FBI Lab Notes Among Latest Batch of Casey Anthony Evidence

Orlando Sentinel- More evidence logs and laboratory notes from the FBI were included in the latest batch of records released Friday by prosecutors in their first-degree murder case against Casey Anthony.

The State Attorney's Office released 289 pages of discovery, which adds to the more than 13,000 pages already released.

Casey Anthony, 24, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie in the summer of 2008. Caylee's remains were found in December 2008, several months after the toddler's family reported her missing.

According to a report, FBI analysts looked for human hairs that had signs of decomposition in evidence they collected, including from a steam cleaner and vacuum. The report said none was found.

The FBI also analyzed hair samples belonging to Orange County Sheriff's Office crime-scene investigators. That evaluation was done to determine who a strand of hair — found with evidence — came from.

Evidence logs from the Sheriff's Office again detailed items taken from the woods where Caylee's remains were ultimately found, including dirt, soda cans, bugs and electrical tape.

Also released Friday was a transcribed interview with Cecilia Benhaida, sister of the woman who sparked a close relationship with Casey Anthony's father George Anthony.

Benhaida told sheriff's investigators she met Casey Anthony while both women were jailed in Orange County.

She said she had no idea that her sister, Krystal Holloway, knew the Anthonys.

Benhaida told investigators she had befriended Casey Anthony because she was "trying to be nice to her."

"I kind of felt bad that all the inmates there were in that building … would be screaming murderer," Benhaida told sheriff's Cpl. Yuri Melich.

She also told detectives she had passed letters from other inmates to Anthony.

Earlier this month, prosecutors released dozens of letters Anthony wrote to former inmate Robyn Adams.

Benhaida did not tell investigators the contents of the letters she had passed to Anthony.

She did tell detectives that when she was released from jail she became friendly with the Anthonys.

One day, she said, Cindy Anthony told her that Caylee's death was an accident.

"She did tell me that [George Anthony] told her that um, it was something about an accident," Benhaida said. When asked about what kind of accident, Benhaida responded: "The child being killed by accident."

The next hearing in the Casey Anthony case is scheduled for Friday.

Casey Anthony's Parents Facing Foreclosure

ORANGE COUNTY, FL -- It's another round of sad news for Casey Anthony's parents, who are now looking at foreclosure on their east Orange County home.

The Bank of America filed foreclosure papers with the Orange County Clerk of Courts on Monday.

George and Cindy Anthony have lived in the home on Hopespring Drive in the Chickasaw Oaks subdivision since 1986.

Their daughter Casey and their granddaughter, Caylee Anthony, were living there when Caylee disappeared almost two years ago.

The remains of the 2-year-old were found in a wooded around not far from the home in December 2008. Casey is charged with her murder.

George Anthony is retired and Cindy Anthony left her nursing job after Caylee went missing and is on disability.

Lawyer: Caylee Remains Put In Woods After Casey In Jail

WHO DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING?

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The defense team for Casey Anthony, who is charged with murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee, said in court on Friday that there is evidence that proves Caylee's remains were placed in a wooded lot after Anthony was in jail.

"There is substantial evidence that we've found ... that the body or remains of Caylee Anthony was placed there after Casey Anthony was locked up," said Todd Macaluso, a defense attorney. "It proves that somebody else placed the remains in the area."

Macaluso did not disclose the evidence.

Anthony's attorneys argued at the hearing that testimony should be taken from the head of Texas EquuSearch, Timothy Miller, about the search for Caylee. The searchers looked near the wooded area where the toddler's body eventually was found in December. They also asked to be allowed to review records on thousands of volunteers who participated in the searches for the little girl last summer and fall.

The defense team hoped that testimony would show it would have been impossible for Anthony to dispose of Caylee's body in the woods because she was arrested and in jail two months before the discovery of the girl's remains.

Anthony's father, George Anthony, took the stand during the hearing during a motion heard about the dealings the Anthony family had with celebrity bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who posted Anthony's bond after she was arrested on child neglect charges last summer.

Casey Anthony cried while her father was answering questions.

Anthony's defense team wants to prevent Padilla and his team of bail bondsmen from testifying for the state about what she told them about the case.

Orange County Circuit Judge Stan Strickland did allow the defense team to have access to the phone records of an ex-boyfriend of Casey Anthony. Strickland said the defense can see Tony Lazzaro's phone records from June 2008 to December 2008.

Casey Anthony, 23, is charged with killing her daughter, who disappeared last summer. Anthony has pleaded not guilty. Her trial is scheduled for next year.

At a news conference on Thursday, Mark NeJame, who is representing Miller, released photos, which he claimed show why the group called off a search of the area where Caylee's remains were later located.

The photos were taken from a helicopter in November, one month before Caylee's body was found in the wooded area of Suburban Drive near the Anthony family home.

NeJame said the photos show "a green wall of foliage" which could have easily prevented a searcher from finding Caylee's body. NeJame stepped down as the Anthony family's attorney in October 2008.

"One could literally be within inches of an item and be blocked due to the thick and massive underbrush and foliage," NeJame said in a letter sent to the state attorney's office and Anthony's defense team.

NeJame also said the photos show "standing water throughout the area."

"When the search was conducted, the areas where Caylee's remains were found were still in water, which is why the search in that specific place was called off by Tim Miller," Nejame's letter said.

A meter reader found the remains on Dec. 11.

The pictures are relevant to the case, because if Anthony's defense team can raise doubts about whether Caylee's body was already in the woods in August, September and November as people searched nearby, it could help her case.

"These pictures are important for everybody, for justice, for seeking the truth," Nejame said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. He said he is not taking a side in the case.

Caylee's grandfather, George Anthony, made a surprise appearance at the news conference, and asked NeJame to step outside for a conversation.

NeJame told Local 6 that George Anthony was told by his daughter's defense team that it felt the release of the photos was improper and that he should demand that NeJame to stop releasing information.

The two spoke for more than half an hour, and said they resolved the issue.

"I think the conversation we've just had clarifies some recent miscommunication and we're all on the same path in that regard, and we all want to know what happened to Caylee," Nejame said.

Caylee was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, in July 2008. The toddler was last seen in June 2008.

Casey Anthony is being held at the Orange County Jail on no bond.

No Charges Filed Against Casey Anthony's Parents

Orlando Sentinel- George and Cindy Anthony will not face charges stemming from an incident last week in which two St. Cloud women said they were chased by the couple.
The June 1 incident was investigated by detectives from the Orange County Sheriff's Office who determined no criminal violations occurred, said Sheriff's Sgt. Susan Soto.

The women told deputies they were chased by the couple after they caught Cindy Anthony removing a cross left at the former site of a memorial to the couple's dead granddaughter, Caylee.

The Anthonys' daughter, Casey Anthony, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. The toddler's remains were found on the Suburban Drive property, less than a mile from the Anthony home.

Lois Peter, 56, said she went to the site on Suburban Drive with her 13-year-old granddaughter and two friends to find out who was removing crosses they had left days earlier.

Peter could not be reached for comment Monday.

About 8:30 that night, Peter and her granddaughter left a cross and then watched. Their visit to the area followed news account about the former makeshift memorial being removed recently. No one has claimed responsibility for removing the items.

Several hours after placing the cross, Peter and her granddaughter they noticed the Anthonys' friend, Dennis Milstead of Kid Finders Network, driving up and down the road.

They moved their car, and Milstead followed them, Peter said. The brief pursuit ended when the women drove out of the neighborhood.

But they returned to the area, Peter said, and they saw Cindy Anthony putting something into the trunk of her car, which was being driven by George Anthony. The cross was gone.

One of the women snapped a picture and the chase -- involving Milstead and the Anthonys -- began, Peter said.

The Anthonys' attorney Brad Conway said the car was driving around the neighborhood suspiciously, with the lights off and that George Anthony got out of his car to tell the others they needed to stop and he was going to call police. Conway said George Anthony was nearly run over by the other car.

Casey Anthony: Did George, Cindy Chase Two Mourners at High Speed?

WESH- Two mourners say George and Cindy Anthony chased them out of the Anthonys' neighborhood last night, WESH-Channel 2 reported this afternoon.

WESH anchor Jim Payne billed the report as "an exclusive story" and highlighted a photo "that could lead to a criminal complaint against the Anthony family." But WFTV-Channel 9 also had the story later. "More chaos over little Caylee Anthony," anchor Bob Opsahl said in introducing the story.

WESH's Bob Kealing reported that the women wanted to see who was removing their tributes to Caylee Anthony, George and Cindy's granddaughter. (The women erected crosses at a memorial site that was cleaned up last week.)

So the women, Denise Hill and Lois Peter of St. Cloud, waited last night and found out. They said they saw Cindy Anthony take down their cross and put it in George's car.

"I would have been fine if it was a stranger," Hill said. "But her grandparents? It's a cross in her memory."


Hill and Peter snapped a photo of George in his car at the site. And that evidently precipitated the chase through the neighborhood.


The women "say they were actually chased out of the Anthonys' neighborhood last night at a high rate of speed by George and Cindy Anthony and another couple," Kealing said. The other couple are Dennis and Sherri Milstead of Kid Finders Network, the women said.

Peter told WFTV: "They were in pursuit of us at high speed. Kid Finders had his strobe lights on his grille of his truck, like he was an officer trying to pull us over."

Hill told WESH that the two couples tried to corner her and her friend, then the couples got out of their car and walked toward them.

"Thank God for my friend's good driving, because she got us out of there," Hill told WESH. "Our lives were in danger. They were chasing us. We weren't chasing them."

The two women were talking to detectives and filling out a complaint, Kealing said outside the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The Anthonys' attorney, Brad Conway, told WESH he knew nothing about the incident last night. Conway also told WESH that he was with the Anthonys until 10 last night.

Conway said last week that the Anthonys had nothing to do with clearing the memorial site, Kealing added.

Undeterred, Peter told WFTV that she and her friend plan to continue to putting up crosses. "We've got the wood to build 30 some more crosses, and we'll keep leaving a cross," she told reporter Derrol Nail.

Heavy Props To Crimesearchers!

I love their post regarding tomorrow's Larry King Live:

"Cindy Anthony will be on Larry King tomorrow night for what is sure to be another Anthony train wreck.

You can submit questions for Larry King to ask her by clicking here.

We will have an open thread here during the show, and will be playing a drinking game. Every time Cindy blames someone for her problems everyone has to drink.

Go ahead and get a keg. "

Anthony's Scheduled to be on 'On Larry King Live'

CSO: Cindy and George Anthony's along with their lawyer, Brad Conway will be on CNN's "Larry King Live" May 13th at 9pm.

A spokesperson for the show said Jon Whynock, who wrote "Caylee's Song" and performed it at her memorial will be a guest.

King last interviewed the couple on Dec. 10, 2008, the night before Caylee's remains were found. As anticipated, George and Cindy Anthony will face the question if they had any suspicisions or knowledge prior to remains being discovered on nearby lot.

Community Is Buzzing Over Cindy Anthony's Voicemail

Oh-No CINDY keep digging yourself into a hole. A voicemail left by mother of accused murderer Casey Anthony to a detective raises several questions.

Anthony left a message for Sergeant John Allen in July of 2008, being more forthcoming than we typically see her in 'helping' their investigation:

"I'm very sorry, because I've been more bent over backwards than anybody else in this investigation, Cindy said. Casey had to have help, no matter what the scenario might be, so there are people who know that information," said Mrs. Anthony.

The message clearly contradicts Anthony's statements on April 15th & 16th, which suggest Casey had nothing to do with Caylee's death. The 'proud' parents described their daughter as "sensitive" and according to Cindy is "not going to admit for something she hasn't done."

AND what was the scenerio? Cindy said Thursday "No one knows what they would do when something so terrifying happens to you....in a panic or whatever."

Cindy Anthony: "I cancelled Oprah"

Earlier this week, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" announced their decision to cancel George and Cindy Anthony's sit down interview.

Based on the Anthonys' decision to appear on other programs, we have decided not to move forward with their interview on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' at this time," a statement released on April 14th said.

Cindy Anthony sent a text message to reporter Jessica D'Onofrio at Local 6 News last night. The message said:

BTW I CANCELLED ON OPRAH because of integrity.

A Oprah Winfrey Show representative said "the show has no further comment on the issue."

Casey Anthony's Parents Say 'No' Plea Deal

In a sit down interview together for the first time since their granddaugher, Caylee Anthony's remains were found, George and Cindy Anthony continue to publicly defended their daughter, saying that Casey had nothing to with Caylee's death.

"I don't think it's possible for my daughter to hurt anyone," George said, "And she wouldn't definitely hurt her own child. I mean, my gosh, I've seen the love every single day that she had for her. She took care of her being with us. So, I mean, she wouldn't hurt her."

The parents said they don't believe their daughter should accept a plea deal, despite the fact State Attorney's Office announced they will pursue the death penalty for Casey Anthony.

"Absolutely not," said Cindy, "I don't think Casey will take a plea deal. Casey is not going to admit for something she hasn't done. We love our daughter. We stand behind her. We know what kind of mother she was.
I don't really believe that her defense team is going to do anything to jeopardize anything in the future for her, said Casey's dad, So ... we have to wait and see what plays out. I don't believe that's going to happen with her. "

They appear eager to participate with The Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez up to the point when Rodriguez wanted to know why Cindy told authorities Casey's car smelled like a dead body had been in it?

The Anthony's lawyer, Brad Conway spoke on the couple's behalf:
"Maggie, those are issues that are going to come up at trial. And they're anxiously awaiting that. And there's been so much pretrial publicity that's going to affect the ultimate outcome and her ability to get a fair trial. So the questions that have to do with the statements that they gave, they want to wait and tell the truth in front of a jury and let a jury decide. "

Cindy replied, "She's presumed innocent...I think the truth will come out at trial, and that's what we have to wait for. You know, the defense is going to do their job. We're confident that they're going to do their job. And, you know, they'll be able to see for themselves that it's -- there's more to it. "

Cindy Anthony Was Suicidal, As Well..

From Crimesearchersonline.com:
Cindy Anthony's alleged suicidal thoughts

Squeezing those lemons for sympathy, Cindy Anthony said she wrote suicide notes during the period of time when Caylee Anthony was reported missing.

According to Orlando News the 'Early Show' will drop the bomb Thursday morning.

"George and I are living the same nightmare, but I don't know. And I can't judge George for certain things that he's done, you know? I understand certain things. I understand his suicide attempt. A lot of people don't know. I was there too. I wrote suicide notes back in end of July and August.
No one knows that... I couldn't bear not having Caylee around and not knowing what happened to her. And I wanted, you know, I just didn't, you know, you get to a point when you miss someone so much, that you think life's not worth living, " Cindy Anthony said.

Who helped her through the grief? In this exclusive interview, Mrs. Anthony credits her daughter, Casey.

Winfrey Backs Out

Winfrey has backed out of interviewing George and Cindy Anthony.

The couple was scheduled to appear on Oprah in May. Eyewitness News reported the show caught wind of the Anthony TV tour to appear on other programs and cancelled.

The parents of Casey Anthony will appear on CBS's The Early Show Wednesday and Thursday morning.

Oh, No.

Oprah Winfrey Next to Take a Crack at Interviewing Anthony's

The Oprah Winfrey Show" has announced it will have an exclusive interview with George and Cindy Anthony in May.

Here's what the show says:

Grandparents Cindy and George Anthony talk with Oprah about their granddaughter Caylee Anthony and the investigation into her death. The Anthonys sit down for an interview together for the first time since their granddaughter's remains were found.

Baez Files Motion for Phone Records

Going out on a limb here BUT it can't be easy for Casey Anthony's defense team. Casey's attorney, Jose Baez appears to have not found that somethin' special among the 5,000 pages of documents released.

On Friday, Baez filed a motion for additional phone records. Baez is requesting a judge to sign an order for 11 different cell phone companies to provide 'complete' phone records for the following:

Amy Huizinga, Casey Anthony's ex-best friend scammed out of $700. & up
Jesse Grund, Casey Anthony's ex-fiance.
Roy Kronk, the meter reader who found Caylee Anthony's remains.
Tony Lazzaro, the man Anthony was dating when Caylee disappeared.
Keith Williams, the dude who found bag of stuff animals on vacant lot where Caylee's remains were later discovered.
Richard Cain, the deputy who failed to searched the woods where Caylee's remains was later found.
Dominic Casey and Jim Hoover, the private investigators working for Anthony family.
Casey's family, the brother Lee, mother Cindy and father George Anthony.

Nothing Comes Easy For George and Cindy Anthony: True?

Crimsearchers gave awesome highlights again regarding the Cindy and George depositions:

George and Cindy Anthony appeared drained and exhausted yesterday exiting the law firm of Morgan & Morgan's mock courtroom.

The couple gave their depositions but not without a fight. Both were on the defensive with moral accusations, combative gestures, bizzare insults, and dodging questions with questions.
George Anthony walked around stretching and puffing out his chest with dramatic exhaling, while Cindy set up their video camera. The Anthony's appeared somewhat confused that they were there to be deposed not conduct the deposition.
At one point, Cindy questioned Gonzalez about why she signed her name C. Zenaida Gonzalez in June instead of Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez:

Cindy Anthony: Where does the Fernandez come in?

John Morgan: Let me tell you.

Cindy Anthony: Casey gave that.

John Morgan: Let me say this to you.

Cindy Anthony: So there you go, Mr. Morgan. Where did she get the Fernandez? Where did you get the Fernandez? Why don't you tell the camera and all the viewers out there where Fernandez came from?

The questioning was also interupted when Cindy said Gonzalez wasn't the babysitter that Casey described. Cindy then hunched over, eyes wide-open, glared at Gonzalez to say:

"She doesn't have perfect teeth. She's not a 10, Cindy said, gestering to look at Gonzalez. I'm sorry, ma'am, you're cute, but you're not a 10. "

Cindy Anthony had one goal in mind to manipulate the camera's to support her daughter's lies that Gonzalez suing Casey for defamation isn't the person her daughter claimed took her granddaughter.
George Anthony also agitated when clearly not in control of questioning. Waved his hands and pulled at his microphone:

"Brad, I'm getting ready to end this. I'm getting ready to walk out," he said when asked details about what Casey bought, such as clothes, food, and how much George gave her to buy these items.

There were some answers George did provide that surprised all to learn. George Anthony not only admitted he never searched for the mysterious "Zanny" or a Zenaida-Fernandez Gonzalez after Caylee Anthony was reported missing. The retired cop went on to confirm that he did not know about the tip that sent P.I. Dominic Casey looking in the wooded lot near the Anthony home in November.

After the depositions, Brad Conway speaking on George and Cindy Anthony's behalf had this to say:

"I think it just exacerbates the circus-like atmosphere that has surrounded this case from the beginning"

Cindy and George Anthony to Answer Tough Questions

Straight from crimesearchers:

In the Zenaida Gonzalez civil suit against Casey Anthony both George and Cindy Anthony are scheduled to be deposed.
Gonzalez claims she lost her job and suffered public humiliation and public scrutiny after Casey Anthony reported to investigators that a "nanny" by the name Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez abducted her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie, in June.
Gonzalez is suing Anthony for more than $15,000 in damages.The depositions begin at 10:30 a.m.

Nancy Grace Update

Tonight some interesting things were discussed on Nancy Grace regarding Caylee Anthony and Haleigh Cummings both.

The private investigator James Hoover alleges in his deposition that there was some sort of "romantic relationship" going on between Cindy Anthony (Casey's mom) and the other P.I., Dominic Casey. Crazy!

With Haleigh Cummings, it is alleged that investigators are now considering the idea Misty Cummings was either (a) out partying that night and left Haleigh & Junior alone, or (b) that she had a man over for sex.

I heard someone mentioned junior not only saw "man in black" that night but he said he was in bathroom and saw the "soap shaking"... Crystal (Haleigh's bio mom)'s lawyer alleges that the soap would be "shaking" if someone was having sex in the other room. Bombshell!

On the crimesearchersonline.com poll, 90% of the polled agree that Misty Croslin-(now)Cummings knows who the kidnapper is.

Casey Anthony's Parents To Be Deposed in April in Civil Case

George Anthony and Cindy Anthony will be questioned under oath in the defamation case against their daughter Casey Anthony next month, their lawyer said.

The lawyers representing Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, who is suing Casey Anthony, want to depose her parents in the case.

In February, Orange Circuit Court Judge Jose R. Rodriguez postponed the depositions until media outlets could submit documents about why they should be allowed to attend the interviews.

The Anthonys' attorney, Brad Conway, earlier argued that he doesn't want reporters and cameras allowed in the depositions.
A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday to address the issues before Rodriguez.

But Conway said this afternoon that he has worked things out with Fernandez-Gonzalez' attorney. So there is no need for a hearing Wednesday.

"We'll show up for depositions in April," Conway said.

Brad Conway Filed Motion to Restrict Disclosure

George and Cindy Anthony's attorney is trying to stop a suicide note written by George Anthony from being released to the public.

About a thousand pages of discovery could be released by the State Attorney's office any day now. In that discovery is the suicide note that George Anthony left for his family back on January when Daytona Beach police found him at a motel with prescription pills and beer.

Late Tuesday afternoon attorney Brad Conway filed a Motion to Restrict Disclosure. Conway said he filed this motion on George Anthony's behalf, insisting the note is something the family does not want released.
Conway adds that the suicide note has nothing to do with the State's murder case against Casey Anthony.
"In the event it's relevant in some way," Conway said. "The court can then take a look at it at a later date. And if it's relevant and disclosable at that point. But there is no purpose for it coming out now."
Conway said the note is addressed to George Anthony's wife Cindy, their children Casey and Lee, and to little Caylee.
According to sources, there is going to be a hearing next Thursday. Conway's motion could be addressed then. ( article here )

George Anthony leaving the hospital after his visit.

[CAYLEE ARTICLE ARCHIVE]

Caylee Anthony's Grandparents Try to Stop Depositions in 'Baby Sitter' Defamation Suit

The grandparents of Caylee Anthony want to avoid giving statements for a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman with the same name as the purported baby sitter implicated in the child's disappearance and murder.

George and Cindy Anthony, whose daughter Casey Anthony is jailed in her little girl's killing, asked a judge to stop depositions scheduled for Thursday in the suit filed by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Casey Anthony, 22, said she last saw Caylee over the summer when she left her with a nanny by that name in the parking lot of a local apartment complex.

Her defense team has indicated plans to argue that the sitter kidnapped and later killed the 2-year-old. They say the woman described by Anthony is not the same person as the one suing.
Police questioned Fernandez-Gonzalez extensively, but turned up no link between her and the child.


Fernandez-Gonzalez claims she lost her job — and her life as she knew it — because of her unwanted involvement in the Anthony saga.
Anthony family attorney wrote that the woman's lawyers want to "annoy, embarrass and oppress" the Anthonys in filing Tuesday's motion to stop the depositions from going forward.

The proceedings are open to the public and the press.

Caylee disappeared in mid-June but wasn't reported missing until a month later. Her remains were found in December in a wooded lot about a half-mile from her family's home. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.

Police released case documents last week outlining that evidence found on or near the little girl's skull and bones are a match to items collected at the Anthony house just outside Orlando.
Casey has insisted that she had nothing to do with her little girl's death. Detectives contend she made the kidnapper nanny story up and the sitter doesn't exist.
Her trial was scheduled to begin in March, but could be delayed until early next year.

Click here for more on this story from the Orlando Sentinel.

[CAYLEE ARTICLE ARCHIVE]