greeted by his sister with a giggle, he remained composed for the entire visit. He told her how the jail mail system worked: that everything she wrote would be read, nothing was private. He also explained that her conversations with her attorney, Jose Baez, were protected and that the lawyer was not obligated to pass along anything she said. Lee thought that Baez was interfering with Casey’s ability to communicate with the police by telling her that she should always speak through him.
It appeared that Lee, and perhaps George, saw Baez’s commitment to advocating for Casey as hampering the investigation into Caylee’s disappearance. While Baez may have been doing his job as her defense attorney, that job also seemed to be at odds with finding Caylee. And Lee, like his parents, believed that Caylee should be everyone’s number one priority.
Lee listed his own priorities as he had written them down: (1) Caylee; (2) Casey; (3) Mom; (4) Dad; (5) Me. “I don’t give a shit about the cops or Baez,” he said.
Casey laughed and agreed with her brother, assuring him that her priorities were identical to his. “I will stay here as long as I have to,” she announced. “My only concern is Caylee.”
Lee was clearly there to get answers, and he had a long list of questions for his sister. He wanted to be sure Casey understood that she could tell him anything, and even had a plan for secret communications, suggesting that she give him a hand signal if he asked her a question she objected to.
The first thing Lee wanted to know was which of Casey’s friends he could trust. Casey identified Amy Huizenga as trustworthy but said that her roommate, Ricardo Morales, wouldn’t know anything. She was cagey about Tony Lazzaro, and pointed a finger of suspicion at her ex-fiancé, Jesse, even suggesting that he be brought to the attention of the police. When Lee asked her for more information about where Caylee might be, Casey was vague about places to search, saying that she had already given her mother her best ideas.
Still, Lee seemed to take every word she said seriously. He listened, even as she talked in circles and hinted that she had information without actually providing anything of use.
In her first jailhouse conversation with her parents, Casey appeared relaxed, happy, pleased to see her mother and father—even giggly during the first minutes of their visit. She casually asked her father about the white T-shirt he was wearing, which had HELP FIND CAYLEE lithographed above a huge butterfly, with Caylee’s photograph in one of the wings. George and Cindy told her how the entire country was looking for their little angel; her disappearance was even the subject of a cover story in People magazine.
The conversation quickly turned serious when Cindy began questioning Casey about a photograph that Cindy claimed was taken in Zanny’s apartment. “You know the pictures of Caylee in Zanny’s apartment?” she began. “Is Zanny’s apartment the one with the drums?” Cindy knew that it was not.
Casey responded without so much as a hesitation. “She had a drum set, yes.”
“The one in the picture?”
Casey appeared to answer, but evaded the real issue of the question. “I think there are even other pictures,” Casey replied. “I told Lee to look through everything.”
“Okay, is that Zanny’s apartment?” Cindy asked again. She paused before completing the rest of her question: “Because I know whose apartment it is.” By saying that she knew whose apartment it really was, the protective mother was giving Casey an out before she was too deep into her lie. “Is that Zanny’s apartment?”
“That exact apartment? No, that is Ricardo’s apartment,” Casey replied, taking advantage of the opening her mother had given her. “It’s set up a lot like Zanny’s apartment.”
To me, this conversation revealed a lot about the relationship between these two women and demonstrated the conflict that existed in
It appeared that Lee, and perhaps George, saw Baez’s commitment to advocating for Casey as hampering the investigation into Caylee’s disappearance. While Baez may have been doing his job as her defense attorney, that job also seemed to be at odds with finding Caylee. And Lee, like his parents, believed that Caylee should be everyone’s number one priority.
Lee listed his own priorities as he had written them down: (1) Caylee; (2) Casey; (3) Mom; (4) Dad; (5) Me. “I don’t give a shit about the cops or Baez,” he said.
Casey laughed and agreed with her brother, assuring him that her priorities were identical to his. “I will stay here as long as I have to,” she announced. “My only concern is Caylee.”
Lee was clearly there to get answers, and he had a long list of questions for his sister. He wanted to be sure Casey understood that she could tell him anything, and even had a plan for secret communications, suggesting that she give him a hand signal if he asked her a question she objected to.
The first thing Lee wanted to know was which of Casey’s friends he could trust. Casey identified Amy Huizenga as trustworthy but said that her roommate, Ricardo Morales, wouldn’t know anything. She was cagey about Tony Lazzaro, and pointed a finger of suspicion at her ex-fiancé, Jesse, even suggesting that he be brought to the attention of the police. When Lee asked her for more information about where Caylee might be, Casey was vague about places to search, saying that she had already given her mother her best ideas.
Still, Lee seemed to take every word she said seriously. He listened, even as she talked in circles and hinted that she had information without actually providing anything of use.
In her first jailhouse conversation with her parents, Casey appeared relaxed, happy, pleased to see her mother and father—even giggly during the first minutes of their visit. She casually asked her father about the white T-shirt he was wearing, which had HELP FIND CAYLEE lithographed above a huge butterfly, with Caylee’s photograph in one of the wings. George and Cindy told her how the entire country was looking for their little angel; her disappearance was even the subject of a cover story in People magazine.
The conversation quickly turned serious when Cindy began questioning Casey about a photograph that Cindy claimed was taken in Zanny’s apartment. “You know the pictures of Caylee in Zanny’s apartment?” she began. “Is Zanny’s apartment the one with the drums?” Cindy knew that it was not.
Casey responded without so much as a hesitation. “She had a drum set, yes.”
“The one in the picture?”
Casey appeared to answer, but evaded the real issue of the question. “I think there are even other pictures,” Casey replied. “I told Lee to look through everything.”
“Okay, is that Zanny’s apartment?” Cindy asked again. She paused before completing the rest of her question: “Because I know whose apartment it is.” By saying that she knew whose apartment it really was, the protective mother was giving Casey an out before she was too deep into her lie. “Is that Zanny’s apartment?”
“That exact apartment? No, that is Ricardo’s apartment,” Casey replied, taking advantage of the opening her mother had given her. “It’s set up a lot like Zanny’s apartment.”
To me, this conversation revealed a lot about the relationship between these two women and demonstrated the conflict that existed in
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