A woman who claimed to have had an affair with George Anthony during the time the family was searching for “missing” two-year-old Caylee, was called to the stand on Thursday, by the Casey Anthony defense team.
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 have said that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family above-ground swimming pool on June 15, 2008 and that George Anthony, Casey’s father, covered up the accident.
Krystal Holloway, also known as “River Cruz” testified that she had a romantic affair with George and that he had come to her condominium about 12 times. She said that the two met at one of the events when the community was searching for little Caylee.
Holloway said, it was around Thanksgiving 2008, when George was visiting he told her that Caylee’s death was “an accident that snowballed out of control.” She claimed that she was taken aback by this admission and was unable to react, but noticed George’s eyes had welled up with tears. She testified that she told George she could not believe that he could raise a daughter that would take the life of her daughter.
On Tuesday earlier this week, George during his testimony, flatly denied the affair with Holloway, although he did admit that he had sent her a text message saying, “Just thinking about you. I need you in my life.” He explained that the family needed lots of people during the period that Caylee was missing and when the search was on for the child.
Holloway said the affair ended when George sent her a text message, rather than telephoning her, to let her know that the remains of little Caylee had been found. She said she was mad.
Holloway also said that she kept quiet about the affair for about two years and only went public when she was contacted by law enforcement officers.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Jeff Ashton got Holloway to testify that she sold the story about her “alleged” affair with George to the National Enquirer for $4,000. Holloway explained that she did so as she was being trashed in the press and she wanted to tell her story “in full”.
Ashton also got Holloway to admit that when she was first questioned by law enforcement on February 17, 2009, about a possible affair with George, she denied under oath that there was a romantic relationship between the two. She also admitted that as she was having the affair with George, she was also seeing someone else.
Holloway admitted under cross-examination by Ashton that George had not said he was present during Caylee’s “accident”.
Ashton also got Holloway to read back a more extended portion of her sworn statement she had earlier made to law enforcement regarding how George had described Caylee’s death as an “accident.”
“I truly believe it was an accident and it just went wrong, and she tried to cover it up”, Holloway read.
As Holloway cried on the stand, a long side bar ensued between prosecutors and the defense team, regarding an instruction that should be given to the jury.
In the end, Chief Judge Belvin Perry instructed jurors that Holloway’s testimony could only be considered in determining whether George was truthful or not when he testified and not used in determining how Caylee died or as a basis for determining the defendant’s (Casey’s) guilt or innocence.
Next, the defense re-called Dominique Casey, a private investigator back to the stand.
Casey testified again to where he had conducted searches in the wooded area off Suburban Drive where Caylee’s skeleton was found. He pin-pointed on a map, which was introduced in evidence earlier, where he had searched.
On cross-examination by prosecutor Frank George, Casey told jurors that, although he had pin-pointed the areas on the map, those locations represented the general areas where he had undertaken his searches.
George Anthony returned for the 6th time to the witness stand to testify.
Lead defense attorney Jose Baez questioned George on how he had buried his family pets over the years.
“When you found out your granddaughter was found with a blanket, duct tape and wrapped in plastic bags, did you tell law enforcement that that is the way you used to bury your pets?” Baez asked.
Ashton objected before George could respond.
On cross-examination, Ashton had only one question for George.
“Have you ever taken a dead pet and thrown it in a swamp?”, Ashton asked.
“No, sir”, George replied.
Cindy Anthony, who was re-called to the stand for ninth time to testify, told jurors that it was a tradition in the family to wrap their dead pets in plastic bags sealed with packing tape and bury them in the back yard.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick asked Cindy whether they did euthanize their pets with chloroform.
“You did not euthanize your own pets with chloroform”, Drane Burdick asked.
“No, we did not”, Cindy replied.
“Did you put any duct tape on their faces prior to burial?”, asked Drane Burdick.
“No.”, Cindy replied.
Cindy testified that Casey was a senior and was aware of the burials of the dead pets in the Anthony backyard and was present at a couple.
Lee Anthony, testified that his parents were in charge of burying the family pets when they died and was also around when some of them were buried.
The defense is expected to rest their case after lunch on Thursday, following which the prosecution will begin presenting their rebuttal witnesses.
Closing arguments could begin on Saturday.
