A Florida woman accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter rarely showed emotion in jail but became unhinged after she found out a toddler's remains had been found near her family's home, according to interviews with jail staff released Monday.
A shift supervisor at the jail where Casey Anthony is being held told investigators that Anthony cried and asked for sedatives after learning of the Dec. 11 discovery of the remains. DNA tests completed days later showed the remains belonged to her daughter, Caylee Anthony, who'd been missing for six months.
Orange County Corrections Lt. Tammy Unser told detectives she was surprised by Anthony's reaction because she hadn't shown emotion or asked for any other medication during her time behind bars. Before the request, "she was weird to talk to," Unser said. "I don't exactly know how to explain it. Non-emotional would probably be the best way to say it."
Weeks earlier, Anthony calmly asserted to investigators that she believed her daughter was still alive during an interview the day she was indicted on a first degree murder charge, according to another recording released by prosecutors Monday.
"You know certain things about your child. You can feel that connection," Anthony tells investigators during the Oct. 14 interview. "I know that she's alive whether you have a bucketload of evidence downstairs that contradicts that and says otherwise or all you have is speculation."
FBI Agent Nick Savage responds: "We have a lot or else we wouldn't have made it to this point. A lot."
Trial in October
Anthony's attorney was planning to release a statement later Monday.
Casey Anthony is set to stand trial in October the charge that she killed Caylee, who had gone missing about six months before the remains were found.
Casey Anthony claimed that Caylee was kidnapped and has pleaded not guilty. Hundreds of volunteers helped search for Caylee after she was reported missing over the summer.
In February, the state attorney's office released documents showing the same type of laundry bag, duct tape and plastic bag discovered with the child's body also were found in the house where Caylee lived.
