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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Fiona Leishman

Casey Anthony who lied during daughter's murder investigation speaks out in chilling crime doc

One of America's most controversial mums, Casey Anthony, has broken her silence in a limited series set to air in the UK this May.

More than a decade since the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee, Casey Anthony has spoken to a Peacock documentary team sharing her version of what really happened in the case which shocked a nation.

The documentary aired in the US last year, and is set to come to Crime and Investigation for UK viewers on May 7.

In the docu-series, the mum not only recounts her version of events for the first time, but talks about speculation surrounding her actions after her daughter vanished.

The three-part series called 'Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies' is the first time the public hears from her on camera, as she never testified during her trial.

Casey Anthony stands in the courtroom (Getty Images)
Casey Anthony walks out of the the Orange County Jail after being released. (Red Huber/UPI/REX/Shutterstock)

The prosecution in the trial wanted the death penalty, saying Caylee's death occurred during aggravated child abuse and was committed in a "cold, calculated and premeditated manner without any pretence of moral or legal justification."

Testimonies were heard for almost six weeks, and at the end, the jury rejected the prosecution's allegation that Casey knocked Caylee out with chloroform, before suffocating her with duct tape and dumping her body in the woods near the family's Orlando home.

Instead, she was found guilty of four lesser charges of lying to law enforcement officers.

Casey Anthony spoke to documentary makers (Peacock)

Casey spent three years in jail awaiting her trial, and after the jury's verdict was freed after getting credit for time she had already spent in prison.

Recently, Casey was spotted in Disney World, Orlando, by photographers and park goers. But she didn't take too kindly to the unwanted attention, and was pictured flipping off the camera on Sunday, April 23.

As she loaded luggage into the back of a car, she shouted at photographers to "back the f**k off" before flipping them the bird.

What happened to Caylee Anthony?

A photograph, of Caylee Anthony is displayed on a monitor after being entered into evidence during day 18 of the Casey Anthony murder trial (AP)

On June 15, 2008, Casey took Caylee to visit her grandfather at the family home in Orlando. It's the last day the tot, who was born August 9, 2005, is seen alive.

The next day, Casey, then a 22-year-old single mother, leaves the family home in Orlando with Caylee for a work assignment in Tampa.

She reportedly left to go and stay at her then boyfriend's, Tony Lazzaro.

One June 27, Casey and Lazzaro are seen at a nightclub after she had apparently dumped her car earlier that day.

It was impounded, with grandfather George retrieving the car on July 15.

He was apparently overwhelmed by a smell from the car, even after a bag of rubbish, thought to be the source of the smell, was removed from the boot.

Casey Anthony talks with her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims at her sentencing hearing on charges of lying to a law enforcement officer (Getty Images)

There are multiple calls to 911 that day, with Caylee's grandmother Cindy saying she had a "possible missing child."

Cindy demands Casey's arrest in a call to 911, making a comment on the smell in the vehicle saying: "It smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car."

Casey calls 911 herself, saying: "My daughter's been missing for the last 31 days...I know who has her. I have tried to contact her."

She told authorities that a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, Caylee's nanny or babysitter, had the girl.

Zenaida Fernandez-Gonazles was listed as a visitor to the apartment block on June 16, 2008, but said she had never met the Anthony's in her life.

Casey was arrested on July 16, 2008, and led investigators on another wild goose chase - to Universal Studios, Orlando.

Casey Anthony with daughter Caylee (CNN)

She pretended to have a job there, later revealing she had worked at a Kodak booth five years previous when she was unable to tell investigators where her office was.

Casey was charged with child neglect, lying to investigators and interfering with a criminal investigation.

Despite being held on relatively minor charges, the judge was so concerned at the evidence heard and Casey's behaviour that bail was set at $500,000.

On August 20, 2008, a California bounty hunter paid her bond in the hope Casey could lead them to her daughter.

However, just 10 days later her bond is rescinded after she allegedly stole and cashed cheques from a friend.

A protester stands with a sign in front of the Booking and Release Center at the Orange County Jail before Anthony's release (Getty Images)

A group of others came together to post her bond once again on September 5, but it wasn't long before she landed back in jail.

On October 14, Casey was charged with first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and four counts of giving false invitation to law enforcement.

Then on October 24 forensic reports from an examination of Casey's car were released.

The report noted a strand of hair found in the boot was "microscopically similar" to those found on Caylee's brush, and showed "characteristics of apparent decomposition".

It was December 11, 2008, when skeletal remains of a young girl were discovered in a bag less than half a mile from the Anthony's home.

Casey Anthony leaves with her attorney Jose Baez. (Getty Images)

Utility worker Ray Kronk was the one to make the grisly discovery, having already tried to get police to search the area back in the summer.

The Orange County chief medical examiner confirmed that the bones showed no evidence of trauma, ruling Caylee's death a "homicide of undetermined means."

Her skull had duct tape around the nose, mouth and jaw, but the advanced state of decomposition meant investigators struggled to pinpoint an exact cause and time of death.

The trial began on May 24, 2011 with prosecution painting Casey as a party girl who would be dragged down by a young daughter, using her shopping sprees and drinking while Caylee was missing to justify their argument.

However, Casey's lawyer, Jose Baez dropped a bombshell saying Caylee drowned in the family's swimming pool, and her grandfather George had tried to cover up the accidental death.

He also alleged George had molested Casey, igniting her habit of lying to cover up pain, and that Kronk had found Caylee's body and planted it in the woods.

George took the stand as the first witness, denying he ever molested his daughter or knew anything about Caylee's drowning.

During the trial, the manager of the towing company that impounded Casey's car, Simon Birch, testified he'd encountered various vehicles with dead bodies during his three decades in the business.

He said the smell from Anthony's car was consistent with those past experiences.

Media, police and members of the public anticipate Casey Anthony's release from the Orange County Jail on July 17, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. (WireImage)

A software designer also testified that someone had searched "chloroform", with searches for "head injuries", "ruptured spleen", "chest trauma", and "internal bleeding" also made on the Anthony's home computer in March 2008.

The searches were made during George and Cindy's regular work hours.

June 23 was a crucial day for defence, with Cindy claiming she was the one who researched chloroform on the family's computer.

She also testified a stain found in the trunk, allegedly caused by Caylee's decomposing body, was there when the family bought the car eight years earlier.

In closing arguments, lead prosecutor Jess Ashton emphaised to the jury that the young mother was motivated enough to go to extremes to achieve her freedom.

"Something needed to be sacrificed," he said, "that something was either the life she wanted or the life thrust upon her. She chose to sacrifice her child."

Baez was forbidden from revisited the unsuported molestation claims, but he nevertheless delivered a closing argument considered strong - pointing out the lack of evidence that could definitively place Caylee's body in the car boot or tie Casey to her daughter's death.

On July 5, 2011, after around six weeks of testimony and 400 pieces of evidence shown in court, the jury of seven women and five men took less than 11 hours to reach a not guilty verdict.

Two days later, Casey was handed a four-year sentence and $4,000 fine for the four counts of lying to police.

But her prison time is cancelled out by the fact she spent almost three years behind bars and with credit for good behaviour.

She left Orange County Jail just after midnight on July 17, 2011. She passed around a hundred protesters who had showed up, demanding justice for Caylee.

"It is my hope that Casey Anthony can receive the counseling and treatment she needs to move forward with the rest of her life," her lawyer said in a statement.

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