The Interrogation of Stephen McDaniel
About
The Interrogation of Stephen McDaniel refers to the murder of Lauren Giddings in Macon, Georgia by Stephen McDaniel in June 26th, 2011, who had broken into her home on an early Sunday morning and strangled her to death, before using a hacksaw to dismember her body and hide her remains in trashcan inside a nearby park. Stephen McDaniel was previously arrested on an unrelated burglary charge when police had discovered evidence of his involvement in the murder whilst searching through his apartment. Stephen was later brought to the Macon Police Department for interrogation. In 2019, footage of McDaniel's interrogation by Macon police led to multiple photoshops on 4chan.
Origin
On June 26th, 2011, Stephen McDaniel murdered Lauren Giddings in Macon, Georgia,[1] dismembered her, and placed her body in trash receptacles. McDaniel was an immediate suspect in the case, and was interviewed by police on June 30th. On June 11th, 2015, Stephen McDaniel's first interrogation was uploaded on YouTube by the Macon Police Department. Viewers had noted the interrogators overtly reclined posture on their seat, leading to jokes about the chair's durability.
Spread
On August 1st, 2016, a clip of McDaniel finding out on live television that police had discovered the body parts appeared on 4chan's /tv/ board.[2] On April 11th, 2018, a /tv/[3] user posted a Greentext Story making fun of a still from the interrogation video, particularly how the chair beneath the interrogator seemed to be under heavy strain (shown below, left). On April 26th, 2019, a still from the interview was posted in a sarcastic "cinematography" thread, inspiring an edit where the interrogator was Pepe and McDaniel was Wojak (shown below, right).[4]
Over the following several months, 4chan users created multiple photoshopped edits of the interrogation, mocking the interrogator's accent and his position on the chair. Edits have included a GIF which makes it appear as though the interrogator is doing sit-ups (shown below, left) and an edit in which the interrogator appears to be playing Twister (shown below, right).
Various Examples
