The Real Reason Casey Anthony Was Acquitted Of Murder
By AARON HOMER
AND LESLIE VELIZ
History - Science
Content Warning
This story contains discussions of sexual assault and child murder.
One woman whose name has been associated, rightly or wrongly, with a cold-blooded murder for over a decade is Casey Anthony. Anthony’s 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, was reported missing in July 2008, after the child's grandmother called 911 and told the dispatchers that she hadn't seen her granddaughter in a month and that Anthony's car smelled like "a dead body."
At the time, Anthony claimed that her daughter was with a babysitter which later turned out to be a lie, and in December of that year, Caylee's remains were found close to the Anthony home. Anthony's trial began in May 2011 — the charges included first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement.
While Anthony's defense claimed that Caylee had drowned in the family pool, the prosecution argued that Anthony had suffocated her daughter using duct tape and chloroform. The evidence against Anthony was overwhelming, as traces of chloroform were found in Anthony's car, and she had Googled "neck breaking" and "how to make chloroform.”
However, Anthony's lawyer, Jose Baez painted the real culprit as Anthony's father, George Anthony, and claimed that he had disposed of Caylee’s remains after finding her dead body in the pool. Anthony then denied knowing what happened to her daughter because she was afraid of George, who had been sexually abusing her for years — George denied these claims.
On July 5, 2011, Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder but was charged with four counts of providing false information to investigators, for which she was sentenced to four years in prison. Nevertheless, there was no shortage of circumstantial evidence that pointed toward Anthony being guilty, but the State of Florida simply failed to provide enough physical evidence to convince jurors of her guilt.