Chilling footage of murderer who stunned police by remaining completely emotionless during two hour interview
A man who brutally murdered his neighbour remained completely still and emotionless during a recorded two-hour interrogation interview.
Lauren Giddings, 27, was former classmates with Stephen McDaniel, then 25, as the pair studied law together at Mercer University.
Though the state of Georgia, US, was left in shock after Giddings' remains were found in a trash can outside the apartment complex in the summer of 2011.
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McDaniel had used a master key to get into her apartment where he strangled her to death.
The following day, he dismembered her body in the bathroom with a hacksaw.
But shockingly hiding in plain sight, McDaniel went on to do an interview on WGXA, posing as a concerned friend of the law graduate.
During the interview, the journalist told him that the body had been recovered and McDaniel appeared to be lost for words.
"I think I need to sit down," he said before breaking down into tears.
"I don't know anyone that would want to hurt her."
At this point, McDaniel was declared a person of interest in the case as CCTV footage, along with incriminating online searches, linked him to the murder.
After police called him for interviewing a week later, the killer sat eerily still and emotionless for two hours, as shown in a resurfaced video online.
"WOW that was crazy to watch. He already wasn't lying very well, and then he just completely lost himself," one viewer wrote.
"For real, that whole interview was weird and then it takes a weird turn," a second penned.
In 2014, McDaniel accepted a guilty plea on the conditions he would take account of the murder to avoid the death penalty.
He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison and will not be eligible for parole until 2041.
“The case took a turn for the worse for McDaniel when the computer evidence started coming out, and it just kept coming,” McDaniel’s attorney, Frank Hogue, told CBS News.
“They were continuing to find more and more evidence related to his computer and camera, and finally he agreed that was enough to get a conviction.”
Prosecuting attorney David Cooke also noted how vital McDaniel's internet history was to taking him down.
"Even if Stephen McDaniel had been found guilty, we never would have known exactly what happened to Lauren, we never would have known how she died, or what became of her body," Cooke said, suggesting that McDaniel is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Anish Vij