10/14/08 UPDATE – CASEY ANTHONY INDICTED FOR MURDER

In the biggest breaking news since her daughter Caylee was reported missing on July 15, 22-year-old Casey Anthony was indicted this afternoon by a Florida grand jury on seven counts, including aggravated manslaughter and first-degree murder. ALL COMMENTS TO THIS GINORMOUS, RECORD-BREAKING THREAD ARE NOW CLOSED.  Updates and new comments for the new phase of this case can be found here: Casey Anthony Indicted For Murder.

Rest In Peace, Caylee Marie.  You will never be forgotten.

Caylee Marie Anthony – b. August 9, 2005 – d. June 2008

Orlando, FL, August 28, 2008 - The DNA is back.  Ten weeks after Caylee Marie Anthony was last seen alive, it now appears certain that the missing toddler is dead.   More than that, her decomposing body lay in the trunk of her mother Casey’s white Pontiac for an undetermined period of time before being removed.  Many of us hoped that by some miracle, some slender thread of fate, Caylee would be found alive and unharmed.  Now it is clear that Caylee never saw her third birthday.  She will forever be two years old.

The evidence is in, and I think it’s about as good as a body.  The decomposition fluids in the trunk yielded epithelial cells that came from the inside of someone’s nose and mouth.  The DNA from that fluid, from those cells, is consistent with Caylee’s.  The hair from the trunk is also consistent with Caylee’s hair, and showed bacterial infestation of the root and hair follicle that are indicative of postmortem shedding – that is, the hair was left in the trunk after Caylee was dead.

Even the air samples sent to the University of Tennessee’s Body Farm for testing showed the presence of human cadaverine and putrescine, the polyamines which are most present in human decomposition.  It is now blatantly obvious that Caylee Anthony was in her mother’s car trunk for awhile after she died.

Right now, Casey has only until Tuesday to accept a deal offered by Orange County investigators:  if she provides information leading to the recovery of Caylee’s body, she will receive immunity for those statements, and those statements only.  Truth be told, they no longer need a body to prosecute and get a conviction – it’s just a matter of which charges to file.  A body would be nice for closure, and for cause of death that might prove murder, if that can still be determined.  If Caylee was stabbed, for example, there might be marks on her bones to prove that.  If she was strangled, her hyoid bone might be fractured.  But even without a body, a case could be made for manslaughter or even murder one.  It’s just a bigger gamble, that’s all.

Also this morning, Leonard Padilla (he of the big hat, the toothpick and the tummyache) is saying that he is beginning the process of revoking Casey Anthony’s bond.  In any event, I would not be surprised to see new charges filed against Casey fairly soon.

We’ve seen a lot of action on this case, you and I.  We have covered this case from the very beginning.  We broke a thread.  We’ve bemoaned Casey’s bond in a thread that broke all records for views and comments ever on this site.  Peeperann even sent a pizza.   You all have read, and prayed, and watched and waited for news of Caylee.   Now that the case is breaking, it seemed like a good time to bring all those posts together here, and I will be closing the comments to the other threads later today.  I’ll be updating this thread as new stuff comes in, of course.

For now, though, there’s really only one thing to be said:  Rest in peace, little Caylee Marie. You will be missed.

9/23/08 UPDATE - Today, the Florida State Attorney’s Office has released almost 600 pages of discovery documents in the case of Caylee Anthony, who remains missing.  The documents include depositions, phone and text messages and will no doubt start showing up on news sites later today.  Discovery is standard legal procedure, and these documents have been sent to Casey’s defense team – which now includes forensic scientist Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky.  Wonder why they need a forensic scientist if all Casey did was write some stolen checks?  Sounds like a murder defense in the making to me.

10/08/08 UPDATE – MURDER CHARGES COMING?  The Florida State Attorney’s Office says it is working with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on the case for murder against Casey Anthony.  The State Attorney’s Office is preparing to present the case evidence to a grand jury next week in order to seek a homicide charge – which could mean anything from manslaughter to first-degree murder.   Also today, another discovery release of hundreds of pages of case documents.  These documents appear to deal mostly with Casey’s financial crimes rather than with Caylee.  Stay tuned for updates as we get them.

Tags: Casey Anthony, Caylee Anthony, Caylee Marie Anthony, DNA, Florida, Missing child, Murder, Orlando