Bibb District Attorney David Cooke is releasing the complete file of the nearly three-year investigation into Lauren Giddings' murder. That includes two large boxes of paper files, videos, and more. It also includes dozens of photos that detail the investigation, how the murder happened, and how investigators got their man.
Stephen McDaniel pleaded guilty last week to killing his Mercer Law classmate and neighbor almost three years ago.
On June 30, 2011 investigators were called to the Barrister's Hall apartment complex after friends of Giddings reported her missing. During their search of the complex, two investigators smelled a foul odor coming from the trash cans on the left side of the building. Giddings' torso was found wrapped in several black trash bags in one of those trash cans.
Detective David Patterson with the Macon Police Department says the trash collector drove by the complex just minutes after police arrived and was unable to pick up the trash that morning.
"If that trash had been picked up, we'd still be working a missing persons case," he told 13WMAZ last week.
The case file contains several pictures of the trash cans and their contents. There are also photos of the Stanley brand hacksaw found locked in a closet in the complex's laundry room. Packaging for that same brand hacksaw was photographed in McDaniel's bathroom. In his confession, McDaniel admitted to using the hacksaw to dismember Giddings.
Several pictures were also taken of McDaniel's apartment. They show several firearms, knives, and baseball bats around his apartment. In McDaniel's bedroom dresser, police photographed the green and white women's underwear that belonged to Giddings.
Along with the pictures are police accounts of every step of the investigation, lists of internet searches found on McDaniel's computer, and examples of violent blog posts written by McDaniel.
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