A Decade After Her Acquittal, Casey Anthony Tells All in New Documentary

An estimated 40+ million viewers watched Casey Anthony's 2011 trial for the suspicious death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. Since then, she has remained silent. Until now. Here is her side of the story...

Speaking Out

Casey Anthony made headlines for years. Her name is as recognizable as her story. Now, over a decade since her case was closed, she finally spoke out and gave her side of what really happened that fateful summer.

In a three-part docuseries that aired on Peacock titled Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies, Anthony gave the world an inside look into what she was going through... and what she claims truly happened back in 2008. Well, where did it all go wrong?

The Start of It All

Before she was a well-known figure and dominated headlines, Casey was a regular American girl like any other. She was born in Ohio on March 19, 1986, to parents Cindy and George Anthony. She also has an older brother named Lee. On paper, they were the classic family unit.

Then, when Casey was 19, she became pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl on August 9, 2005, naming her Caylee. The single mother and her daughter lived with her parents in their home in Orlando, Florida. Unfortunately, this family's story does not have a happy ending.

Calling the Police

Almost 3 years later, Cindy and George received a notification that their car was impounded. When they got the vehicle back, there was a suspicious odor. Not to mention, they hadn't seen their infant granddaughter in 31 days. So, on July 15, 2008, Cindy Anthony alerted 9-1-1. She told them, "Caylee's missing."

Casey Anthony sent the police on a wild ride, falsely alerting them that Caylee was with a nanny, who didn't exist, and telling them she worked at Universal Studios - which she did not. The next day, they arrested Anthony for child neglect, lying to investigators, and interfering with a police investigation.

Search & Rescue

Upon hearing the news of a missing toddler, it seemed like all of America was ready to help. They conducted a nationwide search to find little Caylee. Volunteers and police officers from all over looked all over. They followed numerous leads trying to locate her.

6 months into their search, she was eventually found - but at that point, it was already too late. On December 11, 2008, Caylee's remains were discovered in a wooded area near the Anthony family's residence. The American public was stunned. Yet, this was only the beginning of a story full of twists and turns.

Person of Interest

The police deemed Casey Anthony a person of interest in the case. She was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. The mother of the deceased toddler was going to go on trial.

However, it would take a lot of time before Casey would face the American justice system. It wasn't until 2011 that Casey's trial finally entered the court, and she met a judge and jurors. During all that time, Anthony awaited her fate in jail, forced to watch the moments tick past.

Chilling Claims

The prosecution aimed to go after the death penalty for Casey Anthony. The death penalty is given out for the most serious of crimes. The prosecution claimed that Anthony had harmed her daughter because she didn't want to bear the responsibility of being a mother anymore. What was her response?

Anthony pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial began on May 24, 2011, and everyone in America was waiting to see what would happen. The media and the public were completely invested in Casey Anthony's case - whether they believed in her innocence or not. But the trial was about to get very complicated.

Defending Casey

Casey's team of lawyers offered another explanation for what occurred on that horrible summer day. They claimed that Caylee accidentally drowned, and it was her grandfather, George, who had disposed of the remains and covered up what truly happened. Not Casey, as the prosecution would have everyone believe.

There was still much to uncover through the trial before the jury could give a verdict. A forensics expert, an FBI scientist, George Anthony (above), Lee Anthony, and more took the stand during the course of the trial. They testified and gave the jury much to think about.

Why the Lies?

The prosecution claimed that this was a premeditated act and that Casey was guilty of murder in the first degree. They specifically pointed to the fact that Casey misled the police multiple times and that "the only way Casey's lies worked was if Caylee wasn't talking."

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton said in his closing argument, "Casey Anthony decided on June 16 that something had to be sacrificed, that the conflict between the life that she wanted and the life that was thrust upon her was simply irreconcilable, and something had to give."

An Alternate Explanation

However, Casey Anthony's defense lawyer Jose Baez offered an alternative explanation for her falsehoods. He claimed that the single mother lied to law enforcement about the whereabouts of her missing child because she created an imaginary world for herself.

Baez stated, "If a person lives in that kind of world, these facts make more sense." Rather than living in reality with everyone else, Anthony created a fictional universe to reside in. But what would the jury have to say about all this? Soon, everyone would find out.

11 Hours Later

The trial lasted for six weeks in total. Both sides presented and argued their points. Witnesses, experts, and more were brought to the stand to testify for or against Anthony. Then, the lawyers had done all they could. It was up to the 12 jurors to decide Casey Anthony's fate.

It took almost 11 hours for the jury to deliberate. Then, on July 5, 2011, the final verdict was given. They found Anthony guilty of providing false information to law enforcement on four counts... but they cleared her of any charges regarding manslaughter or homicide.

Casey's Release

Anthony was sentenced to 4 years in prison and $4,000 in fines for her charges. At that point, she had already been in jail for almost 3 years as she awaited and went through trial. She was released on July 17, 2011, for her time already served and on account of her good behavior.

When she left jail, there were around 100 protestors demanding justice for Caylee. "It is my hope that Casey Anthony can receive the counseling and treatment she needs to move forward with the rest of her life," her lawyer stated. While it was a relief for Casey, many folks were alarmed by the outcome. Was there more to the story here?

Public Outcry

Even though Casey had been found not guilty of the more severe sentences, she felt as if her fate had been sealed long before the jury deliberated. She once said in an interview, "Sentence first, verdict afterward. People found me guilty long before I had my day in court."

The public was outraged by the jury's verdict. Celebrities, including Mandy Moore, Roseanne Barr, and Benji Madden, took to social media to express their dismay. Even Kim Kardashian tweeted, "WHAT!!!!???!!!! CASEY ANTHONY FOUND NOT GUILTY!!!! I am speechless!!!" But that's not all...

"This Is Justice"

Everyone seemed to have an opinion to share about the case and Casey Anthony. From celebrities to the general public, people had lots to say. That also included the State Attorney Lamar Lawson. He shared, "It's always been about seeking justice for Caylee and speaking on her behalf."

He continued, "Despite what your personal view as to guilt or innocence may be, the criminal justice system has worked. We did our job. The jury did their job. This is justice in America." Only one person didn't seem to have much to say about the case…

Staying Silent

That one person was Casey Anthony herself. Even though she was the one whose name was all over the news and it was her daughter who had been harmed, she remained remarkably quiet throughout the whole ordeal. She didn't testify during the trial or address the public after her sentencing.

She was silent throughout it all. Once she was released from prison, she tried to remain out of the spotlight. Then, over a decade later, she finally broke her silence in a major way. Casey Anthony told her story from her perspective in an intimate and on-camera interview. As for what she had to say?

No More Secrets

She was given a chance to tell her story from her perspective directly to the public who had consumed her trial so vigorously. So, in 2022, Casey Anthony sat down with Alexandra Dean, the director of the docuseries, for a long-form interview. The program would prove to be just as divisive as her trial.

This wasn't the first time Casey Anthony sat down with the press. In 2017, she was interviewed by the Associated Press. However, Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies provided a far bigger stage and outlet for Anthony to tell her story. So, what had she been keeping hidden all these years?

Guilty, As Charged

Casey Anthony told director Alexandra Dean, "It was the right guilty verdict. I did lie to law enforcement, I admitted that I lied to law enforcement, so I am a convicted liar. It's the truth." She was found guilty on four accounts of providing false information to law enforcement.

The instances included telling them she worked at Universal Studios, that she had left Caylee in the care of a babysitter, that she had told her coworkers of her daughter's disappearance, and that she had spoken with Caylee on the phone. How did all this lying start?

Childhood Secrets

According to Casey, her lying resulted from the neglect she suffered as a child. She explained in the docuseries, "I lied to everyone because that was my whole life up until that point. Acting like everything's okay but knowing nothing was okay." To her, it was a natural reaction.

In the years since her trial and acquittal, she had been regularly going to a therapist. She said, "I've had years of therapy, and I'm trying to analyze my own behavior and explain my own behavior, all of this is a reaction of trauma." Her journey had been a long and tough one.

"I Made Myself Look Crazy"

If those who remembered the trial thought that Casey was acting crazy, she admitted that she knew what she was doing. "I made myself look crazy. And gave law enforcement absolutely no reason to believe or trust anything that I said," Casey Anthony told the series's director.

She continued, "As far as I am concerned, there's no justifying my actions or behavior, except to say that I was doing what I was conditioned to do." To better understand what Casey was referring to in her past, the docuseries dug deeper into her childhood.

Pointing the Finger

In her interview with director Alexandra Dean, Casey Anthony said that her father used to harm her when she was a little girl. Anthony's defense lawyer first made this claim during her trial, and her father had repeatedly denied it. He was not interviewed for Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies. 

She also claimed that when she was a child, Casey was told she could not tell her mom what was happening. So, according to her, she was scared. Whether the public would believe her now or not, this was Casey's side of the story, and she had more to tell.

Mystery Father

When she first heard the news of her pregnancy, Casey Anthony was left with a mystery of her own to solve. Who was the father of her unborn child? At the start of her pregnancy, Anthony claimed that her ex-boyfriend or then-fiancé Jesse Grund had been the father.

Then, in the Peacock docuseries, Anthony claimed she was given substances at a house party and woke up without any memory of what happened. She claimed her family told her to keep quiet about what happened to her. "I lied to everyone," Anthony confessed.

The Day of the Disappearance

Then, Casey recounted that fateful day when everything went wrong. A month before her mother called the police, Casey had been at their family home. She recalled that she "wasn't feeling that great." So, Casey went back into bed, and little Caylee accompanied her.

She remarked how she'd been a light sleeper her entire life because she was used to being on alert. So, it was normal for her daughter to sleep with her. Anthony had fallen asleep for a while when she was woken up by her father. She would wake up from that sleep with her life forever changed.

Where Is Caylee?

According to Casey, her dad woke her up and asked where Caylee was. She remembered thinking then that it "didn't make sense." There was no way that Caylee would ever leave the room without waking her mom up and telling her, "even if she had to go to the bathroom."

Casey told the director Alexandra Dean, "She knew she wasn't allowed to just be in the house by herself." So, where could Caylee have gone? The way Casey told the story, the answer was far from what anyone could imagine. What Casey revealed next was chilling to the bone.

A Startling Sight

The single mother searched the house for her 2-year-old daughter, she claimed. When she finally found her, it was the last way any mother would want to see their baby. Casey alleged that her father, George Anthony, was "standing there with her."

Casey told the film's crew that she remembered how the scene played out. "She's soaking wet," she recalled. "I can see him standing there with her in his arms and handing her to me and telling me that it's my fault. That I did that. That I caused that."

“I Don’t Know What He Did”

Anthony claimed that Caylee "was heavy, and she was cold." She continued to say that her dad had assured her everything would be okay. According to Casey, there was no call to the police or any emergency service, for that matter. She had been left alone.

She alleged in the documentary series, "I don't know how long I sat outside, I don't know where he went, he took her from me, and he went away. I don't know where he went, and I don't know what he did." Yet, she knew what the skeptics would say and addressed it.

Something’s Not Adding Up

"I know people are going to question why didn't I make a phone call, why didn't I call 911, why did even I wait to tell my mom anything, but I didn't tell her anything, why lie?" Casey said. So, what was her justification? Why didn't she make the call or tell her mother?

"Because I still protected the person who hurt me," Casey claimed in the interview. So, what lead her to this? Why did she feel the need to protect the person who she alleged hurt her? Casey addressed that in the Peacock series, as well. And she didn't hold back.

Brainwashed

"It was like I was brainwashed," Casey stated. From her perspective, her father had conditioned her to follow his orders. She said he had led her to believe her daughter was still alive that month. Casey continued, "And it wasn't until much later that I started to realize why."

So, what was the reason why? Casey said, "It's like I had Stockholm syndrome." According to Casey, her dad had instructed her to "keep doing what I'm telling you to do." She obeyed orders and thought everything would be okay because her dad had told her it would be.

What Is the Truth?

In the interview, Casey added, "I've always wanted the truth because I've lived so long without it. But I don't know if I can handle all of it. I don't know if it would be better to know or just keep not knowing. Because I don't know what the truth is. All I know is that something happened."

There may be no way to know what the actual truth is. Whatever it may be may never be figured out. However, there is one thing that is known to be true. Casey Anthony will have to live with herself and her version of the truth for the rest of her life.

Forever Haunted

Casey's life has been forever changed by the events that occurred that summer in 2008. Things will never be the same for her. She finished the documentary by saying, "It's a hard thing to live with every day because nothing's going to bring her back."

She continued, "Even if I someday get the answers that I need, it's never going to be enough. It's never going to be enough." The loss she endured is unimaginable and unbearable. Her bombshell revealing interview shed a new light on the Casey Anthony story. Yet, what is life like for the infamous Casey Anthony now?

Where Is She Now?

Since she was acquitted, Casey Anthony has led a relatively quiet life despite being an internationally known figure. She continues to reside in Florida, where she reportedly lives with Patrick McKenna, a private detective who was the lead investigator on her case.

Anthony currently works as a legal assistant, according to Parade. They also reported that she had previously tried to start her own photography business but was harassed online, so she pivoted from that. She has a close group of friends, and besides her explosive interview, she remains out of the public eye.

Moving Forward

What is next for Casey Anthony? Will she try to become a parent again? Or will she remain on the outskirts of society? There is no way to predict what will happen to the controversial figure. Will this documentary clear her name, or will she forever be marked by what happened to her daughter?

One of the twelve jurors was not impressed by what Casey Anthony shared. He told PEOPLE, "No. This is classic Casey Anthony. She's still lying after all these years. And once a liar, always a liar." Whether it is the truth or not, this is Casey Anthony's side of the story. And it's still being written...