Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
You guys, most weight loss plans are one size fits all. They don't take into account each person's individual needs, but Noom builds personal plans that can meet your individual needs. Noom takes into account dietary restrictions, medical issues, and other personal needs to build a plan that works for you and is built for your psychology and your biology,
meeting you where you are. And you guys, I actually have been using Noom Weight and it truly feels personalized to meet my lifestyle. What I love most is that Noom doesn't restrict what you can eat and it actually doesn't shame you when you choose to treat yourself. Noom's personalized program has felt more sustainable than other more restrictive weight loss programs.
Noom Weight uses psychology and biology, and that's why they say losing weight starts with your brain. The program helps you understand the science behind your eating choices and why you have cravings and actually helps you build new habits for a healthier lifestyle. So stay focused on what's important to you with Noom's psychology and biology based approach. Sign up for your trial today at Noom.com. Today, Noom has helped more than 5.2 million people lose weight.
Okay, you guys, with the summer heat in full swing, literally 90 degrees today, I know we're all worrying about our deodorant holding up. That's why I've got to tell you about Lume. They have whole body deodorant, Lume whole body deodorant, and it's the only deodorant that I will use. Lume is formulated for all those spots that tend to get extra sweaty and stinky in the heat, like your pits, Garrett's butt crack, and even your feet. Oh, my God.
Lume was created by an OBGYN, so it's totally safe for all your sensitive areas. And the best part, it's baking soda free, paraben free, and pH balanced, so it's gentle on your skin while keeping you fresh. You guys, I have been using Lume, and let me tell you something. They are anti-chafing, so you can put them on your thighs. You can put it under your boobs, your
Literally, it's great. Ready to try it? New customers get 15% off all Lume products with our exclusive code. Just use code MWMH at LumeDeodorant.com. That's L-U-M-E-D-E-O-D-O-R-A-N-T.com. And don't forget to use code MWMH for 15% off your first purchase. ♪♪♪
Hey everybody, welcome back to our podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. We hope you guys all had an amazing holiday. I know we did. It was super fun. It was super relaxed, but we're excited to be back. So we've been talking about it for a while now, and it took us a while to set up. And so we thought we would start out the new year with a Patreon. Woo!
So we just opened up our Patreon and on there there's actually a opportunity to get an extra episode each month. And I know a lot of you have been asking for that so we're really excited about it. And we hope that we can continue to grow and produce more content because we really do love doing this for you guys. Our Patreon also just serves as general support for the podcast so we want to say thank you in advance and we love all of you guys so much.
We also are back doing another YouTube video for this episode, which we're really excited about. So if we sound a little nervous, that's why we're on camera again. Garrett Goetz, or Garrett.
I get really camera shy, so it's kind of hard. But anyways, we're really excited about it. Also, this episode will have a lot of visual to go along with it. So if you are wanting that side of the story, YouTube will be a great way to do it. We are MWMHpodcast on there.
YouTube does get a little picky about the word murder. So just type in MWMH podcast, subscribe and see all of the visual that goes along. And you can also look at us for once. It'll be fun. We also need to do Garrett's 10 seconds. Now I do know that last week we missed it and we heard about it. So we won't forget about it. Garrett, what is your 20 seconds this week? Because we missed last week. 20 seconds?
So for Christmas, I got... Well, you actually got it for me. So I've had tools for a while now, but they're not the best tools. So Payne got me new tools and like a tool goes to show that I don't use them very much. But I don't know. What would I call it? Like a work...
I'm going to start using it. I promise. Like a workbench. I got a big tool workbench to store all my tools and everything. Also, my dad listens to this podcast. He's going to hurt that you just said that I got the tools when he got the tools. Zane's dad got me the tools and she got me the workbench. That's my 10 seconds. And part of that is I'm going to start building stuff. Oh, for me? Yes, for you. I'll start with a vanity. So check back in next year to see if I build a vanity. Okay. I'm holding you to it. Okay.
Okay. Do you want to just jump right into today's case?
and stuff like that. I also watched an episode of Dateline Secrets Uncovered. It was season nine, episode 16 called The Watcher. There was also a really, really good one called Nightmare Next Door, season nine, episode nine, and it's called Master Key Murder. And then The Bizarre Case of Stephen McDaniel, and that's covered by JCS Criminal Psychology. And I will be using that a lot for this week. And he's amazing. He's a
goes through and dissects interrogation videos. And I love him. He's so amazing. So by YouTube videos, do you mean like different documentaries or videos like that? Videos like that. Okay. Just kind of like outsources, kind of like us. ABC.com, Media, Mackin.com, Mackin.com, AboveTheLaw.com, and just some more YouTube. So yeah.
Our case starts in Mackin, Georgia. It's a friendly, safe town with Mercer University, which is a prestigious law school and medical school. So there's a university in the town. 27-year-old Lauren Giddings is attending Mercer as a law student. She was a good student, confident, and smart, also beautiful. She was a good student, confident, and smart,
She had grown up in Maryland and is said to have made friends wherever she went. She was passionate about law. And in the summer of 2007, she is studying for her bar exam. Awesome. So she's graduated. And the last step is to just take, pass her bar exam. Yeah. She wanted to be a public defender. Yeah.
Which would mean if someone comes in. Like law and order? Yes. Can't afford a lawyer, has committed or is being accused of a crime, she would defend them. Okay. Kind of think legally blonde. This girl is like blonde, beautiful, pretty, studying law, super smart. She even has a little dog and it's named Butterbean. So she kind of is like defying the odds here basically. Okay.
On Wednesday, June 29th, Lauren's sister gets a call from one of Lauren's friends. She tells her that she has been trying to get a hold of Lauren, but she isn't answering. Her calls are going straight to voicemail and Lauren isn't even answering texts. Lauren's sister is worried, so she calls their mom to see if she has heard from Lauren, but their mom hasn't either.
Lauren's sister reaches out to her best friend from college, Ashley, to see if she has heard from her. So like no one from her hometown has heard from her. So they reach out to people that she knows at Mercer University and says, have you guys heard from her?
Ashley says no. Everyone in their friend group had been studying for the bar exam all week, but tells Lauren's sister that she will go over and check on Lauren at her apartment to make sure everything's okay. So all of her friends are also studying for bars and no one's seen each other. Lauren lived in a second story apartment right across the street from the law school. So she was like walked to school every day when her best friend Ashley and Ashley's boyfriend show up at Lauren's house and
She knocks on the door, but no one answers. Lauren's sister tells Ashley to use the spare key and let herself into the apartment. Now worried that Lauren could be hurt inside. Yeah. When she checks inside, Ashley discovers Lauren's purse, wallet and keys. Oh no. But no Lauren. So like we see in every other case, this is immediate like worry. And Lauren,
Every single case, I feel like we kind of talk about this, but I always wonder if my family would be like, oh, Garrett hasn't called me in a couple of days or if it'd be like weeks or how long it would take. Ashley decides that it's time to call the cops. After she calls them, she calls anyone and everyone she can think of to see if anyone had heard from Lauren, but no one had. Police send an officer out to perform a welfare check and Ashley decides to begin searching for her friend.
Ashley, Ashley's boyfriend, Lauren's ex-boyfriend, and Lauren's neighbor, Steven, all begin searching for her. Wow. Looking around inside her apartment as well as around the school. They even drive looking for her. They found a Zaxby's receipt from four days earlier. Have you read exactly?
I haven't. No, have you? No, but we have one. We have one. Yeah, I was going to say that. It's kind of like, what is it? Taco time? Not taco time. I think it's chicken. No, I'm talking about the other restaurant that we always drive by. Oh, oh, oh, Taco Migo. There we go. But anyways, keep going. They check Lauren's computer and discover that her last activity had been an email from Saturday to her long distance boyfriend.
The email stated that Lauren felt like someone was stalking her and even had tried to break into her house the night before. It's so weird that like they're talking about that on email, right? And not text because now it's just like, oh, they texted this person. Well, so this is 2007, I think. Oh, so I mean, I guess I was texting. Yeah.
I think you'll find out later, but her boyfriend is older. I think he's in his 30s. And so I think email was just like a better... I don't know. I feel like just older people use email. I feel like as soon as I got to a certain age, it was like everyone used email all of a sudden. Because I use email all the time now. Not that 30 is old, okay? Not that 30 is old, but...
The next morning, a detective, Scott Chapman, was handed Lauren's missing person case and immediately heads out to her home. When he arrived, he met up with Lauren's friends who were still helping search and talked to them when he learned that Lauren was actually supposed to be moving out of that exact apartment that weekend. So the next day she was supposed to be moving out. Okay. They go in and search her apartment and nothing is packed up.
So they're like, how long ago? I mean, no one had heard from her since Saturday. It's now been like four days, I think, five days. Where was she supposed to move to? Do you know? Her boyfriend's, the long distance boyfriend. Oh, that's weird. The 30 year old, yes. Okay. So after searching her house and hearing about her life, Detective Chapman is convinced that Lauren has met foul play. She had just graduated. She had plans. She was moving. She was about to take the bar exam. He does not believe that she just like up and ran away. Yeah.
Chapman dismisses Lauren's friends to continue searching on their own while he works the scene with more investigators. He's like, we appreciate your help, but like, let's let the professionals take over. As they were searching around the apartment, an odor begins to emerge as the wind picks up outside the apartment. That's not good. Yeah.
So they searched the trash cans around the apartment where they believe the odor is coming from and they find two trash bags inside this trash can. So it wasn't smelling before though? No. Like it took the wind to... So it was like the next day, it started to hit the middle of the day. The heat picked up. It was like in the 90s and the wind started to pick up and that's when they smelt it. Oh my gosh. So the first garbage bag is just full of trash. Like they pick it up and it's just trash. Mm-hmm.
They move on to the second bag that was underneath it. And when they open it, they were shaken. Inside the bag was a woman's torso. No way. Right outside of her apartment too. It's a woman's torso in a trash can. That's unbelievable. So they put up a tent to keep the media out because they didn't want the media seeing that they had found this. It's like it's a crucial piece of evidence. And they were not even sure if it was Lauren's yet, but they were kind of like, what are the chances? You know?
They went back into Lauren's house and they sprayed her bathroom with luminol, which do you know what that is? I have no idea. So it's like a spray that you can spray on and then you turn the lights off, you put a black light on and if there's any like substance, it glows. Yes. So they were stunned to find that her whole entire bathtub lit up and it wasn't just like in spots. It was like from the drain all the way up to about two inches to the top. So,
Okay, I guess I'm a little confused because blood would be red. So they're not looking for blood. They're looking for... So if blood was washed with bleach...
It still remains. It would still come up? With the luminol. That's why they do that test. I had no idea. So even if you bleach blood all the way down and everything, you clean it up, it's completely gone from the surface. Luminol can show traces of blood. Wow. Okay. I didn't know that. So after finding this blood evidence, investigators are almost positive that the torso outside was Lauren's. Like, why would there be that much blood in her apartment? She's missing. And then a torso comes up. Mm-hmm.
Police round up Lauren's closest friends, including the ones that had searched for her the night before.
They take all of them to the station in order to get their statements. It's just normal procedure. While the friends are at the station, a call comes in to a local news station, tipping them off to the body. They call it a body, not a torso to the body that had been found in a trash bin outside of Lauren's apartment building. Wait, so they'd already found the body. Then someone called and said, Hey, there might be a body inside the trash can. Someone calls the news station.
and says that the police found a body because remember the police tried to keep it hidden it's literally reported within hours that the police had found a body i don't think it was someone close to the investigation because they would have said it was a torso but in this case they said it was a body thinking that like this girl's missing and a body is found in the how did they know that happens all the time people tip people up like news stations will pay for that information
But did they, so did they pay one of the friends or you just don't know? I'm not sure. We just don't know. I still don't know who tipped him off. Okay. Although police had been doing their best to keep it under wraps, it's somewhere it had somehow got out and immediately released to the public.
Lauren's father, who had already been on his way to Macon, because remember, they live in Maryland, instantly went to the sheriff's station to identify his daughter because how her family found out was someone went, did you see the news? And they were like, no, we're in Maryland. And they were like, they found a body outside of Lauren's apartment and she's missing. Wow.
So the police didn't even call her family. So that's how her family found out that there was a body, which was actually a torso. Why did no one call her family? Because they were still trying to keep it everything under. What if someone from the family had done it? They didn't want to release any information about the evidence they had since the, I mean this, they only found out last night she went missing. This is moving very fast.
Lauren's father goes down. He tries to identify his daughter and detective Chapman tells him that he won't be able to identify her with what they found in the trash bin because it's not her head. And so then he has to tell her dad, Oh my gosh, it actually wasn't a full body.
You won't be able to identify her. Oh, my gosh. That's so horrible. Horrible. I still can't believe it's just a torso. I know. That blows my mind. So as police are taking statements, they learn about Lauren's new boyfriend and ex-boyfriend. They look into both men as those who would usually be your first suspects. Right. But they eventually rule them out.
They talk to the apartment complex's maintenance man, who also happened to be a student at the school, and he tells police that he hadn't seen Lauren out and about for a while around the apartment complex.
Next, they interview her neighbor of three years, Stephen, who had helped search for her that night. He tells police that he hasn't seen Lauren for about a week or so. He's completely talkative and helpful. Tells police that he was actually in his home all weekend, but he hadn't heard anything. So this girl goes missing. There's all this blood in the bathroom. And this kid's like, I was right next door, but I didn't hear anything in an apartment building. But her head and legs are missing. Yes. And so police are kind of like, OK, whatever. Yeah.
So nobody had seen her. Nobody had heard anything. I asked this every single time. Security cameras. Was there any around? Nothing came up in the. Okay. So police finished their interviews with the young kids and drop them all back off around Lauren's apartment because that is where most of their cars are, where they live. Cause that morning police had taken them all down. They finished their interviews, taken back.
The friends and neighbors are stunned to find a media circus around Lauren's apartment. Keep in mind, they hadn't had their phones during their time at the police station because you don't bring your phone into an investigation. So when the news released that the body had been found, none of these kids knew.
They had been searching for her all night. Her closest friends and family were all at the station when that was released. Oh, so they still didn't know. They come back and there's all these media trucks because now everyone thinks there's a body there and none of these kids know. They just are like, dang, you know, that's... So this next part is a huge part of this case and we will insert the audio. And if you're watching on YouTube, you will see the video.
But body language is vital for the rest of this case as it's on camera. So I would highly suggest going to our YouTube MWMH podcast to watch this.
The media at this point immediately grabs the friends as they get dropped off because these are the people who are closest to Lauren. They want to interview them. And Stephen, her neighbor, is eager to jump in. Stephen does not look like a law student. You will see he's skinny, pale, has super curly hair that's long and bushy, almost like Afro-like, but it's down to his shoulders. He almost looks like he could be like trendy and cool. You know what I mean? Like hipster? Yeah, but it comes off a little bit...
And I don't want to like, I don't want to like put a judgment on someone, but it comes off like a little nerdy instead of hipster. Although depending on how he acted, it could go either way. Now I'm going to play you the first part of his interview with the media. She just recently graduated from Mercer. Yeah, she and I were, we were both JD students. We graduated back in May.
What kind of person was she? I mean, how did you, what did you see her? I mean, she's as nice as can be. I mean, very personable, very much a people person. Do you know anybody that, any enemies she might have had, somebody that might want to hurt her? No, I mean, we don't know where she is. I mean, the only thing we can think is that maybe she went out running and someone snatched her.
So do you get the gist of the video? Yeah, it didn't seem like too suspicious to me. I don't know. It just seemed like he was answering questions. Just answering questions like full on just answering them. So this is important. The interviewer does not know that Steven is unaware of the body torso, body part being recovered around the apartment complex. Steven obviously doesn't know about it.
We just don't know where she is. What about in the parking lot area? I know they've been doing a lot of... I think that's where they have recovered the body or whatever they recovered from there. Body? Had you seen anything there? Had you seen anything there? I mean, we don't know if this is the same person. You know what I mean? They took out a body there earlier. We don't know if it's the same person or not. That's why we're trying to ask people if they know who lived there. Are you okay, sir? I think I need to sit down. Okay.
Okay, you guys, shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall can be a challenge, but I'm telling you right now, my Quince products that I have, my Quince clothing items are my go-to staples in the fall. They make it so easy. They have timeless, high quality items. I use their silk skirts. I literally wear them in so many ways with boots, with tights, with a sweater, with a crop top.
They have cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops, so much more. And the best part is that they are priced so well because they partner directly with top factories. So they cut out the cost of the middleman and then they pass the savings onto you. So you are literally getting cashmere sweaters for $50. I love it. I
it. I just got a cashmere sweater from Quince that I am going to be wearing. I also have a pair of their linen pants. I'm actually just going to pair them together. I will post it on my social media and you will see it. So make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash husband.
For free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. You guys, if you want free shipping, make sure to do quince.com/husband. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com/husband to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com/husband. They have the cutest clothes. You need to go check it out. Okay, let me guess. Your medicine cabinet is crammed with stuff that does not work. You still aren't sleeping. You still hurt and you're stressed out.
That's how it was for me, so I cleared out my cabinet and reset my health with CBD from CB Distillery. CBD Distillery's targeted formulations are made from the highest quality clean ingredients, no fluff, no fillers, just pure effective CBD solutions designed to help support your health.
In two non-clinical surveys, 81% of customers experienced more calm, 80% said CBD helped with pain after physical activity, and an impressive 90% actually said they slept better with CBD. I have personally used CBD before to help me sleep. I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping and I couldn't figure out what to do to help. And honestly, CBD did help. And if that's something you're struggling with, yeah.
Give it a try. Check it out. If you struggle with a health concern and haven't found relief, make the change like I did the CBD distillery. And with over 2 million customers and a solid 100% money back guarantee, CBD distillery is the source to trust. You guys, we have a 20% discount to get you started. So if you've ever wanted to do CBD, now is the time. Visit cbdistillery.com and use code husband for 20% off. That's cbdistillery.com.
.com code husband. CBDistillery.com code husband. Hola. Como esta? Hola, como estamos? Want to learn a new language? Well, the best way is to uproot your entire life, move to Spain, and live there for the rest of your...
I made that up. I went off the ad. Let me go back to the ad read. The best way is to uproot your entire life. Drop your... Oh. You literally followed the ad. I didn't read the rest of that. Drop yourself in the middle of a new country and figure it out from there. I just want to let everyone know that's what I did. That's what I did. It worked. If you're not ready for that, you can still learn a new language the next best way, and that is with Babbel. See you.
- Speak like a whole new you with Babbel, the science-backed language learning app that gets you talking. Wasting hundreds of dollars on private tutors is the old school way of learning a new language. Babbel's 10 minute lessons are quick and handcrafted by over 200 language experts, ready to get you talking your new language in three weeks because talking is the key to really knowing any language.
designed by real people for having real conversation. Babbel gets you talking. You guys, I actually use Babbel to brush up on Spanish when we travel. I love it. It is so easy. And then I can actually kind of keep up with what's going on. And with over 16 million subscriptions sold, Babbel's 14 award-winning language courses are backed by a 20-day money-back guarantee. So if
There's no pressure. Buy Babbel and travel. Here's a special limited time deal for our listeners right now. Get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription, but only for our listeners at babbel.com slash husband. Get up to 60% off at babbel.com slash husband spelled B-A-B-B-E-L.com slash husband. Rules and restrictions may apply. I mean, I guess what goes through my mind is two things. One, he either is just shocked because...
His friend. There's a body car found from his missing friend. Or two. He, you know what? He killed her and he's like, holy crap. They just found the body. Yeah. I don't know which one though. Cause honestly, like those reactions seem would be pretty similar. I think. Yeah. For me, when I first watched that,
It was so chilling when she's like, you know, the body, body part. Do you know anything about that? Have you, you know, and he just goes body. Oh my gosh. And then she's like, yeah, do you know anything about it? And he doesn't answer. The next thing that comes out of his mouth is I need to sit down. You look like you're going to pass out. Very much. Those that are listening. If you get a chance, you need to watch that. That was crazy. And it's, it will, I will show the whole video on our YouTube video of this episode.
So he comes back on and finishes his interview. Like after he sits down and takes a second, they're like, can we finish our interview with you? He comes back up and he finishes it and is physically and audibly shaken and upset. He's crying. He's crying.
like breathing until they start to ask him another question and then he calms down, answers it. And then in between questions, he's like, like, like just not okay. Completely different than what he was just looking like while he was answering questions. Cops are present during this interview. They just dropped them back off and they see Steven do this whole thing. They see this whole thing live.
They had already had cadaver dogs all around the apartment. And so that means it was also around Steven's apartment. And they said like the dogs hinted at something, but they didn't know like it could be anything. And so they decided to bring Steven back down to the station again after watching his odd behavior. Yeah.
Now, once again, this part is important. And I know I say this every time, but watching this second police interrogation with Steven, keep in mind, they already talked to him once. He was super helpful. He was talkative. He tells them all these things about her.
They bring him in again. The second interview is one of the oddest and just like most goose bumpy interview interrogations I've ever watched. And I mean, I know I like have a thing for weird interrogations, but this one, this one, I was, I was uncomfortable. It was just cringy. Yes. Police bring Steven in and,
And it appears as if he has gone into a catatonic state. He is not moving. He's barely answering questions. He's monotone. So he's shocked basically. Yes. It looks like he's in shock. He's in a daze. It's almost like he's not there. Keep in mind his first interview earlier that day, he's chatty. He's helpful. I'm going to just play a segment here for you guys, but I would highly encourage you to look up the whole interview on YouTube and watch the whole thing. So I'm just going to show you like a second, a segment of his. Okay. Yeah.
You know I'm Detective Patterson, right? Yes. You remember, put your hands up here. You remember us talking earlier tonight, right? Yes. You remember me earlier in the day? Yes. When we came down here and talked a little bit and then we left? Yes. Okay. He's completely different than news interviews. Like completely different. I'll like post a section, even audio for them to hear that. That was crazy. The whole interview, it's yes, no, I don't know.
Yes. The whole time. And he sits with his hands like that. He's like this. The whole time. Does not barely move at all. He looked really... I mean, it could have been the camera, but he looked like a ghost. Yeah. Yeah.
So there's a video where someone sped up the whole interview. And I want you to know this interview lasts two hours. It starts at 11 and they end into the early morning hours of the next day. Is he just saying yes and no the whole time? There's a sped up. I can show it to you if you want me to. There's a sped up portion of the two hours into like a minute. That's crazy. The amount of movement is like unhuman. Like, like he literally just sits there the whole time. The detectives are moving everything and he just sits there. It's crazy.
It's so, so uncomfortable to watch. Like you're just so creeped out. Like you're just like something's wrong. Something is obviously not okay.
Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage, to the first real life store stage, all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage. Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout up to 36% better compared to other leading commerce platforms.
and sell more with less effort thanks to Shopify Magic, your AI-powered all-star. Peyton and I love Shopify. We have been using it for, I mean, I've been using it for six years now, so many years, and it's amazing. It just keeps getting better and better with more updates. It's easy to use. It's user-friendly. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the US, and Shopify is the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklyn, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries.
Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash husband, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash husband now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash husband.
Police get absolutely nothing out of this interview because Stephen won't engage and they change up their tactics multiple times. They are soft and sympathetic, aggressive and loud. They lie to him saying that they have her blood in his house. And at the end, they even become mean and degrading. But none of it phases Stephen. So they like are just all over the place. Like these detectives are 180 trying to get him to just like react, not be stupid.
dead basically and nothing phases him nothing it's so weird one part that stood out to me when i was watching the the jcs criminal psychology video is from that perspective and might i just say he's amazing i love his channel but anyways he explains how the interrogator decides to shift his tactic to an aggressive manner and do this thing that they are trained to do which is to
move closer to the suspect and kind of corner him in and then stare him down while they ask questions. Are they just trying to get him to react? Yes. Well, they're trying to get him to confess if he did this, they thought his behavior was odd. And so they come in hard, like trying to get him to say anything about his odd behavior. And,
And interrogators are told to stare the suspect down until the suspect is forced to look away because it's that uncomfortable. And this is to make the suspect feel like he's losing. Even if he had been confident up to that point to lose like a staring contest, that isn't like announced. They just do it. So then they're forced to look away. It's to make him feel little. Does that make sense? It's a tactic they use multiple times. And the interrogator decides to do this. He moves to the seat directly by Steven. He looks at him in the eyes and,
Um, but up until this point, Steven is looking forward like we saw in the video and he's just staring down at the table, not moving. And so the interrogator does it and he tells Steven to look at him in the eyes. Cause when he moves over, Steven doesn't react. So he says, look at me in the eyes. And Steven turns his head like catatonically slow over to the interrogator who is like all up in his face at this point and just stares at him like just robotically, like just like
yes like a horror movie literally just yes like a horror movie like he just goes like this and stares right into his eyes and keep in mind the interrogator was like in his face so when he turns his head they're like this because the interrogator didn't he thought if he when he turned he would like move like adjust his body to move and he didn't so their faces are like he's got to be in shock there has to be so their faces are like that
And so they're uncomfortably close and due to the aggressive nature of the interrogator, but you know, he's like, Oh, he's going to back up. Steven just remains the same, completely collected. It's so creepy. And at this point they like sit there for a minute because the interrogator is like, okay, well I got to keep doing this tactic. The interrogator is the one who moves his eyes, sits back, moves the other seat, ends up leaving the interrogation because he's that uncomfortable. Yeah.
Oh man. This is like a trained guy who is supposed to, like he's trained to make this on. He like, um, the psychologist said this sometimes lasts like 10 minutes of them doing this until someone looks away. But because of Steven's behavior, this guy didn't even last a minute. That's so, and he's the one who gave in. That's so crazy. Insane. So during this very eerie, but unsuccessful interview, other investigators were combing through Steven's apartment. Um,
They found a drawer of condoms, which usually wouldn't. Okay. This is funny. When I was doing this research, I yelled to Garrett. I said, how do you spell condom? Oh, yeah, I did. I was like, why? And I was like, I need to know. That's funny.
I was laughing about that. But anyway, so they find this drawer of condoms and this wouldn't be that weird except for the fact that in his... Sorry, I thought... I was wondering why you asked me that. Like, were you just like searching it in Google condom? Like, I was so confused. In Steven's first interview that earlier that day, he was all telling police...
I'm a virgin. I'm saving myself for marriage. Like I'm, I'm a good guy. Why was he telling them that? Cause he was taught, he was so open and talkative the first interview, like overly talkative. Yeah.
Okay. So then during his second interview, the police find condoms, they call up the interrogators. They're like, we just found a drawer full of condoms. Isn't this guy supposed to be a virgin? So they go back in and they're like, Steven, we found a drawer full of condoms. Like, what is this about? And he's just like, I don't know. You know, he's all catatonic, but this is definitely weird. So,
He ends up telling them, I stole them. I stole them from other apartments. What? Yeah. Why didn't he say, like, I stole them from the gas station or something? I know, right? Like, why other apartments? He literally just admitted that he broke into other apartments in his apartment building. That's so weird. So police decide, and keep in mind, they're a little upset with him at this point because this interview is, it's frustrating to watch. Like, while I was watching it, I was like, come on, just say something.
So they decide to charge him with burglary of these condoms and they hold him while they gather more evidence. So they end this interview by arresting him for stealing condoms. And he never asked for a lawyer once? No. And keep in mind, he's in law school.
oh yeah i forgot the whole law part and like a smart like he's smart like this is a prestigious law school and he didn't ask for whoa i that's actually a big deal i forgot about that whole and he would have known that if he admitted to the oh i just i know but i was just preparing for when i do that's what he could have said he didn't have to say i stole those he knew that he would completely he just admitted to a felony
I'm yeah. Okay. So weird, huh? Yeah. So police continue searching around the apartment complex and they head into the maintenance closet where they find a hacksaw with a blood stain on it. So at Lauren's apartment complex and Stephen's apartment complex,
In the maintenance closet, there's a hacksaw with blood on it. This is a good clue, except the only person who had a key to the closet is the maintenance man. So they're like, well, it wasn't Steven. So they bring the maintenance man back in and he tells them that he didn't buy the hacksaw. It was new. He doesn't, he didn't even notice it in there. He didn't know who put it in there. It was in the closet. In the closet. Okay. Confused, they try some keys that they had found in Steven's room. Awful.
on the maintenance door just like okay well maybe maybe right one of them was a match no freaking way so he did have a key for the closet that had a hacksaw with blood in it curious the detective bring the other key up to lauren's apartment just to see like with these two random keys sitting on his dresser we might as well try it to their surprise and horror it fits it was a master key to all of the apartments in the building oh that's where you got all the condoms from mm-hmm
So they discover packaging in Stephen's room for the hacksaw in the maintenance closet, as well as a sheet with blood on it in the laundry area of the maintenance closet. Please head back and charge Stephen McDaniel with the murder of Lauren Giddings. What, what was he thinking? I mean, being in law school, uh,
Keeping the keys, not saying that he should have got away with it, but I just don't understand. He would be a little bit smarter. Yeah. So despite his creepy behavior and the evidence they had, the state was actually worried. Did they have enough to nail him? He was studying to be a lawyer. He thought he was smarter than everyone in the room and he was smart. Could he somehow get away with this? They hadn't found the rest of her body and there was no DNA evidence that
of him in her apartment or of her in his what about they had what about the blood in the the sheet yeah but they don't have any dna to tie him to that either it could have been anyone who put the sheet in the maintenance closet could have been anyone who but is that how they look at it like a jury yes that's how his defense team is going to look at it okay and he's smart so he'll do it you know what i'm saying so they're like we actually have no like
physical like he had the keys but we have no physical dna evidence that puts him with her or her with him oh man so police continue searching for evidence they find a mask made out of women's underwear in his apartment he literally like made a mask of women's underwear like a like a face mask or like an eye mat what do you like what do you like a face mask like like a halloween type of mask yes oh my god like put it on over your head and it's all women's underwear okay
They find heavy pornography searches on Steven's computer that also include child pornography. Within these extra searches, they found sadistic searches on his computer, searches of murder, violence, torture, literally in Google, how to be a serial killer, how to kill someone while they're sleeping, etc.
Even comments on online discussion boards about how he would commit murder if he were to do it. What a freak. Essentially, this was a serial killer in the making. They find video in his things that are the proof they need. The night of the murder, Stephen had attached his camera to a stick, gone outside their apartment and lifted the stick with the video camera up into Lauren's window.
No way. And I will put video because they have they've released the video. I'll put the video of what he caught. This was not the first time he had done this. So they had the evidence they needed at this point. He had stalked her. He had video. It was the night of the murder. But they were friends. Yes. Which is so interesting that he stalked her. Well, I mean, maybe that's not that weird that
Okay, I will preface this. He's not like friends that would go to a party and hang out with all the other law school students. It was like we're neighbors of three years. Hey, Steven. Hey. Okay. I thought they were like in the same friend group. He tells circle. Yeah. No, no. He tells police that he had gone. He had been in her apartment like with her casually twice. Okay. So it's not like they were like
part of the friend group you know what i'm saying but it was like when they went to search for they were like oh steven yeah come help like you're her neighbor you might have heard you know what i'm saying that makes sense so he had entered her apartment while she was gone and also took video so there's also video of him just like what in the world moving things in her apartment he had been obsessed with her after she had denied going on a date with him when they first met he asked her on a date she said no but i still want to be friends after this evidence came out steven decided to plead guilty
And in doing this, he got life in prison with the possibility of parole. He just pled guilty. He didn't fight her at all. Well, he's a law student. He knows that with the video evidence they found and his searches on his computer, no jury was going to be like, he took video of the girl.
But he didn't kill her and all the other evidence combined. So did he say what he did or did he just plead guilty? So he admitted to entering her apartment using the master key in the middle of the night and strangling her to death. So he had all these plans of like sexually assaulting her, but she woke up before he could get over to her. And so he just immediately strangled her because he panicked. He then dismembered her body in her bathtub and
He put her torso in the nearest garbage can and the rest of the pieces of her body in a different garbage can on campus. So only her torso was put outside and the rest were put in a different garbage can. He doesn't say why he did that. Oh my gosh. The rest of the body was never found. Had he put that torso somewhere else,
Her whole body would have never been found. They searched landfills. They never found her. They probably would have never searched anything in Stevens. Because the only reason the police brought Steven in was because of his reaction about her torso being found. Had her torso not been found, he would have continued playing normal. To an extent, what goes around comes around. That's just so crazy. They said that they did find pieces of her fingers down her toilet. Oh.
That was according to Dr. Todd Grande's YouTube video. She had taken off his mask in the middle of the attack. It wasn't the underwear mask, I don't think. Oh my gosh, I was going to say he was wearing that mask in two? They never specified, but I don't think it was. No way. So she ended up taking off. She fought back. He had scratches on his body. She took off the mask and she recognized him. And she addressed him like, Stephen, what are you doing? Oh, that's so scary. So scary.
And she was right. Someone had been stalking her. Someone had been in her apartment. She wasn't making it up. She was that, that was part of the reason she was moving. It's believed that Steven would have gone on and become a serial killer. Oh, totally. He did it for pleasure. He just sucked at being a killer. So he got caught on his first try. So he just literally wanted to be a serial killer. According to abc10.com in February, 2018 McDaniel filed a petition asking for a new trial in the
In the 73 page document filed in Richmond County Superior Court, McDaniel argued that his constitutional rights were violated throughout the investigation and pretrial process. McDaniel represented himself before the judge. He argued that investigators on the scene documented that he was verbally unresponsive and staring off into space, which he was, and they did not allow him to be cleared by a medical staff before asking for consent to search his apartment. So he gave them consent.
in that weird catatonic phase so he's arguing i was unwell i was mentally unstable and they didn't ever let someone see me before i gave consent but i was unable to give consent that's what he's saying so he argued this and in addition to his former attorney's failure to dispute the matter in court it caused him to have an improper trial so that's why he's saying i want a new trial the judge rejected the bid for his new trial and he is eligible for parole in 2041
Oh, so he's eligible for parole. I thought he had a life in prison with the possibility of parole. Oh, okay. He did because he pled guilty instead of going to like, instead of going through with I'm innocent. Got it. So yeah, that's the story.
Wow. Did you, did someone send that in or did you find that? No, I was actually watching, like I said, I'm a big fan of that psychologist. And so I was watching, I watch his interrogation videos all the time. And I watched this one. I never heard of the story. And I was like, shut up. Garrett's going to freak. So then I was like, I have to do this. That's insane. Yeah. I can't believe you made a mask out of underwear. That's,
that part didn't even like boggle my mind. I'm surprised. That's weird. That's just weird. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of things that are weird for me. It's the interview of him going body. And then the whole interview, he was just sitting like this in the catatonic phase. Yeah, that's so freaky. It was so that part. I'll, I'll make sure we insert that part where he looks at him and the detective backs off. It is so a horror movie. That's what I would relate it to. That was a great reference. Totally. But yeah, so like I said, this has a ton of,
of content, visual content. So we will be posting on our social media, but we will also be posting on our YouTube channel. Please, please check it out. Subscribe. It helps us out more than you know. Don't forget about our Patreon. We love you guys. We know that you guys support us in every way and we are really excited to get this Patreon up. We actually are really excited to get it up. It should be really fun.
baby steps towards making this bigger and better for us and for you guys. So yeah, we will see you guys next week in another episode and the other episode will also be on YouTube. So yeah, I love it and I hate it. Goodbye.
