1 00:00:06,639 --> 00:00:08,474 MAN: You did something stupid, 2 00:00:08,575 --> 00:00:10,609 and I think you feel bad about it, 3 00:00:10,710 --> 00:00:13,212 and that's why you're all freaked out right now. 4 00:00:14,748 --> 00:00:16,682 NARRATOR: An innocent victim snuffed out 5 00:00:16,783 --> 00:00:18,884 in the prime of her life. 6 00:00:18,985 --> 00:00:20,919 And I said, "You'll never believe it. 7 00:00:21,021 --> 00:00:24,590 I'm going into apartments looking for body parts." 8 00:00:26,626 --> 00:00:28,794 And... it was horrible. 9 00:00:29,896 --> 00:00:32,631 In my numerous years of law enforcement experience, 10 00:00:32,699 --> 00:00:34,299 I have never seen anything 11 00:00:34,401 --> 00:00:38,270 as shocking and as horrific as that in my entire life. 12 00:00:38,371 --> 00:00:41,473 NARRATOR: A gruesome murder with the marks of a sociopath. 13 00:00:47,347 --> 00:00:50,049 NARRATOR: The truth will be revealed. 14 00:00:50,150 --> 00:00:53,218 I think his problem was, was that he thought 15 00:00:53,319 --> 00:00:54,987 he was smarter than we were. 16 00:00:58,024 --> 00:00:59,558 NARRATOR: Every day in North America, 17 00:00:59,659 --> 00:01:02,394 dozens of people are murdered. 18 00:01:02,495 --> 00:01:04,863 The key to solving the toughest of these homicides 19 00:01:04,964 --> 00:01:08,934 lies in the final 24 hours of the victim's life. 20 00:01:09,035 --> 00:01:10,369 To crack the case, 21 00:01:10,470 --> 00:01:14,139 detectives must reconstruct that critical timeline, 22 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,809 the minutes and hours containing evidence 23 00:01:16,910 --> 00:01:18,977 that can help unlock the mystery 24 00:01:19,079 --> 00:01:20,012 and catch the killer. 25 00:01:20,113 --> 00:01:25,017 ♪♪ 26 00:01:25,118 --> 00:01:31,857 ♪♪ 27 00:01:31,958 --> 00:01:33,292 Macon, Georgia, 28 00:01:34,794 --> 00:01:39,231 a city known for its old manor homes, Southern rock and roll, 29 00:01:39,332 --> 00:01:42,000 and the prestigious Mercer University, 30 00:01:42,102 --> 00:01:43,535 SHURLEY: Mercer is Macon. 31 00:01:43,636 --> 00:01:46,572 It opened in 1823, 32 00:01:46,673 --> 00:01:48,974 so you're talking now well over 33 00:01:49,075 --> 00:01:50,642 200 years worth of history there. 34 00:01:53,279 --> 00:01:57,149 It's known as being one of the top schools in the country. 35 00:01:58,818 --> 00:02:01,086 NARRATOR: At the entrance to Mercer's Law School 36 00:02:01,187 --> 00:02:04,156 sits the now infamous Barristers Hall Apartments. 37 00:02:05,792 --> 00:02:06,859 BUSH: I came to Macon to go 38 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:12,097 to law school in 1995 and saw the apartments, 39 00:02:12,198 --> 00:02:15,934 and the looked totally different from what you saw today. 40 00:02:17,070 --> 00:02:19,538 They were extremely run down. 41 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:21,907 There were no balconies, no wrought iron, 42 00:02:22,008 --> 00:02:24,276 no patios, nothing. 43 00:02:26,546 --> 00:02:29,181 And people, especially at the law school, 44 00:02:29,282 --> 00:02:32,050 were so excited when we bought 'em 45 00:02:32,152 --> 00:02:35,154 and did the first renovation. 46 00:02:35,255 --> 00:02:37,389 So then we felt like that it was a good investment 47 00:02:37,490 --> 00:02:40,993 as long as the law school didn't move, we would be good. 48 00:02:43,763 --> 00:02:47,166 But you don't expect 49 00:02:47,267 --> 00:02:49,201 what happened to happen either. 50 00:02:51,137 --> 00:02:52,938 NARRATOR: The day that everything changed 51 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:56,141 was June 30, 2011. 52 00:02:56,242 --> 00:02:58,610 My office received a phone call from some of 53 00:02:58,711 --> 00:03:00,412 our investigators, uh, 54 00:03:00,513 --> 00:03:01,813 stating that they were going up 55 00:03:01,915 --> 00:03:04,516 to the Barristers Hall Apartments. 56 00:03:07,587 --> 00:03:09,588 SHURLEY: And the only thing that we knew 57 00:03:09,689 --> 00:03:12,157 was that a student had been missing, 58 00:03:12,258 --> 00:03:13,458 and no one had heard from her 59 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,327 within about a four-day timeframe. 60 00:03:16,696 --> 00:03:19,798 The missing woman is 27-year-old law student 61 00:03:19,866 --> 00:03:21,600 Lauren Giddings. 62 00:03:21,701 --> 00:03:24,703 Lauren Giddings had just graduated law school. 63 00:03:26,973 --> 00:03:29,608 I mean, she was a very pretty girl, tall. 64 00:03:29,709 --> 00:03:31,476 She was athletic. She loved to run, 65 00:03:31,578 --> 00:03:33,979 came from a good family. 66 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,149 She was preparing for a big move to Atlanta 67 00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:38,884 to live with her boyfriend, 68 00:03:38,985 --> 00:03:42,688 and she kind of had everything going for herself. 69 00:03:44,257 --> 00:03:47,392 BUSH: She was very vivacious. 70 00:03:47,493 --> 00:03:49,194 She just had a beautiful smile, 71 00:03:49,295 --> 00:03:50,796 and she loved her dog. 72 00:03:50,897 --> 00:03:53,198 When I picture her in my mind, that's -- 73 00:03:53,266 --> 00:03:54,766 That's a picture I have, 74 00:03:56,169 --> 00:03:58,370 is her smiling and holding Butterbean. 75 00:04:02,408 --> 00:04:05,110 NARRATOR: Detectives Randy Gonzalez 76 00:04:05,211 --> 00:04:07,412 and Dan Shurley are assigned to the case. 77 00:04:07,513 --> 00:04:09,948 When the case first pops off, 78 00:04:10,049 --> 00:04:13,018 um, all the detectives in the bureau, um, 79 00:04:13,119 --> 00:04:15,254 of the Violent Crimes Unit, were -- 80 00:04:15,355 --> 00:04:16,321 Were called out to the scene. 81 00:04:17,824 --> 00:04:20,425 GONZALEZ: Her friends that she hangs out with, uh, 82 00:04:20,526 --> 00:04:24,730 said they haven't heard from her, which is unusual, 83 00:04:24,831 --> 00:04:26,665 because of if they text her, 84 00:04:26,766 --> 00:04:29,601 she would normally text back to them at some point in time. 85 00:04:29,702 --> 00:04:31,436 NARRATOR: The first place they search 86 00:04:31,537 --> 00:04:34,573 his Lauren's apartment in Barristers Hall. 87 00:04:34,674 --> 00:04:37,943 Nothing looked to have been disturbed in any way. 88 00:04:38,044 --> 00:04:39,978 It appeared to be in its normal state. 89 00:04:41,180 --> 00:04:43,715 The only thing we saw that was probably out of place was 90 00:04:43,816 --> 00:04:46,385 the fact that her purse, her cellphone, 91 00:04:46,486 --> 00:04:49,721 and her keys were still there in the apartment and that 92 00:04:49,822 --> 00:04:52,824 her vehicle was still parked in front of her apartment, 93 00:04:52,925 --> 00:04:55,994 which was suspicious in itself. 94 00:04:56,095 --> 00:04:58,764 GONZALEZ: We're thinking, what's happened to her, you know. 95 00:04:58,865 --> 00:05:01,300 Has she been abducted? Had something happened to her 96 00:05:01,401 --> 00:05:03,235 where she can't get help for herself? 97 00:05:04,904 --> 00:05:06,438 SHURLEY: Our crime scene investigators were called 98 00:05:06,539 --> 00:05:09,474 to the scene, at which time they went into the apartment, 99 00:05:09,575 --> 00:05:11,943 and they conducted, um, you know, 100 00:05:12,045 --> 00:05:14,713 the process of fingerprinting, looking for DNA, 101 00:05:14,814 --> 00:05:17,849 any type of evidence of -- Of what may have happened 102 00:05:17,950 --> 00:05:19,785 or anything that could tell us what happened. 103 00:05:21,421 --> 00:05:24,589 They used luminol, which it lights up 104 00:05:24,691 --> 00:05:26,591 the blood under a black light, 105 00:05:28,227 --> 00:05:31,163 and when they sprayed her shower with that, 106 00:05:31,264 --> 00:05:33,131 it glowed like a Christmas tree. 107 00:05:33,232 --> 00:05:41,232 ♪♪ 108 00:05:42,375 --> 00:05:44,276 ♪♪ 109 00:05:44,377 --> 00:05:47,479 So we knew that something had happened 110 00:05:47,580 --> 00:05:49,648 in Lauren's apartment and left a large amount 111 00:05:49,749 --> 00:05:52,484 of blood behind, we just didn't know what. 112 00:05:53,953 --> 00:05:57,055 NARRATOR: It's a troubling discovery, 113 00:05:57,156 --> 00:05:58,757 and it sends investigators out 114 00:05:58,858 --> 00:06:01,660 into the neighborhood in full force. 115 00:06:01,761 --> 00:06:03,028 SHURLEY: So we started canvassing 116 00:06:03,129 --> 00:06:05,964 the area, we were speaking with neighbors. 117 00:06:07,834 --> 00:06:09,434 At the time, there were only a few 118 00:06:09,535 --> 00:06:13,105 students from Mercer that was left on campus. 119 00:06:13,206 --> 00:06:15,207 Most people are cooperative with us. 120 00:06:15,308 --> 00:06:16,708 They don't have anything to hide, 121 00:06:16,809 --> 00:06:19,678 and they were just -- They sincerely want to help. 122 00:06:22,315 --> 00:06:23,882 NARRATOR: One of those concerned friends 123 00:06:23,983 --> 00:06:26,618 is Lauren's next-door neighbor, Stephen McDaniel, 124 00:06:26,719 --> 00:06:30,088 who is holding out hope that Lauren may still be alive. 125 00:06:32,024 --> 00:06:33,125 REPORTER: Do you know anybody that -- 126 00:06:33,259 --> 00:06:34,626 Any enemies she might have had, somebody that might want 127 00:06:34,727 --> 00:06:36,261 to hurt her? - No. 128 00:06:36,362 --> 00:06:39,131 I -- where -- we don't know where she is. 129 00:06:39,232 --> 00:06:41,500 I mean, the only thing we can think is 130 00:06:41,601 --> 00:06:42,801 that maybe she went out running, 131 00:06:42,902 --> 00:06:43,869 and someone snatched her. 132 00:06:45,638 --> 00:06:48,273 NARRATOR: The problem is, like Lauren's other neighbors, 133 00:06:48,374 --> 00:06:50,242 Stephen had his head down studying for 134 00:06:50,343 --> 00:06:53,512 the Bar and didn't see or hear anything. 135 00:06:55,281 --> 00:06:57,182 SHURLEY: It does make it challenging, because everyone's 136 00:06:57,283 --> 00:06:59,851 kind of preoccupied with their own thing, 137 00:06:59,952 --> 00:07:01,887 so they -- no one's noticed 138 00:07:01,988 --> 00:07:04,256 anything out of -- Out of the ordinary. 139 00:07:05,858 --> 00:07:09,661 NARRATOR: Then investigators make a grisly discovery. 140 00:07:09,762 --> 00:07:12,531 We were outside of Lauren's 141 00:07:12,632 --> 00:07:14,766 apartment complex in front of building. 142 00:07:15,768 --> 00:07:17,903 It was kind of a windy day, a little bit, 143 00:07:18,004 --> 00:07:19,805 the wind was blowing, 144 00:07:19,906 --> 00:07:23,208 and we'd smell an odor, like a foul odor, 145 00:07:23,309 --> 00:07:27,112 every once in a while, and, um, 146 00:07:27,213 --> 00:07:28,547 you know, we was just trying to figure out, 147 00:07:28,648 --> 00:07:30,415 you know, was -- what it was. 148 00:07:31,851 --> 00:07:35,120 SHURLEY: That smell led us to a trash can 149 00:07:35,221 --> 00:07:37,956 that was located outside of Lauren's apartment building. 150 00:07:42,028 --> 00:07:44,429 So when we opened up the trash can, 151 00:07:44,530 --> 00:07:47,599 there was, um, a black trash bag. 152 00:07:51,771 --> 00:07:54,739 Pull it out, and upon opening it, 153 00:07:54,841 --> 00:07:57,809 we located a torso inside those trash bags. 154 00:08:02,648 --> 00:08:04,149 In my 155 00:08:04,250 --> 00:08:06,318 numerous years of law enforcement experience, 156 00:08:06,419 --> 00:08:10,255 I have never seen anything as shocking and as horrific as that 157 00:08:10,356 --> 00:08:11,356 in my entire life. 158 00:08:14,393 --> 00:08:16,194 [camera shutter clicks] 159 00:08:18,364 --> 00:08:20,265 And unfortunately, we had a pretty good idea 160 00:08:20,366 --> 00:08:21,967 that it was Lauren's body. 161 00:08:23,736 --> 00:08:26,238 NARRATOR: Detectives won't know for certain until the autopsy 162 00:08:26,339 --> 00:08:27,606 results come in, 163 00:08:27,707 --> 00:08:30,008 but until then, they're treating Lauren's 164 00:08:30,109 --> 00:08:32,744 disappearance as a homicide. 165 00:08:32,845 --> 00:08:34,412 I drive up, and I... 166 00:08:34,514 --> 00:08:38,183 the -- the officer stopped me, and I said, "Unh-unh." 167 00:08:38,284 --> 00:08:39,985 "I own this place. 168 00:08:40,086 --> 00:08:43,555 I need to get in here," so they let me through, 169 00:08:43,656 --> 00:08:48,660 and they had just, not 30 minutes before, found 170 00:08:48,761 --> 00:08:51,730 the torso and knew that we had... 171 00:08:51,831 --> 00:08:53,765 a murder. 172 00:08:55,468 --> 00:08:57,969 NARRATOR: Based on the decomposition of the body, 173 00:08:58,070 --> 00:09:00,839 the medical examiner believes Lauren was likely killed 174 00:09:00,940 --> 00:09:02,107 between Saturday morning, 175 00:09:02,208 --> 00:09:06,411 June 25th, and Sunday evening, June 26th. 176 00:09:06,512 --> 00:09:10,649 Murder is a bad thing, but you take somebody's life, 177 00:09:10,750 --> 00:09:14,319 and then you going to cut the body up... 178 00:09:14,420 --> 00:09:17,389 My -- my thoughts are of, you know, what kind 179 00:09:17,490 --> 00:09:19,858 of person would do something like this? 180 00:09:19,959 --> 00:09:24,763 What is -- what kind of mindset does a person have that could 181 00:09:24,864 --> 00:09:26,498 treat another human being like this? 182 00:09:27,867 --> 00:09:30,635 BUSH: I was just in shock. 183 00:09:30,736 --> 00:09:33,038 This happens to other people. 184 00:09:33,139 --> 00:09:36,875 It doesn't happen in your -- In your neighborhood. 185 00:09:36,976 --> 00:09:39,844 It doesn't happen in your life. 186 00:09:41,013 --> 00:09:43,381 NARRATOR: To catch her killer, detectives will need to 187 00:09:43,482 --> 00:09:47,085 unravel the last 24 hours of Lauren Giddings' life. 188 00:09:47,186 --> 00:09:49,654 We knew that we were dealing with 189 00:09:49,755 --> 00:09:51,856 a different kind of killer than what 190 00:09:51,958 --> 00:09:55,026 we were normally used to. 191 00:09:55,127 --> 00:09:56,494 We didn't know if it was a serial killer, 192 00:09:56,596 --> 00:09:58,430 someone traveling through town. 193 00:09:58,531 --> 00:10:01,132 We didn't know if it was a jilted lover. 194 00:10:01,233 --> 00:10:03,101 We didn't even -- you know, 195 00:10:03,202 --> 00:10:05,437 we had no idea what we were dealing with. 196 00:10:06,973 --> 00:10:11,109 BUSH: Quite honestly, I felt like it was somebody 197 00:10:11,210 --> 00:10:13,211 random and that we were never gonna know. 198 00:10:18,084 --> 00:10:19,517 ARNTFIELD: When we see dismemberment used 199 00:10:19,619 --> 00:10:21,419 in any case of murder, number one, 200 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,122 it can have a strategic or an instrumental purpose, 201 00:10:24,223 --> 00:10:28,627 which means to conceal the body in smaller parts 202 00:10:28,728 --> 00:10:29,894 so that it's never found. 203 00:10:29,996 --> 00:10:34,566 But often it can also have a symbolic or sexual purpose. 204 00:10:34,667 --> 00:10:37,435 There is actually a disorder called mutiliophilia, 205 00:10:37,536 --> 00:10:43,308 which describes an offender's need to, um, dismember 206 00:10:43,409 --> 00:10:44,976 and mutilate a body, so, in other words, 207 00:10:45,077 --> 00:10:46,845 the murder is just step one, 208 00:10:46,946 --> 00:10:50,515 and it's what comes after that's really motivating. 209 00:10:50,616 --> 00:10:53,451 SHURLEY: As you would imagine, with a crime of this nature, 210 00:10:53,552 --> 00:10:57,656 um, it just sent panic through the community, 211 00:10:58,758 --> 00:11:01,026 so we were trying to 212 00:11:01,127 --> 00:11:05,930 to establish a suspect in this case as quickly as possible. 213 00:11:07,233 --> 00:11:09,801 NARRATOR: Detectives turn to Lauren's best friend, Ashley, 214 00:11:09,902 --> 00:11:13,071 hoping she can help fill in Lauren's whereabouts during 215 00:11:13,172 --> 00:11:15,974 the window of time they believe she was killed. 216 00:11:16,075 --> 00:11:18,610 SHURLEY: Ashley stated that the last time 217 00:11:18,711 --> 00:11:21,513 she saw Lauren was on June the 24th. 218 00:11:21,614 --> 00:11:22,947 She and Lauren, along with some 219 00:11:23,049 --> 00:11:24,916 other friends, had went to a bar downtown. 220 00:11:26,085 --> 00:11:28,953 NARRATOR: One of those friends is a man named Joe. 221 00:11:29,055 --> 00:11:32,657 Ashley said that Lauren and Joe had previously been in 222 00:11:32,758 --> 00:11:34,759 a relationship, but, um, 223 00:11:34,860 --> 00:11:37,062 they had since broken it off. 224 00:11:37,163 --> 00:11:39,130 NARRATOR: She said Lauren's current boyfriend lives 225 00:11:39,231 --> 00:11:42,067 in Atlanta, but she and Joe remained friends. 226 00:11:43,469 --> 00:11:45,203 Ashley described the night, I mean, it was just 227 00:11:45,304 --> 00:11:47,005 a normal night, they went down to blow off 228 00:11:47,106 --> 00:11:50,475 some steam from studying for the Bar. 229 00:11:50,576 --> 00:11:52,577 Everybody seemed to be happy and having a good time. 230 00:11:56,148 --> 00:11:58,583 Ashley said that after they left the bar, 231 00:11:58,684 --> 00:12:02,220 everyone went back to Joe's apartment. 232 00:12:02,321 --> 00:12:03,688 They had some more drinks, 233 00:12:03,789 --> 00:12:05,924 and Lauren had spent the night at Joe's house. 234 00:12:08,694 --> 00:12:10,595 NARRATOR: It wasn't until four days later, 235 00:12:10,696 --> 00:12:12,630 when Ashley hadn't heard from Lauren, 236 00:12:12,732 --> 00:12:15,100 that she went over to her apartment to check on her. 237 00:12:16,902 --> 00:12:19,471 No one's that surprised when they don't hear from Lauren for 238 00:12:19,572 --> 00:12:21,940 a number of days, and that's normal 239 00:12:22,041 --> 00:12:24,576 when you were in the midst of studying for the Bar, 240 00:12:24,677 --> 00:12:27,312 it's everybody goes into their hole. 241 00:12:27,413 --> 00:12:29,581 They don't want to speak to the outside world. 242 00:12:32,184 --> 00:12:34,385 SHURLEY: Joe was immediately considered a possible suspect 243 00:12:34,487 --> 00:12:36,121 in the case. 244 00:12:36,222 --> 00:12:37,889 Usually the first people that are looked out of the ones 245 00:12:37,990 --> 00:12:41,926 closest to 'em, boyfriends, husbands, ex-boyfriends. 246 00:12:42,027 --> 00:12:45,163 So in Joe's case, he wasn't 247 00:12:45,264 --> 00:12:48,133 the one that cut the relationship off. 248 00:12:48,234 --> 00:12:51,035 So there's a possibility there for a... 249 00:12:53,005 --> 00:12:56,007 quite possibly a jilted lover. 250 00:12:56,108 --> 00:12:58,276 NARRATOR: Detectives bring Joe down to the station to 251 00:12:58,377 --> 00:13:02,046 question him about the last time he saw Lauren. 252 00:13:02,148 --> 00:13:04,616 He confirms that she stayed the night at his house 253 00:13:04,717 --> 00:13:09,187 but says she left alive and well the next morning at 8 a.m. 254 00:13:09,288 --> 00:13:13,424 Joe's story makes him the last person, if that story's true, 255 00:13:13,526 --> 00:13:16,961 verified as seeing our victim when she was last alive. 256 00:13:17,062 --> 00:13:19,864 And while there's nothing on the surface wrong with that 257 00:13:19,965 --> 00:13:21,699 story, unfortunately, as an investigator 258 00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:23,468 in this land of work, you have to think dirty. 259 00:13:23,569 --> 00:13:27,405 You have to start thinking, is this story a play? 260 00:13:27,506 --> 00:13:30,408 Does he know more? Did something involving alcohol 261 00:13:30,509 --> 00:13:32,377 happen that night that he hasn't told people? 262 00:13:43,489 --> 00:13:45,623 NARRATOR: After finding what investigators believe is 263 00:13:45,724 --> 00:13:47,725 Lauren Giddings' dismembered torso in 264 00:13:47,827 --> 00:13:50,795 the trash can near the Barristers Hall apartments, 265 00:13:50,896 --> 00:13:54,232 suspicions air swirling around her ex-boyfriend Joe. 266 00:13:54,333 --> 00:13:58,336 The pressure was very, very intense, 267 00:13:58,437 --> 00:14:01,706 uh, you know, like I said, due to the nature of the crime. 268 00:14:04,276 --> 00:14:06,077 A city in panic, 269 00:14:06,178 --> 00:14:09,113 and so we needed to give them answers as quickly as possible. 270 00:14:12,318 --> 00:14:14,319 And Joe was the last person to see her alive. 271 00:14:15,888 --> 00:14:17,488 NARRATOR: During the interrogation, 272 00:14:17,590 --> 00:14:19,891 Joe remembers something. 273 00:14:19,992 --> 00:14:22,827 When Lauren left his apartment on Saturday morning, 274 00:14:22,928 --> 00:14:25,330 she said she might try to sneak into the local country 275 00:14:25,431 --> 00:14:27,131 club later on that afternoon. 276 00:14:28,834 --> 00:14:33,538 So I went to the Healy Point Country Club, and she was 277 00:14:33,639 --> 00:14:37,542 actually captured on camera at that -- at the country club, 278 00:14:37,643 --> 00:14:40,078 out by the pool and ordering a drink. 279 00:14:41,780 --> 00:14:44,515 The significance of the camera footage is 280 00:14:44,617 --> 00:14:47,385 that it gives us a new timeline 281 00:14:47,486 --> 00:14:50,722 of when the last time Lauren was alive. 282 00:14:54,593 --> 00:14:56,227 NARRATOR: With Joe's story checking out, 283 00:14:56,328 --> 00:14:58,162 investigators shift their focus 284 00:14:58,264 --> 00:15:01,332 to Lauren's current boyfriend, David Vandiver. 285 00:15:03,102 --> 00:15:06,604 David lived in Atlanta, you know, an hour way. 286 00:15:06,672 --> 00:15:08,740 He was an established attorney out there. 287 00:15:11,110 --> 00:15:12,844 He was about 20 years older than Lauren. 288 00:15:15,514 --> 00:15:19,484 We'd receive information that David had planned on 289 00:15:19,585 --> 00:15:21,586 proposing her, but he had also admitted 290 00:15:21,687 --> 00:15:24,022 that their relationship was a little rocky. 291 00:15:28,928 --> 00:15:32,897 I think I met David one time in passing. 292 00:15:34,466 --> 00:15:35,767 I don't know him that well, 293 00:15:37,903 --> 00:15:40,605 but I can tell you that the family 294 00:15:40,706 --> 00:15:42,473 wasn't enamored with David. 295 00:15:43,776 --> 00:15:46,077 I don't know if he just 296 00:15:46,178 --> 00:15:49,213 liked being single and didn't really want to commit. 297 00:15:49,315 --> 00:15:51,316 Um, I don't know, 298 00:15:51,417 --> 00:15:52,850 but I know that 299 00:15:52,952 --> 00:15:54,485 at least her cousins were not... 300 00:15:55,888 --> 00:15:59,090 happy with the relationship. 301 00:15:59,191 --> 00:16:00,692 NARRATOR: Detectives ask David to come 302 00:16:00,793 --> 00:16:03,227 down from Atlanta for questioning. 303 00:16:03,329 --> 00:16:07,031 GONZALEZ: Being that he was her current boyfriend, 304 00:16:07,132 --> 00:16:10,101 we wanted to see what he knows about 305 00:16:10,202 --> 00:16:12,170 Lauren, when's the last time he's talking with her. 306 00:16:12,271 --> 00:16:13,638 When's the last time he seen her. 307 00:16:13,739 --> 00:16:15,673 NARRATOR: Detectives decide to keep 308 00:16:15,774 --> 00:16:19,043 their cards close to their chest while they sussed David out. 309 00:17:02,087 --> 00:17:03,321 Okay. 310 00:17:12,464 --> 00:17:15,466 NARRATOR: David immediately claims he has an alibi, that 311 00:17:15,567 --> 00:17:18,469 he was in California golfing from 9:40 a.m. 312 00:17:18,570 --> 00:17:22,740 Friday morning until Monday morning at 6 a.m. 313 00:17:22,841 --> 00:17:24,242 David said that he didn't speak to 314 00:17:24,343 --> 00:17:26,477 Lauren the entire time he was in California. 315 00:17:56,308 --> 00:17:58,776 If you're in a relationship with someone, 316 00:17:58,877 --> 00:18:01,145 to me, it's kind of unusual that you don't talk 317 00:18:01,246 --> 00:18:05,483 to someone, you know, in five days. 318 00:18:05,584 --> 00:18:09,020 Um, I mean, not even a phone call or text. 319 00:18:10,722 --> 00:18:12,223 You know, that's kind of one of those moments 320 00:18:12,324 --> 00:18:15,660 when you think, well... 321 00:18:15,761 --> 00:18:18,196 does he know something about this? 322 00:18:18,297 --> 00:18:19,630 Is he involved in this? 323 00:18:30,709 --> 00:18:32,443 PATTERSON: Recently. 324 00:18:38,217 --> 00:18:40,451 SHURLEY: David had a lot of motivation there. 325 00:18:40,552 --> 00:18:43,321 It very well could have been the fact that David, 326 00:18:43,422 --> 00:18:49,727 being the successful older man, and Lauren being the trophy, 327 00:18:49,828 --> 00:18:51,162 the fact that -- 328 00:18:51,263 --> 00:18:55,566 That Lauren had spent the night with Joe 329 00:18:55,667 --> 00:18:57,568 a couple of days beforehand -- We didn't 330 00:18:57,669 --> 00:19:01,572 know possibly if David knew about this and, um, had, 331 00:19:01,673 --> 00:19:04,575 you know, done harm to her. 332 00:19:14,553 --> 00:19:16,287 NARRATOR: While David appears suspicious, 333 00:19:16,388 --> 00:19:20,191 his alibi checks out, but before he's released, 334 00:19:20,292 --> 00:19:23,628 he reveals a disturbing piece of new information. 335 00:19:23,729 --> 00:19:26,197 SHURLEY: So in interviewing David, he did provide us 336 00:19:26,298 --> 00:19:29,467 with an email that Lauren had sent him, 337 00:19:29,568 --> 00:19:31,903 saying that she thought that someone had possibly broken 338 00:19:32,004 --> 00:19:34,238 into her apartment. 339 00:19:34,339 --> 00:19:37,175 NARRATOR: David says he never responded to that email. 340 00:19:37,276 --> 00:19:40,711 SHURLEY: We know at least on Saturday night at 10 o'clock 341 00:19:40,812 --> 00:19:42,346 when she sent that email, 342 00:19:42,447 --> 00:19:45,550 that Lauren was alive at that timeframe. 343 00:19:45,651 --> 00:19:48,085 NARRATOR: Detectives begin to develop a new theory 344 00:19:48,187 --> 00:19:50,121 about Lauren's murder. 345 00:19:50,222 --> 00:19:53,925 SHURLEY: Well, that was significant in the fact that 346 00:19:54,026 --> 00:19:56,661 now we have someone that's broken into her apartment 347 00:19:56,762 --> 00:20:00,464 we also have a possible another suspect on the case. 348 00:20:02,401 --> 00:20:04,969 It's possible that someone was actually stalking her. 349 00:20:17,216 --> 00:20:19,617 NARRATOR: Detectives are exploring a theory that whoever 350 00:20:19,718 --> 00:20:21,519 killed Lauren Giddings in her apartment 351 00:20:21,620 --> 00:20:23,955 might have been stalking her. 352 00:20:24,056 --> 00:20:26,190 There was no, um, 353 00:20:26,291 --> 00:20:28,593 forced entry to the apartment. 354 00:20:28,694 --> 00:20:31,896 Your thinking process is that she let someone into 355 00:20:31,997 --> 00:20:34,565 her apartment, uh, 356 00:20:34,666 --> 00:20:36,234 was the apartment unlocked 357 00:20:36,335 --> 00:20:38,336 at the time and someone entered in? 358 00:20:38,437 --> 00:20:42,607 If no one forcibly broke in, how did they get in? 359 00:20:44,109 --> 00:20:47,211 You can't break in through the doors. 360 00:20:47,312 --> 00:20:49,680 Um, the doors are solid wood. 361 00:20:49,781 --> 00:20:51,482 They're set -- they're set in 362 00:20:51,583 --> 00:20:55,920 a steel casing that is set into concrete. 363 00:20:56,021 --> 00:20:58,689 So when the deadbolt goes through the steel casing, 364 00:20:58,790 --> 00:21:02,693 it goes into concrete, and unless you have an axe, 365 00:21:02,794 --> 00:21:05,196 you can't chop down that solid wood door. 366 00:21:06,565 --> 00:21:09,166 Someone had to have a key, 367 00:21:10,769 --> 00:21:12,336 either spare key or a master key. 368 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,874 SHURLEY: And we knew one person that had a spare key 369 00:21:16,975 --> 00:21:19,844 to the apartment complex was the maintenance guy. 370 00:21:23,548 --> 00:21:25,449 NARRATOR: Detectives track down the maintenance man 371 00:21:25,550 --> 00:21:28,586 at the Barristers Hall Apartments, David Dorer. 372 00:21:29,821 --> 00:21:33,324 BUSH: He was a law student himself 373 00:21:33,425 --> 00:21:37,194 and, um, very 374 00:21:37,329 --> 00:21:42,199 much dedicated to finishing his degree and practicing law. 375 00:21:42,301 --> 00:21:45,102 SHURLEY: He said that he didn't keep a close eye 376 00:21:45,203 --> 00:21:48,005 or have a lot of contact with the other, um, 377 00:21:48,106 --> 00:21:50,875 occupants of the apartment complex unless 378 00:21:50,976 --> 00:21:52,810 he was doing a job for 'em. 379 00:21:52,911 --> 00:21:56,714 NARRATOR: Investigators ask him when he last saw Lauren. 380 00:21:56,815 --> 00:21:58,816 He had informed us that he had been to Lauren's 381 00:21:58,917 --> 00:22:02,186 apartment a couple of weeks prior to us finding her body. 382 00:22:03,255 --> 00:22:04,989 NARRATOR: David Dorer says that he, too, 383 00:22:05,090 --> 00:22:08,492 was consumed with studying all week and therefore can't 384 00:22:08,593 --> 00:22:10,561 provide a solid alibi. 385 00:22:10,662 --> 00:22:13,264 ARNTFIELD: The fact that David, the building's maintenance man, 386 00:22:13,365 --> 00:22:16,701 had access to that room and to the saw 387 00:22:16,802 --> 00:22:20,438 and would have had access to all the residents' personal 388 00:22:20,539 --> 00:22:22,540 information, to keys to their units, 389 00:22:22,641 --> 00:22:24,909 could have wandered through the halls and around 390 00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:27,011 the grounds under the cover of darkness 391 00:22:27,112 --> 00:22:30,281 and had a lawful pretext for doing so, to me, 392 00:22:30,382 --> 00:22:34,051 I mean, it seems like it was a good fit. 393 00:22:34,152 --> 00:22:36,220 NARRATOR: When the autopsy results come in, 394 00:22:36,321 --> 00:22:39,423 confirming that the torso does belong to Lauren Giddings 395 00:22:39,524 --> 00:22:42,827 and that she was likely dismembered with a hacksaw, 396 00:22:42,928 --> 00:22:47,531 detectives go on the hunt for the murder weapon. 397 00:22:47,632 --> 00:22:50,601 Then they asked to see in 398 00:22:50,702 --> 00:22:51,836 the laundry area. 399 00:22:54,706 --> 00:22:57,975 We let 'em into our lockout closet, 400 00:22:58,076 --> 00:23:01,245 and all of our -- as I told you, all of our tools were 401 00:23:01,346 --> 00:23:04,281 hanging there, and there was a saw there, 402 00:23:04,383 --> 00:23:06,751 but it was one of about three saws that was 403 00:23:06,852 --> 00:23:09,820 on the peg, and they ask are these -- 404 00:23:09,921 --> 00:23:11,389 Are your tools? 405 00:23:11,490 --> 00:23:15,192 And I said, "Yes," had no reason to think they weren't. 406 00:23:15,293 --> 00:23:16,961 They all look alike. 407 00:23:17,062 --> 00:23:20,464 NARRATOR: But one of those saws isn't like the others. 408 00:23:20,565 --> 00:23:23,601 It shows positive traces for blood. 409 00:23:23,702 --> 00:23:25,669 ARNTFIELD: If I was a betting man, and I found this hacksaw 410 00:23:25,771 --> 00:23:28,639 covered with what appeared to be human blood 411 00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:33,177 in the same building complex as Lauren, who was dismembered, 412 00:23:33,278 --> 00:23:35,746 I mean, I would be betting 100 to 1 that 413 00:23:35,847 --> 00:23:36,981 that was her blood on the saw. 414 00:23:41,319 --> 00:23:43,788 At that point, it shoots the maintenance man up to 415 00:23:43,889 --> 00:23:46,657 the top of the list of being a possible suspect. 416 00:23:50,529 --> 00:23:52,129 NARRATOR: When they asked the maintenance man if 417 00:23:52,230 --> 00:23:54,932 the hacksaw belongs to his set of tools, 418 00:23:55,033 --> 00:23:56,734 he denies it. 419 00:23:56,835 --> 00:23:58,302 The maintenance man told us that he -- 420 00:23:58,403 --> 00:23:59,637 He didn't know anything about the hacksaw, 421 00:24:01,139 --> 00:24:02,273 that he'd never seen it before. 422 00:24:04,476 --> 00:24:06,377 We're lied to all the time, 423 00:24:06,478 --> 00:24:09,280 so for him to not be truthful about 424 00:24:09,381 --> 00:24:13,083 the hacksaw would not be unusual in a case at all. 425 00:24:13,185 --> 00:24:14,585 ARNTFIELD: The question then is, 426 00:24:14,686 --> 00:24:17,188 if he was so careful about disposing of the victim, 427 00:24:17,289 --> 00:24:19,890 why leave the most incriminating piece of evidence 428 00:24:19,991 --> 00:24:22,860 essentially in plain view in a room only he had 429 00:24:22,961 --> 00:24:25,095 access to -- it almost seems too convenient. 430 00:24:28,467 --> 00:24:31,101 NARRATOR: While the hacksaw is sent off to forensics, 431 00:24:31,203 --> 00:24:34,572 detectives fend off a media firestorm. 432 00:24:34,673 --> 00:24:36,307 GONZALEZ: When you got a crime like that, 433 00:24:36,408 --> 00:24:39,043 and, you know, people are wondering what happened, 434 00:24:39,144 --> 00:24:41,979 people want to ask, 'cause they want to know, you know, 435 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,983 what are you doing? Do you have any suspects? 436 00:24:46,084 --> 00:24:48,619 QUESADA: We kept calling every day, trying to find out 437 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:49,987 new information, 438 00:24:50,088 --> 00:24:53,157 so I'm sure the police department felt the pressure. 439 00:24:54,459 --> 00:24:56,427 It was definitely the main thing 440 00:24:56,528 --> 00:24:59,129 everyone in the community was talking about. 441 00:24:59,231 --> 00:25:01,365 NARRATOR: Facing immense pressure to solve 442 00:25:01,466 --> 00:25:04,401 Lauren's murder, detectives bring in over 20 443 00:25:04,503 --> 00:25:06,937 members of the police force to help bring her killer 444 00:25:07,038 --> 00:25:08,472 to justice. 445 00:25:08,573 --> 00:25:11,909 I think once they found the hacksaw in the laundry room 446 00:25:12,010 --> 00:25:13,544 or maintenance room of the development, 447 00:25:13,645 --> 00:25:16,514 they knew that he had to be someone who either lived in 448 00:25:16,615 --> 00:25:20,818 that development or was able -- Was very close to it. 449 00:25:20,919 --> 00:25:22,653 NARRATOR: Detectives begin a thorough search 450 00:25:22,754 --> 00:25:25,556 of every apartment in the complex. 451 00:25:25,657 --> 00:25:28,759 There's only one person who doesn't willingly consent -- 452 00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:31,695 Lauren's classmate, Stephen McDaniel. 453 00:25:31,796 --> 00:25:33,597 GONZALEZ: The way the apartments were set up, 454 00:25:33,698 --> 00:25:35,799 there were two downstairs apartments and two 455 00:25:35,901 --> 00:25:37,268 upstairs apartments, 456 00:25:37,369 --> 00:25:40,271 and Lauren lived in the apartment upstairs 457 00:25:40,372 --> 00:25:41,505 to the left. 458 00:25:41,606 --> 00:25:44,308 Stephen lived in the apartment upstairs to the right, 459 00:25:44,409 --> 00:25:47,044 So they were kind of next door to each other. 460 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,849 BUSH: Stephen is a very different person. 461 00:25:51,950 --> 00:25:55,085 He seemed a little socially awkward. 462 00:25:55,186 --> 00:25:57,955 Some of the conversations he would have with me when I was 463 00:25:58,056 --> 00:25:59,657 on site working, 464 00:25:59,758 --> 00:26:02,026 working in the flowers or whatever, 465 00:26:02,127 --> 00:26:03,227 he'd stand there and talk to me 466 00:26:03,328 --> 00:26:06,497 for 30, 45 minutes about the entomology of bugs. 467 00:26:08,066 --> 00:26:11,502 And... that was Stephen. 468 00:26:12,837 --> 00:26:15,639 NARRATOR: Suspicious about why Stephen won't voluntarily 469 00:26:15,740 --> 00:26:17,841 allow a search of his apartment, 470 00:26:17,943 --> 00:26:20,778 investigators question him downtown. 471 00:26:20,879 --> 00:26:22,379 And... 472 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,214 I remember getting so upset, 473 00:26:24,316 --> 00:26:26,650 because they were treating Stephen differently. 474 00:26:33,758 --> 00:26:37,695 I remember saying to one of my friends that... 475 00:26:39,130 --> 00:26:40,364 they're stereotyping. 476 00:27:09,394 --> 00:27:11,729 Just the way that he was acting was suspicious 477 00:27:11,830 --> 00:27:13,163 in general to me. 478 00:27:45,697 --> 00:27:47,531 SHURLEY: Investigators went over to 479 00:27:47,632 --> 00:27:48,999 the apartment and began searching it. 480 00:27:49,100 --> 00:27:56,440 ♪♪ 481 00:27:56,541 --> 00:28:00,044 They had noticed in his apartment condoms, 482 00:28:01,446 --> 00:28:04,214 and we knew that within speaking with him that he had 483 00:28:04,315 --> 00:28:08,952 made some comments about saving himself for marriage, 484 00:28:09,054 --> 00:28:10,421 that he was a virgin. 485 00:28:10,522 --> 00:28:13,457 So when the investigators question Stephen 486 00:28:13,558 --> 00:28:17,461 about these condoms, he spontaneously stated 487 00:28:17,562 --> 00:28:20,097 that he had -- He had stolen them out 488 00:28:20,198 --> 00:28:22,032 of some of the residents -- 489 00:28:22,133 --> 00:28:24,301 Other residences, apartments. 490 00:28:27,272 --> 00:28:30,541 The fact that Stephen confesses to having burglarized apartments 491 00:28:30,642 --> 00:28:32,743 in that complex, to me, is the game changer. 492 00:28:32,844 --> 00:28:34,111 We know, first of all, 493 00:28:34,212 --> 00:28:38,082 that burglary is the most common first crime among both 494 00:28:38,183 --> 00:28:40,617 homicidal and non-homicidal sex offenders 495 00:28:40,719 --> 00:28:43,487 who are currently incarcerated. It is a gateway crime. 496 00:28:43,588 --> 00:28:46,090 NARRATOR: As suspicions deepen around Stephen, 497 00:28:46,191 --> 00:28:48,926 investigators pore over several news interviews 498 00:28:49,027 --> 00:28:51,528 that he gave the day the torso was found. 499 00:28:51,629 --> 00:28:53,564 I mean, we just don't know where she is. 500 00:28:53,665 --> 00:28:56,133 REPORTER: What about in the, like, the parking lot area? 501 00:28:56,234 --> 00:28:58,001 I know they've been doing a lot of -- I think that's 502 00:28:58,103 --> 00:29:01,371 where they had recovered a body or whatever they recovered 503 00:29:01,473 --> 00:29:02,673 from there. - Body? 504 00:29:02,774 --> 00:29:06,276 REPORTER: Had you heard -- Had you seen anything there? 505 00:29:06,377 --> 00:29:09,413 - Had you seen anything there? - I... 506 00:29:09,514 --> 00:29:11,515 I mean, we don't know if this is the same person, 507 00:29:11,616 --> 00:29:13,317 You know what I mean? They took out a body there 508 00:29:13,418 --> 00:29:15,252 earlier -- we don't know if it was the same person or not, 509 00:29:15,353 --> 00:29:16,854 so that's why we're trying to ask people if they know 510 00:29:16,955 --> 00:29:18,589 who lived there? 511 00:29:18,690 --> 00:29:21,725 Are you okay, sir? 512 00:29:21,826 --> 00:29:24,027 - I think I need to sit down. - REPORTER: Okay. 513 00:29:26,598 --> 00:29:28,565 SHURLEY: When I saw the way that he acted when 514 00:29:28,666 --> 00:29:31,502 he found out that there was a body in that trash can, 515 00:29:31,603 --> 00:29:33,403 I mean, 516 00:29:33,505 --> 00:29:38,275 you knew that this man knew something about the murder, 517 00:29:38,376 --> 00:29:39,676 without a shadow of a doubt. 518 00:29:39,778 --> 00:29:41,779 It's right there in front of your face. 519 00:29:43,615 --> 00:29:47,217 NARRATOR: But not everybody believes Stephen is guilty. 520 00:29:47,318 --> 00:29:49,987 BUSH: The Stephen that I had met 521 00:29:50,088 --> 00:29:51,955 could never have done this. 522 00:29:54,192 --> 00:29:55,993 And I didn't believe it for a minute. 523 00:30:07,672 --> 00:30:09,339 NARRATOR: Stephen McDaniel has confessed 524 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:11,608 to burglarizing his neighbors, 525 00:30:11,709 --> 00:30:14,378 leading detectives to wonder whether he was the stalker 526 00:30:14,479 --> 00:30:17,314 who murdered Lauren Giddings in her own home. 527 00:30:17,415 --> 00:30:19,349 SHURLEY: We were able to take a burglary warrant out on him. 528 00:30:19,450 --> 00:30:23,720 He was subsequently arrested on that burglary and held until 529 00:30:23,822 --> 00:30:27,357 we were able to possibly get enough evidence to prove, 530 00:30:27,458 --> 00:30:28,492 um, murder. 531 00:30:32,397 --> 00:30:34,965 With Stephen in custody, 532 00:30:35,066 --> 00:30:36,567 the investigators obtained a search warrant 533 00:30:36,668 --> 00:30:37,701 for Stephen's apartment, 534 00:30:39,604 --> 00:30:40,537 where a more detailed search 535 00:30:40,638 --> 00:30:43,941 that time was conducted, and during that search, 536 00:30:44,042 --> 00:30:45,709 they located a pair of panties. 537 00:30:47,946 --> 00:30:50,280 STOCKDALE: So, in my mind, as a psychologist, 538 00:30:50,381 --> 00:30:53,784 I'm thinking, what is Stephen's fantasy life? 539 00:30:53,885 --> 00:30:55,686 What is he thinking about? 540 00:30:55,787 --> 00:30:57,855 What is sexually arousing to him, 541 00:30:57,956 --> 00:31:00,424 and how may have Lauren fit into that? 542 00:31:02,126 --> 00:31:03,861 NARRATOR: They send the underwear to forensics 543 00:31:03,962 --> 00:31:05,562 for DNA analysis. 544 00:31:05,663 --> 00:31:07,798 Meanwhile, they make a startling 545 00:31:07,899 --> 00:31:09,900 find in Stephen's apartment. 546 00:31:10,001 --> 00:31:12,903 And this was the second or third day, 547 00:31:13,004 --> 00:31:17,407 and I arrived at the apartments, and they called me over, one of 548 00:31:17,508 --> 00:31:21,211 the techs called me over, and he said, "Do you recognize this?" 549 00:31:21,312 --> 00:31:24,147 I recognized it, and I said, "It's a master key. 550 00:31:24,249 --> 00:31:25,983 Where did you get?" 551 00:31:26,084 --> 00:31:29,152 And he said, "It came out of Stephen's apartment," 552 00:31:29,254 --> 00:31:33,023 and I was absolutely devastated. 553 00:31:34,392 --> 00:31:36,827 I was feeling like, oh, my God, 554 00:31:36,928 --> 00:31:40,964 am I the one that lost this key that Stephen found? 555 00:31:41,099 --> 00:31:42,966 Is this my fault? 556 00:31:43,067 --> 00:31:46,236 NARRATOR: But they didn't find just one key. 557 00:31:46,337 --> 00:31:48,005 There were, uh, 558 00:31:48,106 --> 00:31:51,008 two keys that were found in the apartment. 559 00:31:51,109 --> 00:31:53,043 One was a passkey. 560 00:31:54,412 --> 00:31:57,648 There was another key found that was actually 561 00:31:57,749 --> 00:32:02,052 a key that fit the lock to Lauren Giddings' apartment. 562 00:32:02,153 --> 00:32:04,288 NARRATOR: Armed with this incriminating evidence, 563 00:32:04,389 --> 00:32:07,791 detectives interrogate Stephen McDaniel for the second time 564 00:32:07,892 --> 00:32:08,926 that evening. 565 00:32:16,301 --> 00:32:17,734 Yes. 566 00:32:20,905 --> 00:32:23,407 The first thing that the investigators who 567 00:32:23,508 --> 00:32:25,642 interviewed him asked Stephen 568 00:32:25,743 --> 00:32:28,412 was did he hurt Lauren? 569 00:32:28,513 --> 00:32:29,646 He doesn't say anything. 570 00:32:31,215 --> 00:32:33,717 Stephen just kind of -- 571 00:32:33,818 --> 00:32:36,520 Just puts his hands up on 572 00:32:36,621 --> 00:32:38,422 the table in the interview room 573 00:32:38,523 --> 00:32:40,657 and just kind of stares off into space. 574 00:33:14,759 --> 00:33:16,526 I think it was a desperation move on his part. 575 00:33:16,627 --> 00:33:19,596 Stephen, at that point, he probably knew that he was -- 576 00:33:20,932 --> 00:33:22,599 He'd been had or that 577 00:33:22,700 --> 00:33:25,335 the gig was up, and he didn't know where to go from there. 578 00:34:01,973 --> 00:34:03,607 NARRATOR: Detectives interrogate Stephen 579 00:34:03,708 --> 00:34:06,910 for three hours trying to get him to confess, 580 00:34:07,011 --> 00:34:08,678 but they get nowhere. 581 00:34:08,780 --> 00:34:12,049 In Stephen's case, the fact that he clams up, lawyers up, 582 00:34:12,150 --> 00:34:14,518 whatever term you want to use and essentially doesn't want to 583 00:34:14,619 --> 00:34:17,254 speak to investigators or confess, 584 00:34:17,355 --> 00:34:18,822 the joke is that his browser 585 00:34:18,923 --> 00:34:20,557 history does the confessing for him. 586 00:34:22,026 --> 00:34:24,761 SHURLEY: On his computer, we located 587 00:34:24,862 --> 00:34:28,832 websites of sadomasochism. 588 00:34:28,900 --> 00:34:32,102 Um, there was bondage 589 00:34:32,203 --> 00:34:34,304 on his web browser. 590 00:34:34,405 --> 00:34:36,773 We also located where he had looked up 591 00:34:36,874 --> 00:34:40,410 on how to get away with murder. 592 00:34:40,511 --> 00:34:43,146 We also found where he had looked 593 00:34:43,247 --> 00:34:45,449 up on how -- how to dismember a body. 594 00:34:48,786 --> 00:34:51,822 STOCKDALE: I think what we see with Stephen is somebody who may 595 00:34:51,923 --> 00:34:55,792 have begun by thinking about Lauren, looking at certain 596 00:34:55,893 --> 00:34:57,360 materials online. 597 00:34:57,462 --> 00:35:01,098 And the more he looks at this, the more aroused he becomes, 598 00:35:01,199 --> 00:35:04,801 and he resorts to more intrusive kind of activity. 599 00:35:04,902 --> 00:35:08,672 So he starts taking pieces of clothing from her, 600 00:35:08,773 --> 00:35:10,807 letting himself in to her apartment 601 00:35:10,908 --> 00:35:13,944 using a key, so he becomes occupying of her 602 00:35:14,045 --> 00:35:17,013 personal space, violating her, if you will, 603 00:35:17,115 --> 00:35:20,951 in more and more intrusive ways, to the point where 604 00:35:21,052 --> 00:35:25,555 perhaps this was what we would refer to as a lust murder, where 605 00:35:25,656 --> 00:35:30,026 he, you know, is pairing his sexual arousal with cruelty. 606 00:35:30,128 --> 00:35:33,430 [suspenseful music] 607 00:35:41,172 --> 00:35:42,672 NARRATOR: Working to build a solid case 608 00:35:42,773 --> 00:35:44,774 against Stephen McDaniel, 609 00:35:44,876 --> 00:35:47,444 detectives are digging for irrefutable evidence to 610 00:35:47,545 --> 00:35:50,413 charge him with the murder of Lauren Giddings. 611 00:35:50,515 --> 00:35:51,715 QUESADA: Everyone thought he did it. 612 00:35:53,751 --> 00:35:54,951 At this point, 613 00:35:55,052 --> 00:35:57,954 he was in jail for the unrelated burglary charges, 614 00:35:58,055 --> 00:36:01,291 and there were search warrants executed at his apartment 615 00:36:01,392 --> 00:36:03,593 almost every day for weeks. 616 00:36:03,694 --> 00:36:05,095 They just kept pulling out stuff, 617 00:36:05,196 --> 00:36:07,164 pulling out stuff of his out of his apartment. 618 00:36:08,299 --> 00:36:11,801 NARRATOR: What they find is a cornucopia of weaponry, 619 00:36:11,903 --> 00:36:15,438 handguns, a semiautomatic rifle, 620 00:36:15,540 --> 00:36:18,175 an entire collection of knives, 621 00:36:18,276 --> 00:36:19,976 and even a samurai sword. 622 00:36:21,312 --> 00:36:23,680 But the most damning of all... 623 00:36:23,781 --> 00:36:25,949 The packaging from the hacksaw was found in his apartment. 624 00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:31,188 And the packaging matched the hacksaw 625 00:36:31,289 --> 00:36:33,023 that was located in the maintenance room 626 00:36:33,124 --> 00:36:34,624 of Barristers Hall. 627 00:36:37,228 --> 00:36:39,329 Stephen was a law student, 628 00:36:41,499 --> 00:36:43,900 and I think his problem was was that he thought 629 00:36:45,236 --> 00:36:47,037 that he was smarter than we were. 630 00:36:48,839 --> 00:36:52,842 But I will tell you this, in my career is being investigator 631 00:36:52,944 --> 00:36:55,212 and investigating homicides, he is 632 00:36:55,313 --> 00:36:57,981 the only one that I've ever known up to be stupid enough to 633 00:36:58,082 --> 00:37:00,884 get on camera and speak 634 00:37:00,985 --> 00:37:03,587 about a murder, that he's actually the one that committed. 635 00:37:06,457 --> 00:37:07,490 At that point, 636 00:37:07,592 --> 00:37:09,893 um, we believed we had enough circumstantial 637 00:37:09,994 --> 00:37:14,197 evidence to present it to the district attorney's office 638 00:37:14,298 --> 00:37:16,099 for the go-ahead on Stephen being 639 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:18,735 charged with the murder of Lauren Giddings. 640 00:37:18,836 --> 00:37:20,870 NARRATOR: While reviewing the evidence retrieved from 641 00:37:20,972 --> 00:37:22,305 Stephen's apartment, 642 00:37:22,406 --> 00:37:25,742 they discover yet another piece of the puzzle. 643 00:37:25,843 --> 00:37:27,677 SHURLEY: Electronic equipment was also 644 00:37:27,778 --> 00:37:29,846 taken from Stephen's house, 645 00:37:29,947 --> 00:37:32,382 and there was also some videos found. 646 00:37:32,483 --> 00:37:35,352 One of those videos showed 647 00:37:36,754 --> 00:37:39,522 Stephen holding a pole up to 648 00:37:39,624 --> 00:37:42,792 Lauren's window and looking in. 649 00:37:44,262 --> 00:37:47,163 There was a time stamp on that. 650 00:37:47,265 --> 00:37:49,933 June 25th at 11:10 that night. 651 00:37:52,003 --> 00:37:54,671 SHURLEY: The video in itself was very creepy. 652 00:37:56,607 --> 00:38:00,710 The fact that someone is in the privacy of their own home, 653 00:38:00,811 --> 00:38:03,813 conducting everyday, their everyday routine, 654 00:38:03,914 --> 00:38:08,585 business, and that someone has a camera pointed 655 00:38:08,686 --> 00:38:10,654 into your window, watching your every move. 656 00:38:12,690 --> 00:38:15,859 Once that was presented to Stephen and his attorney, 657 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:17,927 uh, that's what led 658 00:38:18,029 --> 00:38:22,165 to Stephen confessing and taking a plea. 659 00:38:22,266 --> 00:38:25,368 NARRATOR: Based on Stephen McDaniel's written confession, 660 00:38:25,469 --> 00:38:28,571 detectives can now reconstruct the final 24 hours 661 00:38:28,673 --> 00:38:29,973 of Lauren Giddings' life. 662 00:38:30,074 --> 00:38:32,175 [distant crowd noise] 663 00:38:32,276 --> 00:38:33,343 SHURLEY: On that Friday night, 664 00:38:35,046 --> 00:38:38,081 Lauren, Ashley, and Joe had went to a bar downtown. 665 00:38:38,182 --> 00:38:39,482 They had a few drinks. 666 00:38:39,583 --> 00:38:41,484 Afterwards, they went back to Joe's apartment. 667 00:38:41,585 --> 00:38:44,154 Lauren had spent the night there. 668 00:38:47,358 --> 00:38:50,260 Lauren had gotten up the next morning and went to Healy Point 669 00:38:50,361 --> 00:38:51,661 Country Club, 670 00:38:51,762 --> 00:38:54,064 where she had hung out by the pool in order to drink. 671 00:38:58,102 --> 00:39:00,870 June 25th, Saturday, 672 00:39:00,971 --> 00:39:03,173 Stephen McDaniel videoed through 673 00:39:03,274 --> 00:39:07,577 the window of her apartment around 11:10 p.m. that night. 674 00:39:07,678 --> 00:39:13,216 Stephen said he entered into her apartment at around 4:30 a.m. 675 00:39:16,887 --> 00:39:21,691 He said he came in the apartment that morning with a mask on. 676 00:39:24,061 --> 00:39:26,563 [music building] 677 00:39:28,199 --> 00:39:30,567 She awoke and screamed, "Get out of my apartment!" 678 00:39:35,072 --> 00:39:37,607 At some point during the struggle, 679 00:39:37,708 --> 00:39:40,143 the mask was pulled off. 680 00:39:42,246 --> 00:39:43,446 She saw it was him. 681 00:39:43,547 --> 00:39:47,217 [suspenseful music] 682 00:39:51,489 --> 00:39:52,889 He confessed to strangling her to death. 683 00:39:58,229 --> 00:39:59,662 He dismembered her in the shower. 684 00:39:59,764 --> 00:40:02,165 Stephen did admit to, uh, 685 00:40:02,266 --> 00:40:04,968 taking the rest of Lauren's body parts and distributing 686 00:40:05,069 --> 00:40:08,605 them throughout different trash bins in the neighborhood. 687 00:40:08,706 --> 00:40:09,773 We searched the landfill 688 00:40:09,874 --> 00:40:12,642 to see if we could find anything related to Lauren. 689 00:40:12,743 --> 00:40:15,111 We didn't find anything at all. 690 00:40:15,212 --> 00:40:16,379 There's only one person that knows where 691 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:19,949 the rest of -- of Lauren is, and that's Stephen McDaniel. 692 00:40:22,620 --> 00:40:25,955 QUESADA: I think that for Stephen, the clock ran out. 693 00:40:26,056 --> 00:40:27,657 He didn't think that police were 694 00:40:27,758 --> 00:40:30,160 gonna find that torso that morning. 695 00:40:30,261 --> 00:40:31,961 He was counting on the dumpster 696 00:40:32,062 --> 00:40:34,964 coming in and picking up that trash bin 697 00:40:35,065 --> 00:40:36,466 and taking it to the landfill. 698 00:40:36,567 --> 00:40:39,068 After that, you know, everything was in motion, 699 00:40:39,170 --> 00:40:41,271 and he didn't have time to catch up. 700 00:40:43,541 --> 00:40:48,077 I believe Stephen's motive was purely lust, murder, 701 00:40:48,179 --> 00:40:49,312 all wrapped up into one. 702 00:40:51,115 --> 00:40:54,717 As far as I'm concerned, Stephen McDaniel is the... 703 00:40:54,819 --> 00:40:58,655 poster child for a sociopath. 704 00:40:58,756 --> 00:41:00,523 He knew exactly what he was doing. 705 00:41:00,624 --> 00:41:02,125 He planned the murder, 706 00:41:04,028 --> 00:41:05,061 and then he carried it out. 707 00:41:06,530 --> 00:41:08,631 He's the worst kind of killer. 708 00:41:08,732 --> 00:41:11,300 NARRATOR: Stephen McDaniel is sentenced to life in prison 709 00:41:11,368 --> 00:41:13,736 for the murder of Lauren Giddings. 710 00:41:13,838 --> 00:41:15,104 SHURLEY: Initially, they were going to go 711 00:41:15,206 --> 00:41:16,973 for the death penalty on this case, 712 00:41:17,074 --> 00:41:18,074 but due to the fact that 713 00:41:18,175 --> 00:41:21,744 Lauren didn't believe in the death penalty, 714 00:41:21,846 --> 00:41:24,013 they did not want -- want to -- 715 00:41:24,114 --> 00:41:26,349 To hand it out to Stephen 716 00:41:26,450 --> 00:41:27,717 in memory of her. 717 00:41:29,220 --> 00:41:31,120 NARRATOR: Detectives believe they may have stopped 718 00:41:31,222 --> 00:41:33,590 a serial killer in the making. 719 00:41:33,691 --> 00:41:36,226 I think that if he had 720 00:41:37,795 --> 00:41:39,395 killed once, 721 00:41:39,497 --> 00:41:42,632 that it's possible that he could kill again. 722 00:41:45,436 --> 00:41:47,337 I don't think that 723 00:41:47,438 --> 00:41:50,206 anybody would be safe with him back on the street again. 724 00:41:51,275 --> 00:41:53,409 QUESADA: The fact that they were able to catch Stephen McDaniel 725 00:41:53,511 --> 00:41:54,811 and arrest him for the murder, 726 00:41:54,912 --> 00:41:56,813 I think brings some relief to the family, 727 00:41:56,914 --> 00:41:58,748 but it doesn't change anything. 728 00:41:58,849 --> 00:42:01,251 How can you get through something like that? 729 00:42:01,352 --> 00:42:04,254 Especially when the last few hours of Lauren's life, 730 00:42:04,355 --> 00:42:07,190 they have really no idea what happened or what 731 00:42:07,291 --> 00:42:09,859 went through her mind, and then to not be able to give 732 00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:12,195 your sister your -- Your child -- 733 00:42:12,296 --> 00:42:13,596 A proper burial... 734 00:42:15,566 --> 00:42:16,699 I mean, it's heartbreaking. 735 00:42:18,168 --> 00:42:21,671 When you have someone that you love taken from you, 736 00:42:21,772 --> 00:42:24,908 there's nothing that anyone can do to give you closure, 737 00:42:25,009 --> 00:42:26,910 even catching the person who did it. 738 00:42:28,379 --> 00:42:29,612 You're scarred forever.