On July 15, 2008, Orlando police received the call from Cindy Anthony, the grandmother of the Caylee Marie Anthony:
Dispatch: “911, what’s your emergency?”
Cindy Anthony: “I called a little bit ago the Deputy Sheriff! I found out my granddaughter has been taken. She has been missing for a month! We’re talking about a 3-year-old little girl! My daughter finally admitted that the babysitter stole her! I need to find her!
Dispatch: “Your daughter admitted that the baby is where?”
Cindy Anthony: “That the babysitter took her a month ago. My daughter has been looking for her… I told you my daughter was missing for a month. I just found her today, but I can’t find my granddaughter… And she’s just admitted to me that she’s been trying to find her herself! There’s something wrong… I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car!
Dispatch: “Okay, what is the 3-year-old’s name?”
Cindy Anthony: “Caylee Anthony.”
Dispatch: “Caylee Anthony?”
Cindy Anthony: “Yes.”
Dispatch: “How long has she been missing for?”
Cindy Anthony: “I have not seen her since the 7th of June.”
Dispatch: “Is your daughter there?”
Cindy Anthony: “Yes!”
Dispatch: “Can I speak with her?”
Cindy Anthony: “Casey? Here. Talk… They wanna talk to you…
Casey Anthony: “I don’t have anything to talk to them.”
Cindy Anthony: “Answer the questions.”
Casey Anthony: “Hello?”
Dispatch: “Hello?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes?”
Dispatch: “Can you tell me what’s going on a little bit?”
Casey Anthony: “I’m sorry?”
Dispatch: “Can you tell me what’s going on a little bit?”
Casey Anthony: “My daughter’s been missing for the last 31 days.”
Dispatch: “And you know who has her?”
Casey Anthony: “I know who has her. I’ve tried to contact her. I actually received a phone call today. Now from a number that is no longer in service. I did get to speak to my daughter for about a moment, about a minute.”
Dispatch: “Who has her? Do you have a name?”
Casey Anthony: “Her name is Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez.”
Dispatch: “Who is that? Babysitter?”
Casey Anthony: “She’s… She’s been my nanny for about a year and a half. Almost two years.”
Dispatch: “Why are you calling now? Why didn’t you call 31 days ago?”
Casey Anthony: “I’ve been looking for her and, and have gone through other resources to try to find he, which was… stupid. I think officers are here.”
Dispatch: “The officers are there?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes.”
Casey Anthony had left the family home with her daughter a month earlier, stating that she had a work assignment in Tampa, Florida and would be travelling the entire time. Caylee’s grandparents would ask repeatedly over the following month to see or at least speak to their granddaughter, but Casey claimed each and every time that she was too busy with her work and that Caylee was with a nanny, who went by the name Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez or Zanny for short.
On July 15, 2008, exactly six weeks after Caylee was last seen by her grandparents, George Anthony received a phone call that the family car was impounded. It alerted suspicion, because it was the same car that Casey had supposedly been travelling for work. Once they picked up the car, George discovered the strong odor emanating from the trunk, one that he recognized from his years as a police officer. Suspicion turned into panic. It was comparable to that of human decomposition. Through contacting one of the Casey’s friends, her parents managed to track her down in her boyfriend’s house in Orlando. Her mother found her smoking marijuana and watching television. When Cindy asked her about whereabouts of her daughter, Casey stated that Caylee had been kidnapped 31 days before by the babysitter. At that moment Cindy Anthony called 911.
Even if she said the truth, she had no regard for her daughter. In the 911 call there was no concern or urgency. She was forced by Cindy to speak with a police. Without the alarming phone call, the circumstances alone would make her the prime suspect in her daughter’s disappearance. She was immediately interviewed as a witness:
Det. Melich: “The date right now is July 16, 2008. The time right now is 4:11 hours. I’m detective Melich with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. I am with Casey Anthony. Is that correct?
Casey Anthony: “Yes.”
Det. Melich: “Casey, do you understand this is being recorded?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes.”
Det. Melich: “Do you have any objection to that?”
Casey Anthony: “No.”
Det. Melich: “Alright. Casey, I got called here in reference to a missing child. You took Caylee to a babysitter’s house?
Casey Anthony: “Yes.”
Det. Melich: “And who is this babysitter?”
Casey Anthony: “Her name is Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez.”
Det. Melich: “Okay. How long had you known Zenaida?”
Casey Anthony: “Almost four years. It will be four years Christmas this year.”
Det. Melich: “And where did you meet her? Who did you meet her through?”
Casey Anthony: “A mutual friend. His name is Jeffrey Michael Hopkins. I met him at, Nickelodeon at Universal. And I met her through him. She was his son’s nanny at the time”
Det. Melich: “Does Jeffrey still work at Universal?”
Casey Anthony: “No, he does not.”
Det. Melich: “How long has it been since he left?”
Casey Anthony: “About 9/10 months. Give or take. He moved up to North Carolina for a short time. And moved down to Jacksonville within the last 3 months.”
Det. Melich: “When was the last time you spoke with him?”
Casey Anthony: “About a week and a half ago.”
Det. Melich: “Do you have a telephone number for him?”
Casey Anthony: “I can find a number for him. I don’t know a number offhand. No, I do not.
Det. Melich: “So you met Zenaida through Jeffrey Hopkins?”
Casey Anthony: “I did. Yes.”
Det. Melich: “And his son, Zack Hopkins, I guess. Zenaida used to watch over Zack?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes.”
Det. Melich: “And when did she start watching over your child?”
Casey Anthony: “It’s been… within the last year and a half, two years that she started watching Caylee.”
Det. Melich: “How would you normally drop off, or how would you normally do the exchange with your child and Zenaida? Would you drop the child off? Would she meet you somewhere?”
Casey Anthony: “I would usually drop her off. For a few months we would go over to Jeff’s house. He lived over on Avalon Park.”
Det. Melich: “And you would go to Jeff’s house, why?”
Casey Anthony: “To drop off Caylee. That’s where Zenaida would go to watch both of the kids.”
Det. Melich: “Okay.”
Casey Anthony: “It was in a nice, centralized area. He had a decent sized house. It was good room for the two of them.”
Jeffrey Hopkins testified at her trial that they were more/less acquaintances, that he worked at Universal Studios in 2002. He didn’t introduce Casey Anthony to the woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. Actually he didn’t use that woman as a nanny, because he didn’t have children. He didn’t move anywhere. He didn’t see her in 2008.
Det. Melich: “Going back to your statement. You dropped off Caylee, June 9th and walk me through. You dropped her off to go to work?”
Casey Anthony: “Mmm Hmm.”
Det. Melich: “Okay. Get off of work, and go from there.”
Casey Anthony: “I got off of work, left Universal, driving back to pick up Caylee, like a normal day. And I show up to the apartment, knock on the door, nobody answers. So… I call Zenaida’s cell phone and it’s out of service. I didn’t really want to come home. I wasn’t sure what I’d say about not knowing where Caylee was. Still hoping that I would get a call or, you know, find out that Caylee was coming back so that I could go get her. And I ended up going to my boyfriend Anthony’s house, who lives in Sutton Place.”
Det. Melich: “Did you talk to Anthony about what happened with Caylee?”
Casey Anthony: “No, I did not.”
Det. Melich: “Had you talked to anyone? About Caylee, about your incident with Caylee? Or the fact that she’s missing?”
Casey Anthony: “Outside of a couple people, a couple mutual friends…”
Det. Melich: “Who did you talk to about it?”
Casey Anthony: “I talked to Jeff, Jeffrey Hopkins. I talked to Juliette Lewis. She’s one of my co-workers at Universal.”
Det. Melich: “She works… You still work at Universal?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes.”
Det. Melich: “What do you do at Universal?”
Casey Anthony: “I am an event coordinator.”
Det. Melich: “Okay. What does Juliette, what position is she? Where does she work?”
Casey Anthony: “She is also an event coordinator. We work in the same department.”
Det. Melich: “You have a number for Juliette?”
Casey Anthony: “Mmm… Offhand, I can’t think of one.”
Det. Melich: “Is she in your SIM card?”
Casey Anthony: “No, she’s not. Some of the more recent numbers… Her number just changed because she just moved back… up north. She within the last two months has finished moving… up to New York. She’s subloosing [subletting] her apartment…”
Det. Melich: “So, Juliette doesn’t work at Universal anymore?”
Casey Anthony: “No, she does not.”
Juliette Lewis doesn’t exist. Casey had briefly worked at Universal, but hasn’t been employed there for over two years prior to this interview. And she wasn’t an event coordinator, she stood behind the kiosk and sold photos of people.
Det. Melich: “What’s the reason… I asked you this before, and I’ll ask you just for the record. What’s the reason you didn’t call the police before?”
Casey Anthony: “I think part of me was naive enough to think that I could handle this myself, which obviously I couldn’t. And I was scared that something would happen to her if I did notify the authorities, or got the media involved. The fear of the unknown. Fear of the potential… of… Caylee getting hurt… of not seeing my daughter again.”
Det. Melich: “I actually asked you this at the onset, and I asked you before we went on tape, and I’ll ask you again just to make sure we’re clear… Is there anything about this story that you’re telling me that’s untrue? Or is there anything that you wanna change, or divert from what you’ve already told me?”
Casey Anthony: “No… No, sir.”
Det. Melich: “Did you cause any injury to your child, Caylee?”
Casey Anthony: “No, sir.”
Det. Melich: “Did you hurt Caylee or leave her somewhere and you’re worried that if we find that out, that people are gonna look at you in a wrong way?”
Casey Anthony: “No… No, sir.”
Det. Melich: “And you’re telling me that Zenaida took your child without your permission and hasn’t returned her?”
Casey Anthony: “She’s the last person that I’ve seen with my daughter. Yes.”
Det. Melich: “She’s Puerto Rican? Is she Dominican? Is she white?”
Casey Anthony: “She’s mixed. She’s black and Puerto Rican.”
Det. Melich: “Is there any underlying cause to why Zenaida would’ve taken your child?”
Casey Anthony: “Nothing that…”
Det. Melich: “Did she ever make any statements to you about…”
Casey Anthony: “Only how much she loves Caylee and how great of a kid she is.”
Det. Melich: “And when you talk to Jeffrey afterwards, I’m assuming that Jeffrey’s child is still with him?”
Casey Anthony: “His child is still with him.”
Det. Melich: “You said Zenaida had family up in New England, up in New York or something?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes, she has family, down south. Her mother, her sister. Her brother’s in New York. She’s originally from New York. Pretty much grew up there. Moved down here, went to the University of Florida.”
Zenaida doesn’t exist. Casey never had a babysitter. This is considered pathological lying. She gave so many details to make sure her statement is believable.
When Casey was 18 years old and stopped attending class midway through her senior year. She skipped the entire second half of her final year to go hang out with her older boyfriend. Her parents became suspicious on several occasions, yet each and every time Casey had some whimsical excuse to which she was given the benefit of the doubt. Then just days before graduation, her parents were informed by the school of her truancy and that she would not be graduating. When confronted Casey’s excuse was that her timetable was mixed up by the school causing her to miss classes through no fault of her own. This is obviously a completely baffling excuse that no sane person would ever believe. Whether it be through denial or an overprotective nature, Casey’s parents not only took her at her word, but even shielded her from the consequences of her actions. They lied to all their family friends that she graduated with honors and even threw her an extravagant graduation party the day after. No matter what she did as long as she could spin one lie after another or at least drag a lie out for as long as possible, everything would work itself out. The truth is that everything did work itself out when she was dealing with her parents. The same rules she applied with regard to national law and a missing child’s investigation.
Casey was asked if she could take police to all places of interest. She obliged and then proceeded to lead them to a multitude of fake addresses which she had nothing to do with. She then took them to her supposed office at Universal Studios and led three senior investigators to the very end of a building, taking over 25 minutes to walk to, before she finally turned around, put her hands in her back pockets, laughed and admitted that she didn’t work there. Completely dumbfounded, the detectives placed her under arrest and took her to a conference room in the building for what was essentially an interrogation.
Det. Melich: “Since I left you this morning, I’ve gone to every address that you’ve told me.
Casey Anthony: “Mmm hmm.”
Det. Melich: “I came over here. I’ve already talked to all the employees.
Casey Anthony: “Mmm hmm.”
Det. Melich: “I found out all these names that you’re giving me are people that either never worked here, or who’ve been fired here from a long time ago. Okay? So, where we are right now is in a position that doesn’t look very good for you. Cause obviously, I know and you know that everything you told me is a lie, correct?
Casey Anthony: “Not everything that I told you.”
Det. Melich: “Pretty much everything that you’ve told me, including where Caylee is right now.”
Casey Anthony: “That… I still, I don’t know where she is.”
Det. Melich: “Sure you do, and here’s…”
Casey Anthony: “I absolutely do not know where she is.”
Det. Melich: “Listen, let me, let me, let me explain something. Looking at you, I know that everything that you’ve told me is a lie. I am very confident, just by having talked to you this short period of time, that you know where she is.”
Casey Anthony: “I… legitimately have not seen my daughter in 5 weeks. I don’t want anything to happen to her. Except I trusted her with somebody… Somebody that had been taking care of her, that had been taking good care of her. Somebody that she was comfortable with, that I was comfortable with.
Det. Melich: “What about, what about Jeff? You said Jeff worked here about… till about 2 months ago?”
Casey Anthony: “No, he doesn’t work here for… quite a while.”
Det. Melich: “10 months? How long?”
Casey Anthony: “It’s been… at least 10 months…”
Det. Melich: “Okay. He got fired in 2002. He hasn’t been an employee here since 2002.
Det. Allen: “We’ve put a lot more together than I think you realize we’ve put together. My question to you is: We’re in this office because? Our purpose in coming here was to do what?”
Casey Anthony: “I am trying to think of places where I know she’s been. That could help…
Det. Allen: “No… You’re not answering my question. Do you want us to help? You want to help us find your daughter?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes!”
Casey Anthony: “I do want you to help.”
Det. Allen: “Well… a good starting point would be to answer the questions, okay? If I say to you ‘we’re here because?’, and then you just ignore that like I never asked it, and go off in some other direction, is that answering the question?”
Casey Anthony: “No.”
Det. Allen: “Okay. Let’s go through this again. We’re here because?”
Casey Anthony: “Because I lied… Because I brought you up here… And honestly I was reaching for another avenue.
Det. Allen: “No. Stop right there. I want you to tell me how lying to us is going to help us find your daughter?”
Casey Anthony: “It’s not going to.”
Det. Allen: “Well, then if the main thing you want to do is find your daughter, and you don’t think lying to us is going to help us find her, why would you do that?”
Casey Anthony: “Because I’m scared, and I’m… I know I’m running out of options. It’s been a month!”
Det. Wells: “What are you scared of?”
Casey Anthony: “I’m scared of not seeing my daughter ever again.”
She realized that fabricating lies couldn’t help her here, so she used emotions to buy time. She didn’t express any emotion regarding her daughter. Natural reaction parents have is frantic effort to see their child again. They wonder whether their child is cold, hungry, whether someone is torturing their child… Parents feel panic, agony. They sometimes offend a law enforcement because they can’t find their child. Some parents in those situations yell at detectives… Parents would feel anger because they are wasting time with them instead of searching for their child. There is nothing here. She didn’t even report her daughter is missing and she refuses to provide information to look for her daughter. If she knows that her daughter is dead, there are no signs of grief.
Det. Wells: “I’m a parent too. I would’ve been beside myself…”
Casey Anthony: “I have been.”
Det. Wells: “I would’ve called the police immediately, and that’s the part that I just don’t understand We can…”
Casey Anthony: “I didn’t know what to do!”
Det. Wells: “We’ve got so many resources out there that we could have helped on day 1.”
Det. Allen: “You didn’t know what to do?”
Casey Anthony: “I didn’t know what to do. At that point I’m thinking ‘okay they haven’t been gone that long, maybe I can find them, maybe I can track them down…”
Det. Melich: “Look, we’re not stupid. Okay? And what you’re doing right now is you’re treating us like we’re stupid. Everything that’s coming out of your mouth is a lie. Everything… Either you gave Caylee to someone and you don’t want anyone to find out because you think you’re a bad mom, or something happened to Caylee and Caylee’s buried somewhere, or in a trash can somewhere… And you had something to do with it. Either way, right now it’s not a very pretty picture to be painting. You’re painting yourself as a very bad person. This needs to end!
Casey Anthony: “The truthful thing…”
Det. Melich: “This needs to end!”
Casey Anthony: “…is that I have not seen my daughter. The last time that I saw her was on the 9th of June.”
Det. Melich: “Remember when we had those two people that we were talking about? The person who had an accident and a person who’s just a cold-blooded, callous monster?! That’s telling me, that you are the second person. The cold-blooded, callous monster.”
Casey Anthony: “I’m not.”
Det. Melich: “…who doesn’t care, and doesn’t wanna help, because she’s afraid that something so heinous happened that everyone’s gonna looks at her and say ‘She’s a monster, she deserves to go away. She deserves to never see the light of day. This bad thing should happen to her’.” I don’t want to believe that right now, but you’re giving me no choice! Tell us what happened to Caylee. Tell us what happened to Caylee”
Casey Anthony: “I dropped off Caylee. And that’s the last time that I’ve seen her. I dropped her off at…”
Det. Melich: “Where did you drop her off?”
Casey Anthony: “I dropped her off at that apartment.”
Det. Melich: “No, you didn’t.”
Casey Anthony: “That’s exactly where I dropped her off.”
Det. Allen: “Did you just think that one day she’s just going to show up at your house?”
Casey Anthony: “No, I sat around yesterday trying to figure out what to do. I’m glad that I ended up seeing my mom. That all of that stuff happened, happened for a reason, because these past two…”
Det. Allen: “You’re glad you saw your mom. You could’ve seen your mom 5 weeks ago, said ‘mom, I don’t know where…”
Casey Anthony: “I saw my mom’s reaction right off the bat, and it would’ve been the same from the get go.”
Det. Allen: “So, wait a minute, you’re more afraid of your mom’s reaction than you are if you ever see your daughter?”
Casey Anthony: “No, I am absolutely petrified. Absolutely petrified. I know my mom will never forgive me. I’m never gonna forgive myself.”
She believed she was showing her worry and actually, even if that were truth, she would be telling them that she lost a doll and her mother won’t forgive her. Given the fact that she knew what happened to her daughter, she sounded, and not only here, but on several occasions, as Diane Downs.
Det. Allen: “Is it that there’s some other thing that’s more important in your life right now? That you just weren’t really focused on what you were saying when you told us. So ya kinda just accidentally told us that you had an office here, and we needed to be here, or did you purposely mislead us. Which of those two is it?”
Casey Anthony: “I purposely misled you.”
Det. Allen: “Okay. So, you purposely misled us. This was all an attempt to help find your daughter, right? That makes sense to you, correct?”
Casey Anthony: “In a backwards sort of way, yes.”
Det. Allen: “In a backwards sort of way?”
Casey Anthony: “I’m coming back to places that are familiar to me, that I know are familiar to her. Familiar situations that maybe, just maybe would help…”
Det. Allen: “What did you think… How old is she?”
Casey Anthony: “She’s almost 3.”
She exhibited emotional blindness. She literally couldn’t understand or feel suffering, pain, worry… Caylee was a 3-year-old girl and she is not capable to feel anything for her, only for herself.
Det. Allen: “She’s almost 3. What do you think she’s gonna take a cab here? I mean…”
Casey Anthony: “I know she’s not.”
Det. Allen: “How do you think she’s gonna get here?”
Casey Anthony: “Because she’s with someone else.”
Det. Allen: “She’s with someone else who’s hid her from you for 5 weeks?”
Casey Anthony: “Yes.”
Det. Allen: “Why would a person who has hid your daughter from you for 5 weeks… Okay? …bring her to the building that you used to work at?
Casey Anthony: “I don’t know what else to do anymore! If I knew where she was, if something would have happened, I would have admitted that a long time ago!”
Det. Allen: “Well, let me ask you this. Do you think… Do you believe thinking up more lies to tell us will help us?”
Casey Anthony: “No. She’s with someone that I absolutely do not trust. And that I’m absolutely scared that…”
Det. Melich: “That you don’t trust, yet was babysitting your daughter for a year and a half?”
Casey Anthony: “I don’t trust her now! Because of what happened!”
Det. Allen: “Who did you call first? Who did you go to for help first, to help try to find her?”
Casey Anthony: “No one.”
Det. Allen: “Oh, no one… Okay. Alright. Okay. Well, I’m glad we got that straightened out.”
Casey was then taken to the county jail where she in the evening hours was able to make a phone call and just happened to see her mother on the local news moments before speaking to her.
Cindy Anthony: “Casey?”
Casey Anthony: “Mom!”
Cindy Anthony: “Hey, sweetie!
Casey Anthony: “Ohh… I just saw your nice little cameo on TV.”
Cindy Anthony: “Which one?”
Casey Anthony: “What do you mean which one!?”
Cindy Anthony: “Which one? I did four different ones and I don’t know. I haven’t seen them all. I’ve only seen one or two so far.”
Casey Anthony: “You don’t know what my involvement is in stuff?”
Cindy Anthony: “Casey…”
Casey Anthony: “Mom!”
Cindy Anthony: “What?”
Casey Anthony: “No!”
Cindy Anthony: “I don’t know what your involvement is, sweetheart. You’re not telling me where she’s at.”
Casey Anthony: “Because I don’t f*cking know where she’s at! Are you kidding me?!”
Cindy Anthony: “Casey, don’t waste your call to scream and hollering at me.”
Casey Anthony: “Waste my call, sitting in the jail?”
Cindy Anthony: “Whose fault is it you’re sitting in the jail, or you’re blaming me that you’re sitting in the jail? Blame yourself for telling lies. Casey Anthony: “Not my fault.”
Cindy Anthony: “What do you mean it’s not your fault? If you’d have told them the truth, and not lied about everything, they wouldn’t…”
Casey Anthony: “Do me a favor. Just tell me what Tony’s number is. (Anthony, her boyfriend at the time). I don’t want to talk to you right now!”
Cindy Anthony: “I don’t have his number.”
Casey Anthony: “Well, get it from Lee (her brother), because I know Lee’s at the house. Get Tony’s number for me!”
Lee Anthony: “Hey.”
Casey Anthony: “Hey, can you give me Tony’s number?”
Lee Anthony: “I can do that. I don’t know what real good it’s gonna do you at this point.”
Casey Anthony: “Well, I’d like to talk to him anyway.”
Lee Anthony: “Okay…”
Casey Anthony: “Because I called to talk to my mother and it’s a f*cking waste. Oh, by the way, I don’t want any of you coming up here when I have my first hearing for bond and everything else, like don’t even f*cking waste your time coming up here.”
Lee Anthony: “You’re making it real tough for anybody to want to try to… I’m not going round and round with you. That’s pretty pointless. Christina (Casey’s best friend) would love to talk to you, because she thinks that you will tell her what’s going on. Frankly, we’re gonna find out. Everything that you’re telling them is a lie.
Casey Anthony: “I have no clue where Caylee is. If I knew where Caylee was, do you think any of this would be happening? No.”
Lee Anthony: “Anyway, you only got a couple minutes of this, so I’m not gonna let you throw it away. So, here’s Christina. See if she can get through to you.”
Casey Anthony: “No! No! I want Tony’s number. I’m not talking to anybody else.”
Christina: “Hello?”
Casey Anthony: “Hi! I’m glad everybody’s at my house! Do me a favor, get my brother back, because I need Tony’s number!”
Christina: “Does Tony have anything to do with Caylee?”
Casey Anthony: “No, nothing.”
Christina: “Okay. So, why do you want to talk to Tony?”
Casey Anthony: “He’s my boyfriend. And I wanna actually try to sit and talk to him, because I didn’t get a chance to talk to him earlier. Because I got arrested on a f*cking whim today. I just wanna talk to Tony. Get a little bit of…”
Christina: “Casey, you have to tell me if you know anything about Caylee.”
Casey Anthony: “Sweetheart, If I…”
Christina: “If anything happens to Caylee, Casey, I’ll die! You understand! I’ll die!” (crying)
Casey Anthony: “Oh, wow!”
Christina: “If anything happens to that baby…”
Casey Anthony: “Oh, my God! Calling you, guys? Waste. Huge waste.”
Casey appeared in the court the next morning and was initially denied bail by the judge. He cited his reason as ‘her undeniable disregard for the welfare of her own child’. She was kept in protective custody and it would be nine days until she received her first visit from her parents.
She was joyful like nothing bad was happening. Her parents informed her that the whole country is looking for Caylee and that she would be on the cover page of People magazine. In the interview with the police, Casey was cold, but she tried to manipulate, deceive. When she was caught, she tried to deceive them by telling that she had been scared. Still, it was obvious that she thought that she was the smartest person in the room, that she didn’t care for Caylee and that she lied meticulously, without conscience and gilt. In the phone call with her parents, brother and best friend, she was hostile, sarcastic, cold, selfish. She didn’t even hide that she didn’t care for Caylee. With a readership of over 46 million adults in America, having your missing child on the front cover of People magazine would seem as a godsend to most, yet Casey’s response was almost as if it was a lost cause. She started crying for being in jail. She felt self-pity. Her parents did their best to find out something, but it was useless. She dismissed every conversation about her daughter, Caylee. She reacted like it was irritating. She even attacked people who were trying to find Caylee. Casey: “Tara? You mean Mark’s psycho ex-wife, Tara? Listen, people like Tara, like Jesse who are maybe trying to help, even Christina, god bless her… don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.” Casey said which was a lie: “They never searched by her full name. They searched Zenaida Gonzalez or Fernandez.” Cindy asked her: “What’s your gut telling you?” Casey said: “That she’s okay. I know in my heart, she’s not far. I can feel it.” She said the truth for the first time.
Her attorney, then unknown brilliant attorney, Jose Baez, and after her trial the best attorney in the US, eventually managed to get her bail. Casey was fitted with an electronic monitoring device and released on August 21, 2008. Later police were granted permission to arrest Casey on the charge of first-degree murder. She was taken in for interrogation but immediately requested her right to counsel. Jose Baez is passionate opponent of the death penalty. She was kept in the interview room while awaiting her attorney and the released footage is so bizarre to the point where it’s almost comical. The detectives gave off a passive, yet glaringly obvious vibe that let Casey knew exactly what they thought, being that she is guilty of her daughter’s probable death. Casey’s response to this was to ignore it and act as if the discourse between them and the situation itself was an everyday occurrence. She maintained the same confident and talkative disposition. The first segment of footage showed the arresting officer waiting with Casey for the lead investigator to arrive. He initiated the conversation by bringing up the subject of Casey’s parents. He asserted that he was worried about them, but the actual message he was putting across was that he essentially knew Casey was guilty and that she wasn’t fooling anyone. Casey ignored indirect accusations and spoke as they were in some café. Then Casey brought up the topic of the Grand jury. She spoke about it as she was exchanging opinions on her favorite holidays. She stated here that detectives wanted to arrest her during first hours and that detectives didn’t even try to talk to her. She was buying time until her attorney came. Casey lied that her attorney and she would sit down with investigators and answer all questions, because no defense attorney would do that. She was so confident, knowing that she lied everything. At that moment, she was said that they had enough evidence to prove her guilt. She ignored it and continued to chat.
Attorney Jose Baez came and of course every conversation with the investigators was over. Casey was instead taken to county jail where she would remain for two and a half years, awaiting trial. Once this footage was released to the public domain, the consensus was that Casey a murderer. Why wouldn’t she fake sadness? We all have aspects to ourselves that are insincere, not authentic to a certain degree. How we act at a business meeting, won’t be the way we are at home with our close friends or family. The more comfortable the setting, the more we can be ourselves. She was one of those people where something just seemed off, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. The evidence put forward suggests that Casey was fake in every single setting and with every single person all of the time. A trait that might go unnoticed in everyday life, yet would clearly stand out when shown under the microscope of a criminal case study.
Given that said, a person with this mind set is linked to psychopathy.
On December 11, 2008, just under five months since she was reported missing, Caylee’s skeletal remains were discovered in a swamp, less than a mile away from the Anthony household. She was wrapped in a Winnie-the-pooh blanket and then placed in a canvas laundry bag. Duct tape was discovered around the nose and mouth area of the skull and her death was ruled a homicide. The cause of death was unknown. The chief medical examiner called to the stand by the prosecution testified that Caylee’s death was most likely an intentional killing. Because chloroform was found in Casey’s trunk and searches of “how to make chloroform” and “neck breaking” were found in Casey’s search history. Prosecutors in the case then announced they would be seeking the death penalty. There were a multitude of discoveries made in the lead-up to the trial and many believed it to be an open and shut case, due to the damnatory nature of the evidence. On the last day Caylee was seen alive by anyone other than her mother and the day many believed she was murdered. Casey Anthony made the following internet searches as well:
At 7:54 pm that same evening, Casey and her boyfriend Tony were seen in a blockbuster video store. Caylee was nowhere in sight and many presumed she was already dead.
In the following weeks, Casey went out partying most nights. Just three days after her daughter’s supposed abduction, she was captured in various photos participating in a hot body contest.
She also made an entry in her diary, around the same time:
“I completely trust my own judgment and I knew that I made the right decision. This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow.”
The trial commenced on May 24, 2011. The gist of the prosecution’s argument was that Casey suffocated her daughter with duct tape and then placed her in a trunk for a few days, before disposing of her body in the swamp. Their opening statement:
“This isn’t just a case about Casey Marie Anthony, it’s a story about Caylee Anthony as well. Caylee Anthony was born on August 9th of 2005. Casey Anthony, Caylee’s mother, appeared to all outward observers to be what her parents thought she was a loving mother, working hard to provide support for her daughter. But as the evidence in this case and the investigation into the background of Casey Anthony will show that was an illusion. On Monday, June 16th, Cindy Anthony goes to work as I’ve described sometime between 7 and 8 am and it’s out of the house until the late evening. George Anthony specifically recalls that at 12:50 pm on June 16th of 2008, his daughter Casey left the residence… with Caylee Marie Anthony. Caylee was wearing a shirt, jean shorts, sunglasses and a backpack. And Jojo, George Anthony kissed his granddaughter. ‘Goodbye’. And never saw her again. In fact, no one but Casey Anthony ever saw Caylee alive again. The evidence in this case will establish that there is no other reason for the placement of multiple pieces of duct tape on this child’s face mouth and nose other than the specific intent to end that child’s life. No one but Casey Anthony had access to all the pieces of evidence, in this case the duct tape, the laundry bag, the blanket, the shorts, the shirt, the car. No one else lied to their friends, to their family, to investigators. No one else benefited from the death of Caylee Marie Anthony. Caylee’s death allowed Casey Anthony to live the good life, at least for those 31 days.”
Although there was a lack of direct physical evidence tying the defendant to her daughter’s death, the circumstantial evidence the state actually had still seemed overwhelming. Cindy Anthony on the stand denied it was odor of death. She stated that she was searching chloroform, actually misspelled the word. She was desperate and distraught on the stand.
Defense attorney Jose Baez: “On behalf of the defense I want to thank you for the sacrifice that you’ve made in your jury service and coming here and helping us see justice. We know it’s no easy task and we intend I’m sure both sides on getting you home as quickly as possible, once you have all of the information that you need. Everyone wants to know what happened. How in the world can a mother wait 30 days before ever reporting her child missing? It’s insane. It’s bizarre. Something’s just not right about that. Well the answer is actually relatively simple. She never was missing. Caylee Anthony died on June 16, 2008, when she drowned in her family’s swimming pool. The reason we’re all here is because not of the commonality of this tragedy, but of the uniqueness of the family that it happened. You will hear about ugly things, secret things, things that people don’t speak about, things that Casey never spoke about. On June 16, 2008, after Caylee died, Casey did what she’s been doing all her life or for most of it. Hiding her pain, going into that dark corner and pretending that she does not live in the situation that she’s living. This family must keep its secrets quiet. And it all began when Casey was eight years old and her father came into her room and began to touch her inappropriately. This child at eight years old learned to lie immediately. She could be 13 years old have her father’s penis in her mouth and then go to school and play with the other kids, as if nothing ever happened. That will help you understand why no one knew that her child was dead.”
The trial would go on to last six weeks.
Closing arguments were put forward on July 3:
Prosecution: “When you have a child, that child becomes your life. This case is about the clash between that responsibility and the expectations that go with it and the life that Casey Anthony wanted to have. Casey meets Tony. Tony has this life. He’s free. He’s a club promoter. He’s out there at night with the loud music and dancing and it’s a great free life, so she has a choice a life tethered to a child or a life free to be 22. And as hard as it is for anyone to imagine, she had to choose between two sacrificing, two things. The first was her dreams and the life she wanted and the second was her child, and we’d submit to you the evidence in this case shows that the choice she made was her child.”
Defense attorney Jose Baez: “Here we are at the end of our journey and I have to tell you that I probably think you have more questions than you have answers. And if you recall at opening statements the first, the final thing that I told you – at the end of the day, when everything is said and done, the one question will never be answered. The key question in this case will never be answered. It can never be proven and that is – How did Caylee die? I’m going to start with my biggest fear. I’m going to tell you right up front what I fear may happen in this case, and I want to talk to you about it and explain why I feel that way. This case deals with so much emotion. I know that there were times where every single person in here felt something deep down inside. Your rules of deliberation, what the law is – that this case must not be decided for or against anyone because you feel sorry for anyone or are angry at anyone. We want you to base your verdict on the evidence, not on emotion. And it’s my biggest fear, because it’s such a difficult thing for you to push aside. Caylee Anthony was a beautiful, sweet, innocent child who died far too soon. There’s no doubt about it and that is not disputed by anyone, but to parade her up here to invoke your emotion would be improper. It’s improper under the law and it’s improper as to the rules of your deliberation. He went on for a great length of time talking about this beautiful child, not on his evidence. Not on the evidence that was presented before you. It was to set up the emotion for what was to come. And that is exactly how this case was presented. They didn’t come right out the gate and show you the evidence. They gave you two weeks of testimony that was completely irrelevant and served only one purpose, and that was to paint Casey Anthony as a slut, as a party girl, as a girl who lies. And has absolutely nothing to do with how Caylee died. And this prosecution was geared in such a manner that it was deliberate, it was methodical. It was thorough and it was detailed. Don’t speculate. Don’t guess. It has to be proven to you beyond into the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. If you don’t know what happened, it wasn’t proven. We don’t want you to tell us what you think happened, we want you to tell us what was proven happened. And that’s the difference here, because you know what we can go on and speculate all day long as to the different theories, that were posed before you as to the different possibilities, but the truth of the matter is – it must be what was proven. There are no mysteries to solve here. There should be no mystery before you right now. If you have questions, then it was not proven, and that’s as simple as it goes. Now back to what I was saying with their initial setup. The way the case was presented the first couple weeks. You see the strategy behind that is, is if you hate her, if you think she’s a lying no good slut, then you’ll start to look at this evidence in a different light. You’ll start to ‘oh wait a minute, maybe I I’m seeing something that’s not there’ and start to actually discriminate against her rather than give her the standard that is afforded to each and every citizen in our country. And that is that the state, that the government come in here and prove their case beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. But you can get away with that, if we can get a jury to hate her. But you’re here to fulfill an oath you’ve labored tremendously over this journey. And we’re going to ask you to render a verdict of not guilty on these charges, because they simply are not proven and they’re simply not true.”
“For the 9th Judicial circuit in and for Orange county, Florida. State of Florida versus Casey Marie Anthony, as to case number… as to the charge of first-degree murder verdict, as to count one. We the jury find the defendant not guilty, so say we all, dated at Orlando, Orange county, Florida on this fifth day of July 2011, signed for person. As to the charge of aggravated child abuse verdict does to count two. The jury find the defendant not guilty, so say we all, did it at Orlando, Orange county, Florida this fifth day of July 2011, signed for person. As to the charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child, verdict is to count three. We the jury find the defendant not guilty, so say we all, dated at Orlando Orange county, Florida, this fifth day of July 2011, signed for person.”
Jose Baez: “Casey did not murder Caylee. It’s that simple. And today our system of justice has not dishonored her memory by a false conviction.”
Casey Anthony was evaluated by two clinical psychologists during her time in custody and not a single abnormality was discovered with relation to her psychological state, in other words there were no signs of mental illness. One of the psychiatrists, Jeff Danziger, says the results of a psychological test Anthony took were normal, something he regarded as surprising. The depositions of Dr. Jeffrey Danziger and Dr. William Weitz vividly describe what Anthony told her doctors about the alleged sexual abuse by her father and the alleged drowning death of her daughter. Weitz said Anthony felt “very comfortable” leaving Caylee with her mother, but felt her father George was a threat based on past abuse. Danziger said that during the initial evaluation, “I did not find any evidence of an active mental illness. It was my opinion that she was competent to proceed and that an MMPI [a common tool used for psychological evaluation] I did was entirely normal, which was somewhat surprising.” When asked about Anthony’s demeanor when describing the death of her daughter and her alleged past sexual abuse, Weitz said, “She was presenting it to me in a very cognitive, intellective manner stripped of almost any affect or emotion. ” The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Test is commonly used test even in the case Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard. Amber Heard was diagnosed with Borderline personality disorder and Histrionic Personality disorder. Some argue that one can learn, cheat and that quantification in psychology is wrong. Weitz also described “an issue of the pool and swimming.” Anthony was always very cautious about the pool being secured before she went to sleep, he explained.
This three-part of a documentary titled ‘Where the Truth Lies’, Casey claims she became pregnant with Caylee at 18 because, you guessed it, she was drugged and raped. She claimed that she lied to law enforcement, and let herself be arrested, apparently just to protect her father, whom she accuses not only of repeatedly raping her but also suffocating her. Everything bad about Casey, according to the Peacock series, is the result of something someone else did. Casey claims she became a pathological liar because her father and brother sexually abused her. “He was standing there with her,” Casey claims in the series. “She was soaking wet. He handed her to me. Said it was my fault. That I caused it. But he didn’t rush to call 911 and he wasn’t trying to resuscitate her. I collapsed with her in my arms. She was heavy, and she was cold. He takes her from me and he immediately softens his tone and says, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ I wanted to believe him. He took her from me and he went away.” Her father denied all. He asked for a lie detector and passed. Casey Anthony absolutely scored “personal gain” in exchange for accusing her father not just of rape but now of murder, all without the slightest shred of evidence. George Anthony stated that he forgave his daughter, Casey Anthony.
