The haunting moment a murderer realized police had found his victim's body was captured on live TV.
Stephen McDaniel was sentenced to life behind bars after murdering Lauren Giddings in the summer of 2011.
The former Mercer University student, from Georgia, US, let himself into his neighbour Giddings' apartment early in the morning on June 26, wearing a mask and gloves.
Once inside, he strangled her, dismembered her body in the bathtub with a hacksaw, and discarded her remains, leaving her torso in a trash can near their building. The rest of her body was never recovered.
Three days later, Giddings, who had been studying for the bar exam at the same university, was reported missing by friends and family. And as police began searching for answers, McDaniel played the role of concerned neighbor for the media.
In a now-infamous interview with local news station WGXA on June 30, the then-25-year-old calmly speculated that Giddings might have been abducted.
“The only thing we can think of is that maybe she went out running and someone snatched her,” he said, maintaining an eerie composure.
Then came the moment his mask slipped. The reporter informed him, on camera, that a body had just been discovered. McDaniel’s face froze. “Body?” he repeated, his voice cracking. “I think I need to sit down.”
He added: “I don’t know anyone that would want to hurt her,” appearing to fight back tears.
Behind the scenes, police were already growing suspicious. McDaniel had refused to let officers search his apartment unless he was present, telling them: “It’s the lawyer in me. I’m just always protective of my space," per All That's Interesting.
When detectives finally entered, they discovered disturbing evidence: a survivalist stockpile of food and drinks, Giddings’ underwear, the stolen master key used in the murder, and condoms.
The condoms raised immediate red flags, as the suspect had claimed to be a virgin and was saving himself for marriage.
Later that same night, McDaniel was brought back to the police station for further questioning. He sat motionless for hours, giving little more than “I don’t know” in response to detectives’ questions.
“We want to give you the opportunity to tell it,” Detective Scott Chapman said during the interrogation. “So you don’t look like a monster at the end… I know you feel bad about it.”
Still, McDaniel remained silent until Detective Carl Fletcher asked about the condoms. When pressed, he admitted he had stolen them from classmates’ apartments.
That confession was enough to charge him with burglary while police worked to build their murder case.
What followed was a flood of damning digital evidence as investigators uncovered footage of McDaniel spying on Giddings through her window, and disturbing posts expressing hatred toward women and violent fantasies.
“The case took a turn for the worse for McDaniel when the computer evidence started coming out,” his attorney Frank Hogue told CBS News. “And it just kept coming.”
In 2014, McDaniel pleaded guilty to Giddings’ murder. He admitted to breaking into her apartment, strangling her, and disposing of her body. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Since his conviction, McDaniel has repeatedly tried to appeal his sentence, citing ineffective counsel and procedural misconduct, but all attempts have failed. Though technically eligible for parole in 2041, legal experts believe he will die behind bars.