Let me add to that. The coroner determined it was homicide. This was based on where the body was found, how it was found (triple bagged, duct tape stuck to skull and hair), the fact that the mother never reported the child missing, the approximate date of death and that Caylee had not been seen for 31 days prior to the approximate date of death. We do not need cause of death to prove homicide.
What does the state have in order to prove it was first degree murder?:
1. A child is missing.
2. Mother never reports the child missing.
3. Mother lies about the child's whereabouts for 31 days.
4. Mother states the child was kidnapped when pressed and threatened with police being called. However, no evidence of a kidnapper or a kidnapping is ever found.
5. The mother's car was abandoned by her. When it was picked up by the family weeks later, it reeked horribly of decomposition, specifically, in the trunk.
6. The mother not only lied to LE about facts that could lead to the discovery of her daughter, she also purposefully misled them to a phony job, a phony nanny and to phony homes where the fake nanny lived, via outrageous lies.
7. The mother never showed any fear or grief about her daughter's disappearance.
8. There is evidence that the mother likely looked up household weapons, neck breaking, shovels and how to make chloroform, months before Caylee disappeared.
9. High levels of chloroform were found in the trunk of her car.
10. She parked her car backwards in the driveway against the garage on a day after Caylee disappeared, and on the same day she borrowed a shovel from a neighbor.
11. Cadaver dogs hit on the trunk and the backyard in a couple of places.
12. There was evidence that some ground had been disturbed in the Anthony back yard.
13. In the time Caylee was missing, before she was reported as such, witness and photographic evidence show that casey showed no concern about the whereabouts of her daughter. Instead, she had sex, partied, danced and got a tattoo of the words "Bella Vita" or the good life, during that time period.
14. When casey was arrested, she showed no authentic concern for her daughter and instead showed repeated concern for herself, getting out of jail, being able to talk to her boyfriend instead of answering questions about Caylee, and jealousy over the family having chili and dining together and she showed anger and indifference over the family's concern about Caylee, rather than her own predicament. The mother smiled broadly when she was photographed by police the day her daughter was reported missing (or the very next day) and strutted in a sultry and arrogant manner with a slight smirk when she was arrested, showing no panic, fear or concern about her daughter:
15. There is evidence via witness statements that the mother was jealous of her daughter, of her daughter's connection with the grandma, of her daughter's role as the new princess in the family and there is evidence that the mother was angered by and deeply resentful of her parents' reluctance to allow her to leave the baby with them while she partied and refused to work, that she was forced to care for the "little snothead" as a result and that her parents were beginning to call her to account for her lying about work and failure to work and her theft of their property and that of her elderly grandparents.
16. There is evidence that her then boyfriend did not allow the mother to have Caylee in his bed or to spend the night and that he did not want kids but that if he ever had children, he would only want boy children. This is the only person the mother wanted to talk to when she was arrested.
17. The mother never called 911 or asked anyone for help to report any kind of accident or other problem with Caylee, at any time.
18. Caylee was found triple bagged and duct taped with rare tape found in the parent's home and in a laundry bag that matched laundry bags in the family home. She was found in the woods only houses from where casey resided at the time.
19. In almost three years, the mother has never disclosed that there was any kind of accident and instead, steadfastly held to the story that a woman who does not exist, took her child. This is despite a grand jury indictment and charges of first degree murder and the decision by the state to seek the death penalty for the same.
20. The mother emptied her myspace or facebook of hundreds of photos of Caylee right before she disappeared.
ETA: Any one of those things may not prove premeditated murder. But in my professional opinion, it is likely enough when most of it is taken together.
