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Thursday, July 31, 2008

CELL PHONE FORENSICS


Is this why Casey Anthony decided to get a new AT&T Blackjack just a couple of weeks before it was found that Caylee was missing? Was mommy-dearest trying to confuse any tracking of where she was? Now she could say anyone who found her two missing cell phones could throw off her actual location? She was curiously detailed in her jail-house phone call description to her brother on how she moved the sims card back and forth between old and new phones because the new one "wouldn't hold a charge".

Tuesday, January 23, 2007
by Maite Amorebieta, Dateline assistant producer


Welcome to the age of cell phone forensics.

More and more it seems cell phone evidence is being used in criminal trials. And in the Piper Rountree case, it was key.

Often, cell phone records are used in court to establish people's movements. How? Well, what most people forget, with all that these devices do these days, is that cell phones are really just two-way radios, albeit sophisticated ones.

Cell phones are constantly communicating with a network, sending pings to the nearest transmission tower, which allows your calls to be routed correctly.

Multiple antennas are tracking your phone's signal, since each tower only covers a few square miles. But, as you move, your call travels with you and is handed off to the base station receiving the strongest signal from your phone. The carrier keeps records of which towers the phone has contacted or pinged, and when.

Which means a cell phone's position over time can be tracked within a few hundred yards. In urban areas with many towers, a phone can be tracked almost to the block. And as most phones become equipped with GPS chips, they only need to be turned ON to pinpoint your location in real time!

Technology is so good that hand-offs are unnoticed. But, the price we pay is that our phone calls leave a trail. And the trail left by Piper Rountree's cell phone threatened to convict her.

On the day of Fred Jablin's murder, lead detective Coby Kelley got a warrant for Piper's cell phone records. Within hours, the police were able to place that phone in the Richmond area at the time of Fred's murder and then tracked it heading east on I-64 toward Norfolk airport.
Then, the phone stopped communicating.

But, once it was out of the dead zone, the phone records placed Piper's phone in Baltimore. Upon further investigation, police learned that a passenger with the last name of 'Rountree' was ticketed on a flight from Baltimore to Texas that very afternoon. However, the ticket happened to be in the name of Piper's sister-- Tina.

Piper would later say that her phone was used by several people, including Tina. About 14 hours before the murder, police say Piper called her 12 year old son, and told him that she was in Texas. This was at a time when her cell phone was pinging towers in Virginia.

Could Tina have actually been on the phone with Piper's son? While Piper says that people often confuse her voice for Tina's, the prosecution argued a son would know his own mother's voice.
The jurors we interviewed believed Piper spoke to her son that Friday night.

And to them, that phone call put Piper in Richmond that Friday, leading them to the ultimate conclusion that she was also lying in wait to shoot Fred Jablin in his Hearthglow Lane driveway early that Saturday morning before the sun came up.

Caylee Case Gets National Attention


Thursday, July 31, 2008
cfnews13, Orlando

ORLANDO -- The grandmother of missing 2-year-old Caylee Anthony weighed in on her meeting with the FBI during another appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" Thursday night.

Cindy Anthony said her meeting Wednesday with federal investigators went well, but she would not say what information she told.

Cindy told King she thinks she knows who has toddler, but was on the defensive again about the day she called 911.

"I said whatever I needed to do to get the authorities to come help me," Cindy Anthony said. "I worked on whatever I could to get them out there, so I'm not a liar. I just stretched the truth a little bit. The car wasn't where it was supposed to be, so I said it was stolen, because I didn't have any reason to come to my house. That doesn't make me a liar or a murderer, and that doesn't make my daughter either, just because she had some mistruths." ("stretched the truth a little bit", "mistruths", they are all called LIES, Cindy. You can call a cat a dog, but it's still a cat.)

Caylee On Cover Of 'People'

The Orange County Sheriff's office is making national headlines for its investigation into the disappearance of Caylee Anthony.

Carlos Padilla, with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said Casey Anthony is the last person to have had contact with Caylee, but she refuses to sit down with law enforcement. "We truly believe she has info that could help us find her little daughter," Padilla said.

Padilla sat down with People magazine for this week's cover story, which will be released Friday.
"I honestly can say we've had other cases that made the national media, (but) I don't recall anything more than this. (It's) something that's been phenomenal, unbelievable," Padilla told News 13.

The national attention in this case means investigators have a lot of interviews to watch. Padilla said investigators are watching those interviews as a way to connect the dots and get a picture of what happened.

"Keep in mind, we have a whole unit and also have civilian personnel taking down tips and turning them over to police," Padilla said. In the article, Padilla said there is no evidence to prove the toddler is dead.

He also said several suspects have been ruled out, including Casey Anthony's boyfriend, who has been fully cooperative. Padilla said that Caylee's biological father is dead, but he would not say who the father is.

According to Padilla, DNA results, including evidence collected from the trunk of Casey Anthony's car and her parent's backyard is expected to be in by late next week.

New Phone Call Released

Casey Anthony is now limiting her visits at the Orange County jail to just her immediate family. (This is because of the weirdo high-school guy who popped in for a visit last week. She didn't know who he was.) The request did not say why she is limiting the list, but she is only allowed three visits a week.

A new phone call was also released Thursday between Casey and her brother Lee. The two talked about some sort of letter that's in the works.

Lee: "How is that letter coming?" Casey: "Umm, well, when I get a chance actually to write a little bit more, I should be able to do that in the next little bit because I have quote rec time." (It sounds to me at this point that Lee hung up on her. Of course, I could be wrong...)
Casey's lawyer said he is continuing plans to appeal her $500,000 bond to the Florida Supreme Court.

Grandmother Won't Reveal 'Pieces Of The Puzzle'

The grandmother of Caylee Anthony says she won't explain what she meant when she said that "pieces of the puzzle" are coming together regarding Caylee Anthony's disappearance.

Speaking on NBC's "Today," Cindy Anthony said she doesn't want to jeopardize Caylee's safe return by publicly revealing information told to her by her daughter.

Casey Named Person Of Interest

Prosecutors called Casey Anthony a person of interest in what they say appears to be a homicide investigation of her missing 2-year-old daughter.

Casey Anthony's lawyer, Jose Baez, had been arguing $500,000 was just too excessive. However, an appeals court disagreed. Baez said he plans on taking the case to the Florida Supreme Court.

The state attorney’s office is trying to decide out if any formal charges will be filed against Casey Anthony. If that happens, she will be entitled to another bond hearing in an Orange County court.

Cryptic Call Released Between Casey And Brother

A new cryptic call was released Wednesday between Casey Anthony and her brother Lee.
The call was made Wednesday, and while no specifics were discussed -- possibly because both knew the call was being recorded -- Lee Anthony did press Casey for information.

"You know, I know there's some people you've referred to in the past, and you know I’m just curious if anything has changed with who I can trust and all those type of things," Lee said.
"Well, as far as I'm concerned here, I don't really know on that level. I guess, understandably, just being out of contact, but um, as far as I'm concerned, nothing has really changed on that level," said Casey.

Lee said he's talked to everyone Casey has mentioned to him, but didn't elaborate on who they were or what they might know. He did tell Casey he wasn't able to make it to her court hearing Tuesday because he was "working on other stuff.”

Once they start "stretching the truth" and giving "mistruths" to the Feds, I imagine they will be taught a little lesson on LYING. Ft. Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary would be a good school.

Drew Peterson gun case still on


DREW PETERSON
Judge refuses to drop charges -- lawyers confident

July 31, 2008

BY DAN ROZEK
Staff Reporter
Chicago Sun-Times

Drew Peterson lost his attempt Wednesday to have two felony weapons charges dismissed, but his attorneys said they're confident he'll win when the case goes to trial.

A Will County judge rejected an argument by Peterson's attorneys that federal law allows the retired Bolingbrook police officer to own the assault rifle that prompted his arrest.

The ruling by Judge Richard Schoenstedt clears the way for Peterson -- who has been labeled a suspect in his fourth wife's 2007 disappearance -- to stand trial later this year on charges he possessed an AR-15 assault rifle with an illegally short barrel.

Peterson, 54, faces a maximum five-year prison term if convicted.

"The prosecution is continuing, so it's not a total victory," defense attorney Joel Brodsky said, but he added: "There are many positive aspects to this [ruling]."

Schoenstedt could set a trial date when Peterson next appears in court Aug. 28. Prosecutors praised the ruling, saying they're eager to take the case to trial.

"We're just pleased we can move forward with the case," said Charles Pelkie, a spokesman for Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow.

The weapons charges are the only ones filed against Peterson, whose fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared last October.

Authorities have also reopened their investigation into the 2004 drowning death of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio. Her death, initially ruled an accident, was reclassified a murder after Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

State Police seized the assault rifle and other weapons last November during a search of Peterson's Bolingbrook home. It wasn't until May that prosecutors filed the first weapons charge against him, alleging the barrel of the AR-15 is shorter than the 16-inch limit set by state law. They added a second charge in July, contending Peterson transferred the illegal weapon to his adult son Stephen.

Peterson's attorneys, though, argued the gun charges should be dismissed because a 2004 federal law allows police officers nationwide to own and carry weapons, regardless of state laws.
"It would be an illegal gun for a non-police officer," Brodsky said.

Prosecutors disputed that, arguing that even with the federal law, police officers can't carry weapons that are illegal under state law.

Though Schoenstedt refused to dismiss the weapons charges, he indicated the crucial issue in Peterson's trial may be whether the federal legislation supersedes state gun laws -- and said he has found no clear answer to that question.

Peterson, who remains free on bail, declined to comment as he left the courthouse, but he waved to several spectators.
If found guilty of the current charges, Peterson could face up to 6 years in prison.

Richard Davis Tapes show victims screaming, crying, gasping for air

Wednesday, July 30, 2008


INDEPENDENCE, Missouri (AP) -- Jurors in the capital-murder case of a man accused of killing two women viewed a DVD recording Wednesday of the women being beaten and sexually tortured.



The jury in the trial of Richard Davis, 44, reviewed 90 minutes of edited images taken from seven hours of videotapes that police found in Davis' Independence apartment.

According to previous testimony, the videotapes showed Davis and his girlfriend, Dena Riley, brutalizing two women -- Marsha Spicer, 41, and Michelle Huff-Ricci, 36.

Davis is on trial in Jackson County for the May 2006 death of Spicer, of Independence. He faces 40 felony counts, including capital murder, and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Riley's trial is scheduled for next year. Davis and Riley also are charged in neighboring Clay County with capital murder in the April 2006 suffocation of Huff-Ricci.

The DVD played Wednesday could be seen only by the jury, judge and attorneys. Others in the courtroom, including Spicer's family, could hear the audio; the relatives left the room before the recording finished.

At one point, a victim is heard screaming and crying. Several minutes later the same woman begs, "Please wait," then the sound of duct tape being unrolled is heard. Later a woman's screams were heard, followed by another woman's voice telling her to be quiet.

Elsewhere on the recording, a woman is heard gasping for air.

Police found Spicer's battered and nude body in a shallow grave in Lafayette County in May 2006. Autopsy results indicated she had been strangled.

News of the find led police to two women who shared stories of a man who liked to choke women during sex. That led them to Davis and Riley, who denied knowing Spicer.

A search warrant for the couple's apartment found the videotapes, among other evidence. By the time authorities issued arrest warrants for Davis and Riley, they had left the area; they were captured in southwest Missouri after a five-day manhunt.

Police later linked the two to Huff-Ricci, who had disappeared more than a month before Spicer's body was found. Police have said both defendants led investigators to Huff-Ricci's charred, skeletal remains in rural Clay County, just north of Independence.

Riley and Davis also have been indicted in Kansas on a federal charge of kidnapping a 5-year-old southeast Kansas girl related to Davis after fleeing the Kansas City area. Court documents said the child had injuries consistent with sexual abuse.

Boyfriend of woman stuck to toilet gets probation


NESS CITY, Kan. — A man whose girlfriend sat on a toilet for so long that the seat adhered to her body will spend six months on probation.

Kory McFarren pleaded no contest last month to a misdemeanor count of mistreatment of a dependent adult. A judge sentenced him Tuesday to six months in jail but granted the probation after the victim, Pam Babcock, asked for leniency.

"She didn't believe that her circumstances were his fault," Ness County Attorney Craig Crosswhite said.

Babcock's plight became known in February when McFarren called the Ness County sheriff, expressing concern about his live-in girlfriend. When authorities arrived, they found Babcock physically stuck to the toilet.

McFarren told police Babcock had refused to come out of the bathroom for two years. Medical personnel estimated she'd been sitting on the toilet for at least a month and said the seat had adhered to sores on her body.

She is now under the protection of a guardian who was appointed through the legal department at the hospital where she received treatment.

Also Tuesday, McFarren was sentenced to six months in jail for an unrelated charge of lewd and lascivious behavior for exposing himself to a teenage neighbor in March

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My thoughts


Nancy Grace just pointed out that if the child had died accidently by being left in the car, the cadaver dogs would have hit on the inside of the car, not just the trunk.

My belief now it that the police are just holding back until the results of the hair and DNA samples come back. Then they will file the appropriate charge of murder.

Also, through AT&T the police can get a complete copy of all of her calls, including the text from text messages. It may take a court order, but that is easy for law enforcement to get, especially under the circumstances.

I do feel sorry for the grandparents and uncle Lee, but on the other hand, they have allowed Casey to get away with her lies all of her life. It is obvious by the way she thinks she can just stick to her story and will get her way. She is used to lying then standing her ground until mom and pop give in.

Who Are The Players in The Caylee Anthony Saga?


Tuesday, 29 Jul 2008
By Cheryl Getuiza FOX 35 NEWS
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando)

It’s been two weeks and two year old Caylee Marie is still missing.

While not much has happened several players in the case have emerged. Mom Casey Anthony, her babysitter, Zenaida Fernandez Gonzales and Casey’s friends, Jeff Hopkins and Juliet Lewis (isn't Juliet Lewis an actress? oh yeah, different spelling...)

Anthony told police she worked with Jeff and Juliet at Kodak, at Universal Studios and said she told them Caylee was missing.Detectives have said all along that Anthony is the key to tracking down Caylee.

Anthony said she left Caylee with a babysitter- Zenaida- and that Anthony told two other people about Caylee missing.Anthony said Jeffrey Hopkins and Juliet Lewis are the two people she told about Caylees disappearance.

But who are these people?

In a phone conversation, Anthony’s brother Lee posed the same question. But detectives are having trouble tracking down the three people connected with Casey.

“I know they know of these people,” Deputy Carlos Padilla of the Orange County Sheriffs Office said. “I haven’t talked to detectives today so I don’t if they’ve tracked them down. I’m assuming they’re trying to get them.”

We were able to track down a Jeffrey Hopkins Senior who also has a son named Jeffrey Hopkins.
According to the elder Hopkins, they know the Anthony family and were asked by the family not to talk.

But he said off camera, that his son worked for Universal Studios in high school. And he insisted that Anthony and his son never dated and has never met Caylee.

Deputy Padilla said detectives have talked to the family, but so far found no relevant information.

Only a few days ago, the family said Lee Anthony told Hopkins it was another Jeffrey Hopkins in Orlando.

As for Juliet Lewis, we made several attempts at finding her. After more than a dozen calls we still have not located her.

So far, we are told detectives haven’t tracked her down either. Nor have detectives been able to track down the babysitter Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez.

I know they’re looking into everything that’s involving this case,” said Deputy Padilla. “But again, I don’t know what detectives have.

I would have to get to them and see if they’ll release that to me I don’t know if they actually have what she’s mentioned on the phone call.”

Casey Anthony Protecting Family, Mom Says


Bullshit, I say.

ORLANDO -- As Casey Anthony remains in the Orange County Jail, her mother made the rounds on the morning network talk shows to talk about the search for Caylee and the latest 911 tapes that were released.

Cindy Anthony told CBS that Casey has requested to do a sketch composite of the person she said has Caylee.

Cindy also spoke to the local media and said that Casey is protecting her family and Caylee by not speaking with investigators.

Cindy said it's important that the focus of this investigation remains Caylee.

"Caylee is missing, OK?” said Cindy. “I've even had psychics call me and tell where Caylee is and that Casey had nothing to do with her disappearance.
I'll take whatever information there. What I want is Caylee to be found and that's what I'm going to continue on doing what I'm doing."

Grandmother: 'Pieces of the puzzle' coming together in Caylee's disappearance


Bianca Prieto

Sentinel Staff Writer
July 30, 2008

The grandmother of missing 2-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony told reporters outside the Orange County Jail this morning that she's closer to the truth about the child's disappearance.

"I think I've put almost everything together last night," Cindy Anthony said before meeting with her daughter, Casey Anthony, who has been in jail since July 16. "The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together."

Cindy Anthony also expressed her frustration with the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the media's coverage of 22-year-old Casey Anthony and her missing granddaughter.

"They [sheriff's investigators] are looking for Caylee, but building a case against my daughter based on circumstantial evidence," she said. "You guys [the media] are trying my daughter right now for something she hasn't been charged with. Where is her rights?" (I would ask, where were Caylee's rights when mommy dumped her?)

Casey Anthony's 2-year-old daughter was last seen in June, however she her disappearance was not reported until July 15. Casey Anthony was arrested a day later on charges of child neglect, filing a false official statement and obstructing a criminal investigation.

She has told a series of lies to investigators about where to find the missing child and about herself.

Investigators: Caylee Anthony's mom has lied over and over

Here are some of the lies that investigators say Casey Marie Anthony told about the disappearance of her daughter Caylee Marie:

Lie: She last saw 2-year-old Caylee on June 9 after leaving her with a baby sitter at an apartment on South Conway Road.

Truth: That apartment had been vacant since Feb. 29.

Lie: Caylee's baby sitter, Zenaida Gonzalez, had been a family friend for four years and cared for Caylee for 18 months.

Truth: Contacted by detectives, a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez told them she never met Anthony or her missing child.

Lie: Anthony investigated Caylee's disappearance for a month instead of calling 911.

Truth: Two of Anthony's boyfriends told detectives she never acted upset or mentioned her daughter's disappearance.

Lie: Anthony claimed she had been so concerned she told two co-workers at Universal Studios her child had disappeared.

Truth: Neither person she named works at Universal.

Lie: She claimed she worked full time at Universal Studios -- the reason she needed a baby sitter.

Truth: Theme-park officials said Thursday that Anthony has never been an employee.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office arrested Anthony, 22, late Wednesday on charges of child neglect, providing false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation.

"Based on the repetitive lies that the defendant has told, we do not know with whom the child is or even if the child is alive," wrote Cpl. Yuri Melich of the missing-persons unit.

"As I received information, and relayed it to the defendant after her arrest, she continued to claim ignorance and, at times, laughed about the situation. She failed to show any outward signs of remorse or concern for her missing two-year-old daughter."

Appeal court denies request for Casey Anthony's bond reduction


Tears for herself, but none for Caylee.

Amy L. Edwards
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 30, 2008

The 5th District Court of Appeal denied Casey Anthony's request to lower her $500,000 bond this afternoon.

Earlier this morning, the Attorney General's Office - which represents the state in appeals - filed a response this morning, stating the lower court did not abuse its discretion when the judge set the bond at half a million dollars.

Defense attorney Jose Baez appealed Anthony's bail, set last week by Orange Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland, and had asked the 5th District Court of Appeal to direct the lower court to set a $10,000 bond.

Baez was unavailable to comment Wednesday afternoon. But Christina Baez, a college student working at her father's law-office, said, "We're going to go ahead and move forward and appeal it to the Supreme Court of Florida."

The State Attorney's Office is still reviewing the case to determine what - if any - formal charges will by filed against Anthony. Once prosecutors do officially charge her, Anthony will be entitled to another bond hearing before Orange Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland.

The Attorney General's Office, which handles appeals for state prosecutors, filed its response with the appeal court this morning.

In that response, the state said it recognizes "that it is well settled in Florida that every person charged with a crime is entitled to pretrial release on reasonable conditions." The state also is aware "that excessive bail is tantamount to no bail at all."

The Attorney General's Office referenced Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure, which states, "In determining whether to release a defendant on bail ... the court may consider the nature and circumstances of the offense charged and the penalty provided by law; the weight of the evidence against the defendant ... employment history, financial resources ... and mental condition; the defendant's past and present conduct ...

"In its response, the Attorney General's office recapped the testimony that was presented during Anthony's bond hearing:

- A prosecutor argued Anthony "is a person of interest in what is looking to be a homicide investigation."

- There was a smell of a possibly decomposing body in the car Anthony drove.

- There were possible hair samples of Caylee and a stain in the trunk of the car.

- A neighbor told investigators he saw Anthony back the car into the garage and then she asked to borrow his shovel.

- A cadaver dog alerted to the trunk of the vehicle.

That cadaver dog, as well as another, also alerted to the same spot at Anthony's parents' home.

The Attorney General's office also wrote that Strickland was concerned with Anthony's mental state and ordered a psychological evaluation."

All of these were factors considered by the trial court when it determined the proper amount of bond," the Attorney General's office stated.

The appeals court will now consider both responses.

Photos Show Missing Florida Girl's Mother Partying at Club


The mother of a missing 2-year-old Florida girl was caught by photographers partying at a club June 20 -- after the date she claims her daughter disappeared.

The photographs, obtained by FOX News, show Casey Anthony smiling and posing with various people at an Orlando club called Fusion. She later would tell police that her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, had been missing since earlier in the month.

John Azzilano, the nightlife photographer who snapped the images, said 22-year-old Casey Anthony was enjoying herself.

"She seemed happy, as were most of the people there that night," Azzilano told FOX News. "She seemed all right, having a good time, just like people our age would that night."

Casey Anthony remains in jail on charges of child neglect, making false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation. She is being held on a $500,000 bond and is a person of interest but has not been charged in Caylee’s disappearance, which prosecutors say is beginning to look like a homicide.

When Anthony and her family first reported Caylee’s disappearance on July 15, she told police the girl already had been missing for a month. She also claimed that Caylee had been taken by a baby sitter, who also vanished...

Michael Walsh, one of Anthony’s attorneys, told FOX News on Tuesday that she initially had not been forthcoming with the timeline of Caylee’s disappearance because the babysitter had made threats and Anthony feared for her daughter’s safety.

“I think this young girl was going through the pressures and stress of what she was dealing with,” he said.

Walsh confirmed that Anthony had been at the club Fusion but disputed that the photos were taken after the daughter’s disappearance. He also said that Anthony was working at the club as "one of the promotion girls at that club," but declined to elaborate.

The nightclub photos have surfaced following the release of phone conversations she has made from jail, videotaped meetings with family members and other recordings related to the case.
A judge Tuesday denied Anthony's request to stop the further release of such recordings.
Meanwhile, the FBI is considering taking over the case, which is currently being handled by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, MyFOX Orlando has learned.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Judge denies lawyer's motion to seal records


A judge refused this afternoon to block news agencies from receiving audio and video of Casey Anthony's phone conversations in the Orange County Jail.


Attorney Jose Baez filed the emergency motion yesterday to try to block his clients recorded calls and visits from being released to the media, stating that details from the recorded calls could "chill the public's willingness to report any leads" and compromise Casey Anthony's right to a fair trial, Baez wrote in a one-page motion filed Monday.


George Anthony testified during the hearing in front of Orange Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland, saying the conversations between himself, his wife and his daughter were "personal.""All of us want to know where this little girl is," George Anthony said of his 2-year-old granddaughter Caylee Marie Anthony, who was reported missing July 15.



He and Baez both said the recent media coverage has not painted anyone in the Anthony family in a favorable light."It's really bizarre the way things are going right now," George Anthony said of the coverage.


This morning, George and his wife, Cindy, arrived at the jail visitation center for their scheduled 45-minute video conference with daughter Casey Anthony but left early because she was "unavailable." The Anthonys checked in shortly before 9 a.m. and left around 9:15 a.m. in a black chauffeured car.


Jail officials said Anthony was unavailable because she was on her way to the Orange County Courthouse for her 1:30 p.m. hearing.


Jail spokesman Allen Moore said the parents were not told of Anthony's absence because the visitation center is updated as soon as the inmate reaches the courthouse.


She is allowed only three visits per week and met with her brother Lee Anthony yesterday morning. A friend is scheduled to visit with her at 7 p.m. this evening. Her parents rescheduled for tomorrow morning.Anthony, 22, remained in jail on child-neglect and other charges as the search for Caylee Marie continued.


Anthony told investigators that she left her daughter with a baby sitter named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, who investigators have been unable to find.Last week, Orange County jail officials released a 14-minute call Casey Anthony made hours after her arrest.


In it, she cursed at relatives and asked repeatedly for her boyfriend's phone number. Earlier, authorities released several 911 calls, including one in which Cindy Anthony said the car Casey Anthony used "smelled like there's been a dead body . . . .


"The lawyer filed his motion the same day jail officials released a 15-minute phone call Saturday between Casey Anthony and her older brother Lee.


Lee Anthony told his sister, "We're completely behind you," and reminded her that everything they say during phone calls from the jail is public record.


He asked his sister if she thinks Caylee is "OK right now."


"In my gut, she's still OK," Casey Anthony replied. "It still feels like she's, she's close to home. That's still my best feeling at the moment.


"Jose Baez is appealing her bail, which Strickland set at more than $500,000 last week. He is asking the 5th District Court of Appeal to direct the lower court to set a $10,000 bond.


The Florida Attorney General's Office, which handles appeals for state prosecutors, has not filed a response. That is due at noon Wednesday, an attorney general's spokeswoman said.

Women With Same Name As Caylee's Alleged Babysitter Defend Themselves


BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Missing toddler Caylee Anthony's mother continues to say that a nanny named Zenaida Gonzalez took her child. So far, investigators haven't been able to find that woman.

But one woman in Brevard County with the same name says people have already found her. The name isn't uncommon, in fact Eyewitness News found nearly a dozen in Central Florida alone, enough to fill several sheets of paper.

Plenty of local women named Zenaida Gonzalez are having to defend their names as the search for Caylee continues. Casey Anthony says it's been six weeks since she saw her daughter.
She continues to tell investigators she left the little girl with a babysitter named Zenaida Gonzalez.

Eyewitness News found more than 400 women named Zenaida Gonzalez in Florida and it's turning life upside down for local women who share the name.

One Zenaida Gonzalez blogs on a website called Brevard County Moms. She was flooded with emails and phone calls asking her if she had anything to do with Caylee's disappearance, so she created a website posting to set the record straight that says, "I am not that Zenaida Gonzalez."

This Zenaida Gonzalez works in the PR department for UCF and didn't want to go on camera. Her blog usually averages about 50 viewers, but the post where she tells the world she is not Caylee's babysitter has been viewed nearly 3,000 times.


Investigators told Channel 9 it would take them three months to contact all of the Florida women named Zenaida Gonzalez, but they're not even trying anymore since Caylee's mom can't give them a picture, a phone number or even the address where she dropped her daughter off with the babysitter she used for two and half years.


Investigators are not convinced she even exists. Caylee's family believes the nanny named Zenaida Gonzalez does exist, even though none of them have ever met her.

WFTV Uncovers Incident Report About Break-In At Anthony's House


ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Right around the time Caylee Anthony disappeared, her grandparents reported someone had stolen two cans of gas from their shed and mother Casey Anthony had been known to steal gas before.



Investigators don't believe there's a direct connection to the girl's disappearance, but one admitted to Eyewitness News the timing of the break-in and what was taken from the family's property raised a lot of eyebrows.


Caylee Anthony may have already been missing when deputies were called out to the Anthony family's home in late June, but at that time the focus was a burglary to a storage shed in the backyard.


According to a June 24 incident report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office, George Anthony said someone stole two gas cans and broke the lock to his storage shed to get them.


The family avoided the topic after court Tuesday. Investigators said Casey Anthony has stolen gas from her family before, but they don't think the burglary has a connection to Caylee's disappearance and don't believe it was used to destroy evidence in the case.


The break in happened in the middle of what's now an even more mysterious timeline. The family says Caylee was last seen June 15. The burglary to the storage shed happened between June 22 and June 24, the same day Casey Anthony's ex-fiancé said he heard little Caylee in the background of a phone conversation with Casey.


Casey wasn't arrested until July 16 and the investigation led detectives to the same backyard where deputies had been just a few weeks earlier. The sheriff's report says a deputy dusted for prints on the storage shed and didn't any.

Caylee Anthony Airport Sighting Ruled Out


Tuesday, July 29, 2008


ORLANDO -- Orange County Deputies say they don't have any new leads in the case of missing 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, but they have been able to rule out a possible Caylee sighting.
A witness reported seeing Caylee at Orlando International Airport. She even said the little girl said her name was Caylee Marie Anthony.


After further investigation, deputies said the age of the little girl and Caylee did not match up.
That is just one of nearly 300 tips that investigators have been following. They say they have had tips and even potential sightings from across the country.


Investigators are also waiting for lab tests on Casey Anthony's car where a stain was found in the trunk.


Casey To Meet With Family, Emergency Hearing Set


Casey Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, has asked for an emergency hearing Wednesday to ask to have jail house communication banned from the media.


Also, Casey's $500,000 bond is being appealed. Baez is trying to get her bond dropped to $10,000.


Meanwhile, the Anthony family said they plan to visit Casey Anthony in jail this morning.

Casey Talks With Brother In Jail

A new phone conversation between Casey Anthony and her brother, Lee, could shed some new light on the search for an elusive babysitter Casey said has her missing 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.


Lee Anthony visited his sister in jail Monday morning, but he did not talk to reporters either before or after leaving the jail.


Meanwhile, the Orange County Sheriff's Office says that they have had over 200 tips since Friday, and it will take time to comb through all of those phone calls for anything that is useful.
Deputies said they have also ruled out a possible Caylee sighting at Orlando International Airport.


In addition to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and victims advocate groups are part of the team looking for Caylee.


Family Revealing Strain


Casey's mother, Cindy Anthony, told News 13 Monday the family is drained from being in the media spotlight, all in an effort to spread the word about her missing granddaughter, and it has taken an emotional toll on the family.


"I actually went to a park -- just myself, just to make myself feel like I was actually doing something -- just to see if I could see at one of the parks that Casey and Caylee used to go to, and it gave me peace, just to sit there at the pavilion and watch other children and answer my messages, but I felt like I did something," Cindy Anthony said.


In a visit last week, Cindy said her daughter revealed her intentions to work with investigarors, and her desire to create a composite sketch of Zeneida Fernandez-Gonzalez, the woman Casey said took her daughter, Caylee.


Cindy Anthony said she would not ask her daughter any questions Tuesday; rather, she was going there just to be her mom.


"I'm going there to support my daughter, and to let her know how wonderful everyone has been, to let her know about all the support we're getting and all the help we're getting," Cindy said.
Cindy told News 13 she continues to believe her granddaughter is safe, and she trusts the information her daughter has given her and investigatiors.


Although some question how Cindy Anthony could not have known Casey was missing for a month, she holds to the story that Casey called her every day and told her Caylee was all right. Cindy told News 13 she has Casey's cell phone records to prove it.


"I think she's given us as much information as she can," Cindy said. "I think we're on the right track. I think the rest of it is up to authorities to follow the leads that she has given them."

Monday, July 28, 2008

Attorney seeks to stop release of calls in Caylee Anthony case


Sarah Lundy and Bianca Prieto Sentinel Staff Writers
7:07 PM EDT, July 28, 2008

Casey Anthony is expected to be back in court Tuesday as her attorney tries to fight the release of her phone calls from jail.

The latest call was released this evening -- a call between Casey Anthony and her brother Lee in which they talk for close to 15 minutes on Saturday about the missing 2-year-old Caylee. At one point, Lee Anthony asks his sister if she believes Caylee is OK.

"In my gut, she's still OK," Casey Anthony says, "and it still feels like she's...close to home. That's still my best feeling at the moment."


Her attorney, Jose Baez, is trying to stop the release of such calls from the jail, according to a motion filed today in the Ninth Circuit Court.

"The release of any visitation video-conferencing could impede the investigation, chill the public's willingness to report any leads, and compromise the integrity of the defendant's right to a fair trial," Baez wrote in the one-page motion.

He points out his client has a high-profile case with national attention and any recordings or public records requests "could irreversibly taint the criminal process."

Baez was busy and could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

Christina Baez, a college student who is working in her father's law office, said there may be information in the recordings that might obstruct the search for Caylee.

Baez wouldn't detail what type of information that could be or where it could have been discussed, but said that is their concern.

"We don't want anything to be released that may endanger our search for Caylee," Christina Baez said.Prosecutors didn't have a comment and plan to address the issue in court, said Danielle Tavernier, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.

Meanwhile, Casey Anthony remained at the Orange County Jail today for a 12th day in a row.

This morning, her brother Lee Anthony arrived at the visitation center across from the jail for a 45-minute video conference visit. He avoided reporters and ran out the back gate at the visitors center to his car parked along John Young Parkway. It was the second time Lee Anthony visited his sister since her arrest.

Her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, are scheduled to visit their daughter tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Two other people are scheduled to visit Casey Anthony in jail in the coming days.Casey Anthony is being held at the jail on more than half a million dollar bond in charges related to the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie Anthony.

The child has not been seen since mid-June when Casey Anthony said she dropped the girl off with a baby sitter. The child was not reported missing until July 15. Casey Anthony maintains that the baby sitter, a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, stole the girl.

Casey Anthony was jailed on July 16 for child neglect, fling a false statement and obstructing a criminal investigation after allegedly telling a series of lies to investigators.

Family members have not been able to come up with the money to bail Casey Anthony out of jail. Last night, the family held a prayer vigil at their Lee Vista area home Sunday night, where hundreds attended.

Bush OKs Execution Of Army Death Row Prisoner

Fort Leavenworth Federal Prison, Leavenworth, Kansas

Jul 28, 2008



WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Bush on Monday approved the execution of an Army private, administration officials said.



It was the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the U.S. military.


With his signature from the Oval Office, Bush said yes to the military's request to execute Ronald A. Gray, said the officials, who revealed his decision only on grounds of anonymity.


Gray had had been convicted in connection with a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area over eight months in the late 1980s while stationed at Fort Bragg.


Unlike in the civilian courts, a member of the U.S. armed forces cannot be executed until the president approves the death sentence. Gray has been on death row at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., since April 1988.


Members of the U.S. military have been executed throughout history, but just 10 have been executed by presidential approval since 1951 when the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military's modern-day legal system, was enacted into law.


President Kennedy was the last president to stare down this life-or-death decision. On Feb. 12, 1962, Kennedy commuted the death sentence of Jimmie Henderson, a Navy seaman, to confinement for life.


President Eisenhower was the last president to approve a military execution. In 1957, he approved the execution of John Bennett, an Army private convicted of raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. He was hanged in 1961.


The death penalty was outlawed between 1972 and 1984, when President Reagan reinstated it.Gray was held responsible for the crimes committed between April 1986 and January 1987 in both the civilian and military justice systems.


In civilian courts in North Carolina, Gray pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms.


He then was tried by general court-martial at the Army's Fort Bragg. In April 1988, the court-martial convicted Gray of two murders, an attempted murder and three rapes. He was unanimously sentenced to death.


The court-martial panel convicted Gray of:


--Raping and killing Army Pvt. Laura Lee Vickery-Clay of Fayetteville on Dec. 15, 1986. She was shot four times with a .22-caliber pistol that Gray confessed to stealing. She suffered blunt force trauma over much of her body.


--Raping and killing Kimberly Ann Ruggles, a civilian cab driver in Fayetteville. She was bound, gagged, stabbed repeatedly, and had bruises and lacerations on her face. Her body was found on the base.


--Raping, robbing and attempting to kill Army Pvt. Mary Ann Lang Nameth in her barracks at Fort Bragg on Jan. 3, 1987. She testified against Gray during the court-martial and identified him as her assailant. Gray raped her and stabbed her several times in the neck and side. Nameth suffered a laceration of the trachea and a collapsed or punctured lung.


The six-member court-martial panel returned its unanimous verdict after about two hours of deliberations. The panel also reduced Gray from Spec. 4 to private, forfeited all his pay and ordered him to be dishonorably discharged from the Army.


Gray has appealed his case through the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (then known as the U.S. Army Court of Military Review) and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Services. In 2001, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.


Bush got the secretary of the Army's recommendation to approve Gray's death sentence in late 2005. Since then, it's been under review by the Bush administration, including the White House legal counsel.


Complicating the administration's deliberation was a case under review this year by the Supreme Court.


The court ruled in April to uphold the most common method of capital punishment used across the United States. The justices said the three-drug mix of lethal-injection drugs used by Kentucky and most other states does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.


The ruling in the case of Baze v. Rees cleared the way for a resumption of executions nationwide.

It was unclear where Gray would be executed. Military executions are handled by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.


Bush's decision, however, is not likely the end of Gray's legal battle. Further litigation is expected and these types of death sentence appeals often take years to resolve.


The military also has asked Bush to authorize the execution of Dwight J. Loving, who has been at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., since 1989 after being convicted of killing two taxicab drivers while he was an Army private at Fort Hood, Texas.


But that request is not yet ripe for a presidential decision.


The White House declined to discuss the case.

Casey Sends Message To Caylee During Visitation With Mom


Sunday, July 27, 2008

ORLANDO -- Caylee Anthony’s grandmother told News 13 Saturday afternoon Casey fears multiple people could be involved in the toddler’s disappearance.

"She forgives you, and just please bring Caylee home, where she belongs," said Cindy Anthony.
"And the message for Caylee is, Mommy loves you with all her heart. You're the most important person in her world, and wants you to stay brave. Very soon you'll be home with all of us."
This is the message Cindy says Casey wants to send out to Caylee, and those who might have her. Doesn't that sound eerily like the statement Susan Smith sent out over the airwaves after she had murdered her two little boys?

Cindy got the message from her daughter Friday afternoon during a video conference at the Orange County Jail. The visitation was set up by the Sheriff's Office.

"We came to find out yesterday, that we could have been seeing her all along, and I think they felt bad, and facilitated us seeing her yesterday," said Cindy.

During their meeting, Casey also told her mother specific information about the family's safety.

“We haven't had any major threats or anything like that, but she warned us of certain people to stay clear of,” said Cindy. Cindy would not share those names with us, or how they might know the Anthony family. All Casey told her mother was that she's positive a number of people are involved in Caylee's disappearance.

We asked Cindy if she believes her daughter got involved in something dangerous, or a situation that was out of her control. However, she would not comment.

Cindy said her daughter told her she has reason to stay tight-lipped, and has specific detectives in mind she feels she can trust.

"I'm sure she'll get with her brother, and her focus is getting her in front of people that can help in the investigation, that she feels comfortable with, that maybe these people don't have connections with,” said Cindy.

News 13 caught up with Lee Anthony, who did talk to his sister on Saturday.
He is working with Casey, her lawyer and investigators to meet with the detectives she specifically named.

"Casey did say there were a few people she was involved with already,” said Lee Anthony. “You know, that asked her questions, or came to the house that evening. I mean, we had probably a dozen different officers and detectives and things like that at the house. So I'm pretty sure she has a certain comfort level with some, for whatever those reasons are.”

Family Battling Growing Backlash

A backlash against missing 2-year-old Caylee Anthony's mother is growing, especially since Friday's 911 tapes and jailhouse phone calls were released.

Family members said people are criticizing Casey at the information booth set up at Publix parking lot along Lake Underhill Road.

Some people have even made threats against Casey's life through the call center and the information booth, according to George Anthony, Casey's father.

Meanwhile, family members are hoping to get more information out of Casey once she's released from jail.

"We said that again yesterday,” said George. “It's like Casey, you know where's she's at. Tell us. We can get this thing worked out. That's all we need. That's all we need."

The Anthony family is in the process of setting up a fund to help pay for Casey's defense.

Casey Anthony remains jailed; brother visits a second time

Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 28, 2008

Casey Anthony remains at the Orange County Jail today for a 12th day in a row.

This morning, her brother Lee Anthony arrived at the visitation center across from the jail for a 45-minute video conference visit. He avoided reporters and ran out the back gate at the visitors center to his car parked along John Young Parkway. It was the second time Lee Anthony visited his sister since her arrest.

Her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, are scheduled to visit their daughter tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Two other people are scheduled to visit Casey Anthony in jail in the coming days...

...Family members have not been able to come up with the money to bail Casey Anthony out of jail. Last night, the family held a prayer vigil at their Lee Vista area home Sunday night, where hundreds attended.

Orange County Corrections visitation log for Casey Anthony

Lee Anthony testified at Casey's bond hearing that on the night the family found out Caylee was missing, he told Casey that their mother was outside and out of earshot, and then said, "If you know where she is, there is nothing in this for you..." What does this mean, exactly? That through experience he knows Casey doesn't do anything that does not benefit herself?

I personally wouldn't mind donating a bit of cash to help find the little girl, but I wouldn't trust the family to spend it on that purpose. I WOULD NOT want it to be used to post Casey's bond, or pay her legal expenses. Public defenders are free. She needs to admit what she has done and come to terms with responsibility. It is just too bad that the only time in her life she is made to pay for what she's done, is when that payment will be life in prison.

Richard Davis trial in taped sex killing begins



July 26, 2008
Associated Press

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - A man on trial for capital murder in the videotaped slaying and sexual torture of a 41-year-old woman will not dispute most of the charges against him, his lawyer said Friday.


But defense attorney Tom Jacquinot said in his opening statement that there will be questions about whether Richard Davis, 43, deliberated before killing Marsha Spicer.


"A confession is a confession," Jacquinot said. "A videotape is a videotape. Nobody is going to come here today and say these things didn't happen."

Davis faces 40 felony counts, including capital murder, kidnapping and rape in the May 2006 death of Spicer, of Independence. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Jackson County prosecutor Ted Hunt said during his opening statement that Davis and his girlfriend, Dena Riley, lured Spicer to his Independence apartment and "did not intend to let her leave alive."

The trial for Riley, 42, is scheduled for next year.

Davis and Riley also are charged in neighboring Clay County with capital murder in the April 2006 suffocation of Michelle Huff-Ricci, 36. Her charred, skeletal remains were found in May 2006 in rural Clay County, just north of Independence.


Ricci's death came to light after Davis and Riley were captured in southwest Missouri and brought back to the Kansas City area to be charged in Spicer's death. Police have said both defendants led investigators to Ricci's remains.
Riley and Davis also have been indicted in Kansas on a federal charge of kidnapping a 5-year-old southeast Kansas girl related to Davis after fleeing the Kansas City area.

Police Find Bloodstains in Grisly Videotape Sex Murder Investigation

Right: Richard Davis, Dena Riley
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Associated Press

Independence, Mo. — Authorities found what appeared to be bloodstains in two vehicles searched at the apartment of a suburban Kansas City couple accused of killing a woman whose sexual assault and torture was videotaped, according to court documents filed in the case.

The couple, Richard D. Davis, 41, and Dena D. Riley, 39, face charges of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, kidnapping, forcible rape and forcible sodomy in the death of 41-year-old Marsha Spicer. Spicer's naked body was found in a shallow grave on May 15 in Bates City, east of Kansas City.

Prosecutors have said a search warrant on the couple's Independence home found a videotape showing them beating, raping and choking Spicer.

The latest court documents say an investigator, looking in the garage, found a possibly bloodstained blanket in a Chevrolet S-10 pickup and what looked like a bloodstain in the upholstery of a 1993 Toyota Corolla.

A pitchfork was found in the Corolla's trunk.

In the apartment itself, the documents say, investigators found a marijuana cigarette, a bag of a leafy substance, a laptop computer, videotapes, a roll of duct tape and pieces of duct tape with hair stuck to it.
Left: Victim Marsha Spicer
In the video, officials said, Spicer has duct tape around her wrists and over her eyes.

Investigators also tested the inside of a bathtub and took a bathroom sink's drain and filter.

Following eight days on the run, Davis and Riley were arrested in southwest Missouri on May 25 with a 5-year-old girl. Federal authorities are investigating possible kidnapping charges.
Investigators also are trying to determine if Davis and Riley are linked to a badly burned body found over the weekend east of the Kansas City suburb of Liberty. Jackson County Prosecutor Mike Sanders has said additional charges against the couple are likely and could include charges related to other slayings.

The Jackson County Coroner is examining the body, which officials said is so badly decomposed they couldn't determine gender.

Sherry Ballew has told Kansas City media outlets that she thinks the body belongs to her daughter, 36-year-old Michelle Ricci, who hasn't been seen since April 2 and was a friend of Spicer. A family member said police had asked both Ballew and a granddaughter to provide DNA samples.

Ex-cop Drew Peterson's wire-wearing pal charged in scuffle


CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A man who says he cooperated with police and wore a wire during conversations with a former police sergeant considered a suspect in his wife's disappearance was charged Friday with battery after shoving Drew Peterson in a barber shop parking lot.

Len Wawczak, a former friend of Peterson's, was charged with misdemeanor battery and released after posting $100 bond.

"I pushed him twice. ... I don't have a problem with that," Wawczak told WLS-TV. "It was the best one hundred dollars I ever spent in my life. ... I'd do it again."

Peterson's lawyer, Joel Brodsky, said his client told investigators that Wawczak "ambushed and punched" him and that Peterson tried to "walk away from the confrontation and was punched once in the back."

Wawczak told the station he went to the barber shop after his son called him to say he and Peterson were there at the same time and that Peterson was "staring my son down ... giving him dirty looks."

Bolingbrook Lt. Ken Teppel confirmed police were called to the shop for a report of an altercation between Peterson and Wawczak. Wawczak was arrested based on a signed complaint from Peterson and witness statements, Teppel said.

Wawczak is scheduled to appear for an arraignment September 10, Teppel said. If found guilty, he faces fines, court fees and community service.

Wawczak did not have a listed telephone number.

Wawczak and his wife, Paula Stark, said they secretly taped Peterson after being contacted by the Illinois State Police in mid-November. They said they continued recording conversations through mid-June.

The couple claimed, among other things, that Peterson wished aloud that he'd cremated his third wife's remains and asked them to set fire to a memorial to his missing wife, Stacy.

Brodsky said this week that he doesn't know whether there are any tapes, but if there are, he was confident Peterson said nothing incriminating.

Peterson, in questioning the couple's motives, has said they had asked him for money and became angry when he would not lend it to them.

Stacy Peterson disappeared in October, and authorities have said they believe that she is dead. Her body has not been found.

Drew Peterson denies involvement in his wife's disappearance and says he believes that she left him for another man.

Dozens hold vigil to pray for Caylee's return


Susan Jacobson

Sentinel Staff Writer
July 28, 2008


More than 60 people showed up in a rainstorm Sunday night for a candlelight vigil for Caylee Marie Anthony, the 2-year-old Orange County girl reported missing nearly two weeks ago. Friends and strangers gathered in the frontyard of Caylee's grandparents' Lee Vista-area home to pray for her safe return. Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, 22, remains in the Orange County Jail on child-neglect and other charges. She has told investigators that she left Caylee with a baby sitter last month and has not seen her since. "Bring Caylee home," the group chanted, led by Cindy Anthony, Caylee's grandmother.


Shouldn't they be chanting at the county jail where Casey Anthony is held?

I can't pretend to believe she's been kidnapped. It's the classic soddi defense, "some other dude did it". Casey is somehow responsible for the death of her child. My humble opinion.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Reward Increases for Info of Caylee Marie Anthony


Wednesday, 23 Jul 2008


...The grandmother Cindy Anthony said Wednesday afternoon that there will be 14 billboards across the state, two in Orlando, with the missing girl’s picture. Cindy Anthony also said that the reward for information leading to Caylee’s return has been raised to $225,000...


This is an exerpt from an article (click on link for entire piece) that I find very interesting because evidently the Anthony's have been able to secure $225,000 as reward money, but those same donors have not been willing to put forth the money to help Casey Anthony make bail. Does this mean the donors are fairly certain they won't have to cough up reward money, whereas money to pay the $50,000 bond would have to come right out of their pocket, no exchanges, no return?


Regardless of how much I love my children, if one of them disappeared for a month with my car, ran up $45,000 on my credit cards, then lied about the whereabouts of my grandchild and could not produce her, I would not spend every last dollar I have, and beg for money from all my family and friends, to get them out of jail. But then, my children would not expect that of me.

Two sightings of Caylee Anthony with blond hair in Georgia


ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) -- The search for 2-year-old Caylee Anthony could be heading across state lines. Two tips have come in that Caylee was seen in Georgia.

Caylee’s grandmother, Cindy Anthony, said tips have come in to her personally and via a hotline they have set up, that a girl resembling Caylee has been seen in Sandy Springs, Georgia and Cornelia, Georgia.

She believes the child is with someone heading to Charlotte, N.C. "We know where she's at," Cindy Anthony told FOX News Thursday before pleading with the person she believes has the child to turn back. "Please don't take her further into the mountains. It looks like she's headed northeast in Georgia close to the North Carolina border. ... This is all very encouraging right now."

Her plea came after her husband, George Anthony, asked the public in an audio message for help in finding their granddaughter before her third birthday. She's been missing since June 9.

George asks for the public’s help finding the little girl who was last seen June 16. The message also says there is a $225,000 reward for information resulting in Caylee’s safe return by her third birthday.

As the search for 2-year-old Caylee Anthony continues, her mother remains behind bars at the Orange County jail.

Anthony, 22, is charged only with child neglect and lying to investigators. Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland set her bond at $500,000 Tuesday, saying the law did not allow him to hold her without bail.

Her parents say they are still working on getting the bond for their daughter’s release and may soon visit with her. They are trying to get a video visit with Casey sometime next week. The reward was increased by an extra $100,000 on Wednesday through a donation by local businessman, Peter Benevides.

Caylee’s mother, 22-year-old Casey, remains in the Orange County Jail Thursday. Her parents are still trying to come up with 10 percent of the $500,000 bond required for her release.

Two different bond companies are talking with Casey’s parents to help release her from jail. Polakoff Bail Bonds and J & L Bail Bonds are located directly across from the Orange County Corrections Center.

Orange County detectives say that Casey remains the only person of interest in the case so far. Detectives continue to talk with several Zenaida Gonzalez’s in the area to see if she exists. Casey told police that Zenaida, or “Zanny” babysat Caylee for at least one year. So far however, police say none of the women they have talked to were indeed Caylee’s babysitter.

Casey is also being held in jail on two other disclosed holds. Police say these are considered to be “internal holds,” and by law their information is not released to the public.

Detectives spoke with the woman who says she saw Caylee at the Orlando Airport in early July. She told police she saw the little girl with a woman in her 30's or 40's who boarded a flight to Atlanta.

Investigators said they only knew about the tip after Casey's attorney, Jose Baez, spoke about it on FOX News. Casey's mother, Cindy, says she cannot always check all the messages they receive right away.

This worries investigators, who say that in missing child cases, seconds count.
If you have any information that could help police in their investigation to find Caylee, call the CRIMELINE AT 1-800-423 TIPS (8477). There are operators standing 24 hours each day to take calls.

Caylee Marie Anthony's Grandmother Defends Daughter

July 27, 2008

ORLANDO — The grandmother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Marie Anthony says the implication that her daughter, the child's mother, did something wrong is just not true.

Cindy Anthony told reporters Saturday that her daughter Casey is innocent and would be willing to talk to the FBI, since she doesn't trust local authorities.

And Cindy Anthony says her daughter would be willing to work with authorities in drawing a composite sketch of a babysitter who Casey Anthony claims she'd left the child with when she went missing. The disappearance was not reported for more than a month.

Lee Anthony, Casey's brother, mentioned two other people who supposedly know the babysitter, Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez, but he acknowledged that he had never met Gonzalez, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.

"I'm going to speak for myself first...if I can do that. The reason why I never met this babysitter before is because I don't live at this residence. Whenever I come over, typically Caylee is here with mother or sister or that," Lee Anthony said.

Cindy Anthony says her daughter is afraid something may happen to Caylee and other members of the family.

Cindy also lambasted the media in what she said was inaccurate coverage.

"News media reaches out to people who know nothing. Why does the media want to harass innocent people?" she asked.

Cindy also expressed her displeasure with investigators on the case.

"Every time they call, they ask to speak to my husband or Casey's brother. They're treating me like a child. I'm not a child," Cindy Anthony said.

Casey Anthony is charged with child neglect, making false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation. She's being held on $500,000 bond and has been named a person of interest in what Florida prosecutors say is beginning to look like a homicide investigation.

Evidence List Details Items Taken from Ed Lanphear's Home


Jul 14, 2008
Mikel Lauber

A Wood County Sheriff's Department evidence list is giving a look at the hundreds of things collected from the town of Saratoga home of Edward Lanphear.

That list was attained today from the Wood County Sheriff's department. Wood County Sheriff Tom Reichert said in a press conference Friday that they had seized items any items that could have been used to restrain victims or that were consistent with alleged sexual assaults that took place.

This list details hundreds of items that are now a part of the department's investigation.
Included different types and sizes of chains, locks, ropes, zip ties, and other restraining devices found throughout Lanphear's home. Also confiscated were about two dozen firearms, mostly rifles and shotguns.

Also collected from the scene was a newspaper from last Monday, that covered the missing Wood County men, with certain articles highlighted.There was also a newspaper clipping about the death of Brittany Zimmermann, the Marshfield native who was stabbed in her Madison apartment.

The list also has several pill bottles, gay pornography, and various blankets, rugs, and clothing with stains on them.

Authorities attained the warrant to search Lanphear's house on Wednesday. the day after police say a 23-year-old Grand Rapids man and 21-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man escaped after being held against their will in the 46-year-old's home.

Sheriff Reichert says some of the evidence collected has been sent to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab for analysis, the rest is being held and processed locally.

Lanphear's being held on a million dollar bond facing 13 charges, incluing 12 felonies. He's due back in court on July 31st.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Deaths in Guatemala trash avalanche

Rueters

At least three people have died and at least 10 others are missing after a mountain of rubbish near the Guatemalan capital collapsed on them, emergency workers have said.

The rubbish pile, which contained broken glass, tyres and human remains, disintegrated on Friday while people were foraging at the dump, the emergency services said.

Hundreds of police and bystanders are searching for those missing after the incident near Guatemala City, Jose Victor Chavez, one of the rescue workers, said.

Dozens of people search the rubbish tip every day to take jewellery from bodies dumped there when their relatives cannot afford to pay for the upkeep of their graves, Chavez said.

At least six children searching for valuables in the dump are among the missing, he said.

Foraging commonplace

A police spokesman put the death toll at four and said 14 people had disappeared.
Scores of poor people forage for scrap metal and other recyclables despite dangers of landslides during seasonal rainfall.

"Yesterday it rained all afternoon and into the night, saturating the land and causing the landslide," Gerson Contreras, a police spokesman, said.

"Because of the rains and what happened before, the authorities have been trying to stop people from going there, but their need is so great they just kept coming," Contreras said.

Last month, eight people were killed in a similar collapse at Guatemala City's main rubbish dump, located to the south of the capital.

Angry man shoots lawn mower for not starting


Associated Press

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man was accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn't start. Keith Walendowski, 56, was charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and misdemeanor disorderly conduct while armed.

According to the criminal complaint, Walendowski said he was angry because his Lawn Boy wouldn't start Wednesday morning. He told police quote, "I can do that, it's my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want."

A woman who lives at Walendowski's house reported the incident. She said he was intoxicated.
Walendowski could face up to an $11,000 fine and six years and three months in prison if convicted.

A call to Walendowski's home went unanswered Friday morning.

Plumbing service rescues kitty from drainage pipe


Roto-Rooter Rocks!

They'll clean your pipes, check the house for ghosts, and save your cat...

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - It was Roto-Rooter to the rescue for an unlucky black kitten that got stuck in an outdoor drainage pipe near Cleveland.
The plumbing and drain service was called in Friday by workers at an Ohio firm. Someone spotted the kitten down an outside pipe, but other agencies either declined to help or didn't answer their phones.
Enter Roto-Rooter.
A crew used a drain snake equipped with a remote camera to keep the scared kitty in its sights. It took six hours to rescue the cat.
The kitten was examined by a vet and then taken home by Larry Ozanick (oh-ZAN'-ick), one of the rescuers.
He says he plans to name the kitten "Roto."

'Oh well,' mom says from jail, as her friend worries for Caylee


Amy L. Edwards and Bianca Prieto

Sentinel Staff Writers
July 26, 2008

Casey Anthony was angry. Her voice was cold. All she wanted was her boyfriend's telephone number.

In her first jailhouse phone call, a 14-minute recording released Friday, the 22-year-old at the center of a missing-child case expressed little concern for her daughter's whereabouts.

During the call, made a few hours after her arrest, she cursed at her mother and brother and said she didn't want anyone to go to her first court appearance. And when a friend got on the line and sobbed and pleaded with her to give up any information she had about 2-year-old Caylee Marie's whereabouts, Anthony was annoyed.

Friend: . . . If anything happened to Caylee, Casey, I'll die. Do you understand? I'll die. If anything . . .


Anthony [speaking at the same time]: Oh well.

Friend: . . . happens to that baby.

Anthony: Oh, my God, calling you guys -- a waste. Huge waste.

The phone call reveals the private tension between Anthony and her family members, who pleaded with her to tell them what happened to the child. Anthony has told Orange County investigators that a baby sitter vanished with Caylee in June. Detectives have suggested the sitter does not exist.

During one exchange, Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, told her daughter she wouldn't be in jail "if you had told them the truth." Casey Anthony would not discuss it and asked again for her boyfriend's number.

Cindy Anthony: Whose fault is [it] that you're sitting in the jail? You're blaming me that you're sitting in the jail? Blame yourself for telling lies. What do you mean it's not your fault? What do you mean it's not your fault, sweetheart? If you'd have told them the truth and not lied about everything they wouldn't --

Casey Anthony: Do me a favor and just tell me what Tony's number is. I don't want to talk to you right now. Forget it.

Casey Anthony remained behind bars Friday as her family worked to meet her more-than-half-million-dollar bail on charges of child neglect, filing a false statement and obstructing a criminal investigation. Her parents and brother Lee spoke with her for the first time since July 16 in separate videoconferences at the Orange County Jail.

Cindy and George Anthony ran to their vehicle after their visit and wouldn't tell reporters what they discussed with their daughter. George Anthony, seemingly in good spirits, said he thought his granddaughter is alive.

On Friday morning, the granddad made another public plea for volunteers to help distribute fliers about the disappearance and T-shirts with Caylee's photo on the back. At least 40,000 fliers and more than 200 shirts have been handed out so far, he said.

Speaking outside his home, George Anthony said he could not wait to hear his granddaughter call out her name for him -- "Jo Jo" -- and was looking forward to throwing a block party for her upcoming 3rd birthday."I've gotta get my granddaughter back," he said.Mom, lawyer talk alone.

Earlier this week, at a bond hearing for Caylee's mother, Orange County detectives painted a grim picture of that prospect. They described a mysterious stain and hair found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's Pontiac Sunfire and a foul odor associated with rotting human flesh.

Her attorney, Jose Baez, spent more than two hours at the jail Friday afternoon, speaking separately with his client and investigators from the Sheriff's Office. Neither he nor investigators released any information.

Details of the mother's July 16 jailhouse conversation emerged the same day Orlando police released a 911 call Cindy Anthony made to have her daughter arrested after allegedly stealing the family car and money.

During that two-minute call, Casey Anthony can be heard asking her mother to give her one more day to find Caylee before getting authorities involved.

Confusion about which law-enforcement agency would handle the complaint took up the majority of the call, which eventually was transferred to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

While a dispatcher was transferring the call, the recording captured a snippet of the mother and daughter's conversation: 'I've given you a month'

Cindy Anthony: 'Cause my next thing will be down to child [inaudible] thing and we'll have a court order to get her. If that's the way you want to play, we'll do it and you'll never --

Casey Anthony: That's not the way I want to play.

Cindy Anthony: Well, then you have --

Casey Anthony: Give me one more day.

Cindy Anthony: No, I'm not giving you another day; I've given you a month . . .

The conversation ended when an Orange County Sheriff's Office dispatcher picked up the line.

That call led to the discovery of Caylee's disappearance and Casey Anthony's arrest.

During the jailhouse call, Anthony exploded when told that people say she's lying.

Casey Anthony to friend: Nobody's [expletive] listening to anything that I'm saying. The media completely misconstrued everything that I said. The [expletive] detectives told them [expletives]. They got all of their information from me, yet at the same time they're twisting stuff. They've already said they're going to pin this on me if they don't find Caylee.

Urged repeatedly by her brother to tell what she knows, Anthony insists she has cooperated with investigators.

Casey to friend: I have no clue where Caylee is. If I knew where Caylee was, do you think any of this would be happening?

Lenny Wawczak confronts Drew Peterson


July 25, 2008
BY JOE HOSEY AND JANET LUNDQUIST

The man who wore a wire on Drew Peterson angrily confronted the former suburban cop outside a Bolingbrook barbershop today, shoving him during a heated parking lot dustup that drew nine squad cars.

Peterson kept his cool as neighbor and former friend Len Wawczak ambushed him in the parking lot, hurling obscenities as gawkers egged him on.

Lenny Wawczak (left) confronts Drew Peterson in the parking lot of a strip mall on the 300 block of North Schmidt Road in Bolingbrook Friday afternoon. Bolingbrook Police were called to the scene.

“I’ll beat the [expletive] out of you!” Wawczak yelled. “You ain’t nothing but a murderer. Say something!” “Hit me,” Peterson replied. “I’m going down.”

After Wawczak kept yelling, Peterson turned around and Wawczak pushed him in the back. Peterson later said his back hurt.

Wawczak had just heard that Peterson was supposedly telling people he had slept with Wawczak’s wife. Wawczak also was angry after hearing that Peterson has shot dirty looks at Wawczak’s 20-year-old son at the barbershop.

It’s the latest odd twist in the Peterson saga. Just this week, Wawczak and his wife, Paula Stark, said they had worn a wire on Peterson for seven months. Peterson has been named a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. Police are also investigating the bathtub death of Peterson’s fourth wife, Kathleen Savio. Her death has been labeled a homicide.

Peterson has denied having anything to do with Savio’s death or Stacy’s disappearance.

On Friday, after learning that Peterson was getting his hair cut in a strip mall in the 300 block of North Schmidt Road in Bolingbrook, Wawczak waited for him between cars in the parking lot at about 1 p.m.

Peterson emerged from the barbershop with a short haircut and trimmed beard — and Wawczak popped out and began yelling at him.

“Someone call the cops,” Peterson calmly told onlookers. “Someone call the cops.” When no one did, Peterson got into his Pontiac Grand Prix and called police from his cell phone while Wawczak angrily paced outside.

Soon, nine squad cars arrived and officers spoke with both Wawczak and Peterson. Eventually, Wawczak got in the front seat of a squad car to file a report at the Bolingbrook police station. Peterson left for the station in his own car.

Peterson later left the station, but Wawczak remained inside.