Lee Anthony does the right thing- shows up- and Zenaida’s attorneys depose him. The interview and his answers boggle the mind and stretch your imagination –starting w/Lee saying that to this day he still believes EVERYTHING his sister tells him. Um, have you met your sister? That does NOT speak highly of your intelligence or your grasp on reality.
Lee Anthony under oath.
(about 30 mins)
Lee Anthony doesn’t seem nervous- there’s none of the awkward giggling we heard in his first interview w/the police… at least not at first. Later on he continues to appear very relaxed and there’s a surprising amount of chuckling from Caylee’s uncle.
Lee appears to be keeping eye contact w/Morgan and doesn’t seem to even look over at Zenaida when Morgan intros everyone in the room. Casey’s attorneys were not there which is being reported as highly unusual. I consider that a blessing.
Morgan asks some establishing questions- even joking w/Lee about where they both attended high school, Winter Park, – Lee attended there for 9th grade and then went on to finish high school at Colonial- saying he wished he’d stayed at Winter Park.
Lee has lived back at home since the beginning of January to help out his parents financially. This case must have really decimated his life. He lost his darling niece, his sister is in jail, he has been subject to cruel and demeaning speculation as to his character, and instead of saving money and preparing a home for his and his girlfriend’s new baby he’s moved back in w/his parents to help them out.
The first time he heard the name Zenaida Gonzales was the day Casey was arrested. He says he heard the name when Casey called the home from jail, he didn’t say jail- he just sort of let the sentence trail off but Morgan prompted him- “from jail” and he acknowledged.
So Lee NEVER heard about Caylee having a nanny named Zanny. It only came up (at least to him) when Casey needed someone to blame for Caylee’s disappearance. Lee says that his mom claimed to have heard the name before. Interesting choice of words. He says Cindy had heard the name Zanny but that the full name Zenaida Fernandez Gonzales was new to everyone- that was Lee’s impression.
Morgan asks if Lee was under the impression that Casey was making up the story about Zanny to which Lee says “To this day, I believe everything that my sister tells me.” (WTF?) Morgan replies, “I understand that.” And Lee closes his eyes and nods knowingly. WHAT? I DON’T understand that. I think I would not have been able to conceal the shock on my face and might have slipped in some questions about WHICH story do you believe and why?. I think you can support your sister w/out making yourself out to sound like a complete imbecile by saying that you believe EVERYTHING your crazy, nutball, lying sister has to say.
As to childcare for Caylee Lee said that Cindy and George were the primary caregivers/babysitters for Caylee but he knew of Casey leaving her in the care of other friends of the family but never compensating anyone to his knowledge. Here he breaks out in laughter- somewhat reminiscent of the nervous giggling. He seems quite comfortable not at all distraught or emotional about the subject matter.
He says he had no knowledge of Casey’s employment situation. Lee’s attny (I assume, he’s off camera.) objects to relevance but allows him to answer. Lee says he doesn’t know if or how Casey would pay a caretaker for Caylee.
Lee says that he and his family always encouraged Casey to speak to police and cooperate. Lee says that during the phone call Casey made from jail he didn’t speak to her for long but he mainly tried to get her to calm down and not berate her mother saying that Casey was upset that no one believed her. I think the jist of the conversation was GIVE ME TONY’S NUMBER – not pleas from Casey- I’m telling the truth- you’ve got to believe me – that’s the only way we can find Caylee. There was none of that concern. She wanted to talk to her boyfriend and FU@K all else- anything that doesn’t help me meet that goal is just a WASTE, A HUGE WASTE! I think his memory is selective here.
Morgan asks if Casey was upset on the phone at that time bc Cindy was accusing her of…Morgan says he doesn’t want to use the word LYING (REALLY- why the hell not?)…someone pipes up w/- uh being untruthful?– which Morgan likes. Lee says well, we didn’t really know the truth at that time (yeah, and you still don’t). Lee is hesitant here and says well, there’s a difference between lying and not being forthcoming, those are “two completely different things,” according to Lee.
Lee says that to his understanding Casey was “instructed” by “this Zanny person” to tell that story and to not go to police. He says I don’t know what someone could hold over someone’s head to do that- there’s nothing that would make me do that, I would die right here for her. Hmm, but not Casey.
Lee says that they didn’t really have a comfortable conversation until Casey was released from jail bc they knew they were not being recorded. Hmm- WERE they being recorded? I wonder if authorities had the home bugged?
Lee says that Casey revealed that this Zanny person was threatening not only Caylee’s life but the entire family. Lee says the family was frustrated bc they said- there’s NOTHING you should hold back bc nothing could be worse than what we’re already going through.
It’s funny at one point bc Morgan asks if Casey’s attny was giving her bad advice (the understatement of the century IMO) the advice not to go to police. But Lee doesn’t even flinch- he says at that point she didn’t have representation.
Lee says he was frustrated – not blown away- by the threats saying, there’s nothing anyone could hold over him- he would have gone to authorities.
Morgan asks WHY Zanny would want to take Caylee?- Lee says that Casey’s answer was that Zenaida didn’t think that Caylee should be w/Casey and she was taking Caylee from her to “teach her a lesson.”
Lee was frustrated saying- don’t hold anything back- I could have used all of this info a month ago bc he’s been “investigating” everything during this time that Casey was in jail. That’s the end of part one.
Here’s part 2. (21 mins)
Lee says he never doubted that there was a Zanny the nanny- he believed his sister.
Morgan says that everyone watching the case has always commended Lee’s actions during this case. Hmm, he doesn’t read the blogs evidently.
Lee says he talked to hundreds of his and Casey’s friend during his “investigation” – looking for a live Caylee.
Morgan asks who Caylee’s father is- Lee answers no- Lee’s attny objects as to relevance. They discuss bc Morgan says part of proving his case, bc his client was questioned as to Caylee’s whereabouts, it would help to find who might have taken Caylee bc his client didn’t.
Lee says, w/a chuckle, “With all due respect, you’re not going to get that answer from me, I would have kicked that door in a long time ago.” He goes on in a bit of macho bravado saying if he ever had any indication of who had Caylee “from the President on down” he would have kicked that door in.
Lee says that during the month that Caylee and Casey weren’t staying in their home he was never alerted to worry about their whereabouts. That is curious bc of Cindy’s July 3 “distraught” myspace msg about Caylee being missing and reports of Lee going to a bar looking for Casey (she fled).
Morgan brings that up next- big discussion w/attnys as to relevance. Morgan’s attnys school Lee’s attnys saying we’ll get the answer eventually and we’ll be seeking fees and costs so if you instruct your client not to answer- it’s not a valid objection and it will cost you. Lee speaks up bc he now remembers his mom calling him July 3rd saying Casey and Caylee haven’t been home – he went online figured out where she was and went looking for her.
Lee makes a statement unrelated to this saying someone (many people) forwarded him Zenaida’s myspace saying – could this be the person? he says based on all the evidence he had from Casey’s statements- this person (Zenaida) was never under suspicion from him. Pointing to the “mam” across the table – Zenaida.
Part 3 (26 mins)
Morgan asks about Xanax being called a “zanny” – Lee says he’s never heard of that- NEVER heard of taking a xanax as related to Zanny the nanny he says he’s NEVER heard that until today. I find that INCREDIBLY HARD TO BELIEVE- if he’s been AT ALL following this case. That speculation has been rampant online (especially here).
Morgan questions Lee about July 3rd bc Lee was looking for her downtown and actually spoke to her – Casey told him she was in Jacksonville. He repeatedly called her she finally picked up and said leave me alone, I’m in Jax, I’ll be home tomorrow. He said he knew she was lying. Hmm, I thought you believed EVERYTHING your sister tells you?
Lee says he asked about Caylee’s whereabouts that night bc he could hear that she was “out” at a party- he could hear noise in the background. Casey said “someone” was watching her and he didn’t ask who.
Lee says that even to this day neither he nor his mom know WHY Casey left the house in June. What about the HUGE argument they had bc Casey stole from her grandparents and Cindy was threatening to take custody, screaming so loud a neighbor heard and supposedly putting her hands on Casey’s neck? Hmm, I actually thought that the story about the fight becoming physical that night came from Lee.
Lee says he had no knowledge of his mother ever trying to take custody of Caylee- he never heard about that except after the fact through what he called “bullcrap” sources like the media. Morgan now asks about the alleged “physical” confrontation between Cindy and Casey- he denies it, chuckling saying he’s never broken up a physical confrontation between Casey and anyone. Wow, if that’s true, I wonder who made that story up in the first place?
Lee talks about Casey’s “timer55” password for myspace and yahoo- hoping to clear up Morgan’s questions regarding “internet” communication w/Zanny. Lee said Casey claimed that whoever took Caylee reset her password to that and that was the amount of time that this person was going to have Caylee before they would return her. Lee says, its creepy and gave him chills bc If you count from June 16 when Caylee was “taken” – if you count from there to 55 days it was to August 9th- which was Caylee’s birthday. THAT is highly suspicious bc Casey would know that that was exactly how much time she had to run or do what she was going to do.
That was HER deadline for how long she could hopefully BULLSH!T her parents as to Caylee’s whereabouts. SHE would know that they would NEVER accept any of her ridiculous excuses for not being able to see Caylee past that date. She would HAVE to produce her on Caylee’s birthday.
That’s also why Casey had an exact countdown and knew that her daughter was “missing” 31 days instead of the actual date she was “taken”- thus the whole June 9th or 16th confusion.
Lee now throws Jesse into the mix saying that one other person knew of the “timer55” password and that was Jesse Grund. It seems like he may have been trying to throw Jesse under the bus here but gets sidetracked. Throwing Jesse under the bus seems to be quite the old family tradition (not as much fun as Hank’s). He goes into this bc he says he was trying to delete all of Casey’s pics bc everything was being “sensationalized.” He says everything from Facebook and all of those type accounts had been deleted from end of April to July 3rd. He laughs bc he associates it w/the night he almost tracked her down bc she knew that that’s how he almost caught up w/her. Yet he says Casey “claims” that she did not do this deleting. And we’re to assume he believes this BS bc he BELIEVES EVERYTHING HIS SISTER TELLS HIM- EVEN TO THIS DAY.
Lee says Casey claims to have received communication from the “timer55” kidnapped person during this time things that told her for example to “show up to Target at 3pm” and Casey would do it.
Part 4 (34 mins)
Lee says he was never able to read the text comments to or from Casey- he says they’ve asked for that and laughs saying he would LOVE to see those but the authorities would never give those to him. He did have access to the phone numbers and to this day there are still some numbers that he does not know to whom they belong.
He says he has only seen Casey physically drunk twice in her life and says that she was not a “hard partyer.” Morgan asks about the phone call Casey supposedly received from Caylee on July 15th – we’ve all heard about this fictional call.
Lee gives the description Casey gave about Zenaida saying it doesn’t match this one and Casey has been consistent. She was early 20s, slender, light complexion (but she frequently tanned) and had no children.
They talk about Casey mtg Zenaida through Jeff Hopkins- NOT the one they both knew from high school. Even though that was the one that Casey had been telling her mom she was dating and the reason she was in Jax (though they don’t discuss this).
Morgan questions Lee about paying Zenaida to babysit and how many times Zenaida would babysit- Lee has no knowledge. Morgan asks about Casey dropping of Caylee the last time. Lee says Casey told him it was at Jay Blanchard Park- she met up w/Zanny and Zanny’s sister w/the sister’s two children. Casey gave him this story for the first time when she got out of jail in August. He says this story hasn’t changed though it is different from what Casey originally told police bc she had said it was at Sawgrass Apartments. Morgan asks where Casey was going that day- to which Lee replies she “claimed” she was going to work going on to say that she did work there at one time. Lee says that where Casey worked never had any relevance to him- he didn’t care bc he just wanted to find Caylee.
This bothers the hell out of me. BC why in the HELL was she dropping her off w/ANYBODY? The b!tch didn’t have a job! I was just listening to those intv tapes w/Casey that they made at Universal and NEVER ONCE does anyone bring that point up. I know hind sight is 20/20 but you would certainly think that would be a relevant question bc you’re sitting in a conference room at Universal having just found out that she DOES NOT WORK there- so WHY did she need a nanny? WHERE did she work? How did she pay the (imaginary) nanny?
Morgan says, bc she’s given so many stories w/inconsistencies even to you- did you start to doubt? Lee answers no- he believes there is more info he could be given- he believes there’s truth to a lot of what he’s been told. I find that VERY difficult to believe.
They go back to the Blanchard Park story- Morgan- throws in- “have you given this story to the police – what you’re telling me now?” Lee, looks up and to the left, and says, no…I don’t think so. Hmm. That’s curious isn’t it? Casey says she sat down on a bench w/Zenaida watching the kids play and she remembers Zenaida grabbing her arm forcefully to “kinda hold her down in a way” and that’s when she said I’m going to take Caylee from you- I will give her back to you but you need to follow my instructions- this is where she threatened- don’t go to the police or I will hurt your loved ones. Casey then saw Zenaida’s sister w/the kids at this point “briskly” walking to the car and Zenaida left too at this point. Uh, did you fight and scream and kick? Morgan doesn’t ask this.
Casey said Zenaida said this was to teach her a lesson. Morgan asks what lesson- w/Lee saying “I don’t know- if it was ever relayed to her, she didn’t relay it to me.” He laughs. WTF? Don’t you think that would be a relevant fu@cking question? Wouldn’t whatever that reason is be important- wouldn’t you mention it when pleading through the media w/Zanny to bring Caylee home. This just stinks to high heaven and insults my intelligence. That doesn’t pass the smell test- that would be priority number ONE in any investigation into getting Caylee back- WHY did they take her? Can we fix it?
Morgan asks if he ever asked Casey WHY she lied to police- saying to Lee- I can tell you’re a thinker. UGH. He says he never asked her that directly. Hmm. Lee says he still believes a Zenaida Gonzales could have kidnapped Caylee- it’s “absolutely” a possibility among a number of people. Saying he believes what someone tells him until he can prove otherwise. Morgan then asks if he believes one of those possible people could be his sister Casey- Lee’s attny objects and “certifies” it instructing his client not to answer.
Morgan goes back to why didn’t you call your sister on the lie of changing the story. Lee says he never asked her that question. BULLSH!T! Lee says he believes Casey was following instructions from Caylee’s kidnappers. Morgan says did Casey’s answers satisfy you?- to which he says- Caylee coming home safely is the ONLY thing that would have satisfied him in this case.
Did you ever ask Casey about an accident scenario- whether she accidently killed her then covered it up? Lee’s attnys object and instruct him not to answer. Lee says I’m not answering that question bc its not relevant. Morgan says I think you answered it by not answering it. BURN.
Morgan asks about the apparent ease at which Casey let Zenaida “kidnap” Caylee- offerring NO resistance. Lee says, laughing broadly, that he asked Casey did she try to resist- bc he would imagine a fist fight would ensue. He says Casey told him she was in shock and it was just surreal. BULLSH!T! Morgan asks if Casey pleaded w/Zenaida not to take her baby- Lee says he assumes so but Casey never told him that and he never asks. BULLSH!T!
OMG Morgan goes on w/this line of questioning saying- did that make sense to you- that she wouldn’t resist? Lee fumbles a bit saying yes and no…I’m a lot like my sister. Morgan says, I can tell. OUCH! Can you imagine a lower insult? Lee says he would be fighting to the death in that situation but no one can say anything about Casey’s actions bc they were not in her shoes. He says they were all concerned about making Casey comfortable and placating Casey so that they could get info from her. Yeah, WE CAN TELL! That’s why we have NO answers in this case. Lee didn’t ask if Zenaida had a gun or any weapon.
Part 5 (54 mins)
Morgan asks about Sawgrass and Lee says he doesn’t know anyone who lived there but he does know Annie and has heard of Dante. (That’s some investigating he must have done.) Lee says he knew most of Casey’s friends but didn’t know many that she had made since the beginning of 2008. Morgan asks did Zenaida tell Casey to go downtown (haha- yeah she told her to go out and party). Lee says, no I never asked her that- that would have been a good question.
Morgan asks about Zenaida having a key to the family home. Lee says he heard that Casey told her parents that she’d given Zenaida a key to the house. Lee says Cindy thought that was fine bc she was babysitting Caylee. BULLSH!T have you MET Cindy? That would NEVER happen. Lee says he’s spoken to the media about Zenaida giving a description etc. Though he NEVER spoke to the media updating them w/the correct “story” about Jay Blanchard Park. Lee says he “sadly” told Leonard Padilla, also told Dominick the PI and his parents and maybe Baez though he’s not sure that came up. WTF? Morgan asks why he never told the police- Lee says- the time never came up. BULLSH!T! Lee says the police just weren’t interested in hearing ANYTHING that came out of my sister’s mouth- they would automatically dismiss it. They were looking for a “dead Caylee” and the quickest way to do that was to paint his sister in a bad light and they never followed up on anything he provided him so they were no longer “on his speed dial” and they were for a while. That’s ludicrous- if you’re trying to find Caylee.
Lee is overly amicable and laughing in this intv- its weird. Lee says again that he believes everything his sister told him. Lee says I have to and explains by saying -by that he means when someone is telling you something and you need info from them you have to not call them a liar- that’s not his strategy. Well maybe you should switch up your fu@cking strategy when it’s obviously NOT working and you’re dealing w/a psycho spiteful b!tch that has been known to LIE EXTENSIVELY.
Morgan goes back to the line of questioning- WHY did you not release the new story about Jay Blanchard Park- the story you now claim to believe. Lee says- “apparently I don’t react the way that you do.” Morgan says after all these months you never told…Lee says, I don’t get your point. BULLSH!T! Uh, why not tell the police- what you believe to be the truth? Lee says he assumes they knew that new story and Morgan makes him look like a complete and total IDIOT. Rightly so. Doesn’t pass the smell test.
Lee says he told Cindy the story the morning after he heard and she didn’t have much of a reaction either. Morgan tries to get a reaction about Casey lying to police saying it’s a blockbuster but Lee does not see it as such- apparently no one in the family did either. Remember Cindy saying – well it’s not against the law to lie. UGH! Lee really seems to struggle here- and says “for the life of me I can’t figure out why that didn’t stand out to me.” Um, perhaps bc it was one in a series of whoppers you heard from your sister?
Someone should ask the question- IF you believed that story WHY didn’t you go immediately to the police and the media and say it was a public park around noon surely SOMEONE SAW SOMETHING- here’s a description – someone stole Caylee in broad daylight PLEASE COME FORWARD!!!
Morgan asks if Lee ever had any conversations w/his parents about Casey’s “truthfulness.” Lee’s attny originally objects and “certifies” (which I gather means- instructing Lee not to answer). Morgan is stupefied- as this is a defamation case about Casey lying and Lee’s attny evidently spits out the stupid pill and takes it back. Lee has a huge gregarious laugh here- does he even KNOW why he’s sitting there. I think he answered and said they never had a conversation about her truthfulness in this case in particular but had discussed her lying in the past. He goes on to say he used to have a problem w/lying…like when he was in middle school. He says Casey hit that “stage” too- but she hit it in high school. He calls them little white lies. Lee when asked about what type of lies Casey would tell said- well skipping school for example. Morgan asks about stealing money– Lee reluctantly answered yes.
Lee says they never commented in the family about- WOW- Casey lied to the police and further Morgan asks, they didn’t take offense to the fact that she also lied to THEM. (During this question Lee picks some earwax and looks at it- gross- he appears uncomfortable.) Lee shrugs it off saying she was trying to protect Caylee. He says if it protects her child I hope she continues to lie. WTF? Her child is dead- you want her to continue to lie? Morgan says isn’t it true that she would do or say anything to protect herself as well? Lee says he believes that is secondary. They have a big hearty laugh over would they lie to protect themselves. Lee seems to find the whole thing amusing- it seems he’s overly confident and trying to really ingratiate himself w/Morgan.
Lee says that since Casey was released from jail they had about 5-7 minutes at most- they never had the brother/sister time that they needed. Morgan asks if Lee told someone that he feels if he could see Casey alone w/no one watching- he believes he could get the truth out of her. He says yes- I believe I could.
Morgan asks if Casey described the sister? Lee seems to search back in his mind- whew- he laughs. Morgan says- well this is a major co-conspirator who allegedly took Caylee. Reminding Lee that that should be of primary importance. Lee says well, I think I have it written down somewhere. Shouldn’t you till be looking for those people MORON? Lee says he wouldn’t have a problem giving them the notes he took when questioning Casey. Morgan goes back to the description of the sister- Lee seems to get agitated and says wow- then proceeds to lay it out in a very condescending manner. There is some confusing talk about to whom Casey first spun the new tale about Jay Blanchard Park. Morgan is trying to get him to understand that in any NORMAL family this would have been earth shattering, case breaking, life changing news. It sure makes it seem like no one in their family thought it was big news.
They are talking about whether Casey ever told him not to speak to the media- he says no but he never asked permission. Some one mentions Baez and a HEARTY laugh is enjoyed by all as Morgan says- I’ll get to him later. Morgan asks about the entertainment deals allegedly offered to the family- he says nothing has been mentioned to him but wild outlandish things have been offered to the family. He says he’s never heard it straight from his mom or dad that they’ve taken money. Morgan asks if Jose Baez has taken money- someone starts to object and Morgan says- I’m going to ask bc I KNOW the answer to this question. Lee’s attny (I assume) objects as to “work product” and they go off the record for a minute.
Lee says he doesn’t know for sure if his family received $200,000 from ABC- he hasn’t “heard it to know it to be true.” He has no knowledge that anyone in his family has received compensation. Morgan asks if he knows about Jose allegedly asking People magazine for $500,000- Lee says that’s the first he’s heard of that rumor. Me too. (10 more minutes- I’m so over Lee right now.)
Lee has never sat down and told Jose Baez the Jay Blanchard Park story but he has had many conversations w/Jose and has referenced the story. Morgan asks if there was ever a conversation about Casey’s lies and this new story creates a problem for the defense- to which Lee laughingly replies- no I’ve never heard that- that would be a conversation for Casey. Big laughs. Lee hasn’t talked to Jose since the day that they identified Caylee’s remains but said he gets along w/Jose fine.
Lee says he’s not aware if his parents are unhappy w/Jose’s defense. Morgan asks about the media being invited to Caylee’s memorial. Lee says that they knew they’d have to have it taped in order for Casey to see it. Lee says he doesn’t know much about that- his mom set it up. Morgan says- why when you had such a problem w/the media being here to day- why was it ok for so many cameras to be there for such a personal moment as the memorial. Lee says- that wasn’t his choice- it would be private. Morgan goes on to ask about the memorial and says he didn’t see much- but saw Lee and Herkey singing- hearty laugh from Lee- he says “you missed some good stuff”- WHAT?
Morgan asks about Lee’s speech and keeping his promise to CMA. Lee says he was speaking to Caylee- he made a promise to her early on- in July – that no matter what it took I was going to find out the truth. He says he kissed both of the bracelets on his wrist one is for Casey and one is for Caylee. He says there are 3 women in his life w/the initials CMA his mom, his sister and Caylee. Morgan asks about the Winnie the Pooh blanket and whether he knew if Casey took it to Jay Blanchard Park. Lee says no- she has a ton of Winnie the Pooh stuff. Morgan then asks if he ever saw Casey or Caylee playing w/heart stickers around the house- Lee says no. I’m surprised that didn’t raise an objection- who is this attny for Lee? Did he go to school w/Jose?
Morgan thanks him and says he’s not ending the deposition – he’s suspending it bc several questions were “certified” and they need to hold a hearing. It ends w/a friendly laugh and smile from Lee saying you guys will keep communication open as to rescheduling in case he’s out of town chuckle chuckle- and he winks at Morgan. Wow- friendly, fun business being deposed by some one suing your sister for defamation bc someone w/the same name supposedly kidnapped and killed your niece.
Morgan made a statement after the deposition that they don’t know whether he told the truth today but said Lee appeared to be forthcoming. The tape of the deposition is available here. Lee’s attorney was geared up to fight the release of the tape until after the case was closed but it is said that Lee told him not to bother w/the delay- to just release it now.
Morgan on Nancy Grace says the bombshell he heard- was that the story changed and the family knew that she had lied to the police and the family didn’t rush to the police. Shocking huh? Morgan even comments on how often Lee laughs in this depo – considering your niece is dead and your sister is in prison charged w/it.
Oh, apropos of nothing…I’m just watching Sex and the City and after Miranda first slept w/Steve he comes back to try to take her on a date and introduces himself as Steve Brady. She later has his child and names him Brady if I’m not mistaken. I guess the writer’s fell asleep at the wheel bc that means she named her baby Brady Brady. Cruel…fictional, but cruel.
Citizenkim's Weblog 