Caylee Marie Anthony
Born August 9, 2005
"Caylee was a bright toddler approaching her 3rd birthday. She could already count up to 45 in Spanish and knew her full name. She could also recite nursery rhymes and loved singing, You Are My Sunshine."
She was a two-year-old American girl who lived in Orlando, Florida.
She was reported missing in a 9-1-1 call made by her grandmother, who said she had not seen Caylee for 31 days and that Caylee's mom's car smelled like a dead body had been inside it.
Cindy, Caylee's grandmother, said that Caylee's mother, had given varied explanations as to Caylee's whereabouts before finally telling her that she had not seen Caylee for weeks.
Caylee's mother lied to detectives, telling them Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny on June 9, and that she had been trying to find her, too frightened to alert the authorities.
She was charged with first-degree murder in October 2008 and pleaded not guilty.
Caylee's skeletal remains were found on December 11, 2008.
She was found wrapped in a Whinnie the Pooh blanked with ductape over her mouth and thrown in a garbage bag.
The trial lasted six weeks, from May to July 2011.
The prosecution sought the death penalty.
The prosecution alleged, Caylee's mother wished to free herself from parental responsibilities and murdered her daughter by administering chloroform and applying duct tape.
The defense team, countered that the child had drowned accidentally in the family's swimming pool on June 16, 2008.
That the grandfather disposed of the body.
Caylee's mother did not testify. On July 5, 2011, the jury found Caylee's mother not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer.
With credit for time served, she was released on July 17, 2011.
A Florida appeals court overturned two of the misdemeanor convictions on January 25, 2013.
The Disappearance
According to her grandfather, George, Caylee was last seen June 16, 2008.
Caylee left with her mother, Casey.
Caylee's grandmother repeadly ask to see her, but Casey kept making excuses.
On July 13, 2008, the grandparents, found a notice from the post office for a certified letter affixed on their front door.
On July 15, 2008, George picked up the certified letter from the post office and found that his daughter's car was in a tow yard.
When George picked up the car, both he and the tow yard attendant noted a strong smell, that of a decomposing body, coming from the trunk.
When the trunk was opened, there was no human remains, just trash.
Cindy reported Caylee missing on July 15, 2008 by calling 911.
Casey confirmed to the 9-1-1 operator that Caylee had been missing for 31 days.
The Case
Detective Yuri Melich of the Orange County Sheriff's Department began investigating Caylee's disappearance.
He found many discrepancies in Casey's signed statement.
Casey said Caylee had been kidnapped by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, Caylee's alleged nanny.
The nanny had never been seen by Casey's family or friends, and in fact there was no nanny.
Casey also told police that she was working at Universal Studios.
That had been a lie as well.
On July 16, 2008, Casey was first arrested.
Casey was charged the following day with giving false statements to law enforcement, child neglect, and obstruction of a criminal investigation and was denied bail.
The judge said she Casey showed "woeful disregard for the welfare of her child."
After a bond hearing on July 22, 2008, the judge set bail at $500,000.
On July 29, 2008, Casey was offered a limited immunity deal by prosecutors regarding "the false statements given to law enforcement about locating her child", which was renewed on August 25, to expire August 28. She did not take it.
Sometime in July, 2008, Sgt. Kristin Brewer's K9 partner, Bones, signaled decomposition in the of the grandparents backyard during a search.
Durring a second visit however, neither K9 partner was able to detect decomposition.
Whatever had been in the yard was either moved or the odor dissipated.
Meter reader Roy Kronk called police about a suspicious object found in a forested area near the Anthony residence on three seperate occasions.
August 11, 2008, he was directed by the sheriff's office to call the tip line, which he did, receiving no return call.
August 12, 2008, he again called the sheriff's office, eventually was met by two police officers and reported to them that he had seen what appeared to be a skull near a gray bag.
August 13, 2008, the officer conducted a short search and stated he did not see anything.
After one month of incarceration, she was released from the Orange County jail on August 21, 2008.
Her $500,000 bond was posted by the nephew of California bail bondsman Leonard Padilla in hopes that she would cooperate and Caylee would be found.
She was released again on, September 5, 2008, on bail on all pending charges after being fitted with an electronic tracking device.
This time her parents payed the $500,000.
Casey Anthony was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and four counts of providing false information to police, on October 14, 2008.
She was later arrested and Judge John Jordan ordered that she be held without bond.
The charges of child neglect were dropped against Casey, on October 21, 2008.
According to the State Attorney's Office " the evidence proved that the child was deceased, the State sought an indictment on the legally appropriate charges.
A forensic report by Arpad Vass of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory judged that results from an air sampling procedure performed in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car showed chemical compounds "consistent with a decompositional event", on October 24, 2008.
Human decomposition was not specified on the laboratory scale.
Vass's group also stated there was chloroform in the car trunk.
Casey was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to all charges, on October 28, 2008.
Kronk again called the police on, December 11, 2008.
The policed searched and found the remains of a child in a trash bag.
They recovered duct tape which was hanging from Caylee's hair and some tissue left on her skull.
More bones were found, over the next four days, in the wooded area near the spot where the remains initially had been discovered.
Medical examiner Jan Garavaglia confirmed on December 19, 2008, that the remains found were those of Caylee Anthony.
The death was ruled a homicide and the cause of death listed as undetermined.
Prosecutors announced that they planned to seek the death penalty in the case, on April 13, 2009.
Some More of the Evidence.
Four hundred pieces of evidence were presented during the trial.
Among some of the evidence was strand of hair was recovered from the trunk of Casey's car which was microscopically similar to hair taken from Caylee's hairbrush.
The strand showed hair roots form a dark band after death, which was consistent with hair from a dead body.
This is called "root-banding,"
Officials released 700 pages of documents related to the Anthony investigation, in October 2009.
Among these were records of Google searches of the terms "neck breaking" and "how to make chloroform" on a computer accessible to Casey which was presented by the prosecutors as evidence of a crime.
Crime-scene evidence included residue of a heart-shaped sticker found on duct tape over the mouth of Caylee's skull.
The laboratory was not able to capture a heart-shape photographically after some duct tape was subjected to dye testing.
The blanket that Caylee was wrapped up in, matched Caylee's bedding at her grandparents' home.
In some of the photos entered into evidence was one from the computer of Ricardo Morales, an ex-boyfriend of Casey Anthony, depicting a poster with the caption "Win her over with Chloroform".
The word "chloroform" had been searched for one time on a computer Casey had access to.
The website in question offered information on the use of chloroform in the 19th century.
On May 24, 2011, the trial begins.
At the Orange County Courthouse, with Judge Belvin Perry presiding, the prosecution, said it was an intentional murder and sought the death penalty against Casey Anthony.
They stated that Anthony used chloroform to render her daughter unconscious before putting duct tape over her nose and mouth to suffocate her.
Then left Caylee's body in the trunk of her car for a few days before disposing of it.
Casey is described as a party girl who killed her daughter to free herself from parental responsibility and enjoy her personal life.
The defense, in their opening statements, that Caylee drowned accidentally in the family's pool on June 16, 2008.
She was found by George Anthony, who told Casey she would spend the rest of her life in jail for child neglect and then proceeded to cover up Caylee's death.
The defense alleges this is why Casey Anthony went on with her life and failed to report the incident for 31 days.
They also says that Casey had been sexually abused by George Anthony since she was eight years old and her brother Lee also had made advances toward her.
That Casey had to lie about the abuse, so it became a habit to lie.
The defense also questioned whether the meter reader, Roy Kronk, had actually removed them from another location.
The defense also alleged that the police department's investigation was compromised by their desire to feed a media frenzy about a child's murder, rather than a drowning.
The defense also admitted, Casey lied about there being a nanny.
When the defense called George to the witness stand, he denied having sexually abused his daughter Casey.
He also testified he did not smell anything resembling human decomposition in Casey's car when she visited him on June 24.
He did smell something similar to human decomposition when he picked the car up on July 15.
Cindy testified that her comment, "like someone died", on the 911 recording was a "figure of speech".
Regarding a photo on the computer of Ricardo Morales, depicting a poster with the caption "Win her over with Chloroform," Richardo said that the photo was on his Myspace page and that he had never discussed chloroform with Casey or searched for chloroform on the computer.
When the prosecution called chief medical examiner Jan Garavaglia, said "We know by our observations that it's a red flag when a child has not been reported to authorities with injury, there's foul play,"
" ... There is no child that should have duct tape on its face when it dies."
She also stated that the chloroform evidence found by investigators inside the trunk of Casey's car, testifying that even a small amount of chloroform would be sufficient to cause the death of a child.
Cindy testified that their family buried their pets in blankets and plastic bags, and would also use ductape.
Dr. Werner Spitz was called by the defense to do a second autopsy.
He challenged Garavaglia's autopsy report saying it was a failure that Caylee's skull was not opened during her examination.
"You need to examine the whole body in an autopsy," he said.
He was not comfortable ruling the child's death a homicide.
He testified that he believed the duct tape found on Caylee's skull was placed there after the body decomposed.
He suggested that if the tape was placed on the skin, there should have been DNA left on it.
He stated," the person who took this picture, the person who prepared this, put the hair there,"
The prosecution alleged that only Casey could have conducted the search about Cloryphorm, because she was the only one home.
Cindy Anthony said despite what her work time sheet indicates, she was at home during these time periods because she left from work early during the days in question, she says that she did the search by accident.
Roy Kronk He said that he received $5,000 after the remains were identified, but denied that he told his son that finding the body would make him rich and famous.
His son testified the next day, that his dad did make those claims.
On June 30, the defense called Krystal Holloway.
She stated she had an affair with George.
She told the defense that George Anthony had told her that Caylee's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control."
In his earlier testimony, George Anthony denied the affair with Holloway.
George had a second, secret cell phone.
On July 3 and July 4, the closing arguments were heard.
Before closing arguments, Judge Perry argued sexual abuse was not allowed since there was nothing to support the claim that George sexually abused Casey.
The prosecution, told the jury, "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."
"That bag is Caylee's coffin," said the defense, holding up a photograph of the laundry bag, as Casey reacted with emotion.
They also said "No one makes an accident look like murder."
The defense stated "the strategy behind that 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,"
"I told you at the very beginning of this case that this was an accident that snowballed out of control... What made it unique is not what happened, but who it happened to."
They explained Casey Anthony's behavior as being the result of her dysfunctional family situation.
The defense also said "The burden rests on the shoulders of my colleagues at the state attorney's office."
The prosecution rebutted with "My biggest fear is that common sense will be lost in all the rhetoric of the case."
"Responses to guilt are oh, so predictable," the prosecution stated.
"What do guilty people do? They lie, they avoid, they run, they mislead... they divert attention away from themselves and they act like nothing is wrong."
"Whose life was better without Caylee?" the prosecution asked.
"That's the only question you need to answer in considering why Caylee Marie Anthony was left on the side of the road dead." the prosecution then showed the jury a split-screen with a photo of Casey partying at a night club on one side and a close-up of the "Bella Vita" (meaning "Beautiful Life") tattoo that she got weeks after Caylee died on the other.
Jury deliberations began on July 4.
The jury found Casey not guilty of counts one through three regarding first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and aggravated child abuse, while finding her guilty on counts four through seven for providing false information to law enforcement, on July 5, 2011.
Sentencing arguments were heard on July 7, 2011.
Judge Perry sentenced Casey to one year in the county jail and $1,000 in fines for each of the four counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer, the maximum penalty prescribed by law.
She received 1043 days credit for time served plus additional credit for good behavior.
She filed a notice of appeal on July 15, 2011.
She was released on July 17, 2011.
A Florida appeals court reduced her convictions from four to two counts.
After the Trial.
Caylee's Law.
The unofficial name for bills proposed or passed in several U.S. states that make it a felony for a parent or legal guardian to fail to report a missing child, in cases where the parent knew or should have known that the child was possibly in danger.
Revealed in 2017, An internet search for ‘foolproof suffocation’ was made on the Anthonys’ home computer on the afternoon of Caylee’s disappearance.
In March 2017 interviews with associated press, Casey that she would not be “stupid” enough to have another child, and that she still sleeps well at night. She claimed to sleep with a picture of Caylee by her bed, and said that she doesn’t have a relationship with her father.
As of May 2018, Casey is now 32 and still living in South Florida with her investigator and keeping a low profile.
Casey's parents sat down for a special with A& E on May 29, 2018.
In the interview Cindy stated acknowledges many things Casey told her were lies.
George says he sees Casey’s lies as pathological, noting that this behavior started around her senior year of high school.
The grandparents recently dismantled Caylee's memorial in the woods.
The grandparent's are still not in agreement with what happened to Caylee.
When asked whether Casey was involved in Caylee’s death, George says, “Absolutely.”
Cindy thinks that Caylee drowned in the family pool.
George’s thinks that Casey gave Caylee a sedative of some kind and she didn’t wake up.
That she panicked and left Caylee in her car for awhile.
George has no contact with Casey.
Cindy keeps in contact with her sporadically.
REST IN PEACE CAYLEE
WE LOVE YOU
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