Casey Anthony’s brother took the stand for the first time today as her murder trial continues. Lee Anthony testified that after several days without seeing his sister or her daughter Caylee, he called but she wouldn’t answer the phone or return text messages. Ultimately, he and his girlfriend went out to the clubs in Orlando to try and find her, he said. When Casey finally answered one of his calls, she lied to him about Caylee’s whereabouts and disconnected the call after saying she was out “doing my own thing," the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The next time he saw his sister was on July 15, 2008, when he smelled the foul odor emanating from her car in his parents’ garage. At that point Casey insisted Caylee was with a nanny, he testified, and when he offered to go pick up his niece, Casey told him the little girl was already asleep and shouldn’t be disturbed. Amy Huizenga, a former friend of Casey Anthony’s, also testified today for the second time. But jurors will not hear about charges that Casey ripped off Huizenga for hundreds of dollars, as prosecutors have backed off from introducing Casey’s check-fraud convictions to jurors for now. Click for more from the trial. (More Casey Anthony stories.)