Coming from thirty years of trauma work with narcissistic and incest families, this writer proposes that the national fascination with this case comes from a place of mystery. That mystery may be that the dynamics of the issues discussed are not well understood.

Unpacking the defense arguments may allow for further understanding, but is not intended to take a stance on guilt or not. Sometimes doors are simply opened for further education. Let's take this case as a hypothetical.

With public pre-convictions of Ms. Anthony, one has to wonder if there was a "bias against Baez?" When discussing this with Craig Truman, a nationally known defense attorney in Denver, Colorado, the wonderment was confirmed. Jokingly, Mr. Truman reported, " When people ask me what I do, I often tell them I am with the mob rather than a criminal defense lawyer. People often are put off with what I do until one of their family members gets arrested and then I'm their best friend and they become civil libertarians." It is difficult to believe that people would not want to hear all the evidence on both sides without preconceived bias.

As defense attorney Jose Baez began his opening argument, he very quickly threw out the allegation that the father of Casey, Mr. George Anthony, had sexually abused her. Then Mr. Baez did not bring testimony to this effect during the trial. But, one has to wonder what evidence he could bring? Even in circumstantial criminal sexual abuse cases, the argument usually comes down to "he said" vs "she said." Sexual abuse on a child is done in secret, and we typically do not have witnesses or medical evidence. Children do not report sexual abuse readily, especially in incest families. Mothers in incest families do not usually know the abuse is going on. Siblings are played against each other and the offender controls the communication in the family. Eric Leberg, in Understanding Child Molesters, states the following:

" Working with child molesters on probation and parole shows that they have lied for more years than they have molested. Many others who work with offenders on a professional basis have written and spoken about the sex offender's willingness to be dishonest and to lie...as we have seen, the offender has deliberately hidden the truth about himself from others. He has also deliberately revealed parts of his life that would decrease suspicion. He has learned to read others' reactions and gauge when others might be suspicious. Simply put, the sex offender has often become an extremely skillful deceiver." Learning to lie comes from somewhere rather than a blanket determination of a sociopathic liar. Lying and secrets are at the core of the incest family. Having worked with thousands of incest families, these dynamics are paramount in each case.

If Casey's brother Lee did sexually act out on his sister and there is a parental sex offender in the family, this is a dynamic we see frequently in incest families. It is fairly common in incest families to see sexual acting out with the children, sexual promiscuity in the victim, strained relationships in the parental marriage and other unusual sexual activity with the offender.

If there was a cover-up of an accidental drowning, and we factor in that sex offenders go to jail for a lifetime too...would there be motive to hide the body if the victim threatened to report the sexual abuse? Maybe the father's background in law enforcement could play a role in cover-up as suggested? Someone could go to jail in the drowning theory if reported immediately. One for neglect or one for sexual abuse...so maybe trying to set it up as a kidnapping and a murder made sense to protect both. Not moral or reasonable sense... but dysfunctional family sense. If then, Casey was instructed to lie about the cover-up, and she was continuing to go along with it, how hard would this be to do? She is young and she could have been in a desperately traumatic state of mind. Could it have been difficult, in a state of trauma, to deal with such a horrific cover-up? Many have questioned the accidental drowning and why the family did not simply call 911. If there were secrets to be kept, this question is answered. It also suggests incredible dysfunction.

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton revealed in his closing arguments that Casey was afraid of her mother's reactions. There was much talk about the power of the mother in this case. That she would not approve of this or that and she told George to stay out of it and not be negative. If there was also maternal narcissism, it could be difficult for most people to understand the fear of the narcissistic mother. Victoria Secunda writes masterfully in When You and Your Mother Can't Be Friends, "Their mothers may be long dead or white-haired, and in-firm, but still they have a profound hold on their daughters, who talk of them as though they were about to be sent to their rooms. How is this reign of terror by little old ladies possible?" In the experience of interviewing and treating hundreds of daughters of narcissistic mothers, that fearful display of the narcissistic mother is seen in practice on a near daily basis. For those who have loving and nurturing mothers who fit the saintly archetype of what mothers should be, this fear factor is truly hard to understand. To learn about daughters raised by narcissistic mothers, read more in Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers.

In addition, if there was incest in this family, the mother's jealousy of the daughter that is evident in incest cases and narcissistic families, would explain the conflicts in the mother-daughter relationship. If there was an engulfing narcissistic mother in the family, does the murder motive of Casey seeking freedom to live the beautiful life really make sense when everyone would know that the grandmother would engulf and care for the child? Engulfing narcissistic mothers over-parent in the early years when they have control over the child. The relationship begins to fall apart for the mother and daughter when the child grows into some independent thinking in adolescence.

If there was murder of this child, and the perpetrator was Casey...would there be some evidence of child abuse in the past? Was there a record of abuse from this young woman towards her child? The ex-fiancé, Jesse Grund and his father, both spoke highly of Casey. They also spoke of her insecurity and neediness and her desire to exaggerate things to make herself feel better. This can be narcissism, but it can also be a child who was not loved and nurtured properly. It was interesting that this same fiancé said he witnessed the dynamics in the Anthony household and the mother frequently beat down Casey's self esteem. He described constant negativity and past failures being thrown in her face. These are familiar sketches we see with maternal narcissism and mother-daughter dynamics. Jesse Grund reported that he would not have wanted to grow up there.