Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [60]
While Jesse couldn’t elaborate further on the supposed violence, he could speak to other elements of Casey’s feelings for her mom and corroborate his father’s words in the process. “She’s always had a kind of love-hate relationship with Cindy,” he said to the police. “I mean . . . if you ask my dad or anybody else, when we were together, when we were engaged, she didn’t want to be anything like her mom. She wanted to get out of the house as quick as possible. And then suddenly she wanted to be just like her mom. And then she goes back to hating her mom again. And then she loves her mom and her mom’s going to give her the house and everything’s great. And then she hates her mom again. I believe it goes all the way back to when Caylee was born.
“When Caylee was born, Casey wasn’t the first one to get to hold Caylee. It was Cindy. Casey’s even voiced to me in the past that Cindy has actually called herself ‘Mommy’ to Caylee in front of Casey. . . .”
In the coming weeks, investigators followed up on other hearsay tips, including one from a neighbor on Hopespring Drive. The neighbor, Jean Couty, claimed to have overheard two very loud arguments between Casey and her mother that past May or June. He said both had taken place on a weekend while he was outside doing yard work. The discussions had been heated, with Casey doing all the cursing and her mother staying calm but firm. He said that Casey was acting like a spoiled brat both times. She’d huff and rant, then drive off in her car. Couty said that if he had ever talked to his mother that way, he’d have been slapped. Caylee wasn’t present for either of these two arguments, he said. They both took place about one month before police showed up at the house on July 15, but he couldn’t pinpoint the time closer than that.
As the search widened, investigators also began speaking with Cindy Anthony’s coworkers at her place of employment, Gentiva Health Services, a national home health-care company where Cindy worked as a nursing case manager. Having worked there for many years with no issues, she was extremely well liked by her fellow staff members. Still, the people at Gentiva that Cindy had confided in were able to corroborate much of what Rick, Richard, and Jesse had said. Everyone, it seemed, had the general impression that there were problems at the Anthony home prior to Caylee’s disappearance. Cindy had been doing a lot of complaining about Casey, saying she was spending more and more evenings out of the house, away from Caylee. It seemed like it was a classic case of two people at each other on a downward spiral, Cindy mad at Casey, which made Casey not want to be home, which made Cindy even madder at Casey. In all likelihood, Cindy suspected Casey was out partying based on her behavior, and the tension between the two women was leading to fights.
When Melich arrived at Gentiva, he sat with Debbie Polisano, Cindy’s direct supervisor. Polisano said that while Cindy was often aggravated about things at home, in late June, she had been more upset than usual. George and Casey were fighting, and it was impacting her relationship with George. Finances seemed to be at the heart of it, but Cindy hadn’t elaborated. Not long after, Cindy confided that Casey had using been Caylee as leverage, trying to keep her from her, while at the same time dumping her with her whenever it was convenient. Cindy was very frustrated. Polisano said that it was not uncommon for Casey to bring Caylee to the office once a week and leave her with Cindy, claiming she had to “go to work.”
Polisano said that Cindy took the first week of June off, hoping to spend the time with Casey and Caylee. She even had a little trip in mind. It hadn’t turned that way. Instead of spending time as a threesome, Casey hadn’t been around the whole week and had used Cindy as a babysitter. Casey hadn’t even called her mother on her birthday, which was June 5. That month, Polisano said Cindy had mentioned the pool ladder being removed from the pool