Casey Anthony’s mum speaks out on murder case

One of the major players in the Casey Anthony murder trial has spoken out about the emotional toll the controversial case took on her.

The mother at the centre of one of the United States’ most infamous criminal acquittals has revealed the emotional toll the case took on her family.

Casey Anthony stood trial in 2011 over the 2008 death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee in a case that gripped not just the US, but the entire world.

Caylee was first reported missing by Anthony’s mother Cindy, on July 15, 2008 – a month after the little girl was last seen.

Mrs Anthony complained to police that her daughter’s car had “smelled like it had a dead body in it”.

Anthony was arrested for child neglect a day after a missing persons report was made and claimed Caylee had vanished with a babysitter.

Caylee Marie Anthony. Picture: AP Photo/Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Anthony was accused of murdering her daughter in 2008 before dumping her body in a Florida swamp near her Orlando home because she was an inconvenience to her lifestyle.

But to this day Anthony has maintained her innocence, claiming she does not know who is responsible for Caylee’s death.

In a sneak peak of new US documentary Crime Scene Confidential, Mrs Anthony has an emotional reunion with Alina Burroughs, one of the investigators who searched for a missing Caylee.

The grandmother wiped away tears as she told Ms Burroughs “it means a lot” that investigators were able to find Caylee’s body and return her to the family.

“I know you guys didn’t want to leave until you found every single (remain),” Mrs Anthony said.

Mrs Anthony also revealed she had resumed contact with her daughter after several years of estrangement, however, she only heard from her on occasion.

Speaking to People, Ms Burroughs said it was difficult for Mrs Anthony to speak about the case.

Casey Anthony sits in the courtroom. Picture: Joe Burbank/AP

“She really went through hell and back, and she’s never been the same,” she said.

During the trial prosecutors alleged Anthony had killed Caylee by giving her chloroform before gagging with duct tape and leaving the little girl to die in her car boot.

Experts testified that decaying human remains had been present in Anthony’s boot, however, DNA was never found on the duct tape allegedly used to suffocate Caylee.

After a month-and-a-half long trial it took just 11 hours for the jury to find Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse.

Instead Anthony was convicted of four charges of lying to police – two of which were later dropped – and was released from jail just weeks after the trial ended because of time already served.

During the trial, Mr Baez controversially floated the theory that Caylee had drowned and Anthony’s own father George Anthony had covered it up, as well as sexually abusing his own daughter for years.

Mr Anthony denied the allegations and Anthony herself has never claimed Mr Baez’s alternate theory happened.

Cindy Anthony leans on her husband George during Anthony’s trial. Picture: Orlando Sentinel, Red Huber/AP

Since her murder acquittal Anthony has kept a low profile and shunned media attention except for a series of interviews with the Associated Press in 2017.

“I’m still not even certain as I stand here today about what happened,” Anthony said, adding that “everyone has their theories”.

“As I stand here today I can’t tell you one way or another. The last time I saw my daughter I believed she was alive and was going to be OK, and that’s what was told to me,” she said.

In 2019 Mrs Anthony told the Daily Mail that Mr Anthony was suffering from brain damage due to a car accident injury, and she wasn’t speaking to her daughter.

“She and I agreed that it’s just better we don’t talk,” Mrs Anthony told the publication.

“As much as I miss her and I love her I am dealing enough with my husband that I don’t need her drama.

“She didn’t reach out on Mother’s Day – and I am perfectly fine with that. I asked her to just do her thing.”