Senior Research Scientist in Casey Anthony Case: There was a dead body in car's trunk

Doctor Arpad Vass was the one and only witness in the State vs. Casey Anthony trial who testified during Monday's court proceedings.

Dr. Vass is the senior research scientist at the Oakridge National Labratory in Tennessee. He has been employed there for 20 years, with areas of expertise in a variety of science disciplines, from anthropology to microbiology.

In July 2008, he received samples of evidence from Casey's car and other such items from crime scene investigators in Orange County.

"Over the years, my 20 years, we have followed approximately 50 individuals from start to finish," said Dr. Vass, as he educated the 17 men and women who were attentive and taking notes.

He told the people in the courtroom that once he received the can of an air sample from Casey's trunk after her 2-year-0ld daughter was allegedly stored in their for days, he knew it was the odor of human decomposition. "The odor was extremely overwhelming," said Vass. "I was shocked that little can had that much odor."

He enlightened the jurors in the courtroom on the four stages of human decomposition, giving details on each, as well as the various stages of odor.

He stated that this finding meant only one thing: that there was a dead body in the trunk of Casey's car.

"We found the presence of butyric acids ... fatty acids, the first compound liberated during decomposition ... found in the car itself," Vass stated.

During re-direct examination, assistant state attorney Jeff Ashton asked Dr. Vass if he believed there was a dead body in the trunk of the defendant's car. Vass said he did because there's "no other plausible explanation to explain the results."

But the odor was not the only thing he discovered. He explained that he identified 51 individual components, one of which was the toxic liquid, chloroform. "The chloroform was shockingly high, tremendously high," he characterized.

He also said - using a chart to represent - he had never seen that level of chloroform, hitting the points per million, 16 million to be exact.

When he received the carpet lining from the trunk of the vehicle, he also brought in, for comparison, three cars of the same model, Pontiac Sunfire, from a junkyard.

Casey Anthony was incarcerated in July 2008 on accusations of premeditated murder upon her daughter Caylee Anthony, then disposing the remains in the woods by her family's home. If found guilty, Casey may have to face the death penalty. Court will continue on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

(Photography by Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel)