According a person in a law office close to the case, George Anthony drove Casey Anthony's white Pontiac Sunbird to a Florida junkyard where it was crushed into a metal slab.
An assistant in the office of Mark Lippman -- who represents George and Cindy Anthony, who owned the car before giving it to their daughter, Casey -- said Friday that the car was destroyed on Thursday.
The assistant declined to be named.
The body of Caylee Anthony was suspected to have decomposed in the trunk of the car according to evidence collected by law enforcement, CSI, and FBI test results.
More than seven people, including Caylee's grandparents, Cindy and George Anthony, testified at trial that they smelled "the smell of death", or human decomposition in the car. A cadaver dog also made a trained alert or "hit" on the trunk area of the car--indicating human decomposition.
Caylee Anthony's body was believed to have been in the trunk of the car for as many four to five days, and no less than two, according to expert witnesses at trial. Casey Anthony stated in a text message to a friend at the time, that her car smelled like a dead animal and that her father "must have hit a squirrel". In a second text to the same friend, Casey's text read that she "found the source of the smell...a dead squirrel plastered to the frame of her car" -- causing many investigators and court watchers to believe Casey was in fact referring to the smell of the decomposition of her own daughter in the trunk of the car.
Casey abandoned her car the same day, June 27, 2008, at an Orlando area AMSCOT. The Pontiac was towed to Johnson's Towing lot three days later.
Simon Birch, lot manager for Johnson's Towing, was one of the State's witnesses that testified he smelled human decomposition emitting from the car when he processed the car.
George and Cindy Anthony did not retrieve the car from Johnson's Towing until July 15, 2008, the same day Cindy Anthony made a series of 911 phone calls and Caylee Anthony was officially reported "missing" by her grandmother Cindy.
A few hours later, Casey Anthony revealed to law enforcement that her daughter Caylee had been "kidnapped" by her babysitter of approximately 2 years, and had been missing for thirty one days.
Casey Anthony, was acquitted of first degree murder charges in connection with her daughter Caylee's death. However, Casey was found guilty on four charges of making false statements to law enforcement.
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| George Anthony drove the white Sunfire to the junkyard to have it crushed |
George and Cindy Anthony originally purchased the car for eldest son, Lee Anthony. In 2005, Lee Anthony purchased his own personal vehicle - a 2005 Mustang.
According to law enforcement reports, Lee and Casey had a "verbal agreement" that Casey could drive the Sunfire and make monthly payments - of an undisclosed amount - to Lee in order to purchase the car. Also according to Lee's testimony, while Casey did make "a couple of payments" on the car, she continued to drive the car. Lee stated that even though Casey only made a few payments on the car, the repayment was a "non-issue".
Cindy stated in testimony that she understood the "monetary agreement" regarding the purchase of the car was between Lee and Casey and neither she nor George were involved.
Before Thursday's events, the white Pontiac Sunfire remained registered to George and Cindy Anthony with Florida license plate number G63XV.
Lee Anthony's 2005 Black Mustang has a vanity plate that reads "Vader 5"
The white Sunfire, and the odor emanating from its trunk, had been central to the prosecution's case in Anthony's murder trial.
On June 27, 2008, she abandoned the Pontiac at an Orlando business, saying it had run out of gas, according to testimony. It later was towed to a wrecker yard, where it remained until July 15 of that year, when George and Cindy Anthony found a letter attached to the front door of their home while doing yard work. That was the day George and Cindy went to pick up the car.
The prosecution alleged -- and expert witnesses testified -- that the odor was that of human decomposition. They claimed Casey Anthony duct-taped her daughter's mouth and nose to suffocate her, and then put the body in the Pontiac's trunk before disposing of it.
The defense rebutted these claims, with attorney Jose Baez blasting what he called "the state's fantasy of forensics" in his closing argument. Defense attorneys maintained the child, Caylee, drowned in the Anthony's above-ground pool on June 16, and that Casey Anthony and her father, George Anthony, panicked upon finding her there and covered up the death. George Anthony denied that in his testimony.
Baez claimed a "phantom stain" in the trunk should have included more in the way of DNA evidence. He said the state used "junk science" relating to the odor and stain in the Pontiac's trunk to reach its conclusions.
After Anthony was cleared on the murder charge -- and convicted on four lesser counts of misleading law enforcement -- alternate juror Russell Huekler told HLN that he had a difficult time accepting that Caylee's body had been in the car trunk.
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