I found a great site that explains sociopaths. She certainly fits all the criteria for being diagnosed as one. Will it be used as a defense if she ever goes to trial?
http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html
I think she definitely fits the criteria for any sociopathy/psychopathy checklist. I see her as a psychopath, a classification generally regarded as a more organized and narcissistically-guided version of sociopathy. The personality disorders discussed in this thread won't be used as a legal defense. If anything, this kind of diagnosis is a liability to the defense. Legal insanity means you don't know the difference between right and wrong. Antisocial/Sociopath/Psychopath means you know the difference and willfully ignore it or use it to your advantage.
I posted some of the following in the Rosary Bead necklace thread, but wanted to add to it here-- I've listened to the interrogation audio a few times and I can't get over the sarcastic drone of her voice and the circularity of her answers. I wonder if the "script" the kidnappers gave her was actually the personality disorders section of the DSM IV. That's a joke, but I do find her psych profile fascinating, so I thought I'd post some of my thoughts in this thread.
I think Casey derives tremendous pleasure from all the attention and speculation surrounding everything she does. She loves planting red herrings and watching everyone chase their tails (i.e. the two different stories about Caylee's "abduction") etc.
I wonder if the rosary beads were her way of communicating/sending signals to her "audience."
1. Recently, the criminologist who called Casey a "dark damsel" profiled her and stated that women with her psychopathology would likely "find religion" right before they were ready to confess...
"Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said that there are signs to look for, which could signify Anthony is getting ready to talk.
'Look for her to turn to religion and either attempt to or speak of fleeing. When she gets to that point, she is most likely to talk about what really happened.'"
Maybe this is her way of taunting people who hold their breath in hopes that she'll break.
2. There's also been a lot of random speculation and discussion about incest being a factor in this investigation. It's on just about every discussion board and blog related to this case. LP made strong insinuations on NG. There's basically no way Casey and family would have missed this and it's probably really disturbing to them. The movie Cruel Intentions centers around incestuous siblings bonded by manipulation and deceit. The sister character is a cunning seductress who wears a rosary as a necklace. The rosary necklace is a big deal during the movie and is very easily associated with the character. (google "cruel intentions and rosary" and you'll see how many young girls want their own rosary necklace because of the movie.) It's also a pretty popular movie. I wonder if she's wearing the rosary to thumb her nose at the incest speculation. Or to feed it because she loves watching all the theories unfold.
I also think there's something interesting in the revelation that 'Zanny the Nanny' is a character in a children's book. I think it's pretty clear that Cindy Anthony did not know the name of Caylee's "nanny" until after police were called, despite her statements that Casey had talked about Zanny for years. If she did, Cindy would have opened her second 911 call with "ZFG kidnapped my grandchild! Find ZFG!" I think Casey consciously or unconsciously chose the name "Zanny the Nanny" because it would be easy to convince others they had heard the name long before Caylee's disappearance.
1. it rhymes, so people could process it as familiar. i.e., "I thought she only said nanny but I bet it was Zanny? Yeah, I've heard of Zanny the Nanny for years."
2. it's possible Cindy read the Zanny the Nanny book to Casey or Caylee. Casey could have said "zanny the nanny" because it popped into her mind easily since she once read the book. Or she could have been more cunning, supplying Cindy with the name 'Zanny the Nanny" because she knew her mom had read the book and her memory was primed to recognize "zanny the nanny" as a familiar name. She could have relied on priming to sell Cindy on the lie, or simply because it was amusing to Casey to see her mom fall for such a contrived lie.
Casey's second story about Caylee being abducted in Blanchard Park introduced a new and unverifiable character-- ZFG's "sister sam"-- . There's also a tv show called My Sister Sam. It was once really popular and is still discussed in popular media because one of the stars was murdered by an obsessed fan. Again, I think Casey could have blurted out "sister sam" because she wanted to divine a new character and this popped into her mind because she'd seen or read about "My Sister Sam." Or again, she could have supplied the "sister sam" because it's amusing to her to not only supply false information, but to craft little inside jokes for herself.
The book/tv connections could be random coincidences and she could just have worn rosary beads to appear more sympathetic. However I'm inclined to think she gets major pleasure out of crafting strange riddles and inside jokes with herself. You know it has to kill her to be unable to react or lash out to all the current scrutiny. She clearly gets to a point where she can't help herself and has to say or do something (ie creating the new strange Blanchard Park abduction tale to impress Rob; posting the infamous and baiting "Diary of Days" blog entry weeks after Caylee had disappeared) I think we should all look for strange quirks or behaviors the longer this drags on because I think there will be some.
