Casey Anthony, the woman a Florida probation spokeswoman once called "one of the most hated women in America," will now have the dubious honor of seeing her murder trial rehashed in a way that's usually reserved for celebrities battling chemical dependence or the stigma of being a child star.
"E! True Hollywood Story: Casey Anthony" airs on Wednesday, October 19 10:00 p.m. ET.
The one-hour show includes exclusive interviews with Anthony's former friends, boyfriends and defense attorneys, as well as experts and journalists who were in the courtroom as the trial unfolded, including this reporter.
On July 5, after a lengthy and controversial trial, a jury of seven women and five men acquitted Anthony, 25, of killing her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee, but found her guilty of lying to investigators. The child's remains were found in December 2008 near the Anthony family home, some six months after she was last seen.
During her first-degree murder trial, Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, said Caylee had drowned in the family swimming pool. The revelation was in direct contrast to previous statements Anthony had given police claiming her daughter had been kidnapped by a nanny named Zenaida Gonzalez.
The real Zenaida Gonzalez, a woman who found herself involved with the case simply because of her name, said she and her family suffered a lot of harassment because of Anthony's lies.
"It started going down like, 'You're a baby killer, you killed that baby.' They were going to kidnap my daughters and see how I like [it] and then they started saying that they [were] going to kill them and they [were] going to send them to me in pieces in a box to my house," Gonzalez says on the E! program, referencing the public reaction when some believed she was involved with the case.
While Anthony managed to avoid a murder conviction, she was convicted of four charges of lying to police. Credited for time served and released, Anthony is now somewhere in Florida serving a year of probation on a separate check fraud conviction.
Anthony may have her freedom, but it came with a price -- both literally and figuratively. She has rarely been seen since the day she was whisked out of court through a mob of protesters. This public outrage, combined with the media frenzy surrounding her trial, captured Americans' attention and made Anthony one of the most recognizable faces in the country.
The price of Anthony's freedom is also hitting her pocketbook as her legal bills keep growing.
A Florida judge recently ordered Anthony to pay $217,449.23 for costs related to the investigation into the disappearance of her daughter and Gonzalez has filed a civil lawsuit against Anthony that accuses her of ruining her reputation.
The uproar over the case and the ongoing legal battles will likely ensure Anthony remains in the public eye indefinitely. Despite the enormous amount of publicity the case has already received, questions about who Anthony is and what brought her to where she is today still remain.
In this brand new True Hollywood Story, E! sat down with the people most intimately familiar with Anthony to try and answer: "Just who is Casey Anthony?"
"E! True Hollywood Story: Casey Anthony" premieres on October 19 at 10:00 p.m. ET on E!
Casey Anthony Personal Photos
