, but the site went down or something----

I could of course be wrong and it is strickly MOO----
but I think "IF" *and it is only an "IF" SM did do this horrible crime... that with undergrad dregree and his recent JD that he would be WAY SMARTER than to use his home computer or his smart phone/iPad to research something like "dismemberment of a human" or "destroy DNA evidence", etc.

He would, however, have EASY ACCESS to the libraries on campus there at Mercer, both the law library and likely the Medical College library...then you have the countless public libraries scattered around the town, not to mention the wonderful Washington Memorial Library just blocks from the appt, which has an outstanding research and study area. I am of the opinion that a recent JD grad studying for the bar would fit right in at any of the libraries and in addition to it allowing him to "research" without leaving a tracable footprint...it might also serve as some sort of alibi for his wherabouts during some of his time that may be in question.
I just do not think there will be "tracable" evidence of any research on his computer that will be of any probative value to the LG investigation at all. JMO

 

[McMunn]

Interesting sit down that Chief Burns had with Kenny B on Live @ 5 News Central GA . I cannot find it posted but I saw some of it. Kenny asked him point blank, is Stephen McDaniel the only person of interest in this case? He thought about it for a very long time, then said "I'm not going to comment" Also said blood was found in Lauren's bathtub/drain , first time I have heard that . I hope they will post the interview on-line.

I hope that he will discuss this tomorrow on his radio program. If so, he may even play back the interview with Chief Burns. You will be able to get that audio from WMAC-AM's website.

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

Interesting sit down that Chief Burns had with Kenny B on Live @ 5 News Central GA . I cannot find it posted but I saw some of it. Kenny asked him point blank, is Stephen McDaniel the only person of interest in this case? He thought about it for a very long time, then said "I'm not going to comment" Also said blood was found in Lauren's bathtub/drain , first time I have heard that . I hope they will post the interview on-line.

Well, if the posting date/time on those other Live@5 videos are any indication,
that may not show up until tomorrow morning

 

[McMunn]

Tried to reply to this post earlier, but the site went down or something----

I could of course be wrong and it is strickly MOO----
but I think "IF" *and it is only an "IF" SM did do this horrible crime... that with undergrad dregree and his recent JD that he would be WAY SMARTER than to use his home computer or his smart phone/iPad to research something like "dismemberment of a human" or "destroy DNA evidence", etc.

He would, however, have EASY ACCESS to the libraries on campus there at Mercer, both the law library and likely the Medical College library...then you have the countless public libraries scattered around the town, not to mention the wonderful Washington Memorial Library just blocks from the appt, which has an outstanding research and study area. I am of the opinion that a recent JD grad studying for the bar would fit right in at any of the libraries and in addition to it allowing him to "research" without leaving a tracable footprint...it might also serve as some sort of alibi for his wherabouts during some of his time that may be in question.
I just do not think there will be "tracable" evidence of any research on his computer that will be of any probative value to the LG investigation at all. JMO

In order to use the computer at the library, you have to give them your bar-coded library key, don't you? They would have a way of tracing any activity on their computers, I would think. I could be wrong. I don't know about the college. Does anyone here know if they have to swipe their Mercer ID in order to use the computers?

 

[currcat]

In order to use the computer at the library, you have to give them your bar-coded library key, don't you? They would have a way of tracing any activity on their computers, I would think. I could be wrong. I don't know about the college. Does anyone here know if they have to swipe their Mercer ID in order to use the computers?

I was speaking more in terms of having access to all the "BOOKS" that would available without really anyway to trace "who looked at what when" .... not really the computers.

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

Tried to reply to this post earlier, but the site went down or something----

I could of course be wrong and it is strickly MOO----
but I think "IF" *and it is only an "IF" SM did do this horrible crime... that with undergrad dregree and his recent JD that he would be WAY SMARTER than to use his home computer or his smart phone/iPad to research something like "dismemberment of a human" or "destroy DNA evidence", etc.

He would, however, have EASY ACCESS to the libraries on campus there at Mercer, both the law library and likely the Medical College library...then you have the countless public libraries scattered around the town, not to mention the wonderful Washington Memorial Library just blocks from the appt, which has an outstanding research and study area. I am of the opinion that a recent JD grad studying for the bar would fit right in at any of the libraries and in addition to it allowing him to "research" without leaving a tracable footprint...it might also serve as some sort of alibi for his wherabouts during some of his time that may be in question.
I just do not think there will be "tracable" evidence of any research on his computer that will be of any probative value to the LG investigation at all. JMO

Hmm... In the case of premeditation, you're probably right.
If it wasn't, maybe (just maybe) he stopped to quickly look up a few things.
I'm counting on him making at least a few "slip-ups" in this scenario
simply because he did not plan ahead. And being the type of person he is,
this plan-as-he-goes week, along with the stress and paranoia he had to be experiencing,
would have him at a great disadvantage. ...maybe?

 

[tomkat]

Interesting sit down that Chief Burns had with Kenny B on Live @ 5 News Central GA . I cannot find it posted but I saw some of it. Kenny asked him point blank, is Stephen McDaniel the only person of interest in this case? He thought about it for a very long time, then said "I'm not going to comment" Also said blood was found in Lauren's bathtub/drain , first time I have heard that . I hope they will post the interview on-line.

So she just opened the door and let them in......and whoever left, locked it on their way out. Confusing the whole scene.

 

[McMunn]

So she just opened the door and let them in......and whoever left, locked it on their way out. Confusing the whole scene.

We cannot go by that, since the landlord entered her apartment during the time that she was missing, and probably locked her door on her way out.

 

[Backwoods]

So she just opened the door and let them in......and whoever left, locked it on their way out. Confusing the whole scene.

Possibly...

 

[WhoaJo]

quoting McMunn:

"In order to use the computer at the library, you have to give them your bar-coded library key, don't you? They would have a way of tracing any activity on their computers, I would think. I could be wrong. I don't know about the college. Does anyone here know if they have to swipe their Mercer ID in order to use the computers?"

No need for all of that to walk to the forensics section - one he may already be well-acquainted with as a law student - pick a book from the shelf and find out about anything in the world without being traced.

 

[pearl]

What would happen if SM were to be charged with killing Lauren and confessed to it? In my county in the 1990s, a young man broke into a family home. He had tenuous ties to the family. He killed the father, mother, teenage daughter, and elementary school age son. He raped 2 of the other children and took the survivors many miles away and left them in the country. He would not enter a plea when asked to to so by the judge. The judge then entered a plea of "not guilty" for him. He was charged with premeditated murder and a death sentence would be sought. He then confessed to parts of the crimes but not all of them. It was my understanding that there has to be a trial even if there is a confession if it is a death penalty case. Am I correct?

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

We cannot go by that, since the landlord entered her apartment during the time that she was missing, and probably locked her door on her way out.

Also, how many people do you know who actually use that peep hole?
She could have opened it simply because someone knocked on it.
At night, doubtful. Morning, possible... and we don't really know time of death yet, so...

 

[McMunn]

No need for all of that to walk to the forensics section - one he may already be well-acquainted with as a law student - pick a book from the shelf and find out about anything in the world without being traced.

I wonder if they have cameras in the library. I know that some colleges have online webcams.

 

[WhoaJo]

quoting tomkat:

"So she just opened the door and let them in......and whoever left, locked it on their way out. Confusing the whole scene."

I'm leaning toward the perp already being in the apt waiting for her. And as McMunn said, the landlady would have locked it on her way out.