That Smell
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 1:45PM Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you- Lynyrd Skynyrd from “That Smell”
On June 27, 2008, Casey Anthony contacted her close friend, Amy Huizenga, about a peculiar odor emanating from her car. The message was clear, and it was confirmed during Amy’s deposition taken on February 14 of this year. Jose Baez asked her about it starting on page 32:
Q: Okay. Now, she sent you a text message in reference to the smell of the car; is that correct?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. And that was on what date, do you recall?
A: I think it’s in here somewhere. I don’t know what day it was.
Q: I can help you if you want to look towards the date for your statement to confirm it.
A. That would be great.
Q: Okay. The 27th. June 27th.
As the interview progressed…
A: Okay. Yeah, the 27th is when she confirmed - - like, when she said it was. But there were definitely a day or two that she had been like, dude, my car smells and I don’t know what it is. Just, like, one of those - - I mean, I think everyone’s had the time you’re like what is that smell. I don’t understand. And she just said it smelled, like, you know, something had died in her car and she had no clue what it is. And I think it was - - she - - it was coming from the engine areaish is what she had said. And then when she - - you know, finally, it was - - she was letting me know she had found it was and that was a squirrel that she figured her dad had run over when he was driving the car.
Q: Let me ask you this - -
A: Yes.
Q: - - do you have any other text messages about the smell or was it just that one text message?
A: I don’t know. You have the text messages.
What’s so important about this exchange is the fact that Casey acknowledged the odor of death in her car, as confirmed by a text message written and sent by her. She also told Amy that the smell had been in the car for at least one day, perhaps two. Was this the start of attempting to pass the blame on to her father?
Q: Okay. Do you know if you spoke about it before the 27th or after the 27th?
A: Before, because the 27th was when she said what it was and there was at least a day, if not two days, that she told me about the smell.
We have now established that Casey freely admitted that the smell of death did, in fact, exist in her vehicle. This leaves us with two possible choices: Casey knew exactly what it was and she was working on an excuse to cover it up, or she had no idea what caused the foul odor.
Let’s fast forward a bit to Amy’s conversation with Cindy, after Cindy picked her up at the Florida Mall. Remember, Cindy called 911 that night and uttered those now famous words, “I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”
Within a week, she changed her tune. “It smelled like something had died in the car. I smelled it. I thought something had died in the car. I didn’t know what it was. It could have been a squirrel. It could have been anything. But when we opened the trunk and we saw the maggots in the trunk with all the pizza and stuff, it was a rancid smell.” (See: http://www.wftv.com/news/16981004/detail.html)
She also told FOX News, “Do me a favor, put a little piece of pizza or any piece of garbage in your car today and leave it shut up for 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 days in this heat and then come back to me in 19 days and tell me what it smells like.” (See: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,389642,00.html)
What she did was a complete spin. It meant that the smell of death was not really death at all, it was pizza and other garbage found in the trunk that reeked so badly. She told the 911 dispatcher about the smell of death for one reason only: to quickly bring law enforcement to the house. She didn’t really mean what she said. Excuse me. Never mind. Except for one major issue. It wasn’t only the dispatcher she told that to.
Starting from page 52 of the deposition, where Amy dropped Casey off at Anthony Lazzaro’s apartment in Winter Park…
Q: Okay. And then where did you go?
A: I went to the Florida Mall with JP [Chatt] in his car because he wanted to go pick up the new iPhone that had come out while we were gone. And the Florida Mall is fun to walk around in so I tagged along.
Q: Tell me about the conversation when Cindy calls you. What happened - -
A: She called me and asked me - - you know, obviously stated who she was and then asked me if I had seen Casey or Caylee. I was, like, well, I just saw Casey like an hour and a half ago, but I haven’t seen Casey - - or Caylee in a while. And so she proceeded to tell me that, like, she needed to find her, that she was going to be in really big trouble. I believe she mentioned jail for some reason. I don’t recll what the reasoning was why she was going to be going to jail, but just seemed very important that she find her and that she hadn’t seen her in a long time. So that the car - - her car had been impounded for two weeks and that she just really needed to find Casey.
Q: Did she say anything about the smell in the car?
A: I don’t think she said anything about the smell of the car on the phone conversation. She said - - she did later in the car, but not, I don’t believe, over the phone.
AHA! I received an e-mail yesterday afternoon. A very nice person, who shall remain anonymous, wrote this to me:
I read the deposition of Amy. In it, Cindy states to her that the car smelled like a dead body had been in it. She says the same thing on the 911 call later. Then much later she says that she would have said anything to get the police there ASAP. I think saying that to Amy BEFORE the Police might come back to really haunt her.
She makes a very valid point. Continuing with Amy’s depostion:
Q: Okay. So then [Cindy] picks you up at the Florida mall?
A: Yes.
Q: You got in the car and then what’s the conversation like as you’re going to Tony’s house?
A: Well, first it was a, it’s nice to finally meet you because I had yet to meet her at that point. And she told me - - like actually then told me then the whole story of the car impound, that was when she told me about the smell.
Q: What did she say in describing the smell?
A: She said that it smelled - - it was the most horrible smell that she had ever smelled and that they were terrified that it was either Casey or Caylee in the car - - in the trunk until they got it open. But that was - - that her fear and she was barely controlling, like, emotion in saying that. Like, it was - - you could see that that was still something [t]hat she remembered being upset about that that thought was in her mind.
Q: Did she say she smelled the car or did she say George smelled the car?
A: Both of them. I believe they were boh there.
Q: Okay. So she’s telling you this on the way to Tony’s house?
A: Yes.
If it wasn’t the odor of death, what prompted George and Cindy to immediately think of Casey and Caylee’s well-being? Here are two snippets quoting George and Cindy’s own words from a transcript of the HLN program, Nancy Grace, dated November 17, 2008:
GEORGE ANTHONY: You guys don’t know! The person who was in the back of my granddaughter’s (SIC) car is not my granddaughter!
CINDY ANTHONY, GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING TODDLER: My husband is a deputy sheriff. Years ago, he was a homicide investigator, as well. And the first thing he thought was human decomposition. I’m a nurse. I thought human decomposition.
It’s interesting, to say the least. Ooooh that smell!
Reference: Huizenga Depo 2_11
Dave Knechel | in Anthony Lazzaro, Casey Anthony, Caylee Anthony, Cheney Mason, Cindy Anthony, Dave Knechel, David B. Knechel, David Knechel, George Anthony, Jose Baez, Marinade Dave, Marinade Dave Knechel, Marinade Dave’s Caylee Anthony Posts, Nancy Grace, Tony Lazzaro, marinadedave | Share Article | 1 Reference 
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Reader Comments (77)
Peggy222~~you could very well be right. Scott murdered a woman and unborn child. Amber Fry was instrumental in helping to send Peterson to death row. Will a death penalty jury look at a mother killing a child differently? Ann Finnell will be presenting the mitigating circumstances before the jury goes out to deliberate on the penalty, if it comes to that stage. She is darn good in her field. This is another thing that I have taken into consideration. I think Ann surpasses Andrea Lyon by miles.
Mr. NeJame is going to be a 'legal analyst' for WKMG Local 6. :cool:
The TV Guy and More: Mark NeJame to be legal analyst for WKMG
Quote:
“I respect Tony Pipitone a lot. He is an investigative reporter par excellence,” NeJame said. “I think our pairing will help explain what the case is truly about.”
End of quote.
I have often wondered if Andrea Lyon left the case not because of "money" but because she did not think that she could spare the DP for Casey. I do not know that much about Ann Finnell but the couple of times I have seen her. I was not impressed the first time I saw Andrea Lyon. I honestly believe that it will not matter what Ann says after all the evidence comes out in the trial to make a jury think that she deserves nothing less than what she did to her daughter.
Peggy, I don't for one minute believe that Andrea Lyons dropped out of this case for financial reasons. I think she dropped out because she knew they were going to lose this case and she didn't want her record tarnished. I wasn't impressed with Andrea and I am not really impressed with what I have seen from Ann Finnell so far. I believe in the Scott Peterson case that it wasn't so much what Amber Frye had to say or her tapes, but it was that the bodies of Lacy and Connor washing up just one mile from where Scott had been fishing, along with some other circumstantial evidence. I think Casey has a good chance of getting the DP. I am okay with her getting the DP or LWOP. I think if she gets LWOP she will be forgotten about and she won't be getting the attention that she would if she got the DP and all the appeals that would come with it.
Mary Jo, I dont remember reading anywhere about the tow yards owner admitting to the smell. I have not heard anything about the tow truck driver either, I would be interested in hearing what they said.
Beast~~when they asked the driver of the tow truck, didn't he say that he had a cold that day or was that just a rumor? He would have hooked onto the back of the car. Do they have to get right out and do something to hook the vehicle up to their winch (sp) or can they just scoop under the tail of the car and hoist it up? Goes to show you how stupid I am eh?
I thought the tow yard owner did make mention of the smell. He had smelled that same odor when he found the remains of a dead man in one of the cars at this tow yard. I think he said the remains had been there around 5 days.
Here is the interview with Gary Ridgeway. He drove the tow truck and said he was 'on the back side of a cold that day.' Take note that he also said that the car was locked. Some people had said Casey left it unlocked hoping it would get stolen.
Tow Truck Driver-Interview
Simon Burch, owner at Johnson's Towing did mention a smell coming from the car....
Simon Burch-Interview
BTW, Nan11 is tending my store and I am back sleuthing ...woot woot and LOL
Ahhh the value of depositions! Taken at the very beginning when events are fresh in their minds it all spills out. Then it's oops! What have I done?! The Anthonys can spout garbage all they want literally and figuratively but their original statements were made not only to law enforcement but to acquaintances like Amy. I imagine Lee mentioned the smell to Mallory also. More than just Cindy and George smelled that car. The guy at the tow yard smelled it. What I don't get, and maybe an explanation for it will eventually appear is why the officers at the scene didn't at least LOOK at the car in the garage, especially since Cindy mentioned Caylee's doll and things were still in the car but the baby was gone. I would think they'd at least take a look right then and there and smell it themselves.
All I can say is "thank heavens for depositions!"
Please forgive me as I ramble on for a bit. I remember "someone" saying that Casey called them and she said she needed to take a shower before work., Now thats bizarre for a few different reasons. But, who was it, what day was it, and why did he not wonder when they just sat around and watched TV after she had the shower.
Beast~~Casey called Jesse Grund and asked if she could come and take a shower. He said that when she arrived, she looked fairly clean. She took the shower while he played video games or watched tv and then she hung around for a bit. I believe Tony Lazzaro was in New York around that time. I am not sure of the date Casey went to Jesse's. Maybe she was looking for some DNA samples.
Hi everyone! Great post, very good catch about Cindy saying to Amy that the car smelled like death, I have smelled death only one time - I was home on maternity leave 6 years ago and something died in the wall of our kitchen. Let me tell you, that smell was so overwhelming and so unforgettable and I had never smelled anything like it in my life. We couldn't get to it b/c it was in the wall, so I spent my days with my new baby visiting family and going to the store, anything to get me out of the house! I finally told my husband I didn't care if he had to tear apart our entire kitchen, he needed to cut the wall open and remove whatever it was causing the odor. This was after a week. He cut thru the wall, and all that odor through the wall was caused by a tiny dead chipmunk! While trying to deal with that odor for a week, I had burned a gingerbread candle - to this day I can't smell gingerbread without associating it with that decomposition smell. I can't imagine the odor a decomposing human body would cause - I am sure there would be NO mistaking it. Cindy and George knew exactly what that smell was and that car never should have left the tow yard,
Another idea, maybe she was just "taking his temperature" to see if she still had him in thrall, or at least still in an easy-to-manipulate state. I'm not sure she was smart enough to set up anyone, DNA-wise.
Karen C~~here is something I cannot understand. Why would Casey put Caylee's remains in the woods not far from her home and take the chance on someone finding her? If someone had helped Casey dispose of the remains, they would have been put them in an alligator infested lake. I know it has been said that Casey was lazy but I begin to wonder what the heck was going on in her head around the time she threw Caylee in among the garbage. There is little to no traffic out at Suburban in the daytime so maybe that is why she felt safer. I don't know of any lakes around Orlando that would not be crowded with people especially in the middle of June.
Hi Snoop, if I may add my thoughts,
Dominic Casey went into those woods on several ocassions to look for Caylee, and he never found her and I think he had a good idea exactly where she was located.
Jim Hoover said in his deposition that DC told him he went out at least two more times after Nov 16 and 17 on his own to try and find her little body. Looking forward to DC testimony during the trial.
I think the smell was just too dreadful to bear any longer and she felt she had to get rid of her fast. The kids were out of school and there wasn't much going on in June on Suburban. She is lazy, and she probably had a date with Tony.
On a happier note...the Canucks just won the hockey game!
This is going to be a gut-wrenching trial, with all the facts. Can't imagine being the mom of this poor baby, having to listen throughout what the state is going to introduce. Baez and Co. are going to be so lost in all of this. I, truly, don't believe George seen Casey and Caylee that day before Caylee went missing. Just my opinion. The A's will do anything to try to get their daughter off the DP sentence. Well, let's all enjoy some happiness with the Royal Wedding. We have so much sadness in the world and maybe, this will give us all a litte pick-up. I am a Brit and proud. Dave, don't overwork yourself, we need you for this coverage, not the wedding, the trial. No pressure!!?! Stay healthy.
CA also told her co-worker Charles Crittenden about the smell prior to the 911 call:
Q She say anything about the car when she got in it or …
A Yes when.. I recall when she got back.. ‘cause a lot of us were standing right,
right here by the front door when she walked in. And she made the statement
about the smell in the car. She said it smelled like a dead body. And we told her
then, you need to call the police.
Q Did she come in just say that or did she say anything else about it? Did she see
anything in the car that maybe alarmed you guys?
A No she didn’t say she just said, it smelled like a dead body.
''Ooh, ooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell?
Ooh, ooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you.''
Nancy Grace's show - 11/17/2008
Cindy Anthony: ''My husband is a deputy sheriff. Years ago, he was a homicide investigator, as well. And the first thing he thought was human decomposition. I`m a nurse. I thought human decomposition.''
There own words will reveal the truth! It is someting that ''MOTY'' - Casey, $pindy and George can not escape from! THE TRUTH
Not sure where to put this comment.. but.. thinking about jury selection.. Somebody or maybe a lot of "somebodys" suspect where jury will come from.. Notices to appear must be sent out to prospective jurors.. and certainly "more than usual" are going out in the area where they will be going. In other words... With the needed number or prospective jurors.. seems like many will be receiving or have received notices. I, for one, if I lived in Florida and received jury call, would sure wonder about the Casey Anthony trial.
Snoopysleuth,
The Simon Birch interview was so very telling to me. I got shivers up my spine reading it. I was trying to put myself in George Anthony's position. What a terrible position to be in. I realize about their cover up of the truth now, but at that moment, when the car was opened, and he was spilling his guts to Simon............It feels as if I have a huge boulder sitting in the pit of my stomach. George was not only dealing with the tense situation between himself and Cindy, but he was angry, once again, that Casey managed to spin a web of lies and left them both in her wake. Then he rambles on as if he has to explain to everyone. Almost like he has lost any type of control in his life. He is rambling on, not even realizing that he is rambling aloud, and then he opens the door to the car. RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT! IT SAYS IT ALL!!! Simon himself felt that same feeling in the pit of HIS stomach! George and Simon both know something is Rotten. Not only was it the smell of decomp but the smell of the rotten lies that had caused his own life to spin out of control. I think at that very moment George gave up. He knew.
I don't think I can read another thing about the smell. That rotten smell.
State Adds 2 Psychiatrists To Casey Witness List Defense Previously Dropped Same Psychiatrists
This was just put on the Orange County Clerk site for Casey.
04/27/2011 Order Denying
Motion to Exclude Unreliable Evidence Pursuant to FRYE or in the Alternative, Motion in Limine to Exclude (Chloroform)
Figures
Judge Allowing Chloroform Evidence In Casey Case
Just a question: Who thinks Cindy & George will continue to lie on the witness stand re the "smell of death"? Will they ever realize the jig's up and it's time to respect a court of law?
Hi sydney - Good question, and one worth pondering. Would George and Cindy like to continue lying What will make it so difficult to do is the fact that prosecutors have transcripts from early on. They will remind the Anthonys of that fact as soon as they veer off course. So, the question should really be 'would George and Cindy like to lie?' And the answer is yes. Will they have the opportunity to lie? No.
I for one do Sydney..They have lied so much that it has become second nature for them. But I also feel they will be called on it a lot also. Unlike most, I don't buy into the the "I'm traumatized, I'm emotional" stuff so they can get by with blurting out anything they want in the court room. HHJP has let them get away with it somewhat but only because there is no jury there right now. And to think they should be shown special treatment and be allowed to sit in the court room the whole trial. my question to that is: Why in the world would they want to hear all the bad that's going to be said? About Caylee and Casey. Not sure i would want that at all. IMO.
Dave's first post for the Orlando Magazine is wonderful...
Psttttt, Dave , my post there is rosebud8
I don't think I'd want to sit in on that, either, GLENDA, not if it were my daughter and grandchild. Different strokes, I guess, but I doubt Judge Perry will go for it.
Thank you for enjoying my first post over yonder. I'll keep a look out for you, rxsxbxd8! Once the kinks are figured out, that's where I'd like most of the comments to go, but this place will always remain open.
I've been following this case too and I think Cindy is getting close to being as big of a liar as Casey at this point. She told several people the car smelled like death and George said the same thing but, he also added once you smell a dead body you never can mistake or forget that smell.Him and Cindy both knew who it was who was in that trunk.You can't tell me otherwise.I think George started out trying to do the right thing when he talked to law enforcement in the beginning, then testified before the grand jury. They have both changed their tunes since then.I think Cindy had a lot to do with George's change of heart.I really think George is pretty fed up at this point.I just moved to Florida from Maryland.I'm glad I'll be here when the trial starts.I wish I could even go one day.I wonder what your chances are to get a seat? I'm about 2 hours away on the west coast.I'd love to be thereto see he blank stare as they say guilty!
Dave, I know this is an old blog but I got so aggravated reading the comments on OM site and they are no longer taking comments..That I do not like. The dumbos get their hateful words in and we don't get our chance. I really wanted to respond to them.
I'm waiting on what you have to say about the hearing yesterday..A huge waste of everyone's time and taxpayers money. But we did get to see the real no nonsese side oh HHJP. Many on the Wesh chat thought he was taking up for Casey..I was not one of them..He's simply stating that everyone is entitled to a fair trial and I agree..Even her. The media just had to over step their bounds again. However I did not buy the phony tears and Mr. Mason's pampering..All I could see during that was Caylee's big brown eyes pleading "NO MAMA" as the duct tape went over her mouth.
As far as where and when the jury gets picked we will know when HHJP is ready for us to know.
Keep your head high and don't let those naysayers get to you Dave. We all know how jealous peope react, but your loyal readers are with you.