Caylee Anthony Heart Sticker and Duct Tape Exhibits, Orange County, 2008

Vercetti · #1 ● 04-13-2010, 07:24 PM

Caylee Marie Anthony was two years old when she was last seen in Orange County, Florida, on June 16, 2008. She was reported missing on July 15. Her skeletal remains were found December 11 in a wooded lot off Suburban Drive, inside a laundry bag with a blanket. The medical examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide but could not determine the cause because decomposition left no identifiable fatal injury. Three pieces of duct tape were recovered with the skull, but their placement and significance were disputed at trial.

A heart-shaped sticker attached to cardboard was recovered about 30 feet from the remains. That photographed exhibit was not on the duct tape or the body. An FBI examiner separately testified that she saw a dime-sized, heart-shaped adhesive outline on a corner of the tape under alternate light. The outline was never photographed or preserved and could not be reproduced when she returned to document it. A defense examiner found no sticker or residue on the tape.

On July 5, 2011, a jury acquitted Casey Marie Anthony of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. It convicted her on four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement. On January 25, 2013, an appeals court vacated two of those convictions on double-jeopardy grounds, leaving two convictions standing.