Published:

06/01/2011 09:47am

Casey Anthony Murder Trial and Dark Psychology

Casey Anthony stands accused of capital murder of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony. The trial involves child sexual abuse, sociopathy, and pediatric homicide. A forensic/criminal psychologist examines this case from the perspective of his recently developed hypothesis of Dark Psychology.

The trial of Casey Anthony began on May 24, 2011 in Orlando, Florida, with Anthony formally charged with the murder of her two-year-old daughter Caylee Marie Anthony. Caylee was first reported missing by her maternal grandmother, Cynthia Anthon on July 15, 2008. The following month, a utility worker reported seeing a suspicious object in a forested area close to the Anthony’s residence.
The sheriff’s office again logged a call pertaining to the suspicious object on December 11, 2008 and upon further investigation; it was reported that the human remains of a child were recovered from the site. Once forensic testing was complete, the Orange County Medical Examiner determined that the remains were those of Caylee Anthony. The circumstances and condition of the remains lead the Medical Examiner to rule her death a homicide with the cause of death listed as indeterminate.
On October 14, 2008, a grand jury indicted Casey Anthony on a first-degree murder charge. In April of 2009, the Florida State Attorney’s office announced its intention to seek the death penalty in the case. On May 20, 2011, jury selection was completed for the case at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center in Clearwater, Florida. In addition to the twelve primary jurors, five alternates were selected.
The case has received extensive pre-trial press coverage that has mainly focused on several physical and behavioral anomalies uncovered during investigations. Highlights include:
• Casey Anthony waited 31 days to reveal to anyone that her daughter, Caylee was missing.
• During that 31-day period, Casey pursued a lifestyle of parties and socialization that did not indicate to anyone close to her that anything was amiss in neither her life, nor the type of behavior consistent and/or expected from a grieving mother.
• Investigators discovered an odor as well as traces of chloroform in the trunk of Casey’s car.
• Caylee Anthony’s remains were bound with duct tape.
In their opening arguments, Casey’s lead defense attorney, Jose Baez, outlined the defense position and created a sensation by proposing two potentially game-changing assertions:
a. He told jurors Caylee had not been missing for 31 days, but rather, was found deceased after an accidental drowning in the family pool. He went on to say that, Casey and her father, George Anthony, were in cahoots as far as disposing of the body at the place where it was ultimately discovered.
And
b. He said that her father had sexually abused Casey during her childhood.
The facts of this case as originally reported, when combined with the revelations by Casey’s attorneys, are especially malleable to analysis using the theory of Dark Psychology; regardless of the ultimate verdict.
Dark Psychology is the study of the human condition as it relates to the psychological nature of people to prey upon others. All of humanity has this potential to victimize other living creatures. While many restrain this tendency, some act upon these impulses. Dark Psychology seeks to understand those thoughts, feelings, perceptions and character flaws that lead to predatory behavior.
There is a continuum of Dark Psychology victimization that ranges from mere passing thoughts (common among us all at times), to pure psychopathic deviance without any cohesive rationality (pure evil).
Dark Psychology encompasses everything that makes us who we are in relationship to our dark side. All cultures, all faiths and all humanity have this proverbial cancer. From the moment we are born to the time of our death, there is a side lurking within us that theologians have historically called “evil” and others have defined as criminal, deviant, and even: pathological. Whether