ORLANDO, Fla.,None — The inmate Casey Anthony wrote to behind bars tried to sell Casey's letters months ago, but was unsuccessful, WFTV learned. The State Attorney's Office released the letters last week (read them).
VIDEO REPORT: Pen Pal Wanted To Sell Letters CASEY JAIL LETTERS (explicit): Read Them All TRANSCRIPT: Investigators Interview Robyn Adams
It's hard to believe Robyn Adams couldn't sell intimate letters from one of the nation's most notorious inmates, but WFTV learned Adams might have thought she could make seven figures by selling the letters, even though there's no confession, and there might have been questions about their authenticity.
Casey Anthony often left her letters to inmate Robyn Adams in the jail library hidden in the book "Let's Do Away With August," which happens to be the month her daughter Caylee was born. Now, WFTV has learned Adams tried to sell Casey's letters to People Magazine and another media operation and that her lawyer insinuated the letters could be worth millions.
"One could certainly conclude that Robyn Adams was more interested in advancing her financial position than she was advancing the ends of justice," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said.
There's no indication Adams tried to use the letters to get a lighter federal drug sentence. Still, Sheaffer says shopping the letters could raise questions about Adams' credibility.
The letters speak for themselves, but when investigators found out about the letters from someone else and questioned Adams, she made highly incriminating statements that Casey talked about using chloroform to put Caylee to sleep when she wanted to go out.
In the letters, Casey made what Sheaffer calls "clumsy" attempts to present herself as a concerned mother. Casey's lawyer, Jose Baez, has been complaining for months that jail employees might be eavesdropping on her. Which begs the questions: Was Adams playing Casey? Was Casey playing Adams?
"As Aretha Franklin said, ‘Who's zoomin' who?" Sheaffer said.
There's no way to tell whether the jail guard, who's under investigation for helping Casey and Adams communicate, was also looking to capitalize on the case. And, Sheaffer said, it's not too late for Adams to get a break on her sentence if she testifies against Casey.
The book, "Let's Do Away With August," that Casey used to trade notes could have represented a nod to Caylee's birthday.
The book itself is a collection of columns written by Nashville Tennessean journalist Elmer Hinton, whose weekly "Down To Earth" country narratives entertained readers for nearly 30 years. Hinton complained August was nature at her worst, doling out heat and stinging insects.
PEN PAL TALKED ABOUT CASEY IN JAIL CALLS
Phone calls were released from Casey Anthony's jailhouse friends, the same friends who Casey confided to in personal letters and whispered conversations. In the calls, they talk about the accused child killer.
There were more than 1,000 phone calls made by Casey's pen-pal, her friend and a woman who knew Casey's dad. Those calls add up to more than 200 hours.
It's interesting, because Casey's pen pal doesn't seem to know that much about the investigation, but she told investigators earlier this year that, on the day Caylee's remains were found, Casey told her about a blanket and plastic bag with the remains. That's something investigators said only they and the killer would know.
VIDEO REPORT: Jailhouse Friends' Calls Released
In the calls from inside the Orange County jail, Robyn Adams, Casey Anthony's pen pal who exchanged letter after letter with the suspected child killer, also spent a lot of time on the phone.
"Are you in the same dorm with that Anthony chick again?" a woman Adams calls Mel asked her in a call in December. "How's she behaving these days?"
On the call, made right around the time Caylee's remains were found in December 2008, Adams opens up about Casey.
"She doesn't seem to be looking good. I'm praying for her every day," Adams said.
Adams is now serving time in federal prison for conspiring to set up a major marijuana operation with her husband Clay, a former Altamonte Springs police officer. Casey confided in Adams while they exchanged letters.
Adams kept those letters, saying to a friend they might have some value someday. Over the phone with friends and family, Adams seemed very interested in what's going on in the murder investigation.
"They found the body of, yeah, but they didn't know if it's hers or not right?" Adams asked the person on the phone with her.
"They've directly connected some things they found on her body to some things they found in her home," the person said.
But she seems more concerned with Casey's well-being.
"It's not my place to judge her," Adams told her dad.
"I hear ya. I hear ya," he said.
"I just want her to be happy, whatever the case may be or whatever she's guilty or not guilty of," Adams said.
Cecelia Holoway, also known as Cecelia Benheida, claimed to investigators she helped pass Casey's letters and she seems all too eager to talk to a friend on the outside about Casey.
"Casey. Casey, with the girl, the girl who killed the baby. They're just finding out she killed her," Cecelia told someone on a call.
"Oh, oh, oh," the friend replied.
Cecelia is also Krystal Holloway's sister, the woman who claims she carried out an affair with George Anthony, Casey's father.
Even though Cecelia never said on the phone if she had any knowledge of the case from Casey or her sister, she definitely has an opinion about who killed Caylee.
"Oh, Casey. That's right. I forgot about that chick. Yeah, we went through that. I knew she killed that baby," Cecelia's friend said.
"I knew it, too," Cecelia replied.
ATTORNEY IN CIVIL CASE WANTS TO INTERVIEW ADAMS
Attorneys in the civil case against Casey say they want to talk with Casey's jailhouse pen-pal.
Zenaida Gonzalez's lawyers want to speak with Robyn Adams about one of the conversations she had with Casey, where Casey admitted Zenaida was the first name of a childhood friend and that she was not involved in Caylee's murder.
That contradicts Casey's original story that "Zanny the Nanny" kidnapped her daughter. Gonzalez, who has no connection with Anthony, says Casey ruined her good name.
JUDGE GRANTS PROSECUTION'S REQUEST
A judge Thursday granted the prosecution's request for a transcript of a hearing last August.
The state wanted the full transcript of that hearing, because one of Casey's former defense attorneys, Todd Macaluso, proclaimed her innocence in court.
So far, prosecutors have not said why they want the report.
Macaluso left the defense team about two months ago, because of a disciplinary issue with the California Bar.
BOMBSHELL REVELATION A BUST
One of the bombshell revelations from Casey Anthony's jailhouse conversations turned out to be a bust. WFTV spent two days analyzing Casey's newly-released letters (read them) and jail conversations to see what the documents will really mean for her case.
CASEY JAIL LETTERS (explicit): Read Them All VIDEO REPORT: Bombshell A Bust?
The one conversation getting the most attention was from one of Casey's jail friends. She revealed information no one would have known except for Caylee's killer. It may not be a smoking gun, but it's certainly explosive.
Of the more than 800 pages of letters and documents released, page eight and nine hold the most explosive statements that are sure to be looked at very closely by both prosecutors and Casey's defense. They're not buried in the pages and pages of Casey's own letters, but instead statements made by Casey's pen pal, Robyn Adams, to investigators that could be the most explosive part of the new information.
"The best part of this witness testimony and the most damning is apparently confided to her by Casey Anthony," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said.
Adams claims, in December 2008, the day investigators found Caylee's remains, Casey told her about the trash bag and a blanket the remains were wrapped in; it's information only investigators and the killer would have known about.
Sheaffer says prosecutors will say the letters show Casey confided in Adams and her statements are believable, but it may not be the bombshell that will make the case. The defense will attack Adams on the stand.
"As a convicted felon, she will have credibility problems right out of the gate," Sheaffer said.
Adams was convicted for setting up a marijuana drug operation with her husband. The defense will also argue, since Adams didn't share the information until this year, she could have learned about it from the media and embellished the story, perhaps to get a reduction in her own prison sentence.
"Make the jury believe she never said these things to this witness," Sheaffer said.
Still, prosecutors will likely take the chance and put Adams on the stand, as long as they believe she's telling the truth.
"I would be very surprised if they did not polygraph Ms. Adams," Sheaffer said.
Previous Stories: April 9, 2010: Casey's Pen Pal: "Praying For Her Every Day" April 8, 2010: Judge Grants Prosecution Request In Casey Case April 7, 2010: Casey's Pen Pal Could Get Reduced Sentence April 7, 2010: Bombshell Revelation In Casey Case A Bust April 7, 2010: Inmate: Chloroform Was Used To Put Caylee To Sleep April 5, 2010: Motion Denied After Tempers Flare During Casey Hearing April 1, 2010: Casey's Defense Accused Of Wasting Tax Money April 1, 2010: New Hearing Scheduled In Casey Anthony Case April 1, 2010: Guard Suspended In Casey Pen Pal Investigation