Family Of Macon Suspect To Hire Investigator

MACON, Ga. (AP) -- The family of a man accused of killing recent law school graduate Lauren Giddings in central Georgia plans to hire a private investigator to examine the facts of the case.

Defense attorney Floyd Buford tells WMAZ-TV that he is now interviewing candidates and plans to select an investigator in the next few days.

His client Stephen Mark McDaniel is charged with murder in the death of Giddings, a 27-year-old from Laurel, Md., who was last seen June 25. Five days later, police discovered her torso wrapped in plastic in a garbage bin near her apartment building in Macon.

Buford said McDaniel is innocent of the charges.

McDaniel and Giddings both graduated from Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law in May.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)