WFTV Discovers Possible Duct Tape Link In Casey Case

It's the duct tape that could strengthen the link between Casey Anthony and her daughter's body and it was discovered only by Eyewitness News.

Eyewitness News found the same rare type of tape that was found on Caylee's skull being used by the Anthony family on a Caylee Anthony poster.

You can't buy the tape from Home Depot. It is industrial-grade duct tape that hasn't been sold in years.

DOCUMENT: State's Case File On Duct TapeVIDEO REPORT: Possible Link To Duct Tape

With the debate over the duct tape evidence intensifying this week, Eyewitness News re-analyzed video that was taken in the months before Caylee's body was found. Casey Duct Tape 3 Pic With WFTV logo 100209

The discovery could make it even more difficult for the defense to argue that Casey didn't put the tape over Caylee's mouth. The defense has really been trying to shoot down the duct tape evidence recently.

"If the defense tries to advance that, that it was one of the volunteers that took that tape, killed the child, put the tape over the child's face to frame Casey, that strains credibility and it will turn the jury off," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said.

However, the video taken by Eyewitness News on July 20, 2008 just days after Casey's arrest and one month after Caylee Anthony disappeared, shows that the duct tape on the Anthonys' Caylee posters has the same unique markings as the duct tape on the Anthonys' gas can and the tape found over Caylee's mouth.

A photo of the duct tape on the Anthonys' gas can, which is the one Casey is accused of stealing from her parents in June of 2008, shows distinct markings that it's made by the Henkel Company and shows some of the specifications.

In July of 2008, the Anthonys had set up a command post and put up posters with Caylee's photo on them. They used what appeared to be the same duct tape with Henkel logo.

Both pieces, which apparently came from the Anthonys' home, appear to be the same kind of rare duct tape according to page number 3378 in the state's case file, (read document) that investigators found over Caylee's mouth when her remains were found in the woods near the Anthonys' home.

Page number 3378, shows that the FBI says the duct tape found over Caylee's skull showed the same black oval Henkel logo and the "spec max temp 200 degrees Fahrenheit"

The FBI says it's an industrial tape that hasn't been made for years.

Eyewitness News received a response from the defense team's public relations representative Marti McKenzie.

"The defense team won't respond to anything that hasn’t been entered as evidence in the case," McKenzie said.

Court documents show the defense has had the FBI photos of the duct tape that was over Caylee's mouth, showing the Henkel logo which matches the Anthonys' duct tape, since March.

WHAT'S NEXT IN THE CASE AGAINST CASEY

Prosecutors are expected to release more documents and a recent photo of the "vita bella" tattoo, on Casey's back.

The defense wants the murder case dismissed claiming prosecutors didn't allow it access to the crime scene, while Caylee's remains were still there.

Prosecutors are asking for a new hearing, demanding the defense prove that claim. So far, no court date has been set.

CASEY'S DEFENSE TRIES TO DISCREDIT PROSECUTION'S CASE

The defense team in the case against Casey Anthony went on a media blitz Friday, appearing on network morning shows, trying to discredit the prosecution's case against their client.

Casey's attorneys went on national television Friday morning with a clear message. That someone else killed Caylee Anthony.

Jose Baez and Linda Kenney-Baden were on the Today Show, saying new evidence released by the state proves the prosecution doesn't have a real case against Casey.

GMA INTERVIEW: Defense Speaks Out VIDEO REPORT: Defense On Media Blitz

"Of all the evidence that they have, nothing. The fibers that were on the duct tape do not connect her to the crime scene. Nothing, there's no finger print evidence. There's nothing that connects her to this crime scene," Kenney-Baden said.

On Good Morning America, another member of the defense, Todd Macaluso said the same thing (watch interview).

"Not a single hair fiber, not a single fingerprint, not a single speck of DNA," Macaluso said.

Her attorneys say if scientific evidence was found connecting Casey to Caylee's murder, it would have already come out in the nearly 10,000 pages of evidence released by the state.

"If it were Casey Anthony's hair they'd say that, that's our culprit right there," Kenney-Baden said.

However, when they were faced with hard evidence from an FBI email about an incriminating photo of a stain in Casey's car trunk, they brushed it off.

"Any suggestion that there was a body in the trunk is junk science," Macaluso said.

Also, Casey's defense team had no explanation for their client's behavior while her daughter was missing.

"What needs to come out is the truth and that will come out at trial," Jose Baez said.

The defense team filed new motions Wednesday to have the first-degree murder charge and the aggravated child abuse charges against Casey thrown out.

Jose Baez says he hopes the court will consider their motion and dismiss both charges.

ATTORNEY SHARES “NEW EVIDENCE” IN CASEY CASE

It is evidence in the case against Casey Anthony so small you need a microscope to see it, but Casey Anthony's parents are trying to use it to prove their daughter is not a killer.

The Anthonys’ attorneys shared that new evidence (read it) with Eyewitness News on Wednesday before it was released by the state. It involves the duct tape that was found around Caylee's mouth.

CONWAY-RELEASED DOCS: Read Docs From 09/30/09 CONWAY PRESS CONFERENCE: Watch Full Raw Video VIDEO REPORT: Legal Analyst Questions Tactics

Casey's parents say it's a major breakthrough. They say they released the documents because they help Casey's defense and they want to change overwhelming public opinion that she's guilty, but WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says the documents don't accomplish either of the Anthonys' objectives.

The new documents that the Anthonys' attorney released Wednesday are focused on the duct tape found stretched across Caylee's mouth and the duct tape found on the gas can in the Anthonys' garage. The FBI has concluded that the adhesive on both was chemically the same and that it's possible both pieces came from the same roll.

Wednesday, the Anthonys' attorney released page number 9588 of the state's case file, which says the fabric portions of the two pieces of duct tape are microscopically dissimilar.

“There are links that have been made in the past that can't be made now,” Conway said Wednesday.

Sheaffer said the new document does nothing to rule out the link between the duct tape on Caylee and the Anthonys' home.

“You’re gonna have deterioration of the tape at the crime scene, because it's been sitting there for months under water,” he said.

The Anthonys' attorney also released a new document, which says the FBI found no fibers from Casey's trunk, where investigators believe Caylee's body had been placed, at the scene where her remains were found.

Previous documents show Caylee's shirt fibers had completely deteriorated at the scene and they used the polyester, which did not break down, to identify it as her shirt.

The Anthonys' attorney also told Eyewitness News that there was an unidentified hair found with the duct tape, but later backed off of that, saying he didn't have any documents supporting that and that he did not hear that from the defense.

DEFENSE FILES NEW MOTIONS

Casey Anthony's defense team filed two new motions Wednesday.

NEW MOTIONS: Toss Charges | Preclude Death Penalty

One asks to have the two most serious charges against her thrown out (read motion). The defense says there is not enough evidence that Casey abused Caylee or murdered her.

The defense filed a second motion that says, no matter who murdered Caylee, the facts of the case don't legally justify a death sentence (read motion).

DOCS REVEAL FBI FOUND STAIN SHAPED LIKE CHILD

Over 1,000 new pages of documents were released Tuesday in the case against Casey Anthony. They include a statement that an FBI investigator saw an outline of a small body in the fetal position in Casey's trunk (read FBI document).

According to many of the emails among the documents released, the Anthonys’ private eye, Dominic Casey, was really looking for dirt on key people involved in the case, innocent people who have never been considered as suspects in Caylee's murder and he was looking for a conspiracy theory, too.

READ DOCS RELEASED 09/29/09: » Private Eye's "Characters of Interest" Chart » FBI Writes About Stain In Shape Of Body » DNA Paternity Test For Jesse Grund » Hundreds Of Pages From Private Eye D. Casey » FBI DNA Investigation, Other Reports » Henkel Duck Brand Tape Product Specs » Annie Downing 01/06/09 Interview Transcript

VIDEO REPORT: New Documents Released In Case

There are also new revelations in the new documents about the mysterious stain in Casey Anthony's car trunk. FBI investigators say the stain is shaped like a child's body in the fetal position (read it). The FBI says the child's back, bottom and legs could be seen most clearly.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says it adds to the hair and air in the trunk showing evidence of decomposition.

“Why is a child's body gonna be in the trunk of that car dead or alive? It's significant that the child's body was in the trunk of that car,” Sheaffer said.

The new records also include dozens of emails exchanged between Cindy Anthony and private investigator Dominic Casey (see D. Casey documents), which focus on digging up dirt on key people involved in the case.

One of the most bizarre emails accuses Casey's ex-fiance's father, Richard Grund, of having weird religious beliefs that might lead him to human sacrifice rituals. Dominic Casey was also focused on finding connections between Grund and meter reader Roy Kronk, who found Caylee's remains near the Anthonys' house in December, and was investigating Kronk's relative and the relatives of Casey's ex-boyfriend, Ricky Morales.

Cindy said finding a connection between Kronk and Grund would be "huge." She wrote, "I want him to go down for this if he is involved. I have people that can fly under the radar and make it happen."

“There's always been a sense of desperation about the defendant's case, especially because Casey has made so many inconsistent statements,” Sheaffer said.

Eyewitness News also learned that Dominic Casey expects to be paid by the Anthonys, according to their contract, and that he had offered Casey's brother Lee an internship. Dominic Casey’s emails are marked "privileged and confidential,” but they are now public record.

Among the documents was a chart that showed the people the Anthony family considered "threatening" (see chart) and weren't invited to Caylee's memorial service. They include former bounty-hunter Leonard Padilla, Casey's ex-fiance Jesse Grund, ex-family spokesman Larry Garrison, Zenaida Gonzalez, the woman who's suing Casey, talk-show host Nancy Grace and WFTV’s own Kathi Belich, who's uncovered more about the case than anybody,

DUCT TAPE CONTAMINATED

Duct tape found on the mouth of slain toddler Caylee Anthony was contaminated by an FBI evidence examiner, raising questions about how it will be used in prosecuting the 2-year-old girl's mother for the murder.

The disclosure of the contaminated duct tape was among hundreds of pages of evidence released Tuesday by the State Attorney's Office in Orlando.

Danielle Tavernier, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office, says she cannot comment on the documents.

CINDY WANTED TO KEEP SEARCHING FOR CAYLEE

One of the most bizarre revelations is that months after the Anthonys held Caylee's funeral service, Cindy still wanted her private investigator to search for a live Caylee, and Cindy and her private investigator exchanged possibly hundreds of emails concerning how they could dig up dirt about some of the key people in the case, including bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, meter reader Roy Kronk and Jesse and Richard Grund.

The Anthonys' private investigator, Dominic Casey, emailed photos to Cindy to show to Casey of possible Zenaidas and there were a lot of computer searches for Zenaida Gonzalez, the name of the woman Casey says disappeared with Caylee.

Cindy also sent a photo of a child (see photo) to Dominic Casey around three months ago, in early July, claiming it looked like an "older Caylee" and the lead supposedly had a connection to Puerto Rico.

Cindy also wanted him to check on another tip in April, three months after Caylee's memorial service, that Caylee was actually in Bungalo 19 at a California address.

“That doesn't do her any good and it doesn't do the defense any good. That's going to affect her credibility should the defense attempt to use her at trial," Sheaffer said.

One of Cindy's emails might come back to haunt her daughter in the Zenaida Gonzalez defamation lawsuit. Cindy told one of the sheriff's investigators last October that private eye Dominic Casey was not working for the defense team, but recently the private eye testified under oath that he was in his attempt to avoid being questioned under oath by Zenaida's attorneys.

In addition to the Dominic Casey documents there are hundreds of pages of FBI investigative reports and DNA testing (read FBI reports), and the transcript of an investigative interview with Casey Anthony's former friend Annie Downing (read transcript).

The FBI investigative reports include a slew of DNA reporting on a variety of evidence in the case and the DNA paternity results (see paternity results) for Casey's ex-fiance, Jesse Grund.

Also among the 1,000 pages released Tuesday are detailed product specifications for Henkel Duck brand tape (see product specs), the brand of tape believed to have been covering Caylee Anthony's mouth when her remains were found. The same brand of tape was also found in the Anthony home.

Previous Stories: October 2, 2009: Casey's Defense Tries To Discredit Prosecution's Case September 30, 2009: Attorney Shares “New Evidence” In Casey Case September 29, 2009: FBI Docs: Stain Shaped Like Child's Body In Casey's Trunk September 28, 2009: Book About Casey Anthony Expected In November September 23, 2009: State Files Response Challenging Casey Defense Team September 18, 2009: Prosecution Wants George Anthony's Grand Jury Testimony September 18, 2009: Casey Anthony's Attorneys Want Case Dismissed September 16, 2009: Anthonys' P.I. Accused Of Lying On Stand