Casey Anthony, the 25-year-old Florida woman acquitted of the first degree murder of her 2-year-old child, Caylee, has been scheduled for a Sunday release date from the Orange County Jail where she has been incarcerated for the last two and a half years. At her sentencing on July 7, Orange County Corrections officials calculated from Judge Belvin Perry's sentence of four years for four guilty counts of lying to the police (alleviated by time served) that Anthony would be released on July 13.
However, a closer look at the numbers, according to Corrections officials, revealed that she would have to wait a few days longer. But what if that pushed-back date were only a ruse to secret Anthony away from the jail to miss the media and the crowds, especially those angry about the verdict and those potentially willing to cause the young woman harm?
Immediately following the verdict, Twitter was inundated by not only celebrities tweeting their shock at the trial's outcome, but millions voicing their discontent at the judicial system and anger at what they felt was justice denied a murdered 2-year-old child. Facebook exploded in angry postings, some venting frustration and some threatening.
"The threats, both veiled and blatant," wrote Kyly Hightower and Matt Sedensky for the Associated Press on July 10, "were disturbing enough to make the judge hold off on releasing jurors' names, and to make it all the more likely that Anthony will be secretly whisked away upon her release next week."
The article quoted one commenter on the "I hate Casey Anthony" Facebook page, which has been "liked" by over 40,000 people, as saying that perhaps Anthony wouldn't make it out of jail alive. A banner of images run across the top of the page. One frame is of a Matt Granlund cartoon showing a caricatured Anthony duct-taping the eyes and mouth of a statue of justice.
An indication of the indiscriminate rage that people felt over the verdict rendered at the end of the six-week murder trial can be seen in the lashing out on the Casey Anthony Facebook page of a 43-year-old Pennsylvania black man who happened to share her name. As NBC affiliate WCAU reported, his Facebook picture and age did not deter people from voicing their contempt and misplacing their hatred. Unfortunately, his sons share his name and Anthony was forced to take down his Facebook page over the continuing harassment.
In another incident, an Oklahoma woman was ran off the road after being followed by a woman who accused her of looking like the woman accused of murdering her own child. Sammay Blackwell, a convenience store clerk in Choteau, Oklahoma, had her vehicle rammed by a woman who had come into the store earlier in the day to pay for gas. She said Blackwell looked like Anthony, waited until she left work, followed her in her vehicle and forced Blackwell off the road, causing her car to flip several times. USA Today reported that police chased the woman down and arrested her. Shireen Nalley was booked on charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. Nalley told police she was "trying to save the children."
Although the altering of the release date and using it as a ruse to secretly get Anthony away from the jail early (or perhaps simply transferring her secretly to another facility to complete her sentence) is only supposition, the outraged reaction at the Anthony verdict and the outpouring of vitriol that erupted online and on talk shows and in print regarding -- not only the jury's decision but the fact that so many believed that the woman was escaping justice -- should have alarmed authorities and those in charge of Anthony's safety. Whether or not the tremendous outpouring of animosity leads or has led officials to attempt to get Anthony out of jail early remains to be seen. But it is evident that her release and life afterward will not be easy.
More worrisome for authorities -- some people act out their threats.
And it appears that those close to Anthony are taking the matter seriously. According to Bill Zwecker at the Chicago Sun-Times, Anthony will reportedly wear disguises and is considering changing her name after her release. She will also be taken to an undisclosed location to live. A source told Zwecker that those close to her have tried to impress upon her the gravity of the animosity felt towards her, but she unknowingly believes that the hatred is relegated to a few death threat nutcases. Cosmetic surgery was mentioned as an option but was reportedly rejected.
According to ABC News, Anthony's lawyers filed briefs Thursday asking that the deposition in the civil lawsuit case brought by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez be canceled because of "numerous threats that have already been made against" Anthony. Gonzalez was arrested and extensively questioned in the kidnapping of Caylee Anthony after Casey Anthony told police that a "Zanny the Nanny" had taken her daughter. In the recent murder trial, Anthony's defense team admitted that she lied about the babysitter. Gonzalez sued Anthony for defamation after Orange County investigators cleared her of suspicion and arrested Anthony for the murder of her own child.
Anthony's lawyers said they feared for their client's safety, especially after court dates were made public.
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