Many people probably know of Stephen McDaniel through his extremely eerie interview the day after he killed his neighbor, Lauren Giddings. McDaniel pretended to be a concerned citizen for the cameras until the reporter mentioned that the police had found a body.
McDaniel, unaware that they found a body, went into shock. After recovering, he tried to play it off as a distraught neighbor and friend. In reality, he cracked under the realization that he was going to be caught.
Later that same day, he was arrested. As it turns out, Stephen was obsessed with her. The police investigated his home and found child pornography, violent video games, guns, and swords. He didn't have a choice but to confess.
The police released the tape of his interrogation. Internet sleuths ended up realizing that this bizarre man barely moved from his seat during the entire two hours...
Lauren Giddings was last seen alive on June 25th, 2011. She had been studying for her bar exam, so family and friends figured that her lack of contact was due to her serious study habits. As it turns out, McDaniel had broken into her home, murdered her, dismembered her body, and disposed of it in the apartment dumpster.
Garbage collection day was, coincidentally, the day that the police began investigating Laurens's disappearance. When the garbage collector went to the complex to empty the dumpster, the heavy police presence made it difficult for him to access it. So, he left and planned on collecting it later. That gave the police enough time to investigate the dumpster and find Lauren's body.
McDaniel pleaded guilty to the murder in 2014 and revealed more gruesome details in his statement. Luckily, he was sentenced to life in prison.