Casey Anthony's mom testifies she searched for 'chloroform'
ORLANDO, FL
Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy, said she had run the chloroform
queries while looking up information on chlorophyll, a green
pigment found in plants. She believed her dogs may have been eating
bamboo leaves containing chlorophyll. Cindy Anthony also said she
ran searches on other chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide, after
she was informed about a hand sanitizer scare.
Casey Anthony listened to her mother's testimony without showing
emotion.
The testimony was a surprise to prosecutors who contend that
Casey Anthony made the searches. During cross-examination,
prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick suggested that Cindy Anthony never
mentioned the searches during depositions and that work records
show that Cindy Anthony was at her job during the time the searches
were made on the family's home computer.
Cindy Anthony responded that she could leave work when she
needed to and that the work records might not have reflected her
absence.
"You were aware that computer searches were an issue?" Drane
Burdick said.
Drane Burdick asked Cindy Anthony whether she remembered denying
that she conducted the searches during her 2009 deposition.
"I did not look up how to make chloroform. I looked up
chloroform," Cindy Anthony said. "I did tell the detectives, and
I did tell the state attorneys about the searches."
Cindy Anthony told Drane Burdick she did not run searches on
household weapons, chloroform habit or neck-breaking, although she
said she remembered a YouTube video involving a skateboarder. The
skateboarder's trick was described as a "neck-breaking feat," she
said.
Chloroform is a chemical compound that can be used to knock
someone unconscious and also is found in human decomposition.
The body of Casey Anthony's daughter, Caylee, was found in
December 2008, almost six months after she disappeared in Orlando.
Prosecutors believe she suffocated her daughter in June 2008. She
didn't report her missing for 31 days.
Earlier in the trial, a medical examiner testified that even a
small amount of chloroform would be sufficient to cause the death
of a child.
Cindy Anthony also said stains in the trunk of Casey Anthony's
car were present when the family bought the car in 2000.
Prosecutors contend the child's body was in the car trunk and then
dumped in a wooded area near the Anthony home. Prosecutors have
presented extensive evidence of human decomposition in the car
trunk, including stains.
Sgt. Kevin Stenger of the Orange County Sheriff's Office also
testified Thursday about deputies' investigation of the Anthony
family computer. Prosecutors contend someone in the Anthony home
ran searches on chloroform as many as 84 times. But defense
attorney Jose Baez asked Stenger about discrepancies in the data
showing how many times someone searched about chloroform.
During cross-examination, Drane-Burdick presented evidence that
someone in the Anthony home conducted a search on how to make
chloroform.
Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and
could face the death penalty if convicted of that charge.