George Anthony Denies Affair; Cindy, Lee Anthony Give Conflicting Accounts About Caylee Search
Casey Anthony’s immediate family was brought in to testify Tuesday morning, with George Anthony questioned about his alleged affair with a search volunteer.
Defense attorney Jose Baez had stated previously in his opening statement that Casey’s father had an affair with a woman named Krystal Holloway and purportedly told Holloway that Caylee Anthony’s death was an “accident that snowballed out of control.”
The defense maintains that Caylee accidentally drowned in a swimming pool and that George helped cover the accident up.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
When Baez asked George if he knew a Krystal Holloway this morning, he admitted that he knew her but denied having an affair with her. She also went by the name “River Cruz.”
“I never had a romantic affair with Krystal Holloway or River Cruz or any name she wanted to give you or the world,” George told the court.
Holloway was a volunteer who helped assist the family in searching for Casey’s 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. George revealed that his family was close to many of the volunteers, not just the woman in question.
He confirmed that he did visit Holloway at her home to comfort her after she told him she had a brain tumor and was dying since she had helped his own family during their time of need. His wife, Cindy Anthony, also knew about her brain tumor.
He admitted sending the woman a text message that said, “I need you in my life,” but justified it by saying that he needed all volunteers in his life. When Baez asked him if he ever confided in Holloway about Caylee’s alleged accident during his affair he denied having an affair and then tried to bring up Holloway’s criminal past but was stopped.
Holloway recently told a reporter that she and George had an intimate affair and that he told her Caylee’s death was an accident.
During the cross-examination, George stated that his friendship with Holloway ended when Caylee’s remains were found. He also denied telling his alleged mistress that he threw Casey against a wall demanding to know where Caylee was.
Cindy and Lee Anthony, Casey’s brother, were also called to the stand, contradicting each other’s testimony.
While Casey’s mother admitted that she never told private investigators to search the woods for her granddaughter, affirming private investigator Dominic Casey’s testimony on Monday, Lee stated that his mother told him she sent Dominic into the woods after she received a tip from a psychic.
He recalled being upset and angry with his mother sometime before October 2008 because that was the first time he heard of anyone in his family searching for a dead Caylee.
But both private investigators testified on Monday that their search took place mid-November of 2008, one month after Lee’s alleged argument with his mother.
Detective Yuri Melich was also brought back on Tuesday and told the jury that he remembered Cindy telling him in October 2008 that she already had people walk the area where Caylee’s remains were eventually found but nothing was discovered at that time.
Joe Jordan, a former leader of the Texas Equusearch volunteers who helped the Anthony family search for Caylee, was the first to testify in the morning.
Jordan said he searched the area where Caylee’s remains were eventually found in late August and early September. He sent an email to authorities after the toddler’s remains were found suggesting that the body had been moved there.
Controversy ensued when he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights after defense attorney Cheney Mason asked Jordan if he was given immunity by the state to avoid prosecution. Jordan had illegally recorded a conversation previously and the defense claimed that Jordan was changing his story to avoid charges.
Judge Belvin Perry asked the jury to disregard the witness’ statement regarding the Fifth Amendment but called it fair game for the defense to bring up the issue of immunity.
The state accuses Casey, 25, of first-degree murder and claims that she suffocated her daughter with duct tape and chloroform, threw her body in the trunk of her car, and dumped her in the nearby woods where her remains were found in December 2008.
