48 Hours - Casey Anthony: Judgment Day

Episode Date: July 22, 2026

It was a case that captivated the country. In 2008, 2-year-old Caylee Anthony disappeared, only to be discovered six months later near her home. Her remains were stuffed in plastic bags and her mouth sealed with duct tape. Her mother, Casey Anthony, was charged with murder after not reporting her daughter missing for a month, and allegedly lying to police.

State of Florida versus Casey Marie Anthony. As to the charge of first-degree murder, we the jury find the defendant not guilty. They're totally kind of wrong. I cannot believe the verdict. You cannot convict someone until they've had their day in court. It began three years ago with a mystery. My daughter's been missing for the last 31 days. that turned into an unthinkable crime.

This morning, a bag of bones was found, a skull detached. They believe it to be the body of Kaley Anthony. A community outrage. A family, torn apart. What we've been through. Shut up. Shut up!

There's been hell. And a nation. A horrific discovery. A two-year-old Kaley Anthony. Focused on one. woman. People hate her. She's been portrayed as an evil person. Tonight, on a special edition of 48 hours, we will take you inside one of the most dramatic murder trials in recent memory. Is the state ready? Is the defense ready? Casey Anthony is guilty of murder in the first

degree. This is not a murder case. This is a sad, tragic accident. It's better than any soap opera. The The problem is, it's real. 91 witnesses. 30 days of testimony. You're looking at a human skull. It has a darkened band at the portion of the hair. The cloisform was shockingly hot. It's a junk science, and it's never been tested.

Stunning, revelations. There was a dead body in the back of Casey Anthony's car. It smelled like something had died in the car. She threw the garbage in the trunk of her car. That's where the smell comes from. And a family accused. Casey was eight years old and her father came into her room and began to touch her inappropriately. This whole family has been on trial.

Have you ever sexually molested your daughter? No, sir. Disturbing evidence. The pelvis and the lower legs more than likely was dragged to this area. It's a fantasy of forensics is what it is. And even more disturbing behavior. Did the defendant participate in the high-bide context? Yes, sir.

I think the most difficult part of this case is obviously Casey Anthony's behavior. There is no evidence linking her to anything to do with the death of his child, period. Three years of questions. Casey did not murder, Kaylee. It's that simple. Finally, a shocking verdict. My daughter will ask me, what did you do today? And I can say I saved her life.

not guilty. So say we all. Madam Clerk, you may publish the verdicts. State of Florida versus Casey Marie Anthony. Today's verdict was not what most of the impassioned observers outside the Orlando courthouse were expecting. We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty. Casey Anthony was acquitted of murder. It's like an OJ in our case. Like it's just ridiculous. We, the jury, find the defendant, not guilty. Acquitted of manslaughter, acquitted of child abuse. This is crazy. She was convicted only of four misdemeanors, all of them about lying to investigators. I think she probably needs to hide because a lot of people are very angry.

Minutes after Casey's fate was read aloud, the man in charge of her case, who sat beside her for the past six weeks, spoke out. Casey did not murder, Kaylee. Our system of justice has not dishonored her memory. by a false conviction. It's been three long years since Attorney Jose Baez began fighting an uphill battle to save his most notorious crime. Here comes Casey Anthony. I think she has courage, strength, intelligence.

The Orlando Florida woman first became a national obsession in July 2008, when she claimed that her two and a half-year-old daughter, Kaylee, had been kidnapped a month earlier, but she didn't report it. While her daughter was supposedly missing, Casey partied and told her family and friends that Kaylee was with a nanny.

That October, Casey was charged with murder. Two months later, Kaylee's skeleton remains were found not far from the family home. After years of damaging pretrial publicity, Baez was practically the only person left defending her.

What can you tell us? Get away! Get away! You can only use flattering terms to describe the true Casey Anthony. The drama moved to the courtroom in May when the demure-looking 25-year-old defendant finally faced a jury. This isn't just a case about Casey Marie Anthony. It's a story about Kaylee Anthony as well.

Prosecutor Linda Drain Burdick argued that. that Casey killed Kaylee and then concocted elaborate lies to conceal it. No one else lied to their friends, to their family, to investigators. No one else benefited from the death of Kaylee Marie Anthony. The stakes were high. If convicted, Casey Anthony possibly faced the death penalty. A harsh reality that undoubtedly weighed heavily on her parents, George and Cindy, as they listened to the prosecutors opening states. statement.

Casey Anthony appeared to be what her parents thought she was, a loving mother working hard to provide support for her daughter. George and Cindy were key to this highly circumstantial case. That good. Casey was 19 and still living with them when Kaylee was born. She and her child never moved out. And I saw her with Kaylee. I'm recording every day.

And I saw the type of mother's shoes. And she's less like me. And I could never harm my hair on any of my children's head. In this 2009 interview, the Anthony's told 48 hours that Casey left the house with Kaylee in June 2008. And unexpectedly, did not come back home. I think it was a couple weeks into it when I started really pushing to talk to Kaylee. because, you know, I really missed her. In his opening argument, Attorney Baez said Casey had a reason to lie about Kaylee's whereabouts.

And for the first time in public, he revealed it. She never was missing. Kaylee Anthony died on June 16, 2008 when she drowned in her family's swimming pool. That awful event, he said, overwhelmed this deeply disturbed young mother, a woman who had learned to keep secrets because she had been sexually abused by her own father from an early age. It all began when Casey was eight years old

and her father came into her room and began to touch her inappropriately and it escalated. And it escalated. Jose Baez's opening statement was stunning. Wow. Wow. Wow, wow, well, well. Linda Kenny Baden was once a member

of Casey's defense team. It turned the case on its head. It turned the case upside down. What the reason was as to why somebody would not report her beautiful daughter missing. Baez accused George Anthony of being the real villain in this case. A brutal man who intimidated his daughter for years. Baez told jurors that George found Kaylee in the pool that day. And then Casey found him holding the body of her lifeless child.

She immediately grabbed Kaylee. and began to cry and cry and cry and cry and shortly thereafter George began to yell at her look what you've done your mother

will never forgive you and you will go to jail for child neglect for the rest of your freaking life Baez contended that Kaylee's accidental death became one more ugly family secret a secret

just like George's alleged sexual abuse Casey was raised to lie. She could be 13 years old, have her father's penis in her mouth, and then go to school and play with the other kids as if nothing ever happened. Throughout Baez's accusations, George Anthony remained stoic. Later on the stand, he would unequivocally deny the allegations against him. Certainly the opening statement put pressure on the defense to prove the allegations made against George. Yeah, but defense doesn't have to prove those allegations.

They have to give a hint to the allegations. This is not a murder case. This is not a manslaughter case. This is a sad, tragic accident. The state insisted... Homicide. This was no accident. And the physical evidence proves...

As the state reaches that level of desperation. But by his promise, he would discredit the state's forensic experts, police investigators, and even Roy Kronk, the man who found Kaley's remains. What did Cronk do with her? Why did he place her there that way? And can you trust anything this man has to say? I would tell you you can't. After nearly three years of relentless publicity,

damaging evidence, and scandalous photos... Is Casey okay? The defense was now on a mission to show that Casey Anthony wasn't the person everyone thought she was, after all. I think the public still hates Casey Anthony. But I think the public also knows. that they haven't been given the whole truth. What happened to Kaylee?

It was the question in the trial of Casey Anthony. A question the prosecution team was convinced the physical evidence would answer. The evidence is overwhelming. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. I think when you add the evidence up, piece by piece, no one else could have murdered little Kaylee other than her mother. From the evidence that you will hear in this case, there is no other conclusion.

One of the first pieces was also one of the most controversial. A foul smell, which the state claimed was a clear indication of foul play. There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today, and it smells like there's been a dead body, and it's a wrong car. Casey's car, which had been abandoned sometime after Kaylee went missing, left an impressive. on everyone who came in contact with it. George Anthony goes to retrieve the call. And as they approach the vehicle,

an overwhelming smell is emanating from it. And it's coming from the trunk. It was an odor that could take your breath away. I said it smelled like something had died in the car. It was very potent. It was eye-opening. When investigators tested the air-opening, And investigators tested the air in the trunk.

They discovered the presence of chloroform. The chloroform was shockingly high, unusually high. Chloroform is one of the chemicals produced when a body decomposes. Do you have an opinion as to whether there was a decomposing human body in the trunk of that car at some point? I can find no other plausible explanation other than that to explain all the results we found. Also found in the car's trunk a hair possibly belonging to Cayley. It has a darkened band at the root portion of the hair, and this is consistent with apparent decomposition. For prosecutor Jeff Ashton, all the expert testimony added up to one conclusion.

That there was a dead body in the back of Casey Anthony's car. But Casey Anthony's defense team came to a very different conclusion. Defense Attorney Cheney Mason. There is no evidence linking her to anything to do with the death of this child, period. Former member of K.C. Anthony's defense team, Linda Kenny Bodden. The prosecution had to go to novel, unvalidated science to try to get a death penalty. It's the kind of science that if you went into a hospital would never be used because it would not be considered legitimate.

I want to talk about the forensics. And what isn't necessarily science, but more like science fiction? And you'll see that throughout the course of this trial as the state reaches that level of desperation. In presenting his case, All right, let's return to juror. Defense attorney Jose Baez questioned the analysis of the evidence, and in some cases, the evidence itself.

It's a fantasy of forensics is what it is. The smell. She threw the garbage in the trunk of her car. She forgot to throw out the trash. That's where the smell comes from. The hair supposedly confirming Kelly's death. That one hair is still something that you cannot say came from a dead person. I can't say absolutely that that's the reason the characteristics are present correct.

Hair banding is novel science. It's hardly ever been used. The analysis of the air in Casey's car was especially, dubious, according to the defense. There's not a sufficiently reliable scientific method to be able to identify the presence or absence of human remains. What can you find chloroform? Pretty much everywhere. It's a very common chemical in very low quantities.

But there was one piece of evidence that seemed impossible to dispute. This is Oshk County of the Emergency Dispact. We found a human skull. Oh my gosh. my gosh. Found in the woods just blocks from her home, the skeleton of Kaylee Anthony. Examination of that scene revealed that the body of Kaylee, Marie Anthony, had been wrapped in it, we need a pool blanket, stuffed into multiple garbage bags, shoved into a laundry bag, and thrown into a littered swamp like she was just another piece of trash.

The details of the crime scene shocked the entire courtroom. You're looking at a human skull. That it's tossed in a field to rot in bags. Being dragged away by an animal or animals. The trunk of the body with the pelvis and the lower Our legs more than likely was dragged to this area. But most shocking of all, a strip of duct tape found loosely attached to the skull. I believe that is some of the most damaging evidence.

There is no child that should have duct tape on its face when it dies. There is no reason to put duct tape on the face after they die. Based on our experience, we've seen that in cases of hummus. The prosecution claimed the duct tape was used to suffocate Kaylee. Would the single piece of tape, if applied in the position shown on the video, been sufficient to have covered the nose and mouth and made breathing impossible? Yes. But because neither Casey's or Kaylee's DNA was found on the duct tape...

If this was... the duct tape was attached to the face, there would have been DNA from the face on the duct tape. The defense countered with another theory. I think that the duct tape was a later event. After decomposition. After decomposition. This duct tape was perhaps placed there to hold the Lord's jaw in place. And the defense questioned the motives of Roy Kronk. That was a very horrific thing for me to find, obviously.

The meter reader who first discovered the skull. You were joking, you say, about finding this body? No, we were joking about the money, sir. I never joked about finding the body, sir. That's not what I said. Did his testimony bother you? Well, it's clear that he somehow moved the physical evidence. Your testimony that you put that stick in the eye socket of this skull and lifted it up to be sure what it was?

Yes, sir, I apologize. for doing so, but like I said, I did not know what it was. And then you put it back? Yes, sir. But there was one theory the defense didn't address its own. The defense has not yet presented any evidence that Kaylee drowned. Defense doesn't have to prove its case. All they have to do is raise a reasonable doubt by showing there was a possibility that she drowned.

After a parade of forensic experts testified, neither side could definitively explain exactly how Kaylee died, but the jury would have other evidence to consider in reaching their verdict, the behavior of Casey Anthony. And it's what she did in the month after Little Kaylee went missing that again is the most compelling evidence of all. Would she or wouldn't she? After weeks of speculation as to whether Casey Anthony would tell her own story. Is it your decision not to testify?

Yes, sir. While Casey never took the stand, the jury did see her reactions to the drama playing out in court. Forensic psychologist, Louis Schlesinger. Observing her through not only in court, but her behavior prior to the homicide and following it, I see somebody who is immature, egocentric, narcissistic, and very very,

very very shallow. Her partying and carrying on after Kaylee died, that is devastating behavior. Papa, the last documented time, two and a half-year-old Kaylee was seen was in this video, June 15, 2008, a day she spent with her grandmother, Cindy. Finish your song.

Oh, it was amazing. It was a great day. After Casey left her parents home with Kaylee the next day, no one saw the toddler again. That night, Casey moved in with her new boyfriend, Anthony Lazaro, alone. Did you notice any difference in Casey Anthony's demeanor? No. No, sir. Prosecutor Frank George asked Lizarro about that night together. During this time frame, did she ever tell you that her child was missing?

No, sir. A security camera captured Lazaro with his arm around Casey at a blockbuster video store that night, June 16th. How would you describe her demeanor? The way she was every day. Which was? Happy, happy to see me, having a grand old time. At any time that you saw her that night,

did she ever cry? No. Did she ever act scared? Nope. She had act nervous. No. Most notoriously, for the next month, Casey spent many nights out with friends, partied. Did you witness the hot body contest?

Yes, sir. Did the defendant participate in the hot body contest? Yes, sir. Prosecutors called to the stand a parade of Casey's friends and acquaintances to testify about those nights. Did she ever tell you that her daughter was missing? No. Kidnapped?

No, sir. That she was upset? No. Or sad? No. Did you ever notice anything wrong with her demeanor? No. Was there anything when she told you where Kaylee was that made you worried?

No, sir. Casey didn't appear to be worried either. Two weeks after Kaylee went missing, she got a tattoo that read Belavita, Italian for Beautiful Life. Trial consultant Richard Gabriel worked with Casey's defense and helped pick the jury. Just because her behavior is so different than what we expect, that obviously was a huge challenge for the defense in trying to explain what was going on. I asked her where Kaylee was. And what did she tell you? She told me that she was spending the weekend at the beach with the nanny. Jorers also heard testimony about Casey's lies. Most disturbingly, she told everyone, including her mother,

that Kaylee was safe with a nanny named Zanny. I heard that she just was a beautiful person on the inside as well as the outside and had a great smile. Casey told elaborate stories about the fictitious Zanny. She said, Mom, Zanny's mother is very ill and she's not able to leave. And about where Kaylee was. Were you asking to speak to Kaylee on the phone? There was always a reason that Casey wasn't with Kaylee. Listen, I'm in front of the cameras all the time.

What message do you want me to give to Zanny that she needs to return Kaylee? This Zanny individual, did you ever find her? No. The nanny wasn't Casey's only lie. She also told her family and police that she worked at Universal Studios. But when Detective Uri Mellish went there with her... She turns left, starts walking down this hallway, and about halfway down the hallway, she stopped.

turns, looks at us and says, I don't work here. Enteres the building with absolute confidence. Prosecutor Jeff Ashton pointed to that moment in his closing argument. Turns around, puts her hands in her pockets and says, okay, I don't work here. Casey Anthony maintains her lies until they absolutely cannot be maintained anymore. Casey told so many obvious lies that her defense lawyer, Jose Baez, had no choice but to acknowledge them. Now I told you in the beginning of this case that Casey reacts the way she does and lies because of the environment she was brought up in. The dysfunctional family, the secrets and the

lies. She was in some environment that lying was acceptable, that she was taught to lie, that she lied with impunity, and that it also shows that something is obviously wrong with her. Just last week, Linda Kenny Bodden, the former member of Casey's defense team, said this was a strategy used to help Casey avoid the death penalty. And if you're trying a death penalty case, what you want to do through the guilt phase of the case is to show that your client has some kind of mental issue. You're planting the siege.

The defense team never expected her to walk out of that courthouse, a free woman. I think the defense team would be happy as long as she doesn't get the death penalty. And she didn't. She was portrayed as an uncaring mother and a liar. And quite frankly, I'm not sure it's actually that important for a jury. And so as a result, the jury may have decided to have just said, look, let's look at what we can know solidly from the forensic evidence

or from what is lacking in the forensic evidence as opposed to speculation or guesswork or some soap opera view of who Casey Anthony is. I think the most difficult part of this case is obviously Casey Anthony's behavior. And you really have to get into that family dynamic. And until somebody does, and until somebody tells us what occurred in that family dynamic on June 16, 2008, this case is always going to be a mystery. Sometimes it feels like the news is full of things that have never happened before. And that is not exactly true. In fact, it may have happened this very week, hundreds or thousands of years ago.

I'm Sally Helm, host of the podcast History This Week from the History Channel. Trade embargoes? Thomas Jefferson tried them. Rent too high? We've been arguing about that for a while. Each episode is proof. The past isn't that far away. Listen to History This Week, available now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For the entire time that Casey Anthony's life hung in the balance in court, Her family relationships were front and center. As her mother, her father, and her brother each took the stand,

the jury witness a family torn apart by unthinkable tragedy. I overheard her telling that Kaylee had been gone for 31 days and that she... The family had taken her. Need a break, miss Dan? No, sir, I need to get through this. I need to have something inside of me get through this. I don't want to be here. I don't want my sister to be here and my parents to be here.

To a certain extent, this whole family has been on trial almost from the inception of this case. Defense trial consultant Richard Gabriel. Casey Anthony and her family, this whole family portrait is taken in a hall of mirrors. At some point, a jury has to decide which of those images. is the true image. Have you ever sexually molested your daughter, Casey, Anthony? No, sir. When you heard the accusations against George Anthony,

did you think they were credible? Anything is possible. I don't think it was credible. For forensic psychologist, Louis Lessinger says, the tape jailhouse conversations prosecutors played in court between Casey and her father. So you know how much I love you, how much I've always loved you.

Contradict what her lawyer said in his opening statement. You've been a great dad and you've been the best grandfather. Don't for a second think otherwise. When you look at the jailhouse video recordings, she seems to have a fairly good relationship with both of her parents. Still, those accusations of abuse were on everyone's mind and put the Anthony family under even more scrutiny. I think there's a family dynamic that's hard for all of us to understand.

stand that was going on within the Anthony family. What exactly was going on? Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi agrees those jailhouse conversations are telling. Maybe we've all been too domineering. The parents seemed to be very deferential to her. Maybe we didn't let you be the best mom. It's nobody's fault. It's nobody's fault.

But it's all that's going to change. I'm going to listen more. She was running the show, even in jail. Come on. Casey, hold on, sweetheart. Nobody's letting me speak. I don't know what's going on my entire life has been taken from me.

Everything has been taken from me. Casey, from the time almost she was arrested, sees herself as a victim. It's the opposite of what people believe a grieving mother should behave like. I'm a little bit of an emergency. I've called a little bit. A little bit ago, the deputy sheriff's son who I found out my granddaughter has been taken.

Listening to it all took a toll on Casey's family. Cindy Anthony broke down on the stand when she heard her own tearful plea on that now infamous 911 call. There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today, and it smells like there's been a dead body in a car. Casey's brother Lee broke down too when he was forced to relive the painful memory of Casey's pregnancy, Kaylee's birth and how the whole family shut him out. I was very angry at my mom and I was also angry at my sister. I was just angry at everyone in general that they didn't want to include me.

And in six trips to the witness stand, George Anthony fought to keep his composure, as he dealt with uncomfortable questions from both the prosecution, and the defense. Were you present in your home when Kaylee Anthony died? No, and when I heard that today, it hurt really bad. He was questioned about his failed suicide attempt in 2009.

I needed at that time to go and be with Kaylee. And you expressed that in the note. Yes, I did. Because I believe I failed her. And he was accused of having a child. affair with a woman named Crystal Holloway. Did you at any time ever tell her not to say anything about your affair with her? Sir, I never had a romantic affair with Crystal Holloway.

And the defense put Holloway on the stand in their only attempt to prove Kaylee's death was not a murder. He also said it was an accident that snowballed out of control. You never told her this was an accident that snowballed out of control? Never did. being questioned and accused of actually covering up the crime, of sexually abusing his daughter, of having an affair. I mean, it was just nothing but character assassination. The stakes were high for the Anthony's.

They knew Casey was facing the death penalty because investigators found evidence of premeditation in the Anthony home. On the family's computer, incriminating searches she allegedly made months before Kaylee went missing. with terms including neck-breaking, household weapons, shovel, and how to make chloroform. These were all internet searches done on the computer that Casey Anthony used three months before that little girl went missing. So if that doesn't give you premeditation, I don't know what does. They don't know if Casey was even home, much less on the computer.

So these searches are insignificant? Absolutely. Absolutely. If you can't say who ran the searches, how are the search is significant? Everyone in the house has access to this computer? Yes. And in another moment of high family drama, Cindy Anthony testified that she was the one who searched for chloroform. Do you recall in March of 2008, you doing any types of searches for any items that might include chloroform? Yes.

I started looking up chloroform, I mean chlorophyll, and then that prompted me to look up chloroform. What did you make of Cindy's testimony about the chloroform? Some people suggest she was trying to save her daughter from the death penalty. I think that's probably correct. Back in March of 2008, what was Cindy Anthony's job at Gentiva? In fact, prosecutors called witnesses who testified that Cindy was at work when those searches were performed on the Anthony home computer. So there is activity on a patient's file starting at 132744 central time by user C.M. Anthony at a desk terminal. Is that correct? That's correct.

It was this back and forth, a family trying to protect its own while forced to face painful allegations that riveted the courtroom. You wonder why this case got so crazy. I think it's hard for a jury. And you look at the situation here. You look at the facts here. They're really charged to look at things objectively and rationally. To say that there is no evidence to connect Casey Anthony to Kaylee's death ignores all of this evidence. They sometimes have to sort of sort their way through a lot of this emotion to try and truly understand what's the evidence here.

Would a defendant rise along with counsel? Madam Clerk, you may publish the verdicts. How dare you, sir, try to tell me. You must base your verdict. Did you like to take a break? The tape that was used to kill... For the last six weeks, the Casey Anthony trial was America's hottest reality show.

As the media invaded Orlando. For four hours today, prosecutors continued to... In defense, claiming that George Anthony was... And it was the hottest ticket in town, one apparently were fighting for. It's the lucky one that broke the fight up. It got dirty. There's no reason to bunch up because none of you are getting in today.

Housewife Sherry Agie flew from Atlanta to see Casey Anthony with her own eyes. She just didn't seem remorseful. She was acting like it was a big joke and cutting up and laughing and I want to see justice for Kaylee. Sherry scored a courtroom seat six times. 17, seat number 17. Oh, my tickets. Everybody loves seeing these. Sean Chazan, who spent 13 days in court. And these are selling on eBay. I've seen them.

Had just moved to Orlando when Kaylee was reported missing. He was so moved by the story that he joined the search for her and even attended her memorial. Those are from her memorial. She was a beautiful little girl. I can't even say her name. Kaylee was a beautiful girl. We met Matthew Bartlett online to get a ticket last Wednesday. I just want to be a part of it.

Support, you know, the defense. I believe she's innocent in some ways. I mean, on Thursday, Bartlett made an obscene hand gesture in the direction of prosecutor Jeff Ashton. Then Judge Belvin Perry made a spectacle of Bartlett. And what does that mean, sir? The F word to someone. I was sentenced you to six days in Orange County Jail.

impose a fine of four hundred dollars. As to the charge of first degree murder, as to count one, we the jury find the defendant not guilty. Today's stunning verdict virtually assures that the spectacle that Casey Anthony trial will linger for a long time. It was a prosecution construct, in my opinion. I think the jury saw through that. They saw that this was a terrible and horrific accident,

an accident that was covered up, and that because of the mystery surrounding the family and the clear dysfunction that seemed to be shown on the jury stand by members of the family, that something else was going on there, and they weren't going to hold Casey Anthony responsible. Perhaps realizing their verdict was controversial, the entire jury declined to speak at a press conference afterwards. The 12 jurors have declined to talk to you. But Jose Baez and his defense team didn't pass up the chance to celebrate their unexpected victory. I'm very happy for Casey.

I'm ecstatic for her and I want her to be able to grieve and grow and somehow get her life back together. In a tent outside the courthouse, prosecutors Jeff Ashton and Linda Drain Burdick stood silent as Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar thank them for their work. This trial team is world class and in command of the evidence. Two hours later, we learned that Jeff Ashton retired from his job. Cindy and George Anthony slipped out of the courtroom right after the verdict was read.

Later, their lawyer issued this statement. Despite the baseless defense chosen by Casey Anthony, the family believes that the jury made a fair decision based on the evidence presented. I don't think the Anthony family could win either way. It was going to be a difficult day, and I can't blame them for leaving the courtroom the way they did. In the woods where Kaylee's body was found, people left remembrances for her. Sean Seizon watched today's shocking verdict on a monitor outside the courtroom. Not guilty for a degree murder, I can't believe it.

And he wasn't alone. This is like O.J. O'J. O'clock again. No regard at all for that baby? What is wrong with these people? No justice. Sir. No life now. Not at all.

No child. Belamita. And how can she not be guilty of child? Like when she didn't know where her child was for 31 days? Even Casey's friends, Dante Salati and Sean Daly were split on the verdict. Do you think we'll ever know the truth, Dante? There's only two people that know the truth, and I don't think either one of them are going to speak. Do you have any interest in talking to her again?

I would love to sit down and talk with her. Would I be able to go back to the friendship that I had with her? Probably not. But I would love to sit down and ask her questions that are probably the question she wouldn't be able to answer. I don't know what happens to Casey now. Obviously she'll finish serving her time in jail. If the lynch mob justice is as it was that I saw this afternoon, I'm concerned for her safety. That people will go after her.

Wherever she goes, she will always be Casey Anthony. For her four misdemeanor convictions for lying to investigators, Casey Anthony was sentenced to four years. She was released 10 days later, with credit for good behavior and nearly three years already served. In 2013, a Florida appeals court overturned two of those four misdemeanor convictions.