FILICIDE: Florida: Casey Anthony's trial

Hair 'from Caylee's dead body' found in trunk of her mother's car, FBI expert testifies

Daily Mail Reporter
 4th June 2011

An FBI forensic expert said a hair removed from the trunk of Casey Anthony's car is consistent with hair from a dead body.
That was the testimony of Karen Korsberg Lowe Saturday in Anthony's sensational murder trial.
The 25-year old Orlando mother is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

CSI: Karen Korsberg Lowe, an FBI forensic expert, testifies about microscopic hair sample analysis during the Casey Anthony trial on Saturday, June 4, 2011 in Orlando

All rise: Attorney Jose Baez and his client Casey Anthony stand as the jury enters the courtroom

FBI expert Lowe said she examined a light-brown, 9-inch-long hair for this case.
She said the hair was similar to one pulled from Caylee's brush and was not similar to a hair sample from Casey Anthony.
Ms Lowe also said the hair showed characteristics consistent with decomposition.
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors say the girl was suffocated after duct tape was placed over her mouth.
The defence contends she accidently drowned in her grandparents' swimming pool.
Anthony's attorney challenged Ms Lowe's qualifications as an expert in microscopic hair examinations.
Earlier, crime scene investigator Gerardo Bloise showed the court where he had found a hair in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car.
The investigator searched Anthony's car on July 17, 2008 for clues about the fate of her missing  daughter. On Friday, he testified that the odour of human decomposition wafted from the interior as soon as he opened the door.
Gerardo Bloise said: 'My professional opinion is that it was human decomposition.'
Mr Bloise told jurors he had seen as many as 45 bodies in various stages of decomposition in his career.

 

Mr Bloise was the latest in a series of witnesses, including Casey's parents, who have testified that they know the odour of human composition and that's what they smelled in Casey's car.

Mr Bloise spent almost three hours on the witness stand, primarily identifying bits of evidence he removed from the car.

The evidence included a stain on the trunk liner, a piece of which was sealed in a can and delivered to an air analysis expert.
That expert is expected to testify that the air analysis was consistent with human decomposition.
It is novel scientific evidence the defense is likely to strenuously challenge.
Casey Anthony, is on trial in Orlando, Florida, for first-degree murder, accused of killing daughter Caylee on June 16, 2008 and hiding the body in woods near the Anthony home.
Caylee's skeletal remains were found in December 2008.
Duct tape wrapped three times around her skull, mouth and nose is the only evidence indicating cause of death, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick estimated on Friday that she would finish presenting the state's evidence on June 17, after four weeks of testimony.
Jurors were warned before they were selected to serve that the trial would last about eight weeks.
Earlier in the day jurors heard how Anthony erupted in anger as her mother tried to press her for more information about the whereabouts of her missing grand-daughter during a 2008 jail visit, threatening to walk out of their meeting and raging: 'I need to be looked at as a victim.'
The depth of the accused killer’s deceit was on full display in court today as video tapes showed Anthony variously weeping with her parents over her daughter Caylee’s disappearance, ranting at them for trying to pry clues to her fate, and fantasising with her father about throwing a third birthday party for the little girl, despite knowing that the child was dead.
'In my gut I know she’s still OK ... we’re going to get our little girl back,' Anthony told her parents when they visited her in jail in Orlando, Florida, on July 2008 – six weeks after the date that her defence lawyer has told the court that Caylee drowned in the family pool.

Assistant state attorney Jess Ashton hands evidence envelopes to Karen Korsberg Lowe

Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, alleging that she killed Caylee with duct tape sealed tight over her nose and mouth then discarded her body in a swamp, freeing her up to go partying with friends and living 'the good life'.
The defence claims that Caylee accidentally drowned after climbing unsupervised into the swimming pool at the family home.
Anthony’s failure to seek help or report the incident, and her ability to carry on life as normal and lie about where Casey was, stemmed from deep-seated psychological damage caused by her father having molested her since childhood, Anthony’s lawyer, Jose Baez, told the court last week.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394362/FBI-expert-testifies-hair-like-Caylee-Anthonys-Casey-Anthonys-trunk-shows-evidence-decomposition.html