JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Casey Anthony insisted earlier this week -- in her first interview almost nine years after her toddler disappeared -- that she still doesn’t know how her daughter Caylee died.
It’s not lost on Anthony that many people believe she killed the girl, who was 2 years old at the time.
So, how did Associated Press reporter Josh Replogle get Anthony to talk, and give her first interview since she was acquitted?
“So I saw her at an anti-Trump rally,” Replogle said. “Someone pointed her out to me (and) I had to do a triple take. I had to Google her and make sure that's really who it was. (I) hadn't seen this person in many, many years. (I) approached her, tried to get her quotes to talk about the rally or the anti-Trump protest and she didn't want to give any quotes. She didn't want to go on the record.”
But Replogle persisted and convinced Anthony to let him tell her story.
“‘Casey, you're giving me some powerful stuff right now. I need to document this. I need to get this on the record. Will you please let me do that?’” Replogle recalls telling Anthony. “And she said, ‘Yes. Please go ahead.’ And that was the start of a series of like, five interviews.”
The interview reignited interest in a case that the public can't seem to shake free of. Anthony was convicted of lying and giving false information to a law enforcement officer. The jury did not convict the then-25-year-old of murder.
Anthony made it clear in her recent comments that she doesn't care about public opinion.
“I don't give a sh— about what anybody thinks about me,” Anthony said. “I don't care about that. I never will. I'm OK with myself. I sleep pretty good at night.”
The biggest surprise for Replogle was “when we got into the details of what happened, her tone and demeanor completely change,” he said. “She goes from being emphatic and positive, to, ‘I got to be careful with these answers.’ You could feel it. You could feel the change, like a tense moment. And in the moment, I just couldn't believe that I was hearing what she was saying at the time.”
Does he believe her?
“That's not for me to answer,” Replogle said. “You know, again, only three people -- maybe more, maybe her attorneys -- Casey, her parents (and) an attorney know the truth. My job is just to put it out there for everyone to scrutinize.”
News4Jax asked Replogle for his biggest takeaway from the interview. He said he’s unsatisfied with Anthony’s answers.