Casey Anthony Trial--it's ON

[_Jersey Girl]

I don't know if anyone else around here became interested in the Caylee Anthony disappearance and subsequent murder case the summer of 2008, but I sure did. It was my first introduction to Nancy Grace (ugh!) and I was hooked from the first moment I saw it. This led to watching NG every night (annoying!), research on human decomposition (maggots!) learning about murder investigations, forensics, and reading murder blogs.

Anyway, it was so cool following a murder mystery unfold in "real time".

The trial has begun and I just wanted to share a link where you can watch the trial in live stream or watch the videos of the trial later.

The prosecution, of course, is claiming that Casey Anthony essentially killed her child "in cold blood", using duct tape to smother her. Motive: The young woman wanted to live a carefree life without the burden of a child.

The defense delivered it's shocking claims right out of the gate--Casey Anthony is a victim of sexual abuse on the part of her father, Caylee drowned in the family pool, her father (George Anthony) discovered the body which led to some sort of cover up and attributed Casey's multiple lies to behavior that she learned to engage in as a result of the alleged sexual abuse.

This case will likely be determined on the basis of circumstantial evidence...because that appears to be all there is.

Suffice it to say, it's ON, folks!

I will be right here:

http://www.wftv.com/index.html

[_Jersey Girl]

Just as a matter of opinion, Jose Baez made mincemeat out of the investigation in his opening statements. Whether or not this will hold up as the trial unfolds is anyone's guess. This case has and will always be (in my view) a house of mirrors. That is to say, almost anything starts to make sense based on how it's presented.

Why didn't the police investigate meter reader Roy Kronk?

Why did it take the defense to unearth a phone call from Kronk to his son weeks before the discovery of Caylee's remains saying that he'd found the remains and was going to become rich and famous?

If the remains were located 20 feet in from the road, why didn't anyone notice them? (Kronk tried to report them three times starting back in August...what the hell?)

In one instance, Kronk reports that he thinks he saw a skull. When he actually "finds" the remains, he claims that he tapped the bag and a skull rolled out. What? Did the skull roll in and out of the bag at different times?

Is Kronk an opportunist pig who had control of the remains for months? Hopefully, we'll find out.

Why didn't George ( a former detective!) report the gas cans missing when police searched the shed early on?

Why did the investigation report that only Casey had access to the unique brand of duct tape when the defense has clear photographic evidence that George also had access to it?

Why didn't the investigators note that George also had access to the car?

Did George sexually abuse his daughter Casey? Who the heck knows...is it feasible? I say, yes. Anything is possible with this family.

When Cindy Anthony mentioned to detectives that the pool ladder was attached to the pool, why didn't the follow up on this? Cadaver dogs "hit" on the pool area and no one noticed Cindy's statement with regards to the ladder being on?

Cindy also mentioned to co-workers that someone had been swimming in her pool-- re, the ladder. Again. Orange County detectives never follow up on these two incidents.

With regards to Casey's habitual lies...one of which was that she was employed by Universal Studios in Orlando. Father George also faked employment! Turns out he was hanging out with some honey who was passing him money to make it look like he was drawing income. It would seem that this family is a pack of liars! We shall see...

Has the defense begun to establish reasonable doubt?

I *never* thought I would see it or say it, but I have to say, yes...they have.

Let's see if it flies.

[_Jersey Girl]

I took an online test a few weeks ago about facts in the case. I scored the highest level for which the results said "Turn OFF Nancy Grace!"

What it looks like so far from the defense side...

it looks like George and daughter Casey were home early in the morning when they discovered Caylee was nowhere in sight. They searched the house, went out two different exits and when Casey came around the corner, George was holding Caylee (who had drowned in the pool) and started yelling at Casey. "Look what you did! Your mother will NEVER forgive you and you'll spend the rest of your friggin life in jail!"

Casey asks George to help her.

Instead of calling 911 like a normal person (trust me, no one in this family is normal!) George (a former detective) covers up the accident and makes it look like a kidnap/murder.

Is it feasible? Uh...yeah, it is.

Would George help Casey cover up the accident out of fear of Cindy Anthony's wrath?

Could be. Cindy Anthony is a *very* dominant personality and one who has been known to explode on Casey multiple times. George, is already up the creek with Cindy, having lost tons of money in Nigerian online scams and who knows what else. He doesn't hold down a job to speak of and apparently has a thing for the ladies.

One possible tip off is Casey's reaction to George's testimony early on in the 2009 civil defamation case. She cries her baby eyes out in a way no one has ever seen before, while her father testifies. Could this be an indication that he was supposed to be her saving grace?

Possibly!

[_Dr. Shades]

One possible tip off is Casey's reaction to George's testimony early on in the 2009 civil defamation case.

What is this "civil defamation case" of which you speak? Who sued who, and what was the alleged defamation?

[_Jersey Girl]

It was a 2009 defamation case brought against Casey Anthony by Zenaida Gonzalez, a woman whose life was disrupted by having the same name as the alleged "nanny" of Caylee Anthony.

[_Jersey Girl]

Never, repeat NEVER watch a live feed blog during a murder trial! You won't be able to take your eyes off it!

If anyone else besides me is interested in this case (no, it's just you, Jersey Girl) you can watch it live here:

http://www.wftv.com/caseyanthony/index.html

To the right, are two live cams. One is the trial cam, the other is a "Casey Cam" so you can see her reactions to what's being presented.

To the left, is the live feed blog. Just say NO to this blog!

[_joaninwa]

I am also a bit obsessed with the trial. I had my daughter just about the time Caylee went missing and started watching every night. It just is scarey to me that she could have done this to her own daughter. Now that my daughter is 3, I see so much of her in Caylee. I've been trying to figure out why I'm so obsessed and got on this website to see if anyone else was.

My take is that Cindy told Casey she was an unfit mother and she was going to call social services and take her away. So, rather than have the kid taken from her, she killed her. I have known a number of sociopaths in my life and they really don't have any capacity for feelings. Casey needs to be put away where she can't have anymore kids.

Do you feel like this is part of the overall craziness of these times we're living in?

[_Jersey Girl]

Hi Joaninwa!

Wow! I didn't think anyone on the board had been following the case! I've followed it since "day one". It's so good to hear from another "sleuth". :-)

You seem to have made up your mind already as, if online blog comments are any indication, many others have. I am trying hard to decide if I think the defense is reasonable and of course, I won't be able to fully determine that for myself until the defense presents.

I think that while the evidence presented thus far is powerful, still none of it can be tied directly to Casey Anthony and those evidences that have been presented can also be tied in a similar fashion to George Anthony or anyone in the Anthony family for that matter. But since the defense is implicating George in a cover up, I will try to stay focused on just George and Casey.

Gas Can: Owned and also handled by George. Reported missing and received back by George. What is the significance of the gas can? I think the following is why...

Henkel Duct Tape: Likely owned and handled by George. I say this because there was only *one* piece of duct tape found in the shed (none in the house or elsewhere) that was attached to the gas can and there is a photograph of George after Caylee was reported missing where there is a roll of Henkel duct tape on the table.

So, the only thing significant about the gas can is that they were found with a piece of Henkel duct tape on them, the very same type of distinguishable duct tape that was found attached to the hair mat of the skull.

I really need to go back over a few things about those gas cans. My understanding is that the gas cans were reported missing by George and returned by Casey: "Here's your damned gas cans." Did Casey return the gas cans with a piece of duct tape on one of them? I need to review the facts and I'll try to do that before I address types of evidences again.

Here's an example of something I find disturbing with regards to the reporting on this case. This is a sample from CNN:

Stenger found multiple search results (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) for “chloroform” on March 17 and March 21, 2008. Whoever initiated the searches often misspelled the word as “chloraform” – one search, from March 21, was the question “how to make chloroform?” Bradley also found searches on those same days relating to such subjects as “alcohol, inhalation, death, self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, head injury, ruptured spleen, chest trauma, and internal bleeding.” He acknowledged that many of the “chloroform” hits appeared to be fairly brief, often only a matter of seconds. However, because Bradley had access only to the history of searches and not to the full text of the search results themselves, it’s impossible for him to know exactly how long any of these results were monitored. In all, there were a total of 84 searches for the word “chloroform” on the Anthony computer through this particular browser.

Did you watch this expert testimony? If so, do you remember Bradley saying that the searches in question BEGAN with a search on "self defense"? That fact isn't reported in the above.

Do you also remember that the Mozilla Fire Fox history indicated that the person using the computer went between MySpace and the chloroform searches? Didn't Rico or was it Tony (?), have that photographic image on his MySpace with "Win her over with chloroform?"

My point is that Casey (or whomever was on the computer, likely Casey) could have gone from MySpace to "chloroform" and back again several times in the same exact way someone (presumably Casey) did the "self defense" searches and going on to "internal bleeding" and such.

I cannot tell you how many computer searches I do myself. There are times when I go from one thing to the next...example, look something up and read a Wiki on it...click a hyperlink embedded in a Wiki article and keep on keeping on!

Casey Anthony, in my view, is not a very bright person. She knows how to lie but her lies are naïve with regards to "real life". I think she easily could have viewed the MySpace photo, decided to go look up chloroform and on and on. The one problem I have with that is the number of times she flipped back to a chloroform search and yet, the time spent presumably viewing any of the searches was a matter of seconds or one-two minutes.

I don't find that particularly damning especially when you consider the fact that it cannot be proven that Casey herself made those searches, the chloroform levels found in the car are consistent with cleaning products regardless of what Vass (Body Farm) stated whose overall testimony I found intriguing.

I don't have much doubt, based on the presentation of the forensics experts and both canine handler's testimony, that Caylee's body was in the car at some point and for at least 3 days or so, nor do I doubt that her body was at least for a time located in the back yard near the play house. I don't doubt this part of the evidence. I would have to reach far to dispute those two things.

But...and you tell me what you think about this....the dogs hit on the playhouse area...and then what? If the body was in the car...where's the evidence trail that leads to the car? Was the body wrapped and carried to the car? There is no solid line of evidence that demonstrates the body traveled from the backyard to the car and yes, I do think that eventually the body went from backyard to car, but there is a gap that cannot be accounted for.

Example: Casey went to Tony's house that evening, no? Casey, in fact, was with Tony for a couple or three days, no? If so...why didn't Tony notice any decomp odor coming from the car? He testified under oath that he never smelled decomp coming from the car.

Something isn't right here, I don't think the prosecution case is completely convincing.

What if....it is just as Casey says. George found Caylee floating and drowned in the pool. George knows CPR, he knows what deceased is. He was a cop for, I think 10 years, worked detective squad and in some cases, worked homicide in Ohio.

So...Casey begs George...out of sheer FEAR of Cindy (know what I mean?) to help her. He tells her to leave and from that point on, she either isn't aware of what he does to cover up the death OR she stays there and they attempt a cover up together.

George puts Caylee's body on the lawn near the play house or perhaps in the playhouse itself...am I imagining that the dogs also hit IN the playhouse? So...Caylee's body is in or near that location.

That body was NOT immediately put in the car.

The trunk was EMPTY when Casey returned the gas cans and Tony testified that he SAW the trunk and did not smell decomp.

If I am following correctly (I make no claim to that!), it wasn't until George picked up the car at the tow yard that he and the tow truck drive smelled possible decomp.

Where was the body between the time it was in the yard and the trunk of the car?

I can't answer that! Another thing, I find truly weird. The tow truck driver testified that he smelled decomp. He was familiar with the smell of decomp.

WHY DIDN'T HE REPORT THE SMELL TO THE POLICE???

Then, George (an ex-cop/detective) goes to the car and claims to smell decomp.

WHY DIDN'T HE REPORT THE SMELL TO THE POLICE IF HE'S REALLY ON THE UP AND UP????

Then Cindy (an RN) smells the car.

WHY DIDN'T CINDY REPORT THE SMELL TO THE POLICE?

Everyone smells decomp in the car that's been sitting in the tow yard and not one person reports it to the police until Cindy freaks out when she overhears the conversation between Lee and Casey and learns that Caylee is missing.

????????

There is a lot of weirdness in this case and not all of it is coming from Casey Anthony!

[_Jersey Girl]

Hi Joaninwa!

Wow! I didn't think anyone on the board had been following the case! I've followed it since "day one". It's so good to hear from another "sleuth". :-)

You seem to have made up your mind already as, if online blog comments are any indication, many others have. I am trying hard to decide if I think the defense is reasonable and of course, I won't be able to fully determine that for myself until the defense presents.

I think that while the evidence presented thus far is powerful, still none of it can be tied directly to Casey Anthony and those evidences that have been presented can also be tied in a similar fashion to George Anthony or anyone in the Anthony family for that matter. But since the defense is implicating George in a cover up, I will try to stay focused on just George and Casey.

Gas Can: Owned and also handled by George. Reported missing and received back by George. What is the significance of the gas can? I think the following is why...

Henkel Duct Tape: Likely owned and handled by George. I say this because there was only *one* piece of duct tape found in the shed (none in the house or elsewhere) that was attached to the gas can and there is a photograph of George after Caylee was reported missing where there is a roll of Henkel duct tape on the table.

So, the only thing significant about the gas can is that they were found with a piece of Henkel duct tape on them, the very same type of distinguishable duct tape that was found attached to the hair mat of the skull.

I really need to go back over a few things about those gas cans. My understanding is that the gas cans were reported missing by George and returned by Casey: "Here's your damned gas cans." Did Casey return the gas cans with a piece of duct tape on one of them? I need to review the facts and I'll try to do that before I address types of evidences again.

Here's an example of something I find disturbing with regards to the reporting on this case. This is a sample from CNN:

Stenger found multiple search results (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) for “chloroform” on March 17 and March 21, 2008. Whoever initiated the searches often misspelled the word as “chloraform” – one search, from March 21, was the question “how to make chloroform?” Bradley also found searches on those same days relating to such subjects as “alcohol, inhalation, death, self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, head injury, ruptured spleen, chest trauma, and internal bleeding.” He acknowledged that many of the “chloroform” hits appeared to be fairly brief, often only a matter of seconds. However, because Bradley had access only to the history of searches and not to the full text of the search results themselves, it’s impossible for him to know exactly how long any of these results were monitored. In all, there were a total of 84 searches for the word “chloroform” on the Anthony computer through this particular browser.

Did you watch this expert testimony? If so, do you remember Bradley saying that the searches in question BEGAN with a search on "self defense"? That fact isn't reported in the above.

Do you also remember that the Mozilla Fire Fox history indicated that the person using the computer went between MySpace and the chloroform searches? Didn't Rico or was it Tony (?), have that photographic image on his MySpace with "Win her over with chloroform?"

My point is that Casey (or whomever was on the computer, likely Casey) could have gone from MySpace to "chloroform" and back again several times in the same exact way someone (presumably Casey) did the "self defense" searches and going on to "internal bleeding" and such.

I cannot tell you how many computer searches I do myself. There are times when I go from one thing to the next...example, look something up and read a Wiki on it...click a hyperlink embedded in a Wiki article and keep on keeping on!

Casey Anthony, in my view, is not a very bright person. She knows how to lie but her lies are naïve with regards to "real life". I think she easily could have viewed the MySpace photo, decided to go look up chloroform and on and on. The one problem I have with that is the number of times she flipped back to a chloroform search and yet, the time spent presumably viewing any of the searches was a matter of seconds or one-two minutes.

I don't find that particularly damning especially when you consider the fact that it cannot be proven that Casey herself made those searches, the chloroform levels found in the car are consistent with cleaning products regardless of what Vass (Body Farm) stated whose overall testimony I found intriguing.

I don't have much doubt, based on the presentation of the forensics experts and both canine handler's testimony, that Caylee's body was in the car at some point and for at least 3 days or so, nor do I doubt that her body was at least for a time located in the back yard near the play house. I don't doubt this part of the evidence. I would have to reach far to dispute those two things.

But...and you tell me what you think about this....the dogs hit on the playhouse area...and then what? If the body was in the car...where's the evidence trail that leads to the car? Was the body wrapped and carried to the car? There is no solid line of evidence that demonstrates the body traveled from the backyard to the car and yes, I do think that eventually the body went from backyard to car, but there is a gap that cannot be accounted for.

Example: Casey went to Tony's house that evening, no? Casey, in fact, was with Tony for a couple or three days, no? If so...why didn't Tony notice any decomp odor coming from the car? He testified under oath that he never smelled decomp coming from the car.

Something isn't right here, I don't think the prosecution case is completely convincing.

What if....it is just as Casey says. George found Caylee floating and drowned in the pool. George knows CPR, he knows what deceased is. He was a cop for, I think 10 years, worked detective squad and in some cases, worked homicide in Ohio.

So...Casey begs George...out of sheer FEAR of Cindy (know what I mean?) to help her. He tells her to leave and from that point on, she either isn't aware of what he does to cover up the death OR she stays there and they attempt a cover up together.

George puts Caylee's body on the lawn near the play house or perhaps in the playhouse itself...am I imagining that the dogs also hit IN the playhouse? So...Caylee's body is in or near that location.

That body was NOT immediately put in the car.

The trunk was EMPTY when Casey returned the gas cans and Tony testified that he SAW the trunk and did not smell decomp.

If I am following correctly (I make no claim to that!), it wasn't until George picked up the car at the tow yard that he and the tow truck drive smelled possible decomp.

Where was the body between the time it was in the yard and the trunk of the car?

I can't answer that! Another thing, I find truly weird. The tow truck driver testified that he smelled decomp. He was familiar with the smell of decomp. He's got a car in the yard reeking of human decomp which means the possibility is great there's a dead body in the car.

WHY DIDN'T HE REPORT THE SMELL TO THE POLICE???

Then, George (an ex-cop/detective) goes to the car and claims to smell decomp.

WHY DIDN'T HE REPORT THE SMELL TO THE POLICE IF HE'S REALLY ON THE UP AND UP????

Then Cindy (an RN) smells the car.

WHY DIDN'T CINDY REPORT THE SMELL TO THE POLICE?

Everyone smells decomp in the car that's been sitting in the tow yard and not one person reports it to the police until Cindy freaks out when she overhears the conversation between Lee and Casey and learns that Caylee is missing. And no one has ASKED all three WHY they didn't report it!

????????

There is a lot of weirdness in this case and not all of it is coming from Casey Anthony!

[_Jersey Girl]

Here's a CNN report about the gas cans.

Father quizzed about missing gas cans in Casey Anthony trial


May 26, 2011|By Ashley Hayes, CNN


Prosecutors on Thursday questioned George Anthony, the father of murder suspect Casey Anthony, about gas cans he reported missing around the time his 2-year-old granddaughter disappeared.

Casey Anthony's former boyfriend Anthony Lazzaro testified the day before that he had helped her break into the shed at her parents' home on June 23, 2008 -- one week after her little girl, Caylee Anthony, was last seen. According to testimony, however, neither Anthony's parents nor Lazzaro knew that the child was missing, as Anthony insisted that she was in the care of a nanny at the time.

Lazzaro said Casey Anthony called him and told him she had run out of gas. They got the gas cans, and Anthony put the gas in her car herself, he testified.

This is SEVEN DAYS after Caylee died. There was no smell of decomp reported at that time so, WHERE was the body?

On June 24, George Anthony called police to report the break-in and report the gas cans missing. He testified that he saw his daughter later in the day and argued with her about the missing cans, because he had a hunch she had them, as she had taken the cans before.

This is EIGHT DAYS after death...no smell of decomp. WHERE was the body?

Anthony said that when he went to get them out of his daughter's car, she bristled, brushed past him, quickly opened the trunk and retrieved the gas cans, throwing them down and telling him, "Here's your f---ing gas cans."

The implication in the above has always been that Casey was hiding something in the trunk. Nope. Eight days and no smell of decomp.

The gas cans are significant to the case because a piece of duct tape on them appears to be the same as that found on the mouth of Caylee's skeletal remains, which were found six months after the child went missing. The type of tape, prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick told jurors in her opening statement this week, is relatively rare.

The duct tape is significant...NOT the gas cans. Read on!

"I'm probably the one who put that on" the gas can, George Anthony said, adding that at the time, after Caylee was reported missing, he and his wife were "running on fumes. ... I'm trying to do the best I can."

He said that when his daughter returned the gas cans to him, there was no tape on them. But he said a vent cap on one was gone, and he put the tape on "because I didn't want a gas smell in the shed or house."

Given his direct testimony regarding the duct tape, WHY are the gas cans significant? GEORGE handled the duct tape, not Casey!

George Anthony had several testy exchanges with defense attorney Jose Baez during his testimony, at one point telling him, "You're badgering me. You're trying to get me upset."

Wouldn't take much, trust me.

In addition to capital murder in Caylee's death, Casey Anthony, now 25, faces six other charges, including aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and providing false information to authorities. If she is convicted by the jurors -- seven women and five men -- she could face the death penalty.

I think that the only person tied to the duct tape AND gas cans is...George!

Where was the body during this time, eh? June in Florida, a week after death and you wouldn't be able to smell and see it in the trunk?

Something is definitely UP here!

If Casey can lie like a rug, why couldn't George also be a liar?

If someone wanted to make an accidental death (fear of Cindy!!) look like a kidnap/homicide....who has the skill and knowledge to do that?

Casey or George?

You pick!