The woman who claims she had an affair with George Anthony in 2008 speaks out and breaks down in the State v. Casey Anthony trial on Thursday.Krystal Holloway, also known as River Cruz, said she was romantically involved with George at the time he was looking for his allegedly missing granddaughter, Caylee Anthony.
Holloway said she reached out to the Anthony family in their time of need at a command center, sometime in July or August of that year. Soon, she and George became close friends and even became intimate, while both were already involved in relationships.
She told the court that sometime in November of the year, George admitted that Caylee's death was an accident.
Casey Anthony is accused by the state of Florida for the murder of her daughter but her defense team maintain the 2-year-old died accidentally in the family's swimming pool, and her grandfather covered up the death by paying someone to dispose the body in the woods by their home.
"He said, 'It was an accident that snowballed out of control,' " as they sat the living room of her home, Holloway told Lead Defense Attorney Jose Baez under the direct examination.
Holloway explained that the conversation came up when she mentioned to George, "I didn't think he could raise somebody that is capable of harming a child," and that's when the discussion about an accident arose, she says.
She said she was "caught off guard" and at that moment is when she raised her head to look up at him and he was in tears.
As proof for existence of their relationship, Lead Defense Attorney Jose Baez had Holloway read a text message that George sent her on Dec. 16, 2008, that read, "Just thinking about you. I need you in my life."
In a previous testimony, George, who declared the affair did not happen, said he sent messages of that nature to many volunteers and people who provided support while his granddaughter was missing. He affirmed that during the time he knew her, he was just comforting her while she was battling a brain tumor.
Holloway said the affair ended the day of Caylee's memorial because he did not contact her or visit her as he promised. "I didn't think it was appropriate ... I was sleeping with him and he didn't contact me."
Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton told Holloway she failed to mention a series of other comments George made to her at that time that she denied she informed law enforcement of. Holloway provided the conversation in her deposition, therefore Ashton made her read the transcript of her sworn statement aloud to the jury. Holloway broke down on the stand and attempted to read the document while crying.
Holloway, who initially denied the relationship to law enforcement, told detectives on Feb. 17, 2010, that George also said, "I really believe it was an accident. It just went wrong and she tried to cover it up," referring to his daughter Casey.
Ashton told Holloway that George didn't express those comments as if he was there when the unexpected events occurred or that he knew the circumstances occurred, but that it was how he thought it happened. Holloway continuously disputed Ashton's argument saying, "He said it like he knew it."
But Ashton fought back with the statement, "George made it clear to you he had no first hand knowledge what happened to his granddaughter."
Holloway, choked up and in tears, replied, "Correct."
If convicted of the first-degree murder, Casey Anthony may be imposed to the death penalty. Judge Belvin Perry Jr. speculates the verdict will be announced on Monday.
(Photography by Red Huber)
No comments:
Post a Comment