The infamous Google searches that were conducted on the Anthony desktop, and which may or may not come into play in the trial, were conducted in March 2008 – three months before Caylee’s murder. They consisted of searches of the terms: chloroform, chloraform, alcohol, acentone, peroxide, one tree hill, one tree hill 100th episode, how to make chloroform, how to make chloraform, self defense, household weapons, neck breaking and shovel. In addition there is a visit, resulting from one of these searches, to a chapter entitled Personal and Household Articles as Weapons from a book entitled Self-Defense for Women.
In looking at whether the Google searches could have been made by anyone other than Casey we first have to establish whether they were done on her user account of the desktop or on the family user account. The computer forensics files released in discovery do not answer this question because these particular searches were found in unallocated space of the HP desktop. Unallocated file space can be defined as a dumping ground for any data that is erased or deleted – even if that deletion occurs in a format of the hard drive. Many people have the misconception they can simply format their hard drives and permanently removed all the data. This is not true from a forensic standpoint and should be kept in mind when donating a computer for charity. If you really want to protect yourself, you should spend a few dollars to get a cheap hard drive and replace the drive before donating the computer.
The unfortunate part of the Google searches being in the unallocated space is that it doesn’t necessarily preserve all the identifiers for those files. For instance, deleted files in unallocated space can come from multiple user accounts on a single computer. While there may be additional forensic information that has been gleaned from the investigators concerning which user account the files in the unallocated portion of the desktop attach to, we have not been made privy to that information. The reason this is important is that the Google search files found in the unallocated space of the Anthony desktop clearly show files from more than one user account.
Casey Anthony had her own user account on the desktop. It is a very safe and confident assumption that she created this user account in order to prevent her parents from accessing her files, or reviewing her activities on the desktop. I contend that there are certain Google searches found in the unallocated space of the desktop that were conducted on the family account, and others on Casey’s. This made apparent by the fact that there were searches, on two consecutive Saturdays (March 3rd and March 15th) on how to get rid of fleas. These searches included looking at certain flea eradication products such as Capstar and Advantage, as well as visiting sites such as deadfleas.com. These were undoubtedly conducted on the family account on the desktop and if I were guessing were probably conducted by George, but possibly by Cindy.
But the more potentially “nefarious” searches were most likely conducted on Casey’s account. Like I said previously, investigators may have additional information on these unallocated files that definitively tie them to one account or the other. Hopefully this will come out in court.
Another reason it seems apparent it was Casey conducting these searches, and by default on her own account, is that except for one time period in which these searches were conducted, she appears to be the only person home. The first searches for chloroform, chloraform, alcohol, acetone and peroxide were conducted on March 17th from 1:43 pm to 1:55 pm. We can definitely rule Cindy out on these searches because, according to her time sheets, she was at work during this time. But we cannot necessarily rule George out without the actual user account the searches were made on, because, according to his time sheets, he was not working this day. But maybe we can pull in more information that helps us rule him out for the March 17th searches.
On March 19th, from 10:30 to 10:41 am, searches are made on one tree hill and one tree hill 100th episode. This is the much talked about One Tree Hill episode in which a nanny kidnaps the child of a main character. From Cindy and George’s time sheets we find that Cindy worked from 8:30 am to 6 pm and George worked from 7 am to 5 pm. So we can have relative confidence Casey conducted these particular Google searches.
The we come to March 21st. On this date, between 2:16 and 2:28 pm, some one on the Anthony desktop conducted searches for how to make chloroform, how to make chloraform, self defense, household weapons, neck breaking and shovel. They also visited the previously linked Google book on self defense for women. Cindy’s time sheets show she worked from 8:30 am to 6 pm on this date, and George’s time sheets show he worked from 7 am to 5 pm. Again, we are left with a relatively high degree of confidence it was Casey conducting these searches. Which is why we can now establish, with a significant degree of confidence, that it was also Casey conducting the searches for the same terms on March 17th. Logic would hold that unless the whole Anthony clan were obsessed with chloroform, that if Casey was looking up information on chloroform on the 21st, she is most likely the same person conducting similar searches on the 17th.
As stated previously, the entire reason for creating a separate user account on a computer is to privatize the activity and content in that account. I personally do not believe Casey would have shared her user account password with Cindy or George, but I also can’t prove that at this time. However, it is something that will be proven out in court with questioning. In the July 30, 2008 interview between Cindy and the FBI (13:15 minutes into video), she refers to not having this password and needing it in order to get information from Casey’s account. However, in the July 25, 2008 jail visitation between Lee and Casey (14:45 minutes into video) we learn that Lee already knew the possible user name for that account. We know this because in that visitation when Casey gives the password for her desktop account, rico234, Lee says he has already tried that and it doesn’t work.
This brings up some questions that will have to be answered in court (and they will be, I assure you):
1. Was the password to Casey’s account on the desktop EVER rico234? Possibly not.
2. Was the password to her account previously rico234 and then she changed it on the morning of July 16th while she and Cindy were mucking about on the computer?
3. When did Lee learn of the rico234 password, and from whom?
In Lee’s 2009 deposition with the prosecuting attorneys, on page 182, he states that before he went to Tony’s apartment to get the laptop he went out to the patrol car where Casey was sitting and asked her for her passwords to her various accounts. But the SA does not question Lee as to whether those passwords included the password to her user account on the desktop. This is what needs to be asked during the trial. If Cindy and George testify they never knew Casey’s user account password, and Lee testifies he did not learn of “rico234″ until the night of July 15th, then this will establish with a great deal of certainty that the searches were conducted by Casey.
Valhall.
References:
http://www.forensics-intl.com/def8.html
Related posts:
- The Google Searches and Cindy’s Judas Moment
- The ‘Zenaida’ Searches
- Caylee Anthony case: Just Google It!
- Computer Savvy Casey?
- Timer55 and the Anthony Conspiracy
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