Marinade Dave wrote an excellent post a while back explaining the reasons why mothers kill their children, written in the general context of the Casey Anthony case. Here is an excerpt:
In order to make sense of this crime, large scale population studies of filicidal offenders have been performed and remarkably, rates of infanticide (child murder in the first year of life) parallel suicide rates. Based on these and other studies, the existence of several groups and classifications have been determined for filicide, and each classification has distinct characteristics and factors that drive parents to kill. Because of these reviews and publications, we will explore the different types, paying particular attention to maternal filicide, which is defined as a child murdered by the mother. My goal is not to elicit sympathy for Casey; it is to offer explanations for why she might have done it. Also, please bear in mind that in some developing countries, the preference for male children may lead to selective killings. Cultural and legal differences across borders will vary some of the research findings in some studies. Also, one country’s decision to send someone to prison may be different than another country’s choice to send someone to a psychiatric hospital. Because actions vary greatly, all I ask is that you maintain an open mind. Although specifically dealing with maternal filicide, this article is not just about one person.
Dave goes on to explain the different types of maternal filicide (altruistic, acutely psychotic, unwanted child, accidental, spousal revenge, and mercy killing) as well as the classification subgroups (neonaticide, battering mothers, mentally ill mothers). He then examines this information with an eye toward understanding the Casey Anthony case.
I strongly suggest that those with an interest in the case read Dave’s post. Admittedly it may not be easy reading for some, but it will be worth it for the knowledge you will have gained.
The most important key to understanding what happened in the Casey Anthony case is to examine how Casey reacted after the death. This should tell us whether the child was murdered in cold blood, as the prosecution alleges, or whether the child died accidentally or unintentionally. Of course, this exercise must be approached with an open mind, and with a general understanding of why mothers kill their children.
To that end, I’d very much like to know what you believe was going on in Casey’s mind after the death of her daughter, both immediately and in the time period prior to her initial arrest, and why she reacted the way she reacted. For example
- Why did she keep the corpse in the trunk of her car?
- Why did she choose to dispose of the child’s remains in that particular location?
- Why was her car left at the Amscot?
- Why did she get the tattoo?
There are also other issues which occurred during that time period, obviously, so those are just suggestions to get you started and by no means intended to limit the reactions being discussed.
Thank you, ElfNinosMom. I must say that the whole thing took me quite some time to decipher and write. The references were all so clinical and drab from a creative standpoint and I did my best to turn it into a simpler to understand form, but it’s still not an easy read.
In the end, my goal was to show the hows and whys of filicides, maternal in particular, and to illustrate what goes through the minds of people who specialize in these fields. In the end, it’s not a matter of who hates the Anthonys for whatever reasons, nor is it a case of mere guilt or innocence. There are a ton of complex factors involved in something of this magnitude, more than what appears on the surface.
Hiya, Dave! You did a fantastic job on the filicide post. I couldn’t have done it better myself, so I can only thank you for bringing your post to my attention.
You are absolutely right that this is an extremely complex case, and nowhere near as cut and dried as most people seem to believe. There is even a possibility that Casey Anthony will be acquitted unless her fingerprints are not only on that duct tape, but in an area where they could not have been left there innocently during a previous utilization of that tape.
It’s just great to find someone who is also willing to maintain an open mind while examining the case. Kudos to you, Dave, for having the guts to speak your mind.
Hi ElfNinosMom. I have been reading a lot of the blogs to see if anything at all is happening lately in this case. Unfortunately, it is moving at the speed of oozing mud. Maybe everyone is on vacation, I don’t know. I can’t believe no on else wrote on this site.
I have a couple of theories. On her phone records, there was a time slot of 3 or 4 hours the next day after the murder – June 16th ?, that her phone was not in use which was remarkable for her. My guess is that she came home with Caylee in the trunk and took a nap from exhaustion. Then, had to scramble with the body in the back yard, found out that wouldn’t work and put her back in the trunk. Then, had to deal with George in the garage about the gas cans and dumped her that night. That would have been on day three, right? Hence, the smell and seepage from the garbage bags after dragging her around back and forth. The dump location was easy since she knew it well and could get back in there.
I think the Amscot parking was just to throw off a ruse and add another alibi.
Another creepy thing is that the photos of Casey’s room, had a big Caylee missing poster hanging on the wall. Now why would she have that there? A memento of getting away with the murder or to remember to be sad?
The tattoo was a reward to herself of what she got away with and because she is so vain.
Hiya, CP. I figure others will make it over here soon.
Why do you think Casey didn’t leave the area and continue her ruse from a remote location, where she couldn’t be tracked and no one could prove Caylee wasn’t with her? Had she done that, it would have been much easier to get away with murder, because she could ingratiate herself with people who didn’t even know she had a child, and eventually drop off the map altogether. If anyone noticed stretch marks etc, she could have tearfully claimed her child was born prematurely and died shortly after birth, or some such other sympathy tale intended to make others too uncomfortable to press her on the subject. She is a very accomplished liar, after all, so it’s not as if she couldn’t pull it off.
Hi Elfs Mom. I’m not quite sure if you mean the day she murdered Caylee, why she didn’t take off to South America or where ever, then or not. First of all she only had the one boyfriend at that time – Tony L. – ? is that the right one? She didn’t have enough money to split and she couldn’t steal any from him. She moved in with him and bought all the stuff at Target for a happy little love nest and not one thing for Caylee since she was already dead. She was all set to lay around and use that guy for a free place to stay and a free ride. I don’t know if all of Amy’s money was spent at that point or not.
She is and was an excellent liar but she isn’t very smart. It would have killed her (insert pun here) to not talk to her goofy friends and gab about inane crap all day.
I bet it is just killing her (pun) knowing that her parents are raking in all the free blood money now and she can’t steal it or spend any of it.
I read the Marinade Dave’s explanation of where she sat in the car overnight on that back street on the google map and I believe that is the real deal scenairio. Good work Dave.
Actually, Dave was just addressing a theory discussed by others, and concluded that Casey did NOT leave the house that night. He also pointed out that the back street in question is not at all like what it appears on the Google map. You may therefore want to read that one again.
Nevertheless …. of course she could have left. She had a car, so all she needed in order to leave was money to put gas in the car. We know she had money during that 30-day period, because that was when she stole all that money from her friend Amy. You are also assuming she couldn’t have stolen from Tony, when in fact she could have stolen from him had she chosen to do so, since she was in his apartment all the time and he wouldn’t have been suspicious of her actions there.
The question is therefore not whether she could have left, since she obviously could have done so, but rather why she didn’t leave. She wouldn’t have to go to South America, LOL. She just had to go somewhere her parents wouldn’t think to look.
Are you suggesting she stayed because the boyfriend was there, or because she isn’t very smart, or another reason?
Elfninosmom*
I think Casey thought she could confuse LE with all the twists and turns she took and all of the lies that they would just scratch their heads and call it a missing child case.
She thought she (a high school dropout) could outsmart professional veteran detectives who have done this everyday for a living for years. They have seen it all and have been trained to read body language, and uncover lies with ease. It’s just unreal to imagine being that dumb, but she was.
I think you’re right, in that Casey thought she could outwit everyone else. That’s not unusual in people with her psychological profile, though.
I once was involved in a case wherein a couple of guys were drinking beer in a deserted area, and decided they needed money for more beer. So, they utilized some old road construction blockades which had been inadvertently left there, and stopped the next person who came along in order to steal their money. That person refused to hand over his wallet, and he was brutally murdered for less than $20. They buried him in a shallow grave, and used his truck to get some more beer, later abandoning it in that same area. They even continued to party on that very spot. They thought they’d get away with that, too.
You should have heard the tales they’d weave. One claimed they were indeed out there drinking beer (hard to deny, since their fingerprints were on the beer cans) and that the “real killer” had actually tried to rob them as well, but that they had managed to fight off the assailant and were therefore actually heroes.
The other explained the fingerprints in the truck by saying they “found” the truck with the keys in it, and moved it out of the road for fear that it would be struck by another car, and that the cops should actually be thanking them for it.
They have never admitted their guilt, despite all the evidence against them. They never will, either.
To this very day, many years later, I still have to shake my head in amazement that anyone is dumb enough to think those kinds of stories would ever be believed.
I sure do appreciate your kind words, ElfNinosMom. Yes, it took some work to write that article, but I felt it needed to be done. Most of the blogs on this crime, except for the choice few, like yours, have taken the low road. The blogs, posts and comments are designed to spread gossip more than facts. This is a crime and the State of Florida looks at this from a very serious point of view. Could you imagine if the prosecutor, during the trial, calls “Sindy” or any of the “Ants” up to the stand? Later, the judge asks “Bozo” if he would like to cross-examine?
The latent prints found on some of the duct tape could just be partials or they could be smudged, distorted, overlapping, or any combination, depending on how they were deposited. Generally, they contain less clarity, so in my opinion, as much as any fingerprints are very crucial to the case, I question whether people have their hopes up by reading too much between the lines that may not really be there. I sure hope I’m wrong in this regard, and that good prints do exist.
Anyway, I think it’s great that there are a few of us who will continue to look at this case as pragmatically as possible. You have no idea how much I was screamed at and accused of being an Anthony lover for just trying to state the facts. A lot of people don’t seem to want to hear them. I am going to link your site to mine and I will definitely stop by more often to explore more of your writings. Thank you again!
Yeah, I also catch a lot of crap for daring to say anything other than the “party line” on Casey. It’s kind of annoying, to be honest. LOL
I have added you to my blogroll, and I hope you won’t be a stranger!
Casey wasn’t thinking or didn’t care what hell she would put her whole family through.
I just sat through all 4 clips of Lee talking to Tony (without knowing it was taped), and it was very sad to watch this young man try to figure out what happened to his niece, and who may be responsible for this. He truly did not know at that time what happened. I’m wondering if he knows now.
Hiya, Diana.
I think you’re right, and that Lee didn’t know at that time. I think Lee knows now, though. In fact, I think they all know.
There’s a very big difference between knowing and accepting, though.
I agree that Lee was just trying to make sense out of it all. I suspect he now knows she was lying, but I’m not sure if he has made the leap into believing she murdered the child. If anything, he’s likely of the belief that it was a tragic accident which Casey covered up.
When I look at pictures of that beautiful little girl, I can’t cry. I can’t cry because I have hardened myself, to protect myself I suppose, because if I didn ‘t, I think I would just slump into a heap, and all the atrocities against children in this world would come tumbling down on my heart. I suppose Casey felt a similar way in that she was hard done by in life, and once the act was committed, just shut herself off from any feelings of guilt, remorse, or possible consequences. “F45k this, I have a life too. It`s not so bad, she had 3 good years, time out for me..bla bla” I think that if she had been unhappy about her “lot” in life, and had been consciously or sub-consciously planning or thinking about “a beautiful life” without her daughter, by the time she finally committed her heinous, treacherous act, there was no feeling left for the little sweetheart, and therefore she could party and F%$k to her hearts content. Caylee seized to really exist for her probably quite a long time ago. I think maybe, 16 July, in the afternoon, between 4 and 5.30, there was no cell phone activity. And thats when I think she did it. Her frantic calls to cindy and george, and perhaps lee, i`m not sure, may have a been a moment of weakness, when she realised what she had done. But she quickly pulled herself together and thought: let me just be cool, I can do this thing. Oh, psycho bitch! By the way..how INSANE were her cellphone records? I mean, seriously, she could not have had ANY time for anyone while thumbing her life away. Anyway, someone mentioned her “edge”. What pushed her over the edge on THAT particular day? Besides the fact that I believe it was a premeditated murder, I think maybe, just maybe she could have been pre-menstrual? Don’t many of us feel just really weird? I know how I used to get when I was younger…wild and irrational and a bit crazy…just one day a month, but beware ANYBODY who got in my way. Anyway, just ramblings from a girl in South Africa who has only recently gotten absorbed by these tragic events. Oh, and I also think everything is so confusing and difficult to fathom,because everything happened in a really confusing fashion: there really was no method in her madness. If it had been at all planned, and I dont premeditated, but PLANNED, i`m sure it would have been much easier for all detectives, including us, the armchair variety, to pin down exactly what went down. I remebered only today, 16 July 2009 that when I was hijacked in my driveway last year, on the 16 July 2008, I thought to myself: Hey, chill…someone somewhere is definitely going through a much worse experience………poor Caylee, beautiful, innocent baby…. x x x
ooops… i mean 16 June…and as for my hijacking, 16 July, someone somewhere was definitely going through a MUCH worse time…Casey Anthony!
Wow, you were hijacked in your own driveway? How scary! Are you okay? Were you injured?
I found a kitten during a terrible storm on 6/16/2008…and I have wondered many times if this now 1 year old cat was coming into the world at the same time Caylee left it…
The kitten was also a victim of abandonment in the woods, only her mother just left her there to die..cats do it all the time, 1 kitten too many, or born ill, like this one was. This kitten from all appearancs, could not have been more than a few hours old.
Hi Elfninosmom…I stopped in my drive and hooted for my son as i wanted to take him to dinner. Suddenly, out of nowhere, 2 men pulled open my door, dragged me out..and then they were gone. I had cash, leather jacket, my id, passport, driver’s licence, expensive printer and all sorts in the car..all gone. But I was very lucky: Here in South Africa the crime is rampant, senseless and very violent. I got away unscathed. Years ago you only read about this kinda thing in the paper, but slowly but surely, almost everyone I know has been in some way touched by violence. Here life, in general, is as cheap and meaningless as Casey Anthony made her daughters life.
Wow, that must have been extremely traumatic for you! I’m so very sorry to hear that happened.
Thanks, but its ok..i wasn’t hurt, and thankfully, neither was my son.