Casey Anthony: Caylee ‘drowned in pool’

The eminently sad, and terribly convoluted murder trial of Casey Anthony, accused in the death of her toddler Caylee, added yet another bizarre twist today when Anthony claimed her daughter drowned in a pool.

Anthony did not report 2-year-old Caylee missing, staying mum during the entire search for her daughter. She maintained that she left the child in the care of a woman and returned to find both child and babysitter gone, a claim that did not bear out under investigation. The woman Anthony said she left little Caylee with was determined not to exist by authorities.

Caylee Anthony’s remains were found in December of 2008, several months after she was discovered missing in July and last seen alive in June. Anthony told authorities she was investigating Caylee’s disappearance on her own, but her MySpace page indicated she had been attending parties and clubs during that period.

Anthony’s attorney Jose Baez mounted a defense for his client by claiming Anthony had been repeatedly sexually abused by her father George. He alleged George was present when Caylee’s body was discovered, and assisted in covering up the toddler’s death. Baez contended:

“Casey should have been strong. Casey should have called 911. Casey should have done the right thing,” Baez said. “And that’s what she’s guilty of… You hear stories of Zanny the nanny for two years, she pretended she had a job and pretended she had a nanny,” Baez said. “Is that normal? Is that what normal people do?”

After cross-examination, Anthony’s parents, Cindy and George, were said to have been visibly distraught in a courthouse elevator. Also addressed in today’s proceedings were incriminating web searches done on Anthony’s computer suggesting the crime may have been pre-meditated:

The prosecutor also brought up the computer forensic analysis that shows an internet search conducted on a computer inside the family home in March with the words, “Chloroform, alcohol” and others. Other searches were “household weapons,” “neck-breaking” and “self defense.”

Anthony appeared worried and cried during the initial proceedings today.