A grotesque internet post attributed to Stephen McDaniel, the law student accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbor and fellow law student, may be a fake. McDaniel, 26, a Mercer Law School graduate, was arrested July 1 in regards to the death of Lauren Giddings, whose torso was found in the dumpster outside her apartment. The post McDaniel allegedly wrote, which, if actually his, would be strong evidence against him, if not a smoking gun, reads:
“Graduate from law school. Party hard by drinking alone in front of my computer. See my sexy neighbor/classmate come home late. She has talked to me occasionally in the past. Has wanted [my manhood] for three years. Invite her up for a nightcap, make her a special drink called a Mickey Finn. [a drink laced with knock-out drugs].
“She’s out cold. I finally lose my V-card. Oh, no, she OD’d and died. I barbecue her legs and arms to celebrate losing my V-card. Not into organ meat, but throw her torso out, lost it on TV while the cops are discovering her remains, you mad virgins.”
Though it sounds like an obvious case of trolling, prosecutors read it before the judge during McDaniel’s bond-hearing. But tipsters say its a fake, and that it wasn’t even posted until McDaniel was arrested and in jail.
“Sadly I do not have any documentation besides testifying that I was online when the post was made. It was posted well after McDaniel was in jail[.]
“[It was made] in retaliation to amateur sleuth website site members lurking our message board. Posting nonsense like how McDaniel posted on a thread about the Westboro Baptist church with the idea of a “perfect murder” was proof that he was 100% guilty. Most of our members shot back with replies that were to be taken seriously like, “If posting about a so called perfect murder equals proof that you’re going to be a murderer some day than you better lock up anyone who commented about a perfect murder after watching horror movies/CSI drama show.”
“After a while a few troll posts showed up to make fun of these amateur detectives by posting as SOL-McDaniel’s handle online. So far I’ve been neutral in this whole case and it saddens me to see the prosecution mess up this bad. If McDaniel is guilty I hope he gets the punishment he deserves. If he’s innocent, the prosecution has wasted all this damned time pulling together ‘evidence’ out of their asses and the real killer’s still on the loose.”
The evidence seems to have shocked McDaniel and his team. Whether it was hackers and trolls posting under his name remains to be seen.