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Kronk, Ex-Meter Reader, Unshakable on the Stand

Roy Kronk, formerly a meter-reader for Orange County, testified in the State v. Casey Anthony trial on Tuesday and denied all allegations against him–most importantly that he disposed of Caylee Marie Anthony’s remains in the wooded area off Suburban Drive.

Roy Kronk, a meter reader for Orange County, testifies during the Casey Anthony trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday, June 28, 2011. (Red Huber, Orlando

Casey, 25, is on trial for murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, who the state claims was poisoned with the toxic chemical chloroform or suffocated with duct tape to her nose and mouth.

Casey’s defense team is refuting the state’s allegations and asserts she had nothing to do with the toddler’s death.  They claim the little girl drowned accidentally on June 15, 2008 in the family’s swimming pool and that her grandfather George Anthony, covered up the accident and Kronk helped hide the body in the wooded area near the Anthony family home.

Kronk explained to jurors that he does not know Casey Anthony or her family. On Aug. 11, 2008, he stopped in the woods to relieve himself when he was en route to meter read in the area of Hopesprings Dr., where the Anthonys live.

While in the woods, he noticed a white suspicious object on the ground, Kronk said, and informed two co-workers of what he believed to resemble a human skull. However, a dead rattle snake nearby caught the employees’ attention instead.

After another phone call days later, a law enforcement officer eventually met with him on Aug. 13, 2008, near the wooded area, but after a cursory search of the area, did not find anything.  Kronk testified that he was thoroughly chewed out by the police officer, who slipped and fell as he left the swampy wooded area.

“I just simply tried to do the right thing as a citizen and for my efforts I got chewed out,” Kronk told jurors. He described his finding as “shocking,” and stated, “It was a very horrific thing to find.”

Kronk said he was aware of the reward for finding Caylee which amounted to $255,000 and knowing the media vans were right around the corner, he didn’t feel the need to notify them.

Kronk also testified that the telephone conversation his son said they had, did not happen. Kronk’s son said on Dec. 11, 2008, the day Caylee’s remains were found in the woods, his father called and told him, he was going to be famous.

Casey Anthony prepares before the start of court in her murder trail at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday, June 28, 2011. (Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel)

“My son was mistaken by that phone call,” said Kronk. “That phone call never happened.”

Kronk admits there was a phone call but what he stated to his son was completely different. “I told him on Dec. 11, I found something,” Kronk said, “and he would see me, on TV, for the first time since he was eight years old.”

Portrayed as a “morally bankrupt individual” by the defense, Linda Drane Burdick on an efficient cross-examination of Kronk, demonstrated to jurors that he did not have the means to obtain any of the articles found with little Caylee’s remains or access to the Anthony home.

“You never had access to the Anthony home, to their backyard, computer, Casey’s Pontiac Sunfire, Caylee’s blanket, garbage bags and duct tape?”, Drane Burdick inquired.  In every case, Kronk replied that he did not.  He said he had access only to the meter in the front yard of the Anthony’s home.

Also on Tuesday, three witnesses were called to proffer testify. Outside earshot of jurors, Jesse Grund and two officers from Casey’s dorm in the women’s correctional facility, Sergeants Dennis Moonsammy and Marlene Baker, testified.

Moonsammy and Baker described Casey as “pleasant” and said she was always happy and smiling. Required to be in her cell for 23 hours each day in protected custody, Moonsammy said, “Ms. Anthony is a model inmate.”

As he had done earlier, Chief Judge Belvin ruled the evidence from Moonsammy and Baker out, saying that it is “not relevant to the materiality of this case.”

Next Jessy Grund, a former finance of Casey’s, explained sex abuse allegations she claimed she was subjected to by her brother, Lee.

“I felt uncomfortable with Lee when I first met him,” Grund said, characterizing Lee as “standoffish” and strange around Casey and her daughter.

Grund said he had questioned Casey about Lee’s behaviour and she told him he had molested her.

Jesse Grund, former fiance of Casey Anthony testifies during her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday, June 28, 2011. (Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel, POOL)

“Did Casey express an opinion not to have Caylee around Lee?” lead defense attorney Jose Baez asked.

“Yes. She told me that she woke up with Lee standing over her and groping her one night,” Grund replied.

Perry, who had previously ruled this testimony out, on the grounds that it is hearsay and not relevant, said he would look at it again.  He invited both the prosecution and defense attorneys to again do so, and review relevant case law.

Perry also said he’d handle the issues presented by defense attorney Ann Finnell and her motion for a death penalty stricken jury and trial, on Wednesday morning.

Another order was filed for a request by the state to add two more witnesses to their list. Don Platt and John Camperlengo are Cindy Anthony’s employers. If the motion is approved, they will be called by the state to testify. During earlier testimony, Cindy claimed she made the questionable searches for chloroform in March 2008. Prosecutors have argued she was at work during the time the searches were made and could not have done so.

If convicted of first-degree murder of her daughter, Caylee, Casey Anthony could face the death penalty.

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