http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,394286,00.htmlExclusive: Photos Show Missing Toddler's Mom Partying After She DisappearsWednesday, July 30, 2008
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," July 29, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: This is a "FOX News Alert." An arrest tonight in the murder of pregnant Army specialist Megan Touma.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly.
Moments ago, Fayetteville police arresting a 27-year-old man and charging him with first-degree murder, Touma found dead in a motel bathtub on June 21. This news is literally breaking as we speak. We're going to have much more later in the hour.
But first up tonight, "On the Record" obtains shocking new photos of Casey Anthony partying at a club days after she says her daughter went missing. Casey is behind bars tonight, a person of interest in what police say may be the homicide of her little daughter, Caylee. Casey claims she left her daughter with a baby-sitter on June 9, and that when she returned to pick her up, little Caylee was gone.
It took five weeks before the child was reported missing, and now we know what Casey Anthony was doing for part of that time, these pictures taken at a club on June 20, while Casey says she was conducting her own search for her daughter.
John Azzilano and Teddy Piper, the photographers who took those pictures, join us live. Good evening, guys.
JOHN AZZILANO, STUDENT AND CLUB PHOTOGRAPHER: How're you doing?
KELLY: John, let me start with you. You took these photographs on June 20?
Watch the interview
AZZILANO: Yes, the night of June 20. Teddy and I usually work at a club called Fusian. We take a lot of pictures there. Casey was there that night.
KELLY: How sure are you that it was Friday night, June 20?
AZZILANO: I'm absolutely positive. The photos are time-stamped. Every time a photo's taken, it embeds it into the -- into the code of the photo. And when I upload it to my Flickr account, it actually says right on my Flickr account June 20.
KELLY: Why were you taking photos at the club that night?
AZZILANO: Teddy and I usually go to clubs around Orlando, and we're hired to do nightlife photography. And that was just one of the nights we were working at Fusian.
KELLY: John, who was she there with?
AZZILANO: I really don't recall. Me and Teddy were bopping around that night, taking pictures of a lot of people. She just happened to be one of them. So I don't recall any specific people that she was there with.
KELLY: Teddy, do you know who she was there with?
TEDDY PIPER, STUDENT AND CLUB PHOTOGRAPHER: Not exactly. We showed up later in the evening, probably after midnight on that Friday night, and set up and took pictures just throughout the night until the club closed at 2:00.
KELLY: OK. And was she drinking?
AZZILANO: I'm not exactly sure if she was drinking. I mean, it is a bar. A lot of people were drinking that night. I can't confirm or deny that she was or wasn't drinking, but I know it was just a -- everyone was having a good time that night, I guess.
KELLY: So John, you had the opportunity to observe her, then, that night.
AZZILANO: Not closely. I didn't scrutinize whatsoever. I just -- like I said, we were walking around, taking photos. She just happened to be in, I believe, four or five of the photos that we had taken.
KELLY: And from what you saw, what was her mood? What was her demeanor?
AZZILANO: She seemed happy, as were most of the people there that night. I mean, as you can see from the photos, she seemed -- she seemed all right, having a good time, just like people our age would that night. That was it.
PIPER: Nothing out of the ordinary.
AZZILANO: Nothing out of the ordinary, really.
KELLY: Teddy, do you know how many -- have you seen her at the club Fusian at other times in these past -- you know, in these past days since June 9? Have you seen her besides that one night there?
PIPER: Yes, I can recall her being there. I can't remember exactly how many Fridays she was there, but I had been taking photos at Fusian every Friday night for, like, probably a month coming up to the -- you know, the 20th there, which was the last day I took photos. But I saw her definitely on what would be the 13th, I think, and the 6th.
KELLY: OK, the 6th and the 13th and the 20th. So this is a place, obviously, she likes to hang out.
PIPER: Well, I guess so. Usually, it's about the same crowd every Friday night at this...
KELLY: And Teddy, did you notice any change when you saw her in those weeks, on that Friday the 6th, the 13th, the 20th, those days? Did you notice any change in her mood, her demeanor when she was at the club?
PIPER: No, not necessarily at all. I really didn't come in contact with her too much, you know, in passing just talked to her, a couple sentences here and there. But absolutely no out of the ordinary behavior.
KELLY: How did she seem to you?
PIPER: She seemed just fine. Like, I really -- from the amount of time that I actually talked to her, I couldn't reasonably, like, judge her, you know.
AZZILANO: She seemed fine. She seemed like she was having fun with her friends and just wearing really nice regalia and just having a really - - a good, decent time, just like anybody else would.
KELLY: John, when you found out that she had been arrested -- and you know, you've been following -- obviously, you know the headlines these days -- what was your thought, knowing that you had her in these photos?
AZZILANO: Well, it was funny to me at first because I had just met her that one night that I'd taken photos of her. And one night, I went to Fusian and I -- I went there to take pictures again, and you know, everyone seemed down. They asked if I'd watched the news that night, and I hadn't. And then I went home and I saw, and I was shocked to see -- I mean, I really don't know Casey very well at all, I mean, very, very loosely, but I was shocked to see that someone I had come into contact with is in such a case of such, you know, severity.
KELLY: I mean, sitting here tonight, guys, are you shocked to learn, now that you know her story, that she claims the times she was at Fusian, child was missing? Does that jive with the person you saw there? Can you reconcile that the woman you saw at that club is claiming to the world now that her child was kidnapped and missing at that time?
AZZILANO: I don't know. It really hasn't really impacted us that much. I'm not -- you know, it's not -- it's not hitting me hard. I mean, it's kind of crazy that it's going on, but I really -- I don't have an opinion because I don't really -- I'm not on either side. I'm not sure. I don't know Casey that well. I mean, Teddy can pretty much say the same.
PIPER: Yes, I didn't even know she had a daughter until the news broke about her daughter being missing.
KELLY: Let me just ask you about these photos because -- do you know who any of these people are in the photos, either by name or just by their relationship to her?
AZZILANO: Not at all. I think the photos were on -- which photos are we looking at?
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: In any of them. In any of the photos that you guys took, I mean, does she know -- does she know these people? Do you know these people? Is it a friend of hers that we're looking at, these girlfriends? Are those guys boyfriends to her? Who are they, if you know?
AZZILANO: If they're the photos that I think about, I'm really not sure. Like I said, we go around taking photos of random people. I don't really know any names. That was probably my first night at Fusian, so I didn't really know any of the regulars. I don't know. Maybe, Teddy, you can say any different, but...
PIPER: In some of the photos that I had, which -- I don't know -- I don't know what photos you guys have.
KELLY: Ours are from June 20.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: Ours are from June 20. She's in the blue dress.
PIPER: I mean, there's, like -- there's, like, two places that the photos were, you know, like -- my photos are not posted on his Flickr, so...
KELLY: Did you -- well, let me ask you his. Do either of you know Casey's boyfriend?
AZZILANO: Yes, I know Anthony. Anthony's a great guy. I actually -- I knew him when we used to live in New York together, but I haven't talked to him in a while.
KELLY: You haven't talked to him since this whole thing broke?
AZZILANO: I talk to him here and there, saying hello and stuff. Just hellos and good-byes and how are yous and -- but nothing -- nothing pertaining to the case whatsoever.
KELLY: So he's not in these pictures we've been looking at.
AZZILANO: I don't believe so. I know I do have pictures of Anthony somewhere on my Flickr, but I don't know if they're in context with Casey or anything like that.
KELLY: Can I ask you, have the investigators, have the police contacted either one of you?
PIPER: Not at all.
AZZILANO: Not at all because I think we figured our position in this was -- you know, aside from the photos, our position as people that are affiliated, it's not -- I don't think it's very -- we're not very important. Maybe the photos are.
KELLY: And have you been contacted by Casey, her attorney or anybody connected to her?
AZZILANO: Not whatsoever.
PIPER: Not at all.
KELLY: All right, John and Teddy, thanks so much for being here. We appreciate it.
AZZILANO: Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.
PIPER: Thank you.
KELLY: Well, joining us live now is Michael Walsh. He is co-counsel for Casey Anthony. And Michael, I know you're just first getting a look at these, I assume, tonight, as we are. Your reaction to what you just saw and heard.
MICHAEL WALSH, CO-COUNSEL FOR CASEY ANTHONY: I could only hear it. I can't see the photos from where I'm at.
KELLY: And so your reaction to what you heard?
WALSH: She worked there. She was one of the promotion girls at that club, so it would be expected that she was there. The fact that she's in some photos from a guy who said he didn't really observe her, he didn't -- doesn't really know her, one of them didn't even know she had a daughter, it's a little hard to react to just that kind of statement. The fact that she was at the club -- she worked there.
KELLY: And how long has she worked at Fusian?
WALSH: It's not a steady job. It's a promotional thing, so it's on and off for the last few months.
KELLY: And had Casey told you prior to tonight that she had worked at Fusian in the time Caylee was missing and had worked at promotional events?
WALSH: Well, I just have to clarify. Today was my first day meeting with Casey.
KELLY: OK, so...
WALSH: So I didn't have an opportunity to speak to her before today.
KELLY: But was that information that she made clear to you or your co-counsel?
WALSH: Oh, she's made a lot of things clear to us, but I would keep that under the attorney-client privilege.
KELLY: So how is it you know, if you can tell us, that she worked at Fusian?
WALSH: Oh, some things I can tell you. She certainly told me that.
KELLY: OK. And Michael, let me ask you, because -- you know, I mean, let's lay it out there. People see those photos, which I know you haven't seen, but it shows her with these guys and gals in bar shots, appearing to have a good time. People are going to be asking themselves how a woman whose child was missing, and according to her had been kidnapped, could behave in such a manner.
WALSH: Well, I have to take issue with the date that you described as June 9 as the date that little Caylee was kidnapped. That's not the date she was kidnapped. It's sometime later in the month.
KELLY: Well, what is the date? Because that comes from your client.
WALSH: Well, it comes from my client to the police. It hasn't come from my client to the police while she's had the assistance of counsel. Obviously, she said some things that the police certainly have taken issue with, with regards to the veracity of it. And we've kind of explained the reason she said the things she said to the police was out of fear for her child's life.
KELLY: So you're suggesting...
WALSH: So I can't address what she said.
KELLY: You're suggesting -- so I'm clear, you're suggesting that she perhaps was not honest with the police when she said Caylee went missing on June 9.
WALSH: Yes, that is correct. That would not be an accurate statement.
KELLY: And is it also correct that she would have, then, lied to her mother, Cindy, and her brother, Lee, who we heard on their 911 calls believed when they called on July 15 that Caylee had been missing for over a month?
WALSH: You call it a lie. I call it under the duress and pressure of somebody whose child has been kidnapped and told, If you say anything about it, your child will receive harm. So I think a lie is a material falsehood. I think this young girl was going through the pressures and stress of what she was dealing with.
KELLY: Michael, is that what happened here, that -- I know -- we know that Casey says Caylee was kidnapped and that she had at least one communication from the alleged kidnapper, the baby-sitter. Are you now saying that the baby-sitter made a threat to Casey?
WALSH: Yes, and there are other people besides the baby-sitter involved.
KELLY: Can you tell us more, who?
WALSH: No, I can't tell you who.
KELLY: Have you spoken with either Jess (ph) or Juliet (ph), two women who Casey says knew this baby-sitter, Zenaida?
WALSH: We've spoken to people who knew her. When the police looked for the Zayda -- Zenaida, I'm sorry -- they found the wrong Zenaida. So that's why there's some miscommunication as to whether or not the Zenaida the police referred to and the other people referred to is the same Zenaida that Casey's referring to.
KELLY: And Michael, let me ask you, is your client willing to take a polygraph?
WALSH: At this point, it depends on what the conditions are. Initially, yes, but not if it's going to be simply used to not look for Casey. If it's going to be used for no other purpose than to prosecute her, then no.
KELLY: So that door is still open.
WALSH: Right because this is the situation. It's in the hands of the police and the prosecutors whether or not they believe her. There's not a third neutral party out there...
KELLY: Understood.
WALSH: ... Who's going to decide whether they believe her. So...
KELLY: Got it.
WALSH: And there are none so deaf as those who won't hear.
KELLY: Michael, thank so much for being here. We appreciate it.
WALSH: Thank you.
