Casey Anthony's parents say 'we raised a monster' in interview, adding the mother even stole money from toddler's savings
Nearly 10 years after the tragic death of two-year-old Caylee Anthony, her grandparents — George and Cindy Anthony — divulged chilling details about the toddler's mother, Casey Anthony, who had emerged as a prime suspect in the child's murder.
The couple spoke about the case, which gripped the nation in 2008, during an A&E special, Casey Anthony’s Parents Speak, that aired Monday.
George was in tears, five minutes into the two-hour special, while speaking about his granddaughter's death while Cindy said that she is tired of people perceiving them as the couple "who raised Casey, a monster."
The grandparents, during the interview, were asked if there were any signs before Caylee's disappearance that suggested that the toddler might be in danger. Although Cindy said that she did not spot clues, George said he had detected something off with their daughter Casey.
"Part of me wishes I would have seen signs, especially in the last six months," Cindy said.
"Casey was good at covering her tracks, which we found out later. There was subtle sign looking back now but I didn’t realize it in the middle of it," she added.
When she was prodded for more details by the interviewer, Cindy said: "Just little things. George started wondering about her hours working and things."
George then narrated an incident about how he went to see Casey at a Sports Authority where she claimed to be working, however, he found out that she did not have a job.
The grandfather then said that when he confronted Casey about the job, she told him: "That it’s none of my business."
The couple, however, appeared to disagree on a lot of accounts during the interview. When George said that he noticed some troubling signs like when he would return home from his afternoon shift at midnight, sometimes he would not find Casey and their granddaughter at home. He then claimed that the mother and daughter would sometimes be missing for two to three days at a time.
Cindy, however, disagreed with George's claim and denied that Caylee ever slept at someone else's home.
"Most times, but a few times she wasn’t," said George. "Because that was a night she was supposedly going to spend a night with nanny or one of her friends," he added, alluding to a nanny named Zanny whom Casey had made up.
Cindy, at this point, interjected George and said: "George, as far as Caylee goes, I know when that child was not here."
"Casey and Caylee did not stay out for two or three days, I know that for a fact. Caylee was always here," Cindy added.
George, however, had a different account and mentioned other incidents when he suspected Casey was stealing from them.
"Listen I don’t want to get upset with you, I don’t want to upset anyone any more but I just now what I witnessed…," George said, according to reports.
He then mentioned an example stating that he was blamed for link money that was taken out of his wife’s wallet, but he denied taking that money. Reports state that George at the time was dealing with gambling addiction, so Cindy assumed her husband had taken the money. George, however, claimed that it was Casey.
He also added that Casey had stolen money out of a savings account they had set up for their granddaughter.
The grandfather also stated that he did not know who the father of his granddaughter was and that he never bothered to ask Casey about it.
"I was so excited, I didn’t really bombard her with any questions," the former police officer said. "I didn’t ask her about the father, I didn’t ask her about any of that stuff."
The couple divulged these details for the first time in the interview since Caylee Anthony was reported missing on July 15, 2008.
Cindy reported her granddaughter missing after not seeing her for 31 days and suspected that her daughter Casey had murdered her after her daughter's car was found with the trunk smelling like a dead body had been there.
Caylee's body was eventually discovered in December that year not far away from the couple's home and was found wrapped in a blanket and put inside a trash bag.
When questioned by detectives, Casey gave varying accounts of her daughter's whereabouts and was later charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty.
The mother was later found not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, however, she was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. With her due term served, she was released on July 17, 2011 and was met with public outrage and media trials.