Casey Anthony Trial: Insects Found in Car Associated With Decomposition

An entomology expert testified about the insects found in Anthony's car.

ByABC News
June 11, 2011, 2:13 PM

June 11, 2011— -- An entomology expert testified today that the insects found in Casey Anthony's car were often associated with decomposition.

"All of these were consistent with extended post mortem remains," said Neal Haskell, a forensic science professor at St. Joseph's College in Indiana.

Florida mother Casey Anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. She is charged with first degree murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Haskell's testimony seem to support the prosecution's theory that Caylee's body was in the trunk of Casey's car for three to five days.

This contradicts the defense, which has been building its case on an accidental drowning for the cause of death of Caylee.

Over the past several weeks, the witnesses and experts have testified about the smell of a decomposing body coming from Casey Anthony's car.

Caylee's remains were found on Dec. 11, 2008 in a wooded area near the Anthony family home.

The toddler had been reported missing July 15, 2008, 31 days after she was last seen alive.

On Friday, the judge in the Casey Anthony murder trial ruled that an animated video that morphs from the face of a live 2-year-old Caylee to a skull with duct tape could be shown to jurors.

The video was first shown to Anthony, her defense team, prosecutors and Judge Belvin Perry.

The jury was removed before the video was played and it was not displayed on monitors for the rest of the court audience to see.

The prosecution asked to submit the video as evidence to prove that Caylee died from duct tape on her nose and mouth. The defense argued against the video.

"This disgusting superimposition is nothing but a fantasy. ... It's not supported by anything that can't be testified to," defense attorney Jose Baez argued.Evidence photos in the Casey Anthony murder trial.

Anthony, 25, watched the tape intensely but did not show emotion.

Once Perry approved the video to be shown to jurors, Anthony was visibly upset and did not watch the video a second time.

Caylee's skull, found in December of 2008, had three pieces of duct tape on it. The duct tape is key for the prosecution in proving that Caylee's death was a homicide.

Earlier on Friday, Orange County Chief Medical Examiner Jan Garavaglia testified that it was scientifically defensible to say that Caylee's death was a homicide, but that because of decomposition she could not determine how the homicide occurred.

"The fact that there's duct tape anywhere attached to that child's face is to me indication that it's homicide," she said.

Garavaglia said that a number of red flags contributed to her decision to list the death as a homicide. The first was that nobody reported Caylee was missing for 31 days. Caylee was reported missing July 15, 2008.

The second red flag was that her body was hidden.

"The fact that it's [Caylee's body] tossed in a field to rot in bags is a clear indication that the body was being tried to be hidden," Garavaglia said.

ABC News' Linsey Davis contributed to this report.