Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [37]
As George returned the phone to Cindy, his daughter grew angry, clenching her fists and taking on an aggravated tone: “No one is letting me talk. I am not in control. Everybody wants to know things, but I have nothing to tell.”
George tried to reassure her, telling her that she was in charge, but his words only infuriated her further. Casey accused her father of suggesting that she had the power to give the police more information about Caylee’s whereabouts.
“There is nothing more I can do till I am home, and even then I don’t know what I can do from that point. But I can, at least, do something other than sit on my butt.” Considering that Casey had supposedly been looking for Caylee for a month on her own and had yet to give anything useful to investigators or her parents, it was strange that she seemed to believe that the only way she could help was if she was free. Watching the tapes, it seems clear that this was just another example of Casey trying to move the story forward without providing anything new. Casey meant to give her parents more of an incentive to get her out of jail and, at the same time, lower their expectations of her actually giving them anything more to help find Caylee.
In her anger, Casey briefly showed her hand, announcing that her focus had to be on her own case, but she quickly corrected herself, saying that her focus was on Caylee. She insisted that she had told the police everything.
“I am getting truly angry about all this,” she fumed. She complained that she had no one to comfort her. “What’s keeping me here is you’re not helping me to help myself.”
Cindy responded by telling her daughter that she and George did not have the financial means to get her out. By now Cindy was bent over with her head lying on the counter, obviously in great emotional pain. But Casey was not fazed by her parents’ anguish and persisted with her rant.
“This is the most angry I have been since this started,” she retorted. “People expect me, having been in jail for a month, to be able to give helpful information.”
George chimed in, encouraging his daughter to speak to law enforcement and to go around Jose. He suggested that she send a letter to the sheriff requesting a personal contact visit. But Casey seemed to be ignoring any and all suggestions as she focused on herself and her own misery. “Everything is out of my control,” she whined.
By now, Cindy was all but collapsed on her husband’s shoulder. She didn’t bother to lift her head as Casey once again bemoaned her powerlessness. “I wish there was something I could do to make things easier on the family. I am just as much a victim as the rest of you.”
The Anthony family didn’t know it, but Corporal Melich had been watching their visit from an adjoining room. Casey became frustrated with her mother for dominating the conversation. When Casey was talking to George, he mentioned that she could write a letter to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and request to speak to someone in law enforcement. Casey had made earlier indications to her parents that she was willing to do so, but had never officially asked to speak with anyone in there.
So Melich was surprised when later that day he received word that Casey had sent a note to Sheriff Kevin Beary. She wanted to speak privately with someone—not to law enforcement, but to her dad. The note said, “Is there any way that I can have a meeting set up with my father George Anthony? I would in every way appreciate it. I know it is an unusual request, but it is important nonetheless.”
The investigators were encouraged, thinking George would be able to convince her to share clues that she hadn’t revealed before. They arranged to pick up George and bring him to the jail.
The conversation