For most of Thursday morning on the eight day of testimony in the Casey Anthony murder trial, an audio tape of investigators interviewing Casey on July 16, 2008, took center stage.
Prosecutors recalled Detective Yuri Melich for the second time to the witness stand and jurors listened to the many lies that Casey told law enforcement officers, after leading them to Universal Studios, where she claimed she worked.
Subsequently, Casey admitted to officers that she did not work at Universal Studios, but repeatedly stuck to her story in the hour-long interview that she had last seen her 2-year-old daughter with a baby sitter by the name of Zenaida Fernandez Gonzales.
Even as detectives pressed Casey on little Caylee’s whereabouts, repeatedly telling her they were only there to help find the child, she insisted that her daughter was last seen with the nanny, Zenaida.
“My question is, we need to find Caylee–we need to find out from you where Caylee is”, one of the detectives tell Casey. “Everything we are doing is to help you find your daughter. You have three people here–we came her to look for clues, evidence to help you find your daughter. That’s the most important thing.”
“I have no clue where she is,” Casey replies.
Although the detectives let Casey know that she has told them a lot of lies, given them names of imaginary persons and sent them to a bunch of bad locations in their search for Caylee, she insists that she does not know where her daughter is after 31 days.
Detectives also paint various scenarios as to what might have happened to Caylee, like drowning in a swimming pool, and urge her to open up and tell the truth, but Casey remains silent, sticking to her story. She tells detectives she knows that Caylee has been to Universal, so perhaps they should talk to security and maybe pass out pictures.
Casey does admit in the interview that she lied about working at Universal Studios at that time.
“I am scared. I am scared of not seeing my daughter again”, Casey tells investigators.
“How would lying to us help you find your daughter?”, one of the law enforcement officers inquire.
“It wouldn’t”, Casey replies.
Casey tells the officers she got a call from Caylee the day before on July 15, 2008, and the child sounded happy, seemed fine, and had no type of stress. She told them Caylee was telling her about a book she had been reading, but the phone was hung up when she asked to speak to an adult.
“She was excited to talk to me”, Casey said. “I don’t understand how she wasn’t upset, but she has always been like that. You could ask my mom.”
When asked why she hadn’t called police although she had not seen her daughter in 31 days, Casey said she didn’t call anybody.
The officers’ frustration clearly show when one tells Casey, “You’re treating us like we’re stupid.” They press further telling her either we find Caylee alive or not, but that the truth will eventually come out.
One law enforcement officer tells her there has either been an accident or she is cold-blooded callous monster and offer yet another opportunity for her to tell them what has happened to Caylee.
“We are going to find out. We have so many resources on this right now. This is your opportunity to tell us”, one officer says.
“I dropped off Caylee with Zenaida. She was the last person. This is the honest-to-God truth. I made a mistake of trusting someone with Caylee”, Casey told law enforcement officers.
Casey tells the officers that she is glad that she saw her mom the day before and she saw Cindy’s reaction to Caylee being missing off the bat. She also says that if Caylee was with her family she would be in the best place.
“I am absolutely petrified”, Casey said. “I am never going to forgive myself, because I know I might never see my daughter again. She is with someone else and she could be anywhere.”
Casey says she will do anything to find her daughter: I will lie, I will steal.
Almost at the end of the interview Casey tells the officers her mom told her the day before she (Cindy) will never forgive her and again Casey says, “I’m never going to forgive myself.” Casey says she will never hesitate to talk to her parents if something similar should happen again.
“I am sorry I gave you guys the run around”, Casey said. “I just wish I had more things to help with.”
Prosecutors have charged Casey Anthony with first degree murder in the death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. Anthony initially said that the child was kidnapped by a babysitter named Zanny. Her defense in their opening statement said, Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool on June 16, 2008, and that George Anthony, Casey’s father hid the child’s body and covered up the crime. They also claimed that Casey was sexually abused by both George and her brother, Lee.
Casey, if convicted, could face the death penalty.
