Anthony Defense Team Inspects Car; Renowned Expert Brought In

November 14, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Casey Anthony's defense team examined her car on Friday, and a well-known forensics expert participated in the inspection, Local 6 News reported...

A judge recently granted Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, to have access to the vehicle... abandoned months ago at an Orange County Amscot. Scientists have concluded that the trunk contained signs of possible human decomposition and unusually high levels of chloroform.

Baez said he wanted an independent examination of the white Pontiac Sunfire and brought in Dr. Henry Lee, who has worked in several high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial, to assist in the inspection.

In 2003, a judge ruled that Lee either hid or accidentally destroyed key evidence in a murder trial. (Phil Spectors hung-jury trial)

Anthony's car has been stored at the Orange County Sheriff's Office since being recovered after Anthony's arrest in July. Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, said on a 911 call reporting Caylee missing that the car smelled like there had been a dead body in it. Detectives told Local 6 News on Friday that the car still reeks of death.

Cell Phone 'Dead Zones'

A Local 6 News report about Casey Anthony shows that "dead zones" on her cell phone may hurt the investigation into the case.

Local 6 News investigative reporter Tony Pipitone analyzed hundreds of text messages and phone calls placed and received by Anthony in the two weeks after Caylee disappeared and used a database program to determine how much time passed between each ping.

There were 24 times when three or more hours passed with Anthony's phone remaining silent, Pipitone reported.

"And when you account for sleep and periods where she appeared to stay in the same place, we are left with three gaps -- or dead zones -- that raise some questions," Pipitone said.

The first "dead zone" was June 17 from 5:23 p.m. to 8:23 p.m. Anthony's phone pinged a tower close to her boyfriend's apartment near the University of Central Florida and then twice pinged a tower near Blanchard Park before going silent.

The park was searched but nothing was found. In the time it took Anthony's phone to ping another tower -- three hours later -- she could have traveled as far away as Palm Bay or Ormond Beach and returned to Orange County.

June 17 was a day after Caylee was seen alive by her grandfather, George Anthony, who said his daughter and Caylee left his home at about 12:50 p.m. the day before.

Scientific evidence suggests that human remains that decomposed in the trunk of Anthony's car was there for up to 2½ days after death, Pipitone said. That would mean if Caylee died on June 16, investigators may want to focus more on June 18 into June 19, which contained two dead zones on her cell phone, he reported.

On June 18, Anthony's phone went silent at 6:57 p.m. and did not ping another tower until 8:32 a.m. June 19. In both cases, her phone pinged a tower near her boyfriend's apartment. Her whereabouts during that time is not known.

On June 19, Anthony's phone pinged near her boyfriend's apartment at 4:54 p.m., then her movements head south and east, according to cell phone pings, Pipitone said. "Heading east and hitting (a) cell tower on Lake Underhill Road ... but from here, her cell phone goes dead for three hours and 17 minutes. Where could she have gone in that time?" Pipitone said.

The last ping from the Lake Underhill tower was at 5:45 p.m., and the phone then went silent until a ping near her boyfriend's apartment. She then called her parents' home at 9:13 p.m., and there's no indication where Anthony was during the time frame.

"If this is the time Casey may have disposed of the body in her car trunk, there's no indication where Caylee may be either," Pipitone said.