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1 Running head: CASEY ANTHONY

The Death of Caylee Marie Anthony and the Trial of Casey Anthony

2 CASEY ANTHONY Abstract The murder of Caylee Marie Anthony and the subsequent trial of Casey Anthony is the most profound court case of my time. I remember incessantly watching the news and media coverage of the death of Caylee and the trial of Casey. My young adult self-became more enthralled with crime than I already was. I knew that she was guilty, and I knew that the jury would agree…and in the end, the jury disagreed with what I had thought to be true: the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty. I remember comparing it to the O.J. Simpson case, a case that seemed so obvious, yet, did not come to a guilty verdict. I was too young to see that trial, but over the years, I had seen many documentaries and shows recapping the case and trial for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Even recently, with new documentaries and podcasts covering the murder of Caylee Anthony, I am dumbfounded as to how Casey Anthony was found not guilty. Almost ten years after the original trial of Casey Anthony, justice has not been served for the death of little Caylee Marie.

3 CASEY ANTHONY The Timeline of Caylee’s Disappearance and Casey’s Initial Arrest On August 9, 2005, Casey Anthony gave birth to her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony (CNN, 2019). At the age of 2, Caylee disappeared. Caylee was last reportedly seen alive on June 16, 2005, but was not immediately reported missing (CNN, 2019). George Anthony, Casey Anthony’s father, later told police that he had last seen Caylee as she left the house on June 16, and it is the last time that Caylee is last reported to have been seen alive (Escherich, 2008). On June 30, 2008, the car that Casey Anthony had been using was found abandoned in Orlando, Florida, in front of a cash advance business and was towed (Escherich, 2008). When the towing company called Cindy and George Anthony in regard to the towed vehicle, they became concerned, because Casey had told her mother that she was going on a little vacation to Jacksonville, Florida (Escherich, 2008). On July 15, 2008, Casey’s mother, Cindy Anthony, reported to the authorities that Caylee had gone missing (CNN, 2019). Cindy Anthony called 911 and said, “I found out my granddaughter has been taken, she has been missing for a month,” (Escherich, 2008). Casey Anthony told her parents and the police that she had not seen Caylee in 31 days and had launched her own investigation into finding her daughter (Escherich, 2008). In another call to 911, Cindy Anthony expressed concern regarding the car that had been towed, telling the 911 operator that “I found my daughter’s car today and it smelled like there’s been a dead body in the damn car,” (Escherich, 2008). Cindy Anthony would later retract that statement, and the Anthony family would rally around Casey. By July 16, 2008, Casey Anthony was arrested for child neglect, but she said that Caylee disappeared and was kidnapped by a babysitter named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, who had also disappeared (CNN, 2019). Casey Anthony claimed to have dropped off her daughter at

4 CASEY ANTHONY Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez’s apartment, but police found many discrepancies in her story, including that the supposed apartment of Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez had been vacant for more than 140 days (Escherich, 2008). The following day, officers searched Casey Anthony’s car and a cadaver dog picked up the scent of human decomposition in the trunk (CNN, 2019). After completing am air sample test in Casey Anthony’s car, it was discovered that there had been human remains in the trunk (CNN, 2019). Casey Anthony’s bond hearing was on July 22, 2008, and detectives revealed at her bond hearing that they had also found strands of hair that looked like Caylee Anthony’s in the trunk of the family car where the scent of human decomposition had been detected (Escherich, 2008). As a result, Casey Anthony’s bail was set at $500,000, and she was named as person of interest in her daughter’s disappearance, which was now being treated as a potential homicide (Escherich, 2008). Casey Anthony’s Indictment and Finding Caylee’s Body In July of 2008, Cindy Anthony told reporters that she had spotted Caylee in Georgia, but the police were never able to verify her claim (Escherich, 2008). Leonard Padilla, a veteran bounty hunter from California with his own reality show, contacted Casey Anthony and said that he was willing to post her bond (Escherich, 2008). On August 21, 2008, Leonard Padilla posted Casey Anthony’s bond and she was released from jail; by August 30, 2008, Casey Anthony was taken into custody on new charges, including petty theft (Escherich, 2008). By September 2008, police said that they believed that Caylee Anthony had passed away (Escherich, 2008). The Orange County Sheriff’s Office of Florida issued a statement that based on evidence that had not been made public yet and FBI testing, “there is a strong probability that Caylee is deceased,” (Escherich, 2008). On September 5, 2008, Casey Anthony was released from jail again (Escherich, 2008). At the end of September, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, the

5 CASEY ANTHONY babysitter that Casey Anthony had reportedly said kidnapped Caylee, filed a defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony (Escherich, 2008). Casey Anthony was arrested again on September 29, 2008, on multiple charges including child neglect, lying to investigators, petty theft, and use of a forged check (Escherich, 2008). On October 2, 2008, Casey Anthony was officially named a suspect in Caylee’s disappearance (Escherich, 2008). On October 14, 2008, a grand jury indicted Casey Anthony on capital murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, and proving false information to law enforcement, and Casey Anthony pleaded not guilty (CNN, 2019). Police reported evidence of body decomposition and chloroform in Casey Anthony’s car on October 24, 2008 (Escherich, 2008). On December 11, 2008, skeletal remains are found in a wooded area near Casey Anthony’s parents’ home by a utility worker (CNN, 2019). The skeletal remains were of a young child and were only half a mile from the Anthony’s home (Escherich, 2008). Carlos Padilla, the police spokesperson, told the media that they were “somewhat confident” that the skeletal remains were those of Caylee Anthony (Escherich, 2008). On December 19, 2008, authorities announced that the remains were identified as those of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony (CNN, 2019). DNA testing confirmed that the remains belonged to little Caylee (Escherich, 2008). Before the Trial Rumors began to swirl that Roy Kronk, the utility worker who found Caylee Anthony’s remains, was somehow involved in the case, but he denied any involvement in early January 2009. George Anthony suffered tremendously with the murder of his granddaughter and his daughter being the suspect, so much so that he left a suicide note on January 23, 2009

6 CASEY ANTHONY (Escherich, 2008). Police discovered George Anthony under the influence of medication and alcohol in Daytona Beach, Florida (Escherich, 2008). In April of 2009, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony, reversing an earlier decision not to pursue capital punishment (CNN, 2019). In December of 2008, the state attorney’s office filed court papers indicating that the prosecutors would not seek the death penalty (Escherich, 2008). Around this same time, Stan Strickland, the judge originally assigned to the case, recused himself and was replaced by Judge Belvin Perry Jr. (CNN, 2019). The one-year anniversary of the last time George and Cindy Anthony last saw their granddaughter was on June 16, 2009 (Escherich, 2008). George and Cindy Anthony’s lawyer, Brad Conway, said the couple did not have any information about Caylee’s disappearance, nor did they know the truth about what had happened to her, but he knew of no theory where Casey Anthony was above suspicion (Escherich, 2008). Brad Conway also hinted that Casey Anthony would likely take the stand in her own defense at the trial, which could possibly be at least a year away (Escherich, 2008). A few days later on June 19, 2009, Caylee Anthony’s autopsy report was released (Escherich, 2008). The Trial Jury Selection On May 9, 2011, jury selection began for the Casey Anthony trial (CNN, 2019). Judge Perry expected that the jury selection would only last about a week, but on the first day of jury selection, about half of the jury pool of about 200 potential jurors were excused because of personal hardship (Lohr, 2017). The second day of jury selection began with Judge Perry excusing more than two dozen potential jurors who were discussing how Casey Anthony

7 CASEY ANTHONY allegedly killed her daughter while in a private room (Lohr, 2017). The third day of jury selection brought more drama as one of the male jurors was found to be in contempt of court by discussing the case with television producers (Lohr, 2017). Judge Perry fined the potential juror $450 because of this (Lohr, 2017). The following days brought more disturbing behavior, with one juror posting on the internet and another listening to a graphic song parodying Casey Anthony and Caylee Anthony (Lohr, 2017). Jury selection concluded after 10 days, on May 20, 2011 (Lohr, 2017). The jury was comprised of twelve jurors and five alternates being sworn in: nine women and eight men (Lohr, 2017). The jury in the Casey Anthony case was sequestered, with the understanding that the trial would last an estimated six to eight weeks (Lohr, 2017). Opening Statements On May 24, 2011, the prosecution and defensed delivered their opening statements in an Orlando courthouse for the trial of Casey Anthony (CNN, 2019). State prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick began the opening statements by telling jurors that the evidence to be presented pointed to 25-year-old Casey Anthony as the murderer of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony (Mann, 2011). Burdick created a timeline of Casey Anthony’s whereabouts based on cell phone records (Mann, 2011). The timeline that Burdick created stretched from June 2008, when Caylee was last seen alive by her grandparents, to December 2008, when Caylee’s skeletal remains were found in the woods near the Anthony home (Mann, 2011). The jurors were also shown photos of Caylee taken on Father’s Day in June of 2008 along with an image of her skeletal remains (Mann, 2011). While discussing Casey Anthony spending her days shopping, visiting with friends, and hanging out with her boyfriend, Burdick asked the jurors “Where is Caylee Marie Anthony,” (Mann, 2011). Burdick continued by explaining details of the evidence found in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car and of the scene where Caylee’s remains were found (Mann, 2011).

8 CASEY ANTHONY Casey Anthony shook her head throughout much of Burdick’s opening statement, including when Burdick said that Casey Anthony intentionally killed Caylee (Mann, 2011). At the conclusion of her opening statement, Burdick said “Caylee Marie Anthony was not kidnapped. No one else benefited from the death of Caylee Marie Anthony. Caylee’s death allowed Casey Anthony to live the good life, and at the end of this case you will have no problem deciding that Casey Anthony killed her daughter. Casey Anthony is guilty of murder in the first degree,” (Mann, 2011). Following Linda Burdick’s opening statement, Casey Anthony’s defense attorney, Jose Baez, delivered his opening statement. Baez opened his defense with the claim that Caylee Anthony drowned in the family’s swimming pool on June 16, 2008, a month before she was reported missing (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). Jose Baez made revelations that included charges of incest, claims that the meter reader who found Caylee’s body actually placed her there, and that Casey Anthony faked having a job and a babysitter for the years she lived with her parents (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). During his opening statements, Jose Baez also tackled a question that had been on everyone’s mind – how could Casey Anthony go for a month without reporting her daughter missing? Jose Baez’s response was that Caylee was never missing, saying “How in the world can a mother wait 30 days before ever reporting her child missing? That’s insane, that’s bizarre. The answer is actually relatively simple. She was never missing. Caylee Anthony died on June 16, 2008 when she drowned in her family’s swimming pool,” (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). Jose Baez claimed that George Anthony found Caylee’s body in the backyard pool and disposed of Caylee’s body, further suggesting that George Anthony planted evidence against his daughter Casey Anthony to deflect the suspicion off of himself (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). Baez continued by telling the jury that they would “hear about ugly things, secret things, things that

9 CASEY ANTHONY people don’t speak about,” and went on to describe that Casey Anthony had been sexually abused by her father and brother (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). Baez claimed that Casey Anthony hid the death of her daughter as she had hidden the years of sexual abuse (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). Baez described Casey Anthony’s behavior after Caylee’s death on June 16, 2008, as the same behavior she has had her entire life – hiding her pain, going into a dark corner pretending that she was not in the situation she was in (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). The behavior Casey Anthony displayed in the month from when Caylee was last seen to when she was reported missing was affected by the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father – he raised her to lie and hide the sexual abuse – Baez contended (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). Baez stated that the death of Caylee Anthony was not a murder case, but instead it was a sad, tragic accident that had gone out of control (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). Baez continued by telling the jury “You’ll see evidence, conclusive evidence, that he took steps to throw his own daughter under the bus just to protect himself,” (Hopper & Banfield, 2011). The Prosecution’s Case George Anthony was the first witness to testify for the prosecution, and he denied the abuse and his presence at Caylee’s death (Crime Museum, n.d.). George Anthony talked about some gas cans that had disappeared from his shed that he confronted Casey Anthony about (Crime Museum, n.d.). The gas cans had duct tape left on them, according to George Anthony, the same kind of duct tape that was found on Caylee’s remains (Crime Museum, n.d.). George Anthony testified that Casey Anthony retrieved the gas cans from her trunk and returned them, without the duct tape (Crime Museum, n.d.). The gas can incident occurred a week after Caylee was last seen, but before anyone new that Caylee was missing, and Casey Anthony’s former boyfriend testified that he had helped her break into the shed to take them (Crime Museum, n.d.).

10 CASEY ANTHONY The prosecution called several more witnesses to the stand, emphasizing Casey Anthony’s failure to mention her daughter’s disappearance and Casey Anthony’s behavior after Caylee’s disappearance by clubbing and claiming Caylee had been with a nanny (Crime Museum, n.d.). During cross-examination, however, these witnesses also admitted that Casey Anthony never appeared to be a bad mother and never appeared to mistreat Caylee (Crime Museum, n.d.). The prosecution continued their case against Casey Anthony by talking about the scent of decomposition in her car and her motive for murder. Both George Anthony and the manager of the towing company that towed Casey Anthony’s car testified that they had smelled decomposition, saying it was detectible even when the doors are closed, but the scent was much worse when the door or trunk were open (Crime Museum, n.d.). The scent of decomposition is very unique and a recognizable smell to anyone with experience with it, and the manager of the towing company testified that it was a scent that was recognizable to him (Crime Museum, n.d.). George Anthony claimed that he was also familiar with the scent of decomposition because of his experience as a detective (Crime Museum, n.d.). In addressing Casey Anthony’s possible motive, the prosecution presented text messages that showed Casey Anthony’s true feelings about having a daughter – the text messages showed that Caylee stood in the way of Casey Anthony’s desire for a party lifestyle and her relationship with her boyfriend (Crime Museum, n.d.). Caylee’s grandmother, Cindy Anthony, testified on May 30, 2011 (Crime Museum, n.d.). It was Cindy who reported Caylee missing a month after she had last seen her, and the prosecution focused on that month for Cindy’s testimony (Crime Museum, n.d.). Cindy described that she repeatedly attempted to see her granddaughter, but Casey Anthony had many explanations for Caylee’s absence, from Caylee being with the babysitter, to a car accident in Tampa, to staying with a wealthy man at a hotel (Crime Museum, n.d.). These and many other

11 CASEY ANTHONY claims that Casey Anthony made were disputed. The supposed wealthy suitor, Jeffrey Michael Hopkins, testified that he knew Casey Anthony from school, but had not introduced Casey Anthony to the babysitter, as she had claimed (Crime Museum, n.d.). Casey Anthony claimed to have a job at Universal Studios, but Leonard Turtora, a Universal Studios employee, testified that Casey Anthony did not work at Universal Studios during the time that she had claimed (Crime Museum, n.d.). The prosecution turned its case to scientific and forensic evidence in the case. On June 4, 2011, evidence was presented that showed it may have been Caylee’s body that created the smell of decomposition (Crime Museum, n.d.). There was a hair found in the car that resembled hair taken from Caylee’s brush, according to a trace analyst from the FBI (Crime Museum, n.d.). The FBI analyst also said the hair found in the trunk of the car contained a mark that she had only seen in hairs from decomposing bodies, but the resemblance to Caylee’s hair was not an absolute identification since hair comparisons are never absolute (Crime Museum, n.d.). Forensic evidence from the car showed signs of gases consistent with decomposition, as well as chloroform, which is what the prosecution claimed Casey Anthony used to kill her daughter (Crime Museum, n.d.). On June 6, 2011, forensic expert Arpad Vass testified that the only plausible explanation for the odor in Casey Anthony’s trunk was the presence of a decomposing body (CNN, 2019). Several aspects were presented, including a trash bag that was found in the trunk and ruled out as being the source of the odor recognized by witnesses (Crime Museum, n.d.). A highly trained cadaver dog also alerted on the trunk, indicating that a body had been stored inside (Crime Museum, n.d.). Vass had performed chemical tests on air samples from the trunk, carpet, spare tire cover, and scrapings from the wheel of the car, and of the chemicals he found in his research to be significant to human decomposition, Casey Anthony’s trunk contained

12 CASEY ANTHONY seven, although only five were counted, as two were trace amounts (Crime Museum, n.d.). He testified that these results indicated that the scent in the trunk was from decomposing remains, and he also testified that there were high levels of chloroform present in the samples, supporting the prosecution’s claim that Casey Anthony used chloroform on Caylee before smothering her (Crime Museum, n.d.). The prosecution presented testimony from Neal Haskell, a forensic entomologist. He explained that the insects present at the site where Caylee’s body was found indicated that her body had been there long-term, possibly since June or July (Crime Museum, n.d.). Neal Haskell also explained that the insect that had been collected from Casey Anthony’s car indicated the presence of a body for a short time before being removed (Crime Museum, n.d.). Entomological evidence is considered to be the most accurate indication of the time of death once the body has decomposed. On June 15, 2011, the prosecution announced that they were ready to rest their case (CNN, 2019). The last of the prosecution’s testimony included Cindy Anthony discussing items such as a Winnie the Pooh blanket that was found where Caylee’s remains we...