Featured Image Credit: Peacock / Abaca Press / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Crime, Film and TV
Aisha Nozari
Topics: Crime, Film and TV
Casey Anthony has made bombshell claims against her father in her first on-screen interview.
Anthony was acquitted of the murder of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2011.
Caylee was reported missing in 2008 and six months later the toddler’s remains were found in a laundry bag located half a mile from the family's home in Orlando.
At the time, the defence contended she had lied that her daughter accidentally drowned in the family’s swimming pool, and that George Anthony — her daughter's grandfather — helped disposed of the body.
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Anthony’s acquittal was considered controversial, with one juror saying: “I did not say she was innocent. I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be.”
Despite her acquittal, Anthony served prison time for providing false information to law enforcement.
Anthony, 36, is now sharing her version of events with the world in a three-part called Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies, placing the blame for her daughter’s death on her dad, George.
In her new documentary, Anthony claims her father staged her daughter’s drowning to cover up the fact he was abusing his granddaughter.
George vehemently denied sexually abusing Caylee in court and also denied covering up Caylee's alleged drowning.
Anthony opens up about the day of 16 June 2008, when Caylee was last seen, saying: “I wasn't feeling that great, and I wanted to lay down.”
Anthony goes on: "I had her lay in bed with me. I was awoken by [my father] shaking me and asking me where Caylee was.
"That didn't make sense. She would never even leave my room without telling me. I immediately started looking around the house. I go outside and I'm looking to see where she could be."
Anthony then alleges that she saw her daughter in her dad’s arms, continuing: “He was standing there with her.
"She was soaking wet. He handed her to me. Said it was my fault. That I caused it. But he didn't rush to call 911 and he wasn't trying to resuscitate her. I collapsed with her in my arms. She was heavy, and she was cold."
Antony insists that she didn’t know her daughter was dead, and went to stay with her boyfriend.
"During the 31 days, I genuinely believed that Caylee was still alive. My father kept telling me she was OK. I had to keep following his instructions. He told me what to do. I tried to act as normal as I could," she says.
Anthony also alleges that her dad ‘put a pillow over my face and smother[ed] me to knock me out’ before saying that she worries he had abused Caylee.
She says: "That's what I think about. I wish every day I had said something to someone about something. Maybe then things would be different."
Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies premieres on Peacock on 29 November.