01x02 - Remembering

[bunniefuu]

-Casey Anthony
held her head high

after being arrested yesterday,

charged with child neglect
and lying to the authorities.

-We all believed that we
arrested the right person.

-What?!

-She has completely
removed herself

from any normal emotion of
a mother missing a child.

And that is the most
disturbing part for me.

-There was a lot of
anger at Casey Anthony.

How could she not call
the police for 30 days?

-Soft sticks.

-Why talk to me now?

-I just need someone to
be willing to listen.

Growing up... telling the truth

to anyone in the outside
world didn't happen.

When I was 8 years old,

my father started to come
into my room at night.

I can't tell Mommy.

She'll get mad at me.
That's what I was told.

Protecting the
family at all costs.

That was the only goal.

I admitted that I lied.

But no one asked why.

-Why were you lying to the cops?

-I was doing what I was told.

- By?
- My father.

-Despite intense searches,

there's been no sign
of Caylee since June.

Officials have said they
believe the girl is dead,

although, the child's
body hasn't been found.

Her mother faces charges,
including first-degree m*rder

and lying to investigators.

-The young woman
remains behind bars.

Casey Anthony's attorney says

the mother believes
Caylee is still alive.

-The whole United States

is looking for our Caylee.

Are we going to be able
to find her, do you think?

-I hope we can, Mom.

I believed
that she was still okay.

So, I know you want to ask me
about the last day she was here,

the last day that I saw her,
the day she disappeared.

I know that's what
it's all leading up to.

I can
tell you about what

I remember from the morning.

It's not much.

The night before
was a normal night.

Got Caylee to bed.

Woke up the next morning,
got her breakfast.

I wasn't feeling that great
and I wanted to lay down.

Put on the TV. The
door was closed.

And I had her lay
in bed with me.

I've been a light
sleeper my entire life.

Because I'm used to someone

opening the door
while I'm asleep.

I'm used to being on alert,

especially with my
child next to me.

It's part of the reason she
slept in bed with me so much,

in my bed, with pillows
stuffed against the wall,

with the bed up against
it so she couldn't fall,

so the bed couldn't move.

-Were the doors unlocked
to your bedroom?

-I thought that I had
locked it, but maybe not.

It's possible that
the door was unlocked.

I know my dad was at home.

But I fell asleep.

And was asleep for a while.

And I was awoken by
him shaking me...

and asking me where Caylee
was, which didn't make sense

because I look next to me
and that's where she was.

TV was still on.

She would never even leave
my room without telling me,

even if she had to
go to the bathroom.

She'd never just leave me there.

She knew she wasn't allowed

to just be in the
house by herself.

And I immediately start
looking around the house...

Her room, what used to
be my brother's room,

in the bathroom, my
parents' room, the garage.

I go outside and I'm looking
to see where she could be.

She's not in her playhouse.

Where is she? Why
is she not here?

Didn't make sense. Still
doesn't make sense.

She'd never done that
before. Why that day?

-Did you look inside the pool?

-Didn't have to.

By the time I came back around

from the left side of the house,

I came back around
towards the front porch,

he's standing there with her.

She's soaking wet.

I can see him standing
there with her in his arms.

And hand her to me.

And telling me
that it's my fault,

that I did that.

That I caused that.

And I just collapsed
with her in my arms.

-What did she feel like?

-She was heavy.

She was cold.

As I'm sitting there
with her on my lap,

I was hysterical.

Just staring at her,
not knowing what to do.

He takes her from me and he
immediately softens his tone

and tells me it's
going to be okay.

That she was going to be okay.

That's what he said to me.

I wanted
to believe him.

Because I wanted her to be okay.

And I don't know how
long I sat outside.

I don't know where he went.

He took her from me
and he walked away.

I know he went back in
through the screen doors

and he went back into the house.

But I don't know where she went
and I don't know what he did.

I just want her back.

It's all I've wanted
this entire time.

I can tell you about
how numb I felt

and how broken I
felt, and confused,

but also hopeful

because I believed that
she was still okay.

And I know people are
going to question,

well, why didn't I
make a phone call,

why didn't I call 911,

why did I even wait to
tell my mom anything?

But I didn't tell her anything.

Why lie?

Why not do a hundred things,
a hundred different ways?

I have to live with that,

knowing that I failed
to protect my child.

And that I kept failing
her, even after that.

I failed her again
and again and again

because I still protected
the person who hurt me.

It was like I was brainwashed.

And it wasn't until much later

that I started to
really realize why.

This is a living
embodiment of hell for me.

Yeah, this is not entirely
one of those places I'd like

to go back and try to walk
back through memory lane.

-How long were you in
the Orange County Jail?

-Three years.

I was indicted on
October 14th of 2008

and I was released
after the verdict,

a few days after the
verdict, in July of 2011.

-What did you hear in the cell?

-Screaming, yelling.

It's never quiet.

The doors are metal and
they clink and they're loud.

-What do you smell?

-Feces.

Other people's body odor

because it's a
recycled air system.

Pepper spray, if they had

to pepper spray someone
inside of the unit

or sometimes even from
the neighboring unit.

I was waiting in jail,

being accused of a crime
that it didn't commit.

I'm
remembering feeling alone

and helpless

and having literally
no one in my corner.

During that period of time,
I needed someone to talk to.

-Both of these boxes are
from when I was in jail.

I've never...

I've never gone through them.

So, let's have a look-see.

My name is Robyn McDonnell.

I was indicted under
the name Robyn Adams.

I came to meet Casey Anthony
in the Orange County Jail

after I was arrested
for conspiracy

to drug trafficking marijuana.

When I was transported
to Orange County Jail,

I went into solitary
confinement.

You're locked down
for 23 hours a day.

It's a box. It's a shoe
box. It's Tupperware.

The lid only comes off
when they take it off.

Casey was put into solitary
confinement as well.

I kept seeing this young girl,

short black hair,
just really petite

and, um...

One time, I just waved to her.

Just a little wave.

Looks like these
are pictures. Wow.

These are all letters.

I saved everyone's letters.

One day, Casey
used sign language

to tell me that she wrote
to me and put it in a book

and we started writing
back and forth.

We started to get to know
each other through letters.

It's her handwriting.

It says, "Cookie."

She called me Cookie.

"I'm an emotional wreck.

I've gotten good at hiding
how I feel with most people,

but I can't with you.

We have so very much in common,

both the good and the bad.

I know how it feels to be
physically, emotionally,

and mentally abused,

and I also know how it feels
to be sexually abused."

-I think that I
wrote to Robyn Adams

and told her what
had happened to me

because I was
really just starting

to come to grips with
what had happened.

-"My own brother walking
into my room at night

and feeling my breasts
while I slept."

-I don't really remember Robyn's
response to anything, but...

it felt like there was actually
someone who understood.

-"Over the past few months,

I've been really
having vivid dreams

and it's obvious
that they are dreams

of things that have
already happened.

I think my dad used to
do the same thing to me,

but when I was much younger.

I can see him in my room,
exactly the way it was

when I was in elementary school.

And everything gets fuzzy.

But I wake up feeling both
sore and sick to my stomach,

the way I used to
feel growing up."

-Long before I had
ever been arrested,

I had memories of the abuse...

but it wasn't until I was
isolated from my family in jail

that I started to remember
more of the details.

I started to have very
clear images and flashbacks,

nightmares and seizures,

all because of things
that I was reliving

from what happened
with my father.

Even with trying to
suppress those feelings

and those memories,

I was remembering
very specific details.

It wouldn't take much
for me to close my eyes

and to hear the sound
of my door opening

in the middle of the night.

I'm just a kid laying in my bed

and it was a white daybed
with white eyelet bedding.

Everything was white.

And I could smell
my father's cologne

before I even opened my eyes.

That cologne. Halston Z-14.

And I could feel him as he

kind of slid me
over in my daybed.

And slid himself
underneath the covers.

I'm still laying there,
acting like I'm asleep.

And he starts to touch me.

Slowly move my hair
off of my neck.

Run his hands down my back...

underneath my shirt.

I remember the first time he
put his hands down my pants.

Slid from the back, first, and
then went around the front.

I was being told that I
was safe, that I was okay.

So hard when you're
being told, you know,

"This is that special time.

You're Daddy's
special little girl."

And talking to you so gently

and starting off being
so kind and so nice.

God forbid I fought back.

A few times I do remember
trying to fight back.

I was never able to
push him off of me.

Pillow goes over my face.

-What do you mean by
"pillow goes over my face"?

-He smothered me several times.

-Smothered you so
you would pass out?

-Several times.

If I asked for it not to happen.

"Not tonight,
please. Not tonight.

I just want to go to sleep."

Wake up the next morning,
or even hours later,

knowing that it
had happened again.

I was forced to
grow up so quickly.

I was no longer allowed
to be a little girl.

Could be a little
girl sometimes.

But at night, I had to be
Daddy's special little girl.

-So, at that time,
you're talking

to Robyn Adams in the jail?

- Yes.
- Had you told your defense team

about the abuse?
- No.

It was still really hard
to talk about the abuse.

There was so much anger and
grief and sadness and shame.

So, I hadn't talked to
my team about it yet.

I hadn't said anything to them.

-The media was portraying
Casey as this young mother

who was out partying for 30 days
while her daughter was missing.

How could that possibly happen?

-Not once has she showed
any remorse for her child.

-To go to the nightclubs
and dirty dance

with anybody and everybody
and then just lies,

just mind-boggling.

-It is the burden of
Jose Baez on the defense

to come up with some logical,
reasonable explanation,

you know, for her
bizarre behavior.

Why did she wait 31 days?

-Part of my role was
putting together the puzzle

to bring understanding
to Casey's life.

I started working with
Casey in July of 2009.

At minimum, we would spend
two hours together each visit

and we are, and were,
unpacking a lot.

-During the time
that I was in jail,

I remember talking to Jeanene
about a lot of things.

It was a very slow process
because my guard had been up.

But Jeanene was so disarming.

She allowed me to see her
and it made it easier for me

to at least start to
open up a little bit more

and let my guard
down a little bit.

-In one of the interviews,

Casey shared with me that
her dad had abused her.

Everything made sense.

I mean,

I'm a survivor of childhood
sexual abuse as well, so.

In that moment,
I understood her.

When you've been a
victim of sexual abuse,

you pretend that
nothing is wrong.

It's the separation of the
mind from the actions, right?

That's how Casey can show up,

as if she had no
troubles in the world,

during the 31 days where
she's lost her baby, Caylee.

Finding evidence,

which is part of my job,
as a mitigation specialist,

any evidence of abuse
is very difficult,

especially with the
passing of time.

But Casey did tell people
about being abused,

even before any
of this happened.

-Good afternoon, Mr. Grund.

-Good afternoon.

-Jesse was her fiancé.

She trusted Jesse and so

she did disclose to him

about being abused
by her brother.

It's something that was shared,

even before Caylee
passed in 2008.

-She told me, at one
point in recent years,

that she woke up one night

with Lee standing
over her in bed,

staring at her sleeping.

And, in another instance,

was groping her in the
middle of the night.

-Casey telling Jesse about
being abused by her brother,

it doesn't mean that she
wasn't abused by her father.

It wouldn't be surprising that
she would test the waters.

It's, for whatever reason,

a little bit easier to
say, "Oh, my brother."

I think the abuse by her
father was a much bigger deal.

-It was always easier to talk
about the abuse with my brother.

Because I had
already forgiven him

and moved past so much of it,

it made it easier
for me to talk about.

Years later, I had told my mom,

while we're sitting on
the floor in Caylee's room

and Caylee is just an infant.

And I finally gained
the courage to tell her.

-About your brother?
What did she say?

-She called me a wh*re.

Her exact words were, "So
that's why you're a wh*re."

-You feel angry about that?

-I feel hurt. Disgusted.

And, yeah, ashamed.

Still.

How was I going to
tell her about...

the things that were
a thousand times worse

that my father did?

I had never told anyone
about my father touching me.

Of course I couldn't tell her.

I didn't want anyone to
know that I had been abused,

but I had no choice.

-We have been digging all day

and News 13 continues to
uncover new, expl*sive details

in the hundreds of letters
written between Casey Anthony

and another inmate at
the Orange County Jail.

-In Florida law,

any bit of evidence that had
been collected in the case

was released to the public.

One of the times there
was a document dump.

-From a letter right here.

-They were letters
that Casey had written

to another inmate in jail.

And it was news for days.

-She says her brother, Lee,
began sexually abusing her

when she was 12 years old.

She also writes
she thinks her dad

also "used to do
the same thing."

-The trauma that
she experienced,

I feel like it was
sort of glossed over.

We didn't look at trauma
the way we do now,

so, it felt like it was a lie.

-Where's Caylee?!

-Yeah, where's Caylee at?!

-Like my sign?

-Everything was against her.

The world was against her.

The way she was being
portrayed in the media.

-At that point, Casey had not

told anyone working on the team

about the abuse, except for me.

She had not told Jose.

And so I said to Casey,

"Be open and transparent,
Casey," right?

I helped the team
identify psychologists

who speak to grief, who
would speak to PTSD.

-Of all the doctors,

Harry was the the easiest
to talk to, Dr. Krop.

He was the most
disarming, I think.

He the easiest delivery.

There was no
pressure of anything.

-I'm Harry Krop.

I saw Casey four times

at the request of the
attorneys on the case.

Initially, I evaluated her

to assess her
psychological status.

Because of her
pattern of deception,

I had to ask myself,
in this case,

whether she was
telling me the truth.

The media portrayed her

as a psychopath, a
psychopathic liar.

-I could see, with my
experience, into her mind

and I found her to be very
narcissistic and a sociopath.

-You said that you think
she's a psychopath, right?

-Absolutely.

-The second appointment I had
with Casey, I gave her the MMPI,

which is a commonly
used psychological test.

There's actually scales for
psychopathy on the MMPI.

There was no diagnosable
psychiatric disorder

or any diagnosable
personality disorder,

including being a psychopath,

which I think the
other psychologists

and mental health
professionals who evaluated her

certainly also discovered.

-There was no sign of psychosis.

I mean, we could
go down the list.

There just wasn't
any sign of anything.

-Not a sociopath?

-Not remotely.

-I'm joined by Harry Krop.

He is a forensic psychologist.

Does she have what we call

borderline traits or
sociopathic traits?

-No, she doesn't have
those traits, either.

-That's impossible!
I can't believe that!

Wait a minute, Doctor.
I can't believe it.

She's created a vortex.

She's a chronic liar.

She's engaging in
criminal behavior.

How is that possible?

-We had a little bit of a
combative back-and-forth

when I was on that show.

But bottom line, she didn't
have those type of disorders.

She indicated that her
father sexually abused her

extensively as a child.

And I did believe that
Casey was sexually abused,

which is what the other
psychologists heard.

The testing shows
these intrusive images

that she has under stress

or when she talks
about the sexual abuse.

She was fairly detailed.

-And what about this allegation
that George molested Casey?

What did you think of that?

-I don't think that's true.

I think there have been a
lot of things, you know, said

that were just made up
for whatever reason.

We never found any
evidence of that.

There was never anything
to suggest that,

other than these
letters from Casey.

Would
you believe her,

I mean, given the
story that she's told?

-Thirty-one days, no Caylee.

No report to law enforcement
that, "My daughter's missing."

Like what the hell?

I was like, "Where was Casey?

Where was the mother
of this child?"

-What are you looking at there?

-I guess to some, this would be

a photograph of a
grieving mother trying

to find her missing daughter.

-Tell me about your behavior...

Leaving the house
and then the 31 days.

The media and the
public have used this,

again and again, as a
hammer to hammer you with.

-Yeah.

This is the building where
Tony Lazzaro, Clint House,

and his other
roommates used to live.

Tony and I had been seeing
each other a couple of months.

The day my father
took Caylee away,

this is where I came after I
left my house that afternoon.

I think I stayed here about
three weeks out of the 31 days.

I just tried to...

be as normal as I
could around him

and even around his roommates.

That was part of the main
instruction from my dad

was just to be as
normal as possible.

-Nothing was out of the
ordinary during the 31 days.

She just seemed like
her totally normal self.

-I couldn't show that
there was anything going on

to anyone else.

All of the photos that
people see of me out

during those 31 days,
I wasn't out partying.

You don't see drinks in my hand.

I was there actually working.

I was there helping
Tony promote.

-But you weren't going
through the cycles of grief.

-No. During the 31 days,

I genuinely believed that
Caylee was still alive.

My father kept telling
me she was okay.

I just had to keep
following his instructions.

There were no threats.

I just knew that I had to
do what he wanted me to do,

in the same reason that I
knew that since the time

I was 8 years old.

Just do what he wants.

It worked before. Do it now.

-So when you shut down,
you became robotic.

-I did what I needed
to do to survive.

People also don't know
when you're crying

in a bathroom alone,

trying to pull
yourself together.

You can never see
behind closed doors

unless someone
chooses to let you in.

I was in contact
with my father daily,

but whether or not I
saw him at the house

or we talked on the phone...

Check my cellphone records.

The phone records...

My phone pings had me
calling Hopespring Drive

again and again and again
when my mom was at work.

-And what were
you saying to him?

-I just wanted answers.
When am I going to see her?

How much longer are we
going to keep doing this?

Is she okay?

That I remember.

- And what would he say?
- He would tell me she was fine.

"Just keep doing what
I'm telling you to do.

You guys will be reunited soon."

That's what sticks with me.

He told me at one point,
we would be reunited soon.

-Did he describe where Caylee
was or what she was doing?

-No. Wouldn't
tell me anything.

I would ask if he
knew where she was,

and he would just
tell me she was safe.

When you're physically
afraid of another human being

and you were conditioned
to say and do

what they wanted you to say
and do, even as an adult,

you're still going to
revert right back to it.

-So you really believed he would
have kidnapped her from you

and put you through all of that?

That made sense to you
that he would do that?

-At the time it did.

-It just seems incredible.

For 31 days, you're
still in that space of...

-I was still in that space
even a couple of weeks later

when I was in jail.

Hopeful.

-What's your gut
telling you right now?

-My gut's telling
me that she's okay.

-Okay. And your gut tells you
that she's close or some...

She's... She's hiding.

-She's not far.

I know in my heart,
she's not far.

I can feel it.
- Okay.

Okay.

Alright.
- Oh, God.

My mom is asking me if
I think Caylee's okay,

and I tell her yes, but
I'm looking at my father...

because I wanted to
believe it so bad.

I really wanted to believe him.

Maybe that's the disassociation.

Maybe that's the...

trying to protect
myself from the pain

of having known deep
down all along

that something happened and
I didn't want to confront it.

I don't know.

I regret every day

that I didn't come forward
about what he did to me.

I regret every day that I lied
to my mom during that time

because I didn't know
what to say, too.

I wish it were a simple answer
and a simple explanation.

Nothing about trauma
or abuse is ever simple

because you're just
trying to survive.

I was convinced
that she was okay...

until December of 2008.

-This morning at
approximately 9:30 a.m.,

we had a call to the sheriff's
office regarding a discovery

that was made by an Orange
County meter employee

who had gone into the woods.

A bag was found there.

-We recovered this human skull.

It appears to be that
of a small child.

Now the investigation continues.

-Skeletal remains
discovered 15 houses away

from the Anthony home.

-They sent a couple officers
to come into the room

that I was staying in.

So they walk me down the hall,
I walk into the nurse's station.

Still have me handcuffed.

And set me down in
the waiting area.

They have a TV on,
though, in the far corner,

and it's the live footage.

And all you see across the
bottom is "Body found."

And I'm listening to
them start to say...

And I lose it.

Couldn't breathe.

That was the confirmation
that she wasn't coming home.

Because all of that
time, I still held on

to that shred of hope
that she'd be okay.

-The officer let me talk to her.

It was the first
time we held hands.

And we just cried together.

Her eyes were just
bloodshot. Her face was red.

It was horrible.

At that point,
all hope was gone.

-Sheriff Beary, Joyce Dawley,

Dr. Jan Garavaglia.

-With regret, I'm
here to inform you

that the skeletal remains
found on December 11th

are those of the missing
toddler, Caylee Anthony.

This identification
was made by nuclear DNA

taken from a portion
of the remains

and compared to a known
profile of Caylee Anthony.

-We're told that a jail
chaplain informed Casey Anthony

that her daughter's remains
have been identified.

-She is behind bars right now
at the Orange County Jail.

She is charged with m*rder.

Yes, I was naive.
Yes, I was dumb.

Clearly, no matter how
smart I was, I was dumb.

This whole time
leading up to that,

I thought that
there was a chance

she could still be alive.

I was telling the truth about...

I thought there
was still a chance.

It's an instinct you're supposed
to have as a parent to know

something is wrong
with your child.

I should've known.

-This is a major,
major development.

Now the test will be,
do the forensics match

the circumstantial evidence?

-They know where the child
was, how she was disposed of.

Hopefully, there is a lot

of forensic evidence
they can use here.

-This is completely
a forensic story now.

-So down here on Suburban Drive
is where the recovery was made,

just down around the corner
from the Anthony home.

Looks much different than it
did on the day of the discovery.

Eric.
- John, how are you?

- Good. You?
- Good. Thanks.

Definitely in the ballpark
location where when we came out,

you know, we made our first
entry to go down there.

She would have been right down
in here in the flagged area.

We're not very far from
that location right here.

-Kind of standing about
where... where it was.

When Caylee's body was found,

there was duct tape
wrapped around her head.

I remember seeing the duct tape.

-Yeah, the duct tape.

I remember how her hair
kind of rolled around

and made almost
like she was resting

in a bird's nest of hair.

She would have been in
two black plastic bags

and a large laundry bag,

and there was a Winnie the
Pooh blanket with the remains.

-Right.

-Those are items that
jumped out at me.

-There was a big effort on
the part of law enforcement

to try to trace items
found at the crime scene

there where Caylee's
body was found back

to items recovered
at the Anthony home.

-The bag that she was in,

the laundry bag
was part of a set.

And we found the other part
of the set at the house.

The duct tape wrapped
around her head

was a specific
brand of duct tape.

That same duct tape was
found at the Anthony home.

-The Winnie the Pooh blanket
matched the bed sheet

from the child's bedroom.

-It turned out there were a
lot of things at the scene

that linked to the home.

-So what happened?

-It appeared that a person
from the Anthony home

taped her face up
with duct tape,

stuffed her in a trash bag,

dumped her in the woods down
the street from the house.

-Based on available information,

including examination
of the body,

information from the scene,

the manner of death in
this case is homicide.

-There was, in fact, some tape
on the mouth of Caylee Anthony.

That changes the game.
- Well, sure, it does.

I think it shows that the
child incurred suffering

and they'll go after her
for the death penalty now,

mother or no mother.

-There was no question
in their minds

about whether or
not I did anything.

I wasn't the only
one living at home.

But they didn't go and
ask anyone in the family

about garbage bags
and duct tape.

-Tonight, a big breaker,

a shocker in the case
against Casey Anthony.

Prosecutors announced
they will...

Yes, they will seek
the death penalty

against the 23-year-old
for the m*rder

of her precious 2-year-old
daughter, Caylee.

-One thing that those of us
who do death-penalty work,

what we know is, even though
our clients might be innocent,

there is a very high likelihood

that there can be
a guilty verdict.

I had those
conversations with Casey.

"We have to really be
able to tell your story."

-Can you talk to me about
the process of deciding

to tell your defense team about
what happened with Caylee?

-It's still not a conversation
I've really had in depth

with any of them to this day.

And the desire was to never
again open those boxes

to never have to relive
those things that happened.

-I got involved in
the Casey Anthony case

on the day Caylee's
remains were found.

She was facing
the death penalty.

So I was going to
start an investigation.

We're trying to find
out what happened here.

The second day I was in Orlando,

I was brought over to
Hopespring to meet the family,

and Cindy was on the phone
as I'm being introduced,

telling George, the husband,

"Geraldo's on the
phone, wants us at 9:00,

but we're already booked
for the 'Today' show."

They had a guy on the floor
with a computer saying,

"Well, we raised $27,000
for our foundation

to help other parents find their
children when they go missing."

It hit me like, "Wow, that's
not how I would be acting."

The dynamics of what's happening
that day and, you know,

this is after the
remains have been found.

Caylee's gone. I'd
have been a mess.

It just was kind of crazy to me.

I went to Casey's room and
saw this monument to Caylee.

These pictures all over the wall

told me a story of a
very loving mother.

Casey took 20 a day
of her daughter.

The next weekend,
I had to come back.

I said, "I'll be back, and
I'd like to talk to Cindy."

She showed up late
Sunday night with George

and... they were towing
a... Like, a bass boat

that was totally tricked
out, freshly painted,

"Call 1-800 missing
children" on the side of it.

-It's the SS Caylee Marie.

That's my granddaughter. In
honor of my granddaughter.

-They get out.
Cindy's sunburnt.

They've been out on
this boat all day long.

They said, "We want to do
a sea trial for this boat"

that they must have got
through their foundation.

And I'm again thinking, "Well,
if I was in their shoes,

it was my daughter,
my granddaughter,

I doubt if I'd be
go getting a boat

to go look for other missing
children on a frickin' lake."

It made no sense.

It just was more
of that insanity

pulling me into the case.

And I remember coming out and
Jose Baez, Casey's attorney,

and he says, "What
did you think, Pat?"

I said, "You know, I still
don't have enough information

because I can't connect
that girl k*lling that baby.

But there's something really
f*cked up about this family."

-Pat McKenna was part
of my defense team.

After everything was done
with my case, after the trial,

long after July of
2011, my defense team,

they truly became my family.

And we've chosen to
still stay banded because

we truly do look at
one another as...

As not just colleagues
and w*r buddies,

but as... as family and friends.

And I love these
people so much...

Liz, Pat, Dorothy, Cheney.

So we are on our way
now to Liz's house.

It just gives me so
much peace seeing them.

Hi!

-Hi, honey. How are you?

- Hi.
- Hi.

I've
been crying all day.

Oh, my God.

-Oh, I'm tired.

-When I first met Casey Anthony,

I was struck by
how small she is.

This small, very young
woman is brought into a room

to meet her attorneys.

And as she's sitting there,

you realize she's in
a cage alone all day

in solitary confinement
at the Orange County Jail.

I think what struck me is
she's got a sense of strength.

There's just such
a survivor in her.

-I'm okay.

You know me.

It'll be alright.

-Casey, at the time, wasn't one
to really share every aspect

of her difficulties and pain.

She's become much more
comfortable with that over time.

At the beginning of
the Casey Anthony case,

I was really behind the
scenes reviewing evidence

and doing motion work
for Cheney Mason.

Jose Baez had been her attorney
for an extended period of time,

and he was required

to get a death-qualified
attorney on that.

And that's where Cheney came in.

Do you want to sit
up at the counter

and I'll get you a drink?

-It's too early
to start drinking.

Mr. Baez started
calling my office

and I went to meet Casey.

And after I met her
in the jail, whatever,

my instincts or intuition
are, from being an old man

and a long-term lawyer,

I decided that I would
step in and help her.

I took some pictures.

There's a mama deer
and a baby deer.

-Oh, there they are.

Right up against your
screened-in porch.

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-Casey... her phone
number is on my phone.

She can call me any
time she wants to.

I have tried something in
excess of 350 jury trials.

Of all of the people that I
have defended of serious crimes,

I can't think of any other
that I've invited into my home.

I've spent well over
2,000 hours on this case,

well over $1,000,000.

But once we were in
it, we were in it.

There wasn't... There
was no quitting.

-We really didn't know
what we were stepping into.

I had no idea about the
enormity of the case.

-The sources close to the
case say investigators now

have overwhelming evidence
that there is no question

Casey k*lled her 3-year-old
daughter, Caylee.

-There was so much
public outcry.

-Justice for Caylee.

-There are people that are
fully in favor of eye for an eye

because there's a greatly
intensified seriousness

about the case.

We, on more than one occasion,

as we are required
to do by federal law,

discussed with Casey
the possibility

of engaging in a plea bargain.

-I'm a catastrophizer
about these things,

so I think you at least have to
have a conversation about offers

and what that's gonna look
like and can we keep you alive?

The deal on the table

was 20 years in the
Department of Correction,

and she would have to accept
guilt and responsibility

for her daughter's death.

-Anything you want to tell us?

- I'll talk afterwards.
- Okay. Thanks.

-I laughed Jose Baez out of the
room that we were meeting in,

telling him there
was no f*cking way.

-She was not having it.

The last thing that she would
even entertain is the idea

that she would take credit
for hurting the only one pure,

true thing she ever had.

-It takes a lot of courage
and belief in some way

to, you know, be facing
the death penalty,

turn down an offer.

Casey would have
nothing to do with it.

-I would rather have been found
guilty and spent my life...

The rest of my
life on death row,

fighting for my life
and my innocence

than to have ever pled
to something I didn't do.

I lied to the cops.
I wrote those checks.

I admitted guilt
on each of those.

That was it.

-The national spotlight
is now focused on Orlando.

The satellite trucks
are hooked up to feed,

the generators are
topped off with fuel,

and the 70-foot risers
are ready for reporters.

-It's happening... the
most closely watched case

maybe ever or certainly
since O.J. Simpson.

-I will never
forget what happened

inside of those courtrooms.

I will never forget the anxiety

and the dread going to
walk through those doors,

to get off of those elevators.

-It's taken almost three
years to get to today.

We are now just minutes
away from opening statements

in the m*rder case of
2-year-old Caylee Anthony.

-Does the state care to make an
opening statement at this time?

- Yes, Your Honor.
- You may proceed.

-Linda Drane Burdick is a
very skilled prosecutor.

-Good morning,
ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to Orange County.

As difficult as it may
be for anyone to accept

that a mother

would intentionally
k*ll her own child,

from the evidence that you
will hear in this case,

there is no other conclusion
that could be drawn.

-This case was full of purported
evidence against Casey.

-Duct tape covered the
nose and mouth area

of that tiny human skull.

-Evidence of duct tape
found over the mouth

of the child's skull,

high levels of chloroform found
in the trunk of Casey's car.

-But a lot of it was
really this junk science

that was used to pad over

the lack of actual
facts in the case.

I don't think anyone's
better than Dorothy Clay Sims

at being able to get
to the bottom of that.

-I was in charge of the
forensics with the defense team.

I do a lot of work with motions
to exclude unreliable science,

and I was very concerned
about some of the science

that the state was producing.

For example, they took a
position that Casey somehow

was going to try
to make chloroform

and m*rder her child
with chloroform.

-Dr. Ross will also tell you

that he found
something unexpected.

His instrumental analysis

found the highest
concentration of chloroform

that he's ever seen.

-They've got the chloroform.

They've got the
tape over the mouth.

Those are major problems.

-But when they did some
testing on the remains,

no chloroform was found
in the hair, no drugs.

And then the duct tape.

What everybody saw on the news
was, "Oh, the child's remains

were found with duct
tape over the mouth."

-No child deserves to die with
duct tape around their face.

Well, there was no evidence

that that's the way
that Caylee died either.

There was duct tape, some
part attached to her hair

hanging down on the left side

and the lower mandible
on the right side.

-There was no DNA at
all on the duct tape.

How did it end up that way?

Do I think that the
duct tape could've come

from the exterior of
the bag? Absolutely.

In fact, there were
witnesses that talked about

how it could've slid
down from the bag.

To me, it was pretty
clear that the duct tape

had never, ever been
on Caylee's skin.

That duct tape was not
ever around her face

when she was still alive.

I was concerned about
the hair banding.

-When I examined that
trunk, I found 15 hairs.

And this one, this hair,
it's a long hair...

right here.

They sent it to the FBI.

They found the dark band near
to the root area of the hair,

which is an indication

that that hair came
from a decomposed body.

This hair is identify with the
DNA from the mother's side.

So we have Cindy, we
have Casey both alive.

The only person that
is missing is Caylee.

-There are other causes
for hair banding.

Not just that it
came from a body

that was already deceased.

You can have hair banding
even on people who are alive.

Things like moisture
and dirt, et cetera,

can cause hair banding.

And then there's a problem
with the cadaver dogs.

-The first pass he started
indicating in the...

In the rear of the vehicle.

I could tell he was
working something,

looking, um, to the
back-seat, trunk area.

-The cadaver dogs came back
and didn't alert a second time.

That is a symptom of the
whole problem with the case

because people would latch
on to a cadaver dog alerting

but completely ignore
evidence of a cadaver dog

that doesn't alert.

You can cause a
cadaver dog to alert.

And if you can rely
on a cadaver dog,

which are you gonna rely on?

That's the problem.
It's inexact.

It's inexact science.

And then the
decompositional odors.

The state said that their expert

could quantify the molecules

that were in the
air in the trunk

and determine if
they were consistent

with decompositional odors.

-And what that does is

essentially
condenses and freezes

all the odor molecules into
a small, little pellet.

-I'm not aware of any
trial that this methodology

had ever been accepted in.

It's very questionable.

The lack of true, reproducible
science is shocking.

It's really shocking.

-There wasn't any evidence
that Casey ever hurt her child,

let alone that she was
responsible for her death.

This child that she loved
so much, by all accounts,

by all the witnesses
that knew her.

The crux of this case
and the anger was

it appeared to be that she
was behaving incorrectly.

The type of discovery,
the evidence

that the state was
sharing with the defense

really was more
about painting her

as a young, scandalous woman
without a care in the world.

And according to their theory,

only a m*rder*r would be
able to compartmentalize

and enjoy themselves when
their child was missing.

I really realized the gravity
of the situation we were in.

You never know what
a jury is gonna do.

Casey was in for the
fight of her life

-News 13's Jacqueline
Fell has information

on today's deposition.

-We were covering
the case every day.

While there's an enormous
amount of evidence

for the 12 jurors to process,

they're also trying
to process this...

Just what to make
of the 25-year-old

accused of k*lling her daughter.

They say she went to
clubs, got her nails done,

got a tattoo that
said "Good life."

And according to one friend was
giddy about her new boyfriend.

-This really was sort of
like the first big case

playing out on social media.

The news station had
a Twitter account

created for this case.

People just were constantly
talking about it online.

In the court of public opinion,
Casey was already guilty.

-It was the first
trial by social media.

The public was
weighing in on this,

and I'm sure the prosecutors

had to be reading
what they were saying

and tailoring what
they were doing

to what was coming in.

-Caylee's death
allowed Casey Anthony

to live the good life,

at least for those 31 days.

-Shot girls, music, dancing.

Young people doing what young
people are supposed to do,

and I want to say that clearly.

There's nothing wrong with
young people being young people.

There's nothing with
young people drinking

and dancing and having fun.

There's nothing wrong with that.

But that's not the
life that Casey has,

because Casey is a mom.

-That's in the entire
prosecution as,

"Well, explain yourself.

I mean, that's not the way

a grieving mother
is allowed to act."

-I think that the best way
to explain Casey's behavior

is through the words
of Dr. Sally Karioth.

Sally Karioth was
the grief specialist

that came in and talked about
what it's like for young people

when they have a
traumatic event.

She had over 30 years'
experience in the field.

-They are reluctant grievers.

Young adults are
reluctant grievers,

and they will often say
nothing has happened.

They will demonstrate
risky behavior.

-The behavior that
Casey engaged in

was absolutely
consistent with grief.

It just wasn't what we typically
understand grief to look like.

-I read psychological
experts, their depositions,

and I conferenced with them.

The lying that Casey
was engaging in

wasn't for manipulation
or self-gain.

-Pathological lying
is not a diagnosis.

It's a pattern of behavior
often shown to occur

as a result of developmental
issues, family issues.

-People react
differently to trauma.

It depends on their
background, how they're raised.

Casey's behavior was
a behavior of someone

that is not
inconsistent with abuse.

-Based on my
experience in working

in the sexual-abuse area,
after the sexual abuse stops,

there's still this dynamic
of feeling like the father,

the perpetrator, has control.

She told me what
happened to Caylee.

It helped me understand
why she would go along

with what he told her to do

and not disclose what
happened to Caylee.

-That was so important
for our understanding.

I mean, not just
the defense teams,

but the jury as well,

that Casey has been
through significant trauma.

-Good afternoon,
members of the jury.

Mr. Baez, you may proceed.

-Come with me to 4937
Hopespring Drive.

It looks like the
all-American home.

In fact, you can drive by
any home in the United States

and never know what goes
on behind closed doors.

You never know what
secrets lie within.

You see, this family must
keep its secrets quiet.

And it all began when
Casey was 8 years old

and her father
came into her room

and began to touch
her inappropriately.

And it escalated.

And it escalated.

-Did you know what
he was gonna say?

-No.

-Did you know he was
gonna bring up the abuse?

-No.

- You didn't know?
- He didn't tell me.

He did not even come to see
me before we went into court.

He didn't tell me anything.

He wanted to make sure my
reaction and my response

was as real and raw as possible.

So he didn't want me
to be prepped for this.

What I'm feeling in that moment

listening to Jose
Baez tell the world...

about the abuse
that I suffered...

it was absolute shame.

I remember that feeling
like it was yesterday.

There's always going to be
that part of me that's...

going to feel like I'm not
enough because of what happened.

Not good enough

because of all of the things
that have happened to me.

-Not good enough for what?

-Just not good enough,

that I'm... tarnished...

tainted.

That's a really, really,
really hard moment.

-It was the deepest, darkest
secrets that she held,

laid out bare in
front of the public.

Her chin started to shiver.

I could see the tears coming.

And it was the first time I saw
that whatever defense mechanism

she had built over the years

were not gonna be
working for her anymore.

-The jury understood
the relevance

of the innocent until
proven guilty standards

and that Caylee's
death was shocking.

Casey was... was stunned.

Young people who are not trained
on how to deal with trauma

simply shut down and
pretend it didn't occur.

If someone can't deal
with a trauma like that

because they are so
close to their child

and they love their
child so very much,

that says that they
are a good mother,

not a bad mother.

-It just resonated with me

that this was a
very loving mother.

We don't think that
girl k*lled that baby.

So what happened?

I think that an accident
could have happened.

And I just want to see
the facts, the evidence,

talk to witnesses.

I want to find out more.

-Pat McKenna did the
hard work of showing up,

talking to people who
don't want to get involved,

seeing what their stories
are and what their truth is,

and figuring out
if there's evidence

that supports this case.

He located Krystal Holloway.

-What do we know
about this woman?

They claim she had an
affair with George Anthony.

-During this whole fiasco,

George has an affair with
this woman, Krystal Holloway.

-I'm told that he
visited her many times

at her gated community.

-He's unburdening
himself to this woman,

figuring this will
never come out anywhere.

So when I go to talk to her,

I learn from Krystal what
really happened to Caylee.

-She had information
that was important.

She said George told her

that this was an accident
that spiraled out of control.

-When Krystal Holloway
took the stand

and told her story,

it was really clear that
she was doing her level best

to tell her truth,

even though it was so
far outside of anything

she was actually
comfortable with.

Without Krystal
Holloway coming in,

I'm not sure where we would
have ultimately landed.

Casey has never told me
what happened with Caylee,

but I think the evidence
and the science support

that it was most likely
an accidental drowning

that really did snowball out
of control, where no one acted

like you're supposed to act
when an accident happens.

-I mean, look at the facts.

This child was
found without shoes.

The remains had no shoes.

She could clearly open the
door to get out to the pool.

We have the photograph. She can
open the door to go outside.

Cindy mentioned something like
that to the people at work

and to the police
a few days later.

I believe the most likely thing
that happened in this case

is that the child
accidentally drowned.

That's what I believe.

-Mr. Baez, you may proceed.

-Caylee Anthony died
on June 16, 2008,

when she drowned in her
family's swimming pool.

Unfortunately, it's
far too common.

In fact, in the
state of Florida,

it is the number-one
way that children die,

is drowning in swimming pools.

We hear about it every day.

We hear of a story on the news
or we'll see a little blurb

on the newspaper
about some poor child

who accidentally drowned in
the family swimming pool.

-A bombshell revelation from
Casey Anthony's lead attorney,

who now claims
2-year-old Caylee Anthony

drowned in her family's
swimming pool in June of 2008.

-You know, the defense
made the argument

that she drowned in a
pool, which is interesting,

because we gave her
that as an option.

But she was adamant
that that didn't occur.

Look, I'm not a psychologist,
but you're gonna tell me

that what really happened was,

after my child
drowned in the pool,

I stuck her in a laundry bag
and dumped her in the woods

and spent the next
month partying?

-There are too many scenarios
of what could have happened

but her drowning in
the pool is not one.

It's not possible.

In most scenarios, it
would be plausible.

Not in this one.

The ladder wasn't on the pool.

It's the only way in or
out for her or for me.

-So why let Jose Baez
and your defense team

make that argument
again and again?

-My mom was the first one
that floated the theory

that she could have
drowned in the pool.

He went with what my mom said.

He had to explain something.

You can't just tell the
jury, "She doesn't know."

-So what was your thought
on why she was wet?

-It's something I still
can't piece together.

I wasn't the only one home.

I'm not outright
accusing him of m*rder,

but it wasn't an
accident in the pool.

-I don't believe my
daughter could hurt anyone.

I really don't believe that.

-In this interview,

my father's telling the
truth of my innocence,

that law enforcement
went after me.

But yet, he testified in
front of the grand jury

almost two months before this.

He was the state of Florida's
first witness against me.

-He's telling the media
that Casey's innocent,

but then he's
going to the police

and telling them
that Casey's guilty.

This is something that
nobody ever noticed.

-George Anthony was the
first witness on the stand.

-George testified
a handful of times.

Why didn't the media
notice the differences?

-I'm sitting there staring
daggers at this man

'cause I'm one of
the only people

who knows the truth
about who and what he is.

It took so long for me
to get to that point.

It's like you have
Stockholm Syndrome.

Why didn't he call 911?

I wasn't the only
one that was home.

And why after all this time,

keep blaming me for
something I didn't do?

Why?