Reported By Kelli Cook, Jacqueline Fell and Scott Harris
ORLANDO -- The state attorney’s office released new evidence Friday in the Case Against Casey Anthony.
The new documents include three hours of audio and video recordings, as well as some additional photos.
Casey's Demeanor
Tracy McLaughlin, an associate of Leonard Padilla's, recalled in an interview with authorities the first time she met Casey, which was on the day she was released from jail on bond. McLaughlin's job was to observe Casey.
"I'm a little bit nervous to meet her because I'm thinking that poor gal," McLaughlin said. "She's gotta be upset. She comes in happy as can be. 'Hey!" 'Hi' gives me a big hug and just , 'oh I want to take a shower' and not a word about Caylee."
Kronk Finds A Skull
Here is a transcript from two radio transmissions when meter reader Roy Kronk discovered what was later identified as Caylee's skull.
Radio Operator: "Go ahead, Roy."
Roy: "Roger that, I just found a human skull on Suburban Drive in the woods by the school."
Radio Operator: "OK, let me get dispatch to get the authorities out there. Hold the line."
Radio Operator: "I told you Roy. I told you Roy."
Roy: "No, I told you she was there."
Roy: "It's a child's skull with duct tape across the mouth."
Padilla Talks To Investigators
In an audio recording, Padilla recounted to Orange County investigators the original story Casey told him about how her slain 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, first disappeared.
Padilla said Casey told him Zenaida Gonzalez, Caylee’s “mystery babysitter,” kidnapped the toddler, then held Casey down and handed her a list of things to tell police for the next 30 days.
According to Padilla, Casey said Zenaida told her it was “payback.”
Padilla told investigators he didn't believe Casey's story from the beginning.
Cindy Says She Doesn't Trust Detective
One of the audio files released Friday was a conversation, apparently recorded in Aug. 2008, between Cindy Anthony and Commander Matt Irwin of the Orange County Sheriff's Office. The two met and talked over lunch.
Right off the bat, Cindy made it clear she was upset with the way Detective Yuri Melich questioned Casey and her family, and that she was not going to take a polygraph.
"I'm going to cooperate as much as I can, but I don't have to take that polygraph and I'm not going to -- not the way I was treated last night (by Yuri)," Cindy said.
Cindy said she became upset with Melich after reading the transcript of his questioning of her daughter.
"I don't trust Yuri. I read through his line of questioning (of Casey) through the discovery. ... I was appalled. ... He's not asking her questions, he's telling her stories. He's telling her a scenario and wants her to respond to it. ... She's told us from day 1 he never listened to her. Now, granted, she did some tell some lies, but again, a couple times he actually cut her off when she tried to tell him things," Cindy told Irwin.
When Irwin said Caylee's disappearance could have been the result of an accident, Cindy said she didn't believe that for a second because Casey would come to them even when Caylee skinned her knee.
"I realize Casey lied, but bottom line is it still doesn't change my beliefs that Caylee is not dead, that Caylee is still alive and is out there and I'm not changing those beliefs until someone brings me proof beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise," Cindy said.
Irwin reassured Cindy that authorities never considered her, her husband George or her son Lee, of having a role in Caylee's disappearance.
"Knowing what I know today, I still would have called 911," Cindy said.
During the conversation, Cindy told Irwin that she had to be strong for the family because the rest were so emotional. She said it was hard for George to come to the realization that he would not be Casey's knight in shining armor and save the day -- that they would have to depend on someone else to do that.
New Videos
The state attorney’s office also released a video of various scenes shot by private investigator Jim Hoover. The clip jumps back and forth between items pertaining to the Anthony case and Hoover’s own home movies of his family.
In one scene related to the case, private investigator Dominic Casey is searching the wooded area where Caylee’s remains were found with a metal rod.
Another scene shows a television tuned to the Nancy Grace show on the day the remains were discovered. The person behind the camera zooms in on the TV to show George and Cindy Anthony leaving their house, escorted by Hoover.
New Photos
The released materials also included dozens of photos of Caylee Anthony, as well as several photos of the Amscot parking lot where Casey left her car after her daughter first disappeared in June 2008.
Check Fraud First, Murder Later
The latest release of evidence comes one day after Casey Anthony learned she would be tried for check fraud before her murder trial.
In charges separate from the first-degree murder of her daughter, Casey is accused of stealing more than $700 from a friend and spending it at a local Target.
Casey’s lawyers tried to delay the check fraud charges until after the murder trial, but a judge denied that request.
Hearings Set In Casey's Civil Case
Two hearings are set for next week in the Casey Anthony civil case.
Circuit Judge Jose Rodriguez will hear the Defendant's Renewed Motion to Dismiss the Plaintiff's Amended Complaint on Sept. 8 at 10 a.m., and the Plaintiff's Motion to Compel George and Anthony to Answer on Sept. 9 at 3:15 p.m.
The Case Against Casey
See News 13’s Extended Coverage for more Documents, Audio and Video released in the case, plus News 13’s story archive of the entire case against Casey Anthony.
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