Casey Anthony Trial: Cindy Anthony Remembers Caylee's Terrible Smelling Doll, 911 Call
Casey Anthony’s mother, Cindy Anthony, took the stand Tuesday and gave a similar testimony to her husband saying that her daughter’s car had a horrible odor after it was retrieved from the tow yard in mid-July.
Fighting back tears, she offered further details, recalling that she had removed her granddaughter’s favorite doll, her backpack and Casey’s purse from the car. The doll had a terrible odor, she said, causing her to try to use Febreze and Clorox wipes to remove the smell.
Cindy Anthony and her husband George picked up Casey’s car from the tow yard on July 15, 2008. Later that same day, she called 911 to report her granddaughter missing and said that the car smelled like something dead was in it. She recalled asking her husband when they retrieved the car, “What died?”
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But on Tuesday, she clarified that at the time of the 911 call, she said that it smelled like something died in the car was meant as a description and did not literally believe that back then. Cindy Anthony, who is a nurse by profession, said the car had smelled like rotting flesh but did not think at the time that a dead body was really behind the stench. She thought trash found in the car’s trunk was responsible for the smell.
“Caylee’s doll smelled like the car so I took it out,” Anthony testified. “I sat the doll down and I went and got a Clorox wipe and I wiped the face and hands. The body was soft and so it smelled pretty bad … I sprayed Febreze all through the car thinking that might help the odor … I used pretty much a whole can of Febreze.”
Casey Anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in the summer of 2008. Caylee, who was last seen on June 16, 2008, was ruled by medical examiners to have died from homicide by undetermined means.
The prosecution claims that Casey used chloroform to knock Caylee out and then used three pieces of duct tape on the toddler’s nose and mouth to suffocate her.
But the defense claims that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family’s pool on June 16, 2008, and George Anthony, Casey’s father, helped the defendant to dispose of the body.
The murder trial has attracted national fascination, being heavily covered on TV and ranking as one of the top searches on Google since court hearings began on May 24. On Tuesday, people began lining up before 5:30 a.m. outside of the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., in hopes of securing one of the 50 seats for the public, reported Orlando TV station WKMB Local 6. Day six of the murder trial was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.
Those in line, more than 50 people, made a mad dash to the court room once they were let in. Cindy Anthony, Casey’s mother, will continue on the witness stand today. Lee Anthony, Casey’s brother, is also scheduled to appear as a witness on Tuesday.
In addition to first degree murder, Anthony faces several charges, including providing false information to law enforcement, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child. If convicted, the 25-year-old could be handed the death penalty.
