Chief Judge Belvin Perry has delivered some good news for Roy Kronk, the discoverer of Caylee Anthony’s remains.

Perry today determined that allegations about Kronk’s past had nothing to do with the former meter reader’s finding the toddler’s body, WESH-Channel 2’s Bob Kealing reported tonight. And those allegations cannot be introduced at the trial of Casey Anthony, who is charged with first-degree murder in Caylee’s death.

David Evans, Kronk’s attorney, said in Kealing’s succinct report at 4 p.m.: “Tomorrow’s his birthday, and he said it’s a great birthday present that he would learn today that the judge has thrown out this effort, that we’ve said from the beginning, was just kind of wrong-headed.”  

Attorney Jeff Deen, providing analysis for WESH, said of Kronk: “There’s nothing that that man has done that I can see makes him suspect.”

In other Anthony developments:

***WESH and WFTV-Channel 9 reported that Robyn Adams, Anthony’s pen pal at the Orange County Jail, will be moved from a penitentiary in Tallahassee to testify at a hearing here. Perry didn’t specify a date when Adams, a convicted drug dealer, will testify, Kealing reported. “Casey allegedly told Adams that she gave Caylee chloroform and that she did not want to be a mom,” WFTV anchor Martie Salt said.

***WESH reported there will be a hearing Monday on a defense request for more taxpayer money — $12,000 — for investigative costs in the case.  Another Kealing report highlighted that the defense request puts Perry in a difficult spot.

The reason: In a WESH report Thursday, several supposed defense witnesses undercut a defense argument that someone other than Anthony dumped Caylee’s body after Casey was jailed. 

Attorney Deen, offering more analysis for WESH, explained Perry’s problem: “The judge is in a position of trying to guard the public money, but on the other hand, he cannot thwart this defendant’s ability to move around and investigate her case.”   

***WFTV also reported that Perry ruled that Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller cannot be asked at the trial about his statement that Anthony almost marked Caylee’s location on a map.

WESH-Channel 2 interviewed three people identified as defense witnesses in the Casey Anthony case.

The news: The three told WESH’s Bob Kealing nothing to support the defense.

Or, more precisely, they didn’t back up the defense contention that someone other than Anthony dumped Caylee’s remains after Casey was jailed. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Caylee.

Kealing said that about a dozen searchers were being deposed by prosecutors today. He talked to three.

Spouses Kevin and Lisa Galloway said the area where Caylee’s body was later found was waist-deep in water in September 2008. Kealing asked, “Do you think there’s any chance it was dry enough for someone to move the remains after Casey was locked up on Oct. 14?” Kealing asked. No, they said. In fact, they believe Caylee’s remains were submerged when they searched the area.

Searcher Melissa White told Kealing that she couldn’t say for sure she searched the exact spot where the toddler was later found.

Kealing also reported that Chief Judge Belvin Perry rejected a defense motion to reconsider the $583 fine against defense attorney Jose Baez for willfully violating court rules.

And WESH reported that Baez has asked Perry for an additional 300 investigative hours. Kealing said the cost to taxpayers would be $12,000.

“The case against Casey Anthony cracked wide open today with some new prosecution claims that could be the crux of their case,” WESH-Channel 2 anchor Aixa Diaz said this afternoon.

Could be?

Anchor Jim Payne crowed, “WESH 2 news is the first to uncover the first look at how the state plans to pin the murder of Caylee on her mother Casey.”

I would hate for them to be second to uncover the first look.

I’m surprised they got the news out with all the back-patting that opened the 4 p.m. news today. Payne credited reporter Bob Kealing with breaking the story at noon by highlighting crucial documents filed by the state attorney’s office. In them, prosecutors respond to defense motions. Kealing said the papers reveal how the state will attack Casey Anthony’s claims, such as conducting her own search for her daughter.

In court papers, prosecutors:

***Note that Anthony never talked about the missing Caylee to boyfriend Anthony Lazzaro while the two adults were “playing house” and that point disproves that Casey was conducting her own investigation.

***Write that Anthony’s online musing that “everyone lies, everyone dies” is “inconsistent in content with that of a mother desperately seeking her kidnapped child.”

***Cite Cindy Anthony’s online post accusing daughter Casey of lying; prosecutors say Cindy’s comment “is an unvarnished view of the relationship” between the two women.

Anthony’s defense attorneys are trying to have some of these very points thrown out, Kealing noted.

The papers do provide an overview of the prosecution. Despite WESH’s crowing, though, the content of these documents is not new to anyone who’s been following the case. I’d suggest WESH go easy on the self-congratulation. There’s a long way to go in this case.

At 5 p.m., WFTV-Channel 9 also looked at the state’s emphasis on Casey’s ”playing house” with Lazzaro. WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer observed, “Here’s the proof since Casey didn’t tell Lazzaro that her daughter was kidnapped that, in fact, her daughter was not kidnapped.”

WFTV’s Kenneth Moton highlighted the prosecution’s view that Anthony was avoiding questions about her daughter. Prosecutors wrote: “Anthony was doing everything in her power to flee from her family, including lying to them as to her whereabouts and stealing from her friend to avoid having to rely on her family for financial support.”

And Moton explored the importance of Anthony’s “Bella Vita” tattoo. Sheaffer said that the tattoo is another example of how Anthony’s actions don’t reflect the attitudes of a mother looking for her child.

WESH-Channel 2’s Bob Kealing tonight previewed depositions that will be done Thursday in the Casey Anthony case.

Prosecutors will question about a dozen new defense witnesses — all from Central Florida — who say they searched where Caylee Anthony was later discovered. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

In December, defense attorney Cheney Mason told Kealing that the witnesses looked in the spot and that the toddler wasn’t there – a point the defense says bolsters its contention that someone dumped the child’s body after her mother was jailed. Texas EquuSearch has said the area was flooded and couldn’t be searched.

Will the witnesses stand by what they’ve said? Kealing noted that Mason wasn’t commenting last week.

Kealing listed two crucial questions for the witnesses on Thursday: “When do you claim that you searched this wooded area along Suburban Drive? And how do you know for certain you searched in this exact spot where Caylee Anthony’s remains were later found?”

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who offers analysis for WESH, was skeptical about the local witnesses and cited timing. ”If they had searched the specific area where Caylee’s body was found, they would have come forward voluntarily a long time ago,” Hornsby said.

Chief Judge Belvin Perry will keep people guessing about which Florida city will yield the Casey Anthony jury.

WOFL-Channel 35 energetically waded into the speculation tonight in a segment featuring Orlando attorney Diana Tennis as analyst. She has a style that’s charming, informative and down-to-earth.

“You’re going to have to go outside the Central Florida area,” Tennis said. She said Tampa is out. Her top guesses: the Panhandle, Naples, Fort Myers, maybe Palm Beach. 

“The demographics of the town that gets selected is going to be critical to the defense,” Tennis said.  ”I know they are definitely hoping that it’s somewhere they consider more progressive, like the Palm Beach area, and not somewhere they’re going to consider more conservative, like the Naples or Fort Myers area.”   

WESH-Channel 2 and WFTV-Channel 9 focused on today’s hearing on jury selection. Both stations highlighted the questions that will be put to prospective jurors in another county: Will they face hardship in serving on the jury? Have they seen a lot of the Anthony coverage? And what are their thoughts about the death penalty?

Continue reading Casey Anthony: Where will the jurors come from? »

Tonight’s WESH-Channel 2 report on the Casey Anthony case certainly raised a few questions about the defense team.

WESH’s indefatigable Bob Kealing reported that defense attorney Cheney Mason sent a letter along with Jose Baez’s $583 check for a court fine. In the letter to prosecutor Jeff Ashton, Mason talked about Baez’s youth and experience level. Mason also asked prosecutors to consider not cashing the check.

Kealing said Mason is trying persuade Ashton not to oppose a defense motion asking Chief Judge Belvin Perry to reconsider Baez’s fine for willful violation of the judge’s order.

Which made me made wonder:

1. Are Baez and Mason talking to each other?

2. Did Baez give Mason the blessing to send the letter?

3. Does Baez have enough money in the bank to cover the check?

4. Why did Mason put these thoughts in writing — which are now in the public record?

5. Why would Mason call attention to Baez’s youth and experience?

This latest move is bringing even more attention to the defense team’s methods. How does that help Casey Anthony? And shouldn’t her defense be the attorneys’ main focus? She is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

The defense attorneys sound like children who won’t take any criticism. In the WESH report, veteran attorney Jeff Deen seemed exasperated with the defense team. “This is starting to wear down everybody,” Deen said.

Highlights from the Casey Anthony coverage tonight:

***WESH-Channel 2’s Bob Kealing focused on a defense expert’s claim that Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the Orange County medical examiner, didn’t follow the correct protocols in performing an autopsy on the toddler.

Kealing noted that the defense says its expert, Dr. Werner Spitz, found a ”deposit of dirt” inside Caylee’s skull during a second autopsy. Kealing also highlighted that Spitz claims that Garavaglia didn’t open the child’s skull in the first autopsy.

Veteran attorney Jeff Deen, providing analysis for WESH, said “it’s a huge thing” that Spitz is questioning whether Garavaglia followed protocols.

Kealing said WESH wasn’t able to reach Garavaglia for a comment. But he cited “a source close to the investigation” who said the prosecution could say flood water brought dirt into the child’s skull.

Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter.  

***WFTV-Channel 9 reported that Jose Baez today paid  the nearly $600 fine that Chief Judge Belvin Perry handed down last week.

“We’re still waiting for a ruling on a defense motion asking the judge to reconsider the sanctions against Baez,” anchor Martie Salt said.

WESH-Channel 2 gave Brad Conway, former attorney for George and Cindy Anthony, a prominent place in the news tonight.

First, Conway popped up in a WESH recap of the Casey Anthony case over the past year. Conway was a surprising presence. He played analyst and wondered what happened to all the money in Anthony’s defense fund. Why was he there?

We soon found out. Bob Kealing returned with a separate report on Conway, who took on a new, high-profile client last week. Anchor Martha Sugalski billed the Conway interview as an exclusive.

That client is the wife of the bipolar man, Clay Duke, who shot a gun at a Panama City school board meeting before he took his own life.

Conway told Kealing that Rebecca Duke “had no idea that her husband was going to do such a heinous thing. Rebecca Duke is accused of no crime, but people are scorning her because of her husband’s actions, Conway said.

Conway “plans on continuing to be her go-between the police and the media,” Kealing reported. 

Conway described his role as advisory — similar to how he worked for George and Cindy Anthony, the parents of Casey Anthony. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

WESH-Channel 2 looked back at the top developments in the Casey Anthony case in the past year. Here were reporter Bob Kealing’s choices:

1. Anthony became indigent.

2. Changes in her defense team.

3. A new judge entered the case.

Do you agree with those choices?

Kealing opened his concise recap with footage of Anthony falling in an Orange County Courthouse elevator. “It’s been that kind of a rocky 2010,” he said. She is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie.

Judge Stan Strickland was replaced by Chief Judge Belvin Perry. Brad Conway, former attorney for George and Cindy Anthony, told WESH that Perry has the luxury of moving the case along faster than Strickland did.

Anthony attorneys Linda Kenney Baden and Andrea Lyon left the case, and Cheney Mason and Ann Finnell came aboard. Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides legal analysis for WESH, wondered if people had left because there wasn’t as much celebrity interest in the case.

Continue reading Casey Anthony: What were the top developments in 2010? »

The state deposed a bug expert on Casey Anthony’s team today, and WESH-Channel 2 foresaw “the battle of bug experts.”

The reason: The defense entomologist, Dr. Tim Huntington, was trained by the state’s expert, Dr. Neal Haskell.

What could that connection mean? “This could make Huntington’s job more treacherous in Anthony’s murder trial,” WESH’s Bob Kealing speculated.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. As WESH has reported, Haskell has formulated that Caylee’s remains were dumped near the Anthony family home in June or July 2008.

Kealing explained that Huntington will be there to support the defense view that the toddler’s remains were dropped there later — after Casey Anthony was jailed. 

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who offers analysis for WESH, sized up the entomologist battle this way: “Why should you believe the trainee over the trainer?” Hornsby saw this challenge: If Huntington discredits Haskell, Huntington will discredit himself.

WFTV-Channel 9’s Jeff Deal said the case could hinge on the coffin flies that Haskell found in Casey Anthony’s trunk — evidence a dead body had been there. “With so much circumstantial evidence that will be presented, the defense needs to start poking holes in the forensic evidence,” Deal said.

Deal noted that Huntington, who is based in Nebraska, was deposed via Skype. WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Huntington will attack the evidence found in the trunk. “If Caylee’s remains are associated with either Casey’s automobile or the residence, it certainly is strong indication that Casey was responsible for Caylee’s death,” Sheaffer said.

Deal also weighed in on the bug-expert battle: “Our legal expert says even if the forensic experts do cancel each other out in terms of who jurors believe, the defense will still have an uphill battle because of all the circumstantial evidence that points towards Casey.”

WESH’s Kealing reported the defense team late today filed a motion “asking to throw out potentially inflammatory evidence that someone put a heart-shaped sticker on the duct tape across Caylee Anthony’s skull. Now the FBI admitted that the evidence of the sticker residue on the tape was destroyed during fingerprint tests. … The defense says it was never there.”  

WFTV also noted that Casey Anthony is expected to be at a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Prosecutors want sanctions against the defense team and accuse the team of ignoring Judge Belvin Perry’s orders to provide specific evidence about what defense witnesses will testify about, anchor Vanessa Welch said.

What was new in the documents released today in the Casey Anthony case?

Not a lot.

“Nothing in there that’s a real game-changer,” WKMG-Channel 6’s Tony Pipitone said.

But he said the documents suggest investigators are focusing on this issue: Was Caylee’s body dumped after Casey’s movements were limited? Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter.

Pipitone said the documents released today show that searchers didn’t go far enough into the woods to look for the toddler. And Pipitone said the newly released documents heavily discredit the claims of  “one mentally ill woman who got some press notoriety by claiming the body was not there when she looked.”

Pipitone also looked skeptically at Krystal Holloway, “who claimed to the National Enquirer she was George Anthony’s mistress, something not supported by any evidence and denied by the Anthony family attorney.” Pipitone replayed footage of Holloway sharing her theories in a WKMG report.

Continue reading Casey Anthony: How credible is Krystal Holloway? »

Now we have a “Bones” connection in the Casey Anthony case.

Best-selling writer and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, whose novels inspired the Fox drama, is among the expert witnesses listed by the Anthony defense team. Reichs is also a producer on “Bones.”

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. The trial is scheduled to begin in May.

Anthony attorney Cheney Mason made a surprising claim earlier this week, to WESH-Channel 2, that the defense had found 15 to 20 volunteer searchers who say they didn’t see the toddler’s remains “exactly on the spot” where they later were found. The claim would seem to back up the defense contention that someone else dumped the child’s remains in the woods after Anthony was jailed.

Mason said he present the list of witnesses to the court Friday.

Yet WESH’s Bob Kealing tonight explained skepticism about Mason’s claim. “If those people were not exactly sure where they searched along that long, densely wooded stretch of Suburban Drive, their claims  may be easily discounted,” Kealing said.

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides analysis for WESH, said, “I highly doubt he found anybody that said they were in that exact spot, and until he presents a witness list and those people are actually under oath and say that, I would be very questionable with anything he claims.”

What do you think?

What was the biggest headline in the Casey Anthony case today? I’ll pick one from outside the status hearing.

Anthony defense attorney Cheney Mason told WESH-Channel 2 that the questioning of Texas EquuSearch volunteers was paying dividends for the defense. Mason estimated that 15 to 20 of 75 volunteers questioned said there was no was body at the spot where Caylee Anthony’s remains were later found. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter.

Mason’s point suggests that someone else deposited the toddler’s remains after her mother was in jail, WESH’s Bob Kealing explained.

Mason said he will give the list of witnesses to the court Friday, Kealing added.

But Kealing also quoted “one source close to the investigation” who is “highly skeptical of this new defense claim of all these witnesses that they’ve identified.”

And Mark NeJame, attorney for Texas EquuSearch, told Kealing that Mason’s comment was “preposterous.”

WESH, WOFL-Channel 35 and WFTV-Channel 9 highlighted Chief Judge Belvin Perry’s decisions during the status hearing. The defense must give the prosecution all the notes, photos and videos taken by defense experts. But Perry rejected the prosecution’s request to get the financial records for defense experts.

Later WFTV-Channel 9’s Kathi Belich asked defense attorney Jose Baez what the defense paid its experts before the defense ran out of money. Baez said the information was client-business dealings. “We do know that the defense spent almost $200,000 before taxpayers started picking up the tab for Casey’s defense,” Belich added.

Continue reading Casey Anthony: Defense claims success on finding searchers; Mark NeJame calls comment ‘preposterous’ »

“Monday promises to be a big day in the case against Casey Anthony,” WESH-Channel 2 anchor Jim Payne said last night when  introducing another Anthony story.

I imagine we’re going to have a lot of big days between now and the trial’s scheduled start in May. And you’re going to hear stations speculating about what all the latest developments mean.

WESH’s Bob Kealing examined how a new defense motion could signal a change this Monday to a greater reliance on science to raise reasonable doubt about who put Caylee’s remains in the woods.  Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter.

The new motion: The defense wants Chief Judge Belvin Perry to approve an expert on decaying and fossilized bones.

Kealing noted that the new motion coincided with two other developments:

***The defense won the right to have out-of-state DNA tests done on Caylee’s shorts and a laundry bag found near her remains.

***The defense seems to be backing away from a strategy that relies on a Texas EquuSearch volunteer, Laura Buchanan, who says she saw nothing where Caylee’s remains were later found. “A source with knowledge of Buchanan’s recent sworn deposition says her statement has … changed, and she’s under investigation for possibly falsifying documents,” Kealing said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the defense just abandons Laura Buchanan altogether,” said Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides analysis for the station.

Kealing also quoted “our source” as saying the recent deposition of Roy Kronk’s son was “not helpful in another defense strategy to paint Kronk as a possible suspect.” Kronk is the former meter reader who found the toddler’s remains.

Who might that source be? Does it sound as if the “source” is floating trial balloons?

Feel free to speculate along with the reporters and analysts. But you may want to save your efforts for the other big days coming in the case.

WESH-Ch. 2 went a long way for its latest report on the Casey Anthony case: Reporter Bob Kealing traveled to Indiana to interview a forensic entomologist who will be a prosecution witness.

And the report contained a classic line from the expert: “Insects don’t lie.”

Neal Haskell has noted that scuttle flies — or coffin flies — were feeding on decomposition in Casey Anthony’s trunk. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie.

Haskell found strong decompositional odor in the trunk in December 2008 — or about six months after the dead toddler was allegedly there, Kealing explained. Haskell told Kealing there’s no mistaking the stench. Using a formula, Haskell was able to estimate when Caylee’s body was dumped near her grandparents’ home.

“Which is bad news for Casey,” Kealing added. “Haskell estimated that Caylee’s remains were dumped in late June to early July — while Casey was still free, a scientific opinion that could blow up her defense team’s attempts to create reasonable doubt by suggesting the remains were placed in the woods in October, after Casey was locked up for good.”

Kealing showed the down-to-earth Haskell teaching at St. Joseph’s College and examining a dead sow for maggots.

“We have a whole array of insects that come in at different times of that decompositional progression,” Haskell said. “Insects don’t lie.”

That’s a line to remember.

The Anthony defense team will depose Haskell on Friday, and it disputes some of his findings, WESH anchor Martha Sugalski added.

“A critical witness in the case against Casey speaks for the first time,” WESH-Ch. 2 teased in a promo tonight during the 5 o’clock news.

“Reporter Bob Kealing takes you to Indiana to meet the man claiming a little bug could be a big problem for Casey’s defense,” the announcer continued.

The report won’t air until 11 p.m. Wednesday, but it’s the November ratings period, and stations like to get the word out early.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie. The trial is scheduled to start in May.

WFTV-Ch. 9 reported tonight that the Anthony case will be back in court on Thursday, when the defense team will call Chief Judge Belvin Perry for clarification about DNA testing he has approved. “We told you on Sept. 28 that Judge Perry ruled the defense could do its own DNA tests on Caylee’s shorts and the laundry bag found with her remains but they had to use a specific lab,” anchor Bob Opsahl said.

Was there a conspiracy against Casey Anthony? WESH-Ch. 2 reporter Bob Kealing explored the issue t0night.

“Was there any sort of grand scheme to try to leak information, to try to point everyone toward Casey as the suspect  to the exclusion of everybody else?” Kealing asked Deputy Carlos Padilla of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

“Not at all,” Padilla said. “If you could look at this case, the circumstances speak for themselves.”

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Padilla, who was spokesman for former Sheriff Kevin Beary, defended the way the sheriff’s office handled the Anthony case. Padilla was deposed by the Anthony defense team today.

Kealing put a variation of the same question to defense attorney Cheney Mason, who declined to answer today. Defense attorney Jose Baez wasn’t talking, Kealing noted.

Prosecutors are looking to Europe to bolster their case against Casey Anthony, WESH-Ch. 2 explained tonight.

WESH’s indefatigable Bob Kealing highlighted an e-mail to prosecutors from Bluestar Forensic in Monte Carlo that there is no chloroform in its product to identify blood stains. And the Bluestar e-mail added that using the product does not create chloroform.

Why does that matter?

Former prosecutor Jeff Deen, offering analysis for WESH, said chloroform is “big, big, big piece of evidence” in supporting the prosecution’s contention that Anthony knocked out and killed her daughter, Caylee. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in Caylee’s death, and her trial will begin in May.

The Bluestar e-mail eliminates the defense theory that investigators left chloroform when testing Anthony’s car with Bluestar, Kealing said.  Deen theorized that the prosecution checked with Bluestar when following up on a deposition question from the Anthony defense team, Kealing added.

WESH-Ch. 2’s Bob Kealing has been tenacious in exploring evidence released this week in the Casey Anthony case.

Tonight, he turned to what the station titled, in big type, ”Evidence Jury Will Not See.” Anchor Martha Sugalski walked back a bit from the headline, calling it “some critical evidence that the jurors in her murder trial may never get to see.”

And Kealing consulted legal experts who disagreed about whether the evidence will make its way into the trial. The evidence: a jail supervisor’s account of how Casey Anthony reacted when a child’s remains were found.

The remains were later identified as Caylee Anthony. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Caylee, her daughter.  

The supervisor, Tammi Unser, wrote that Anthony watched TV coverage about the discovery of a child’s body, fell into a chair, doubled over, breathed rapidly and muttered, “Oh, no!”

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides analysis for WESH, told Kealing: “She was set up, and this is the exact type of activity that the courts frown upon.”

But former prosecutor Jeff Dean told Kealing that anything the supervisor observed could be used at trial — as long as the jail official wasn’t questioning Anthony. “People make spontaneous statements to police all the time that are in custody and they’re used against them every day,” Dean said.

What do you think? Will the judge allow the evidence?

Casey Anthony’s grandmother could be crucial to the state’s case against the young mother, WESH-Ch. 2 explained tonight.

WESH’s Bob Kealing focused on candid e-mails that the grandmother, Shirley Plesea, provided to investigators. It was an interesting report for anyone who has been baffled by the Anthonys.

Kealing studied the e-mails between Plesea and her sister that reflected concerns about missing toddler Caylee. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Pleasea, the mother of Cindy Anthony, documented Cindy’s tears and anguish about not getting to see Caylee in the summer of 2008. “Something is fishy. God knows what is going on,” Plesea wrote.

Later, Plesea wrote: “Casey keeps promising to come and bring Caylee, but never does.  Cindy hasn’t seen Caylee for three weeks.”

In another e-mail, Plesea wrote that she was “just out of words” about Casey’s behavior.

Caylee’s remains were found in December 2008.

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby,  who provides analysis for WESH, said that Pleasea “basically served as a de facto  investigator for the state attorney’s office.”

For anyone who has followed the case and tried to understand the family, Plesea’s comments are invaluable.