CNN
—
Casey Anthony is back in the national spotlight more than a decade after being acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter.
In a new three-part docuseries airing on Peacock titled “Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies,” Anthony relays her version of what she believes led to Caylee’s death. Anthony never testified at his trial, so this is the first time the public has heard of him on camera, according to the show’s producers. Peacock did not respond to CNN’s request for additional comment.
For three years, between the time Caylee disappeared and Anthony’s acquittal, the Florida case transfixed the nation as it unfolded on both social media and traditional media. The prosecution sought the death penalty, saying Caylee’s death occurred during aggravated child abuse and was committed in a “cold, calculated and premeditated manner without any claim of moral or legal justification”.
After nearly six weeks of testimony, the jury rejected the prosecution’s allegation that Anthony gave his child chloroform, suffocated her with duct tape and dumped her body in the woods. They convicted her of four lesser counts of lying to law enforcement officers.
Anthony spent around three years in jail awaiting trial and was released after being given credit for time behind bars. Outraged protesters took to the streets, calling her a “baby killer” and demanding justice for Caylee.
In the docuseries, Anthony and his defense team file several explosive allegations in the decade-long mystery surrounding his daughter’s death. Here’s what you need to know about “Where the Truth Lies”:
Time magazine dubbed Anthony’s story the social media trial of the century in 2011. Years later, the mystery surrounding Caylee’s death is still much discussed.
In July 2008, Anthony’s mother called 911 and reported that she had not seen her granddaughter in a month. Photos of Anthony partying and smiling, taken between when Caylee was last seen and when she was reported missing, were quickly plastered on television screens nationwide. Tabloids and social media users were obsessed with the idea of a mother partying with her friends and getting a “Bella Vita” tattoo – Italian for “Beautiful Life” – while her daughter was missing.
In the docuseries, which has sparked further controversy on social media, Anthony says this period was “the antithesis of what my life was really like”.
She has since covered the tattoo with flowers which she described as a symbol of growth and rebirth.
“It was my whole life up to that point, acting like everything was fine, but knowing nothing was right,” she says.
At the start of the documentary, Anthony explains why she decided to speak out after years of silence.
“I spent the last 10 years making sure I knew who I was, started to come to terms with this loss, and had something to say to make my daughter proud, but also to honor properly,” she said. “And that’s part of it.”
Anthony and his defense team admitted that she lied repeatedly. After Caylee disappeared, she lied that she worked at Universal Studios. In another lie, she said a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez stole her child. She admits in the docuseries that the story was made up and that the only other person who cared for Caylee besides her was her mother.
In the docuseries, she also reveals that she lied to an ex-boyfriend that he was Caylee’s father because she was too ashamed to admit she was raped at a party and didn’t know. who was the father. A paternity test revealed he was not.
“I am a convicted liar,” she said. “I lied to everyone…I spent years trying to show everyone that I was living a certain life because I didn’t want people to pity me,” she says . “No lie was off limits, no lies were off limits.”
For months, Anthony and his parents maintained that Caylee was alive.
During the trial, the defense said the child drowned in Anthony’s family pool on June 16, 2008, and that Anthony and his father covered up the death. In the docuseries, Anthony offers a contradictory theory that blames only his father.
She also reiterates her allegations that her father sexually abused her as a child – allegations he denied during the trial as well as any involvement in Caylee’s death. In the docuseries, Peacock says George Anthony turned down an offer to appear on the show. CNN has reached out to the elder Anthony.
Anthony is now working with one of his defense team’s lead investigators, Patrick McKenna, who runs a private investigations firm. In the documentary, McKenna says he believes she is innocent. Anthony lived with his family for some time after the trial ended due to fears for his safety, McKenna said, adding that she is like a daughter to him.
Anthony admits she still has no answers.
“It’s hard because a thousand questions go through my head. I’m responsible for answering all the questions in the world about him, about what happened,” Anthony said. “I still don’t know what happened to Caylee. I know what I’m afraid of. I know what gnaws at me at night.
0