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The damning trail of physical evidence linking Casey Anthony to the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee may have grown stronger with the release of 1,100 pages of investigative information, some of which could link Casey to her daughter's death. As written by the lead detective on this case on February 5, 2009, "As of this writing, there is nothing to suggest that anyone but Casey Anthony is responsible for the death and disposal of Caylee Anthony."
New documents released indicate that the same type of duct tape, laundry bag, and plastic bag discovered at the crime scene, items used by someone to aid in the disposal of Caylee, were also were found in the house where Casey and Caylee resided with Casey's parents, George and Cindy Anthony. Many will recall the news videos months ago that showed FBI Evidence Response Team members carrying bags of evidence from the Anthony home, evidence that many believe included items similar to those discovered at the body disposal site, one just a short walk from the Anthony's Florida home. Now we know that the FBI Crime Lab has linked these items, indicating the distinct possibility that items from the Anthony home (and not the home of the fictional nanny), were used to conceal and dispose of Caylee's body. While one similar item could be explained away by chance, with three the idea of statistical probability must now be considered.
In specific, duct tape found on a gas can in the Anthony's garage has been matched to duct tape recovered from Caylee's skull, and an identical plastic bag in which the child's body was originally concealed, and a similarly identical canvass laundry bag also used to dispose of the victim's remains, were found in one of the searches of the Anthony home. While clothing and other items can be explained away by the defense "dream team," items directly used to dispose of the victim that can be linked to Casey appear to suggest that the victim's body was prepared for disposal with items from the same home. And, as investigators will be quick to say, "the one-armed, bushy haired" fictional nanny did not have access to the home, but Casey surely did!
Investigators also found sheets of child-like stickers in the Anthony home, to include heart shaped stickers similar to that found with Caylee's body, noting one such sticker is believed to have been affixed to the duct tape that covered the victim's mouth. A similar sticker, less the heart, was found on an envelope in the Anthony home (see the accompanying photo.) These same investigative documents also revealed that a child's shirt, bearing the words "BIG TROUBLE Comes Small," was also recovered at the disposal site.
Then there is a picture of a page from Casey's diary, one dated June 21, (assumed by some to be 2008), noting investigators believe Caylee died sometime between June 16, when she was last seen alive by her grandparents, and June 27, 2008. In was on this page that Casey is believed to have written, in part: "I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I completely trust my own judgment & know that I made the right decision. I just hope that the end justifies the means… I am finally happy." Should this diary entry be from 2008, this would have been at the same time that Casey was allegedly conducting her own investigation in an attempt to locate "missing and kidnapped" Caylee. It was at this same time that Caylee's body was believed to be in the trunk of Casey's car, and when Casey was photographed at local clubs dancing and acting as if she hadn't a care in the world, as if, perhaps, "she 'was' finally happy…" The facts of this finding, though, may alter the potential significance of the diary notation. A small notation on the opposite page in question indicates '03, suggesting it could have been written in 2003, some five years before the death of Caylee. Forensic document examiners will, of course, examine the "03" notation to insure that it was written contemporaneous with the entries on the opposite page.
Many will recall a witness indicated that it was on 6/16/08 that Casey backed her car into the garage of her parents home, something unusual for her to do. This was also believed to be the same date that she borrowed a shovel from a neighbor, purpose unknown. Then there was the issue of her car with alleged evidence of human decomposition and hairs believed from Caylee and evidence of chloroform, all found in the trunk of the car she abandoned on 6/27/08. Evidently Casey told authorities her ex-boyfriend had keys to her car, perhaps her suggestion that he could have had access to the car after she left it in a parking lot. Investigators also know that on or about 7/3/08 she got a new tattoo, a strange act for a distraught mother searching frantically for her kidnapped daughter.
Other information contained in the hundreds of pages included statements of a friend of Casey's who told investigators that, according to Casey, Cindy Anthony was a "horrible" person who wanted Caylee to call her "mom" instead of "grandmom." The friend believed Casey Anthony was jealous of Cindy Anthony's relationship with Caylee. This same friend indicated that in 2006 or 2007, Casey indicated that she was having a breakdown and wanted to be committed to an institution.
While a jury doesn't need to know the motive for a crime, they really want to know it. Should the prosecution be able to introduce, perhaps, a motive of anger and revenge, i.e., suggesting Casey wanted to punish Cindy by taking Caylee away from her, this could prove be a crucial element in she her anticipated trial, one that may, however, be at least one year away.
What has yet to be released is whether Casey's fingerprints were found on the duct tape recovered from Caylee's body, including the tape used to cover her mouth, this from ear to ear. While Casey's attorney has said "there are no fingerprints on the duct tape," such could, of course, be the proverbial "slam-dunk" for the prosecution. Fingerprint and DNA evidence linking Casey to the body disposal would make it very hard to refute that Casey, to the exclusion of anyone else in the world, placed the duct tape, and the tiny heart, over her daughter's mouth prior to disposing of her small body.
Should the above be the case, the death penalty, one that has been on and off the prosecutor's table for the last few months, may be back on the table and Casey, should she be guilty, may then be forced to consider some type of plea deal that could allow her to escape death, something her daughter was unable to do. By this, the aggravating factor needed to pursue a death penalty case could now be in evidence with indications of an intentional act on the part of the person responsible for Caylee's death. What deal the prosecution might have to offer, and what Casey and her attorney could be willing to accept, will be based, in part, on the strength of the linking physical evidence. Finally, Casey, if guilty, may be forced to tell the truth, or at least her self-serving version of the truth. The evidence appears to be strong, perhaps stronger than Casey's ability to refute the combination of physical evidence and her many lies.
For it's part, Casey's defense team, as suggested above, will have a number of decisions to make. Should they stick with Casey's story of the elusive nanny who kidnapped little Caylee, or should they roll out an accidental death/coverup by Casey story, or because of her statements to friends concerning her mental health issues, could they consider some type of temporary insanity defense? While there are many decisions yet to be made in this case, what is evident is that there are many turns and twists left for prosecutors, investigators and defense attorneys before it ever sees the light of day in a courtroom, and before 12 members of a jury get to hear "the rest of the story."
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