Many people asked why the Casey Anthony trial was such a sensation around the country. Millions of people tweeted, made status updates, and blogged about the 2 1/2 little girl that was kidnapped by her nanny. A few months later, after thousands searched and combed the area for the child, she was found about a mile from her home. Her coffin consisted of a Winnie the Pooh blanket, a laundry bag, and two black trash bags. Her grave was a drug infested swamp. A once bright and active child was gone. People wanted answers, but none were going to be given.
The child's mother, knowing the child was dead, said nothing. Instead she left home to live with a man and party. She took the time to make shopping sprees with other people's money, as she didn't work and had none of her own. She had never assumed responsibility for her life or her actions, always depending on her mother and father to take care of things, which they did. Her parents doted on their granddaughter and made sure she never lacked for anything in her life. They provided shelter, food, love, and care to both Casey and her daughter.
After a while of supporting Casey her parents insisted that she help provide for her child. It was only right for a 22 year old woman with a child to help provide for her. Casey agreed, came home one day and said she found a job. Court records now show that Casey never worked during this time. She was lying to her parents and friends, and later would share this same lie with the police. Casey would, however, come up with money. Where did this money come from? During testimony we learned that she had made several unauthorized charges on her mother's account. According to Casey's aunt, she had also stolen money from her grandmother. She would later be arrested for writing illegal checks she stole from her best friend. A pattern of behavior was forming.
During some of the time that Casey was at her fake job, her parents would help watch Caylee. Sometime in here Casey's mother argued with her about not taking responsibility for her daughter. Court testimony tells us that at one point Casey's mother even accused her of being an "unfit mother," words that seemed to have stung Casey and caused her to become bitter toward her parents. According to testimony from friends, Casey told them her mother was crazy and she wanted to get away from her. Casey's story was so convincing that her best friend, Amy, was leery during July of 2008 when Casey's mother called looking for her daughter and granddaughter.
Casey's parents were frantic. The last time Caylee was seen alive was on June 16, 2008. On that same day in June at around 3:30 p.m. Casey, according to court records and testimony, made several unanswered calls to her mother at work. It wasn't unusual for Casey to call her mother asking for favors. This time, however, Cindy refused the calls. She was busy at work.
Not long after these calls, Casey was seen on video tape at Block Buster Video arm in arm with a man. There was no Caylee in sight. Caylee would not be found for almost a half year. Casey would insist that Caylee was with a nanny, Zanny Gonzales, a name she stole off an apartment mailbox. For the next 31 days Casey would also lie to her mother regarding her whereabouts. She would be with Zanny, or with other fictional people on a work trip. Toward the end of this time she would be staying with a non-existent man with whom she had a romantic interest. Lies designed to keep her mother at bay.
For 31 days Casey stayed with friends. She planned a trip to the Bahamas with friends, but would not go. Casey didn’t have the funds to go. She wasn’t working. She would spend these 31 days, not pining for the loss of her child, but going to bars drinking, dancing, and laughing it up with friends. When questioned about her daughter she would say the child was with the nanny. Video tape shown in court also shows that Casey went on shopping sprees using funds from her best friend’s account. Not one item in front of the clerk was for her supposedly beloved child. The only thing she purchased, according to Casey, for her daughter was a tattoo with the words, Bella Vita. Everyone called testified that Casey, during this entire time, was happy and carefree. Her defense countered with, “Everyone grieves differently.” In this case the world was seeing a woman who didn’t grieve at all.
When Casey was found by her mother, they argued. The one thing on Casey’s mother’s mind was where was her granddaughter? For the entire month Casey had managed to put off her parents about where the child was. They were not going to be put off any longer. Casey wouldn’t cave. She gave one excuse after another. Her mother called the police. It was not the first call she had made, and would not be the last. Circumstantial evidence was pointing to Caylee not being okay. One such tell tale item was Casey’s car left abandoned which, according to testimony, smelled like a dead body.
Casey came up with more lies on top of other lies. Caylee was kidnapped by the nanny. Casey had spent the last 31 days searching for her daughter. Casey would continue her lies with the police. She would, in front of distraught parents visiting her in jail, insist that the child was simply missing. Scenarios arose about Caylee being dead and Casey would push them off as being ridiculous. “The truth will come out in court,” she insisted. In one video you see her praising her mother and father for being the best parents and grandparents ever. After Caylee’s remains are found she defames them in court.
Search parties ensue. Thousands of dollars are spent on t-shirts, posters, food, and various other materials to enlist help from people to search for Caylee. Efforts to find her seem futile. Casey continues to lie, and people continue to believe her. Everyone, that is, except the police. When led to her place of work Casey is backed into a corner and has to admit she has not been working. As they investigate Zanny they discover everything they were told is a lie. Why would a mother lie about her child being missing? Something wasn’t right.
In December 2008 Caylee’s body is found. There is no physical evidence left. The body had been through flooding, a hurricane, and had been ravaged by animals. The skull had duct tape around the face, duct tape that could be traced back to the Anthony home. The laundry bag and blanket could also be traced back to the Anthony home. Caylee was no longer considered missing. She was considered murdered.
Interestingly enough, even after all her lies, people still listened Casey and believe her. Casey, who had never assumed responsibility before and who had continually lied, was believed over other people. In front of her father she had, captured on tape, called him “the best dad,” now she called him a pedophile. Casey put her entire family on trial. Focus was not directed entirely toward her and the things she had done. Now people were discussing her family and how twisted they were. These were things Casey said that people wanted to believe.
In true Casey style, she had shifted the death of her daughter to someone else. Instead of the nanny taking her daughter, her father had, for reasons unknown, hidden the body. Casey now said the child had drowned in the family pool. No reason was given for not administering CPR or calling 911. These small, yet significant facts were lost in the accusation that her father was a pedophile and an adulterer. Accusations made by a woman that had already been proven -beyond a shadow of a doubt - to be a pathological liar.
At trial the defense promised to show that the child had drown. That promise was never fulfilled. Instead, we found out that a similar drowning story was shared in the jail where Casey Anthony had been living. No proof would come to show that she had heard that story. However, during parental visits Casey’s mother shared speculation with Casey that the media was saying Caylee had drowned in the pool. Instead of flinching or gasping, a very cool Casey replies with, “Surprise, surprise,” and a small roll of her eyes.
Regardless, after 6 weeks of testimony, video, and circumstantial evidence the jury deliberated. To the shock of everyone they acquitted on all counts except lying. They had decided that Casey Anthony was more believable than the State of Florida. They believed that Casey Anthony was more truthful than her friends and family. Casey Anthony was even more believable than scientific evidence. In today's world, obviously people want to believe an attractive young woman regardless of the evidence.
Since the end of the trial six jurors have come out to claim that they were pressured to vote “not guilty.” Yet when polled they didn’t say one word to that effect.
Many have found it amazing that a woman, who was said to be a “great mom” who truly loved her child, could place her in a swamp to have her body ravaged by animals. A loving mother would spend 31days avoiding her family. The only memorial she had to give her daughter was a tattoo.
The question is, if this mother loved her daughter so much, why would she hide the body? If the child had truly died accidently, why not allow her to be buried with love and a headstone showing the world how much she meant to her?
These are questions that we will never have answered, because even if Casey does publish a book explaining her side of things, how can anyone believe a single thing this woman says? Plus, why would we want to reward her for costing so many people so much pain? The answer: because people are more curious then they are angry.
That is what is wrong with this world today.
I realize that there are many families out there that have very strict religious beliefs. It is only natural to want to instill those ideas on your children. However, what I have noticed in my son's 6th grade social studies class some of them do not teach religious tolerance as well.
