The Trunk Liner – where some REAL Chloroform was found
So, we’ve discussed the Gatorade bottle and syringe. I think the claim it’s a “smoking gun” is a fair measure of hyperbole. As stated in my write up on the Entomology results, I think the bugs are far more problematic for Casey than the syringe. That and the duct tape, of course. But another sticky area for Casey lies in the chemical analysis results for the trunk liner. That’s where REAL chloroform returns have to be explained. Let’s start on page 645 of the mega-document, where we have a summary of chemical analysis for the various trunk liner pieces tested: Q22-Q25 and Q44-Q45. All showed signs of chloroform in varying amounts and, unlike the syringe, all were reportable. Q25 is the only piece that is logged as “trace” and it’s taken from the right side of the trunk – interestingly, the opposite side of the trunk from where the Q12.1 “death hair” was collected. All of the rest are truly worth discussing.
There’s probably some things we ought to discuss about chloroform before we go any further. Chloroform is a VOC (volatile organic compound). The main thing you need to understand about a VOC is that it has a high vapor pressure. When a liquid has a high vapor pressure it simply means it wants to evaporate easier than a liquid with a low vapor pressure. Think about the “vapor pressure” being inside the liquid and trying to break free, and it being greater than the air pressure on the top of the liquid trying to keep it in, and you’ll have it straight. So a VOC, because of it’s high vapor pressure, will begin to evaporate at a much lower temperature than a liquid with a lower vapor pressure. In fact, liquid chloroform starts evaporating as soon as you take the top off the container. BUT, and this is important, once chloroform evaporates from a liquid to a gas (vapor) it has a density 4 times greater than air. So it sinks. That’s important in looking at the trunk liner. If chloroform was spilled in the trunk, or if it was even evaporated into the trunk, it would sink to the bottom and reside at, in, near the liner.
The next thing you need to know is that the number one “killer” of chloroform is UV light…sunlight. That is why chloroform is typically stored in dark bottles, to prevent UV degradation. So if you have vaporized chloroform out in the sunlight, it won’t live long. When chloroform breaks down in sunlight it creates phosgene, another not so pleasant gas. It was used as a chemical agent in World War I. The important point here is that chloroform, in a protected area (away from sunlight), can hang around as a vapor due to the fact that the vapor is heavier than air and will sink and kind of “hang out” at the lowest level. Inside Casey’s trunk it was protected from UV light, and could continue to reside there, near the liner, in vapor form.
It’s probably worth noting here before we go on with the chloroform issue that every single liner sample (6 in total) was noted to have a “putrefactive odor” when it was pulled from it’s sample container. They all smelled like death – or rotting pizza, depending on what your last name is.
Q22 is the mother-lode for chloroform. It is a piece of the spare tire cover where we have read accounts of the “basketball sized” stain from George, and possibly (though we can’t confirm) a child-shaped outline by at least one law enforcement agent. I’m not even going to venture a guess at what the order of magnitude of concentration is on this test because I’ll tell you right now that’s above my pay grade. You have a couple of snippets of carpet in a 20 mL vial (there’s actually two sets of tests ran, one with 20 mL vial and one with 10 mL vial), and I’m not about to take that one on. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of chloroform here. While I won’t guess, I would be willing to bet around a thousand times more than in the Gatorade bottle (in the ppm range, but possibly even higher for at the liner itself)…at trial we’ll see if I have to pay up. The below graph is from the 20 mL test.
This last one shows the stacked results from all the liner samples.
Valhall.
Tags: casey anthony, caylee anthony, chloroform, gas chromotagraphy, mass spectrometry, trunk liner
17 People have left comments on this post
Initially, upon hearing of the chloroform in the trunk, I had surmised that Casey was in need of a babysitter. Having no responsible adult available to fill her need, she resorted to the old ImagiNanny Firm of Duct Tape, Chloroform & Trunk.
What didn’t jibe was the amount of chloroform remaining in the trunk after at least 30 days, June 16 – July 15, when George opened the trunk and there were live flies and maggots. I was under the assumption that the large levels seen in the test results would act as an insecticide and prevent any bugs from continuing their life cycles.
That thought lead me to believe that the chloroform came into play on the 15th of July as an attempt at either cleaning up the trunk or adding credence to the kidnap story.
I’m still vacillating as to which is more in keeping with the all the test reports that we’ve seen thus far. When the test’s for the carpet cleaning device’s are released, I suspect that will be my final answer.
Although, your information above about chloroform vaporizing will probably nix my idea that it would still be powerful enough to kill the bugs.
ps
Great job bringing all this information together for all of us. Thank you!
Great article! Val, if sunlight is the killer of chloroform, how was any chloroform still in a clear bottle out in the woods? Maybe the treees provided shade? Is it possible that there was more chloroform in the syringe but it had evaporated?
Thanks for all your doing trying to educate us! (I know it’s difficult haha)
Hey Kakax,
The bottle was in a black bag that was submerged for most of the six months under murky swamp water. The syringe was further protected from UV light by being inside a toilet paper roll, inside the bottle, inside the bag, under the water.
Hi Vallhall! Another great post! I’m really curious……I know that Caylee’s little body was exposed to the elements and that is why they say the decay was faster than normal, temperatures, humidity, etc. My question is, if there were enough Chloroform in the trunk to detect why were they unable to detect it in little Caylee’s remains. Does Chloroform not stay in your system like most drugs or not?
Keep it up, I love this website.
Q44 – piece of spare tire cover (OCSO item #2, Q-16) – no blood detected – amelogenin typing not achieved – no DNA detected – no hairs exhibit decomp – residues of chloroform present – no hairs present.
Is there information on the “basketball size” stain in her trunk? No DNA, blood or anything can be derived from the stain? If not, then what would cause the stain to stay in the trunk?
Thank you for explaining everything in a way that is easy to follow along.
It seems odd that such high levels of chloroform were found in the trunk. If it was used as a cleaning agent, would it destroy possible DNA evidence?
Thanks for laying this out, Valhall … it sure doesn’t sound as unreliable as air samples that Baden refers to as junk science … this sounds a lot more solid than explanations coming out of the defense camp ..
So, Valhall, would it be reasonable to assume that the syringe was placed inside the toilet paper roll to protect it’s contents from UV exposure? And would it not also be reasonable to assume that there wasn’t enough left of Caylee for chloroform to have been found in, with the exception of the hair mat, and if I recall correctly, it was suggested (Dr. Baden, I believe) that chloroform was found in her hair, only to have later been refuted. What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks again, Valhall, for a truly welcome site!
Willow
I, personally, do not believe there is any connection between the syringe and Caylee’s death. Primarily from a logical standpoint.
Casey was so lazy and so self-centered with what SHE wanted to do next, that she couldn’t drive outside the city limits of Orlando to dump her dead daughter’s body. 1/4 mile is as out of the way as she was going to go to get rid of her “problem”. That type of person is not going to go to the measures required to concoct a bizarre brew of steroids, cleaning fluid and NOT REALLY ANY CHLOROFORM to come up with something that she is now going to inject and hope it is deadly.
Casey Anthony does not have that personality. To be quite honest, and to speak in highly technical terms, she is a self-centered, delusional dip$hit. And she would have used a dip$hit’s method to kill Caylee. Which means it probably didn’t go well – in murdering terms. It probably didn’t go well at all.
Clockwatcher your 8:13 am post is what i’ve believed all along. I believe this may be why Casey was always running out of gas. She may have left the car and air conditioning running, possibly hoping the child would sleep and not be consumed by the Florida Heat. Unfortunately the heat or exhaust fumes were too much this time.
I wonder where Casey was each time she ran out of gas.
This is my very first post ever and is based on my own opinion and speculation.
S
Debbie,
My apologies. Chloroform could have been detected in the heart or lungs had the body been found soon enough. I have been following this story since it first broke and for the time that Caylee was missing I kept hoping they would get to her in time. The lungs are actually about the last organs to go on a decomposing body. So I had hoped they could find her little body before the lungs went away. But, they didn’t…so the evidence was lost with them. I do not know of anyway for them to detect chloroform in bones or hair from a metabolic standpoint.
Sue,
Interesting theory. I still have not eliminated the possiblity that Caylee’s death was accidental and that Casey then just worked overtime to conceal a death due to negligence. The only way, I guess, that I will be able to set that possibility aside is if the zenaida myspace is proven to be Casey. Then I’ll know for certain this was premeditated.
Valhall,
I absolutely agree with all but one assessment. She isn’t just a dipshit, she’s a malignant dipshit, and just so we’re clear, I wasn’t associating the syringe to Casey, just asking in general. It’s just curious as to why a setup would be contained within a toilet paper holder within a bottle, and test positive for chloroform. I am not unfamiliar with the area, and though many have disagreed, it was and is a dump site. Back in the day, there was talk about pot plants and exposed hypo’s out there, as well as talk about a dead body or two. I do believe Casey’s dippy enough to have tossed all that was associated with Caylee out into the woods with her, believing she would never be found, which in and of itself is near ludicrous, unless she (being indeed dilusional) gave no thought to the possibility that anyone would even search for Caylee. Perhaps she truly believed no one would notice she was missing.
As ludicrous as it may sound to you, I’m still of the opinion that Caylee died a long, slow, agonizing death, and that the only purpose for the duct tape was to silence her, but I sure would appreciate your thoughts on this, and surely you have some inkling, as insightful as you are! Share with us, please, lest you leave me to envisioning teddy bears hanging from playhouses, drowing in swimming pools, or sweltering in trunks.
Willow
After going through the document over the past few days, and reading what you have to say about the chloroform being present on the trunk liner, I am curious about “the stain” and the possible presence of body fluids on the trunk liner. If I read the document correctly, no DNA typing was able to be done (or was done?) on the Q22-25 (my numbers could be off, but I believe for certain nothing was found on Q24 from the left side of the trunk where Caylee supposedly lay.) Do you have any thoughts on this? How could this be that a body could decay and leave such an awful smell, and possibly a stain, but no DNA is left behind? Maybe I am not reading the document/evidence report correctlyl- I am not a scientist. THANK YOU! Your blog is fabulous.
Amanda, I’m stumbling through all the scientific data too. We’re lucky to have bright people like Valhall clarifying.
Willow, I agree that Caylee suffered before she died. I think that the stain, if indeed it was in the shape of the fetal position, indicates that. I don’t believe Casey would have arranged Caylee’s body into that position. Why would she? Doesn’t make any sense. I believe the tape was on her mouth and nose and possibly even bound her hands (there were other strips of the duct tape found near the dump site where they found her, no?). Caylee herself lay there suffering and pulled herself into that position before she died. And she stayed like that till Casey dumped her ~ long enough for her bodily fluids to start “leaking” (sorry) which created the stain.
Lovely good post. I just bumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have truly enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way, I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again very soon.
Thank you, Michael, and welcome.