When police took Casey to Universal Studios, where she claimed she worked, to investigate, they learned she'd lied about having a job there. Over the next few months, hundreds would search for Caylee while law enforcement looked for clues. What they found wouldn't lead to Caylee, but it did lead to the October indictment of her mother on seven criminal counts, including first-degree murder. Casey pleaded not guilty. In December , Caylee's decomposed remains were found in a wooded area not far from the Anthony home.
Two years later at a closely watched trial, prosecution alleged that Casey used chloroform on her daughter and suffocated her by putting duct tape over the little girl's mouth and nose.
Casey's defense team presented a different theory: that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family's pool. Photos: The trial of Casey Anthony. In July , police in Orange County, Florida, received a call that led to one of America's most high-profile criminal cases: the disappearance and death of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, and the question of whether her mother, Casey Anthony pictured , was involved. Hide Caption. Before the trial: Casey Anthony gave birth to her daughter, Caylee Anthony pictured here , on August 9, , when she was 19 years old.
The identity of Caylee's father hasn't been publicly identified. July 15, Just a few weeks before Caylee's third birthday, Casey's mother, Cindy Anthony, called police in their hometown of Orlando. Cindy said her daughter and granddaughter had been missing for a month -- and while she'd located her daughter, her granddaughter was nowhere to be found. July 16, At first, Casey Anthony told police that she believed her nanny had her 2-year-old daughter, and that she'd been searching for her.
Police quickly determined that there wasn't a nanny involved and that Casey's story about the last time her daughter was seen was false.
Casey, 22, was arrested and charged with child neglect. July As police investigated Caylee's disappearance, a key piece of evidence comes into play: Casey's Pontiac Sunfire. When Casey's mother called police to report Caylee missing, she noted that Casey's car smelled like "there had been a dead body" in it. Days later at Casey's bond hearing, a deputy testified that a cadaver dog trained to picked up the scent of human decomposition alerted him to the trunk of the car.
October Raising additional questions for police was Casey's behavior during the time she said her daughter was missing. Authorities described Casey as continuing to hang out with friends, partying -- and getting this tattoo, which means "Beautiful Life.
She pleaded not guilty. December Many people, both locally and nationally, followed the case and searched for Caylee. On December 11, skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near the Anthony home by a utility worker. On December 19, authorities announced the remains had been identified as Caylee. Pictured here is a memorial for Caylee where the 2-year-old's remains were found.
May With prosecutors deciding to pursue the death penalty, jury selection began in the Casey Anthony trial on May 9, Spectators in the courthouse are pictured here as they wait for the trial's first day to begin on May 24, May Jose Baez, lead defense counsel for Casey Anthony, presented a different story during his opening remarks: he said Caylee Anthony was not murdered and was never missing. Baez stated she died on June 16, , from an accidental drowning in the Anthony family's backyard pool.
June During the trial, the prosecution alleged that Casey used chloroform on her daughter and suffocated her by putting duct tape over the little girl's mouth and nose. They also alleged that Casey put her daughter's body in her car trunk before disposing of it. June Forensics expert Arpad Vass testified on June 6 that the only plausible explanation for the odor in Casey's car trunk would be the presence of a decomposing human body. Pictured here is an evidence photo of trash found in the trunk.
June During his testimony, Casey's father, George Anthony, denied the defense's claims that he sexually abused his daughter and that he was involved in his granddaughter's death. June Casey's mother, Cindy, also took the stand.
Here, she's seen reacting to a photo of Caylee on a monitor during her testimony on June 14, , day 18 of the trial. June Judge Belvin Perry looks at evidence as it's presented during the trial. June Jennifer Welch, a crime scene investigator with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, shows letters from Caylee's T-shirt that were entered into evidence. June Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton holds crime scene evidence during a cross-examination of entomologist Dr.
Tim Huntington. The country's interest in every update on the case was voracious; by the time it concluded, it had yielded record ratings for some networks.
June 30, By the end of June , both the prosecution and the defense had rested their cases. Casey Anthony never testified. July 5, : The trial's jury deliberated for 10 hours and 40 minutes before reaching a verdict. Casey was found not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child.
She was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement. July 5, Casey Anthony's defense team surrounded her in a group hug after the thenyear-old was acquitted. July The not-guilty charge divided many people who followed the case. July Others, such as Tim Allen, right, and David Antolic, held signs of a different tone in front of a jail in Orlando on July 16, , the day before Anthony was released.
July 17, Casey was sentenced to four years in jail with credit for time served. Aftermath: Seven years after being acquitted of the death of her daughter, Casey Anthony, pictured here with her attorney Cheney Mason in , resides in West Palm Beach, Florida.
In , Anthony told the Associated Press she's still not "certain Ultimately, the jury acquitted the young mother of the most serious charges against her. Now 32 years old, Anthony is living not-quite-out-of-sight in her home state of Florida; just last year, she gave a widely covered interview with the Associated Press. But the Casey Anthony case involved many other players.
Ten years later, we spoke to some of those who were involved, to get their thoughts on how it played out and their perspective on why it struck such a chord with the public. Casey Anthony wasn't some freak, as so many venal commentators made her out to be.
Until it all fell apart for her, you could argue instead that she was much like the millions of others who ended up following her trial. The fascination with her case -- and Caylee's tragic cause -- was most vibrant within a demographic that is particularly attuned to investing in this sort of a story. If Anthony hadn't been the defendant in the case, if another mother had been accused of murdering another child, is there any doubt in your mind that Anthony would have followed that trial?
One would not have developed or devolved the way it did without the other. Which brings me to another reason why so many people followed the case. Because they could! The Anthony trial was televised thanks to Florida's famous "sunshine" laws. The broadcasts were extraordinarily popular because they were a potent blend of soap opera, reality television and Law and Order. And, most of all, they offered hours upon hours of guiltless judgment! That and the sudden acquittal was the real common denominator between this case and the O.
Simpson case nearly a generation ago. Even better, when the courtroom lights dimmed for the evening, curious court watchers could come back to their televisions to have their own preconceived notions about the evidence reaffirmed regularly by their favorite celebrity analysts or via Twitter.
From the talking heads, so much sound and fury, in the end signifying nothing! In fact, you could argue that never before in the history of criminal trials in America have so many who pretended to know so much for so long been so wrong so quickly, the jury's verdict coming back after only 11 hours of deliberations following a seven-week trial I did my part, too.
On Tuesday, I said that the quick verdict likely meant success for prosecutors. Take away the live audio feed from the courtroom, and there's no way the Anthony trial would have turned into The Anthony Trial. There are things we cannot know -- or at least things which I could not readily find. Instead, the jury convicted her of four misdemeanor counts of lying to police. Anthony admitted to the AP that she lied to police about a slew of things, including her employment, leaving her child with a babysitter, and about receiving a call from Caylee before she went missing.
Cops tend to victimize the victims. I understand now … I see why I was treated the way I was even had I been completely truthful. The AP asked Anthony about the theory presented by lead defense attorney Jose Baez, who suggested that Caylee drowned and her death was covered up.
Last week, the retired Florida judge who presided over the Anthony trial told WFTV that he believes Anthony accidentally killed her daughter with chloroform. During the trial, evidence was presented that showed Anthony researched using chloroform, which was once used as an inhaled anesthetic during surgery. Anthony, who currently lives at the house of a private investigator who worked on her case, told AP she is currently helping him with some investigative work.
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