Casey Anthony Trial Day 8: Casey’s fears and lies, “cold monster” and Jeff Hopkins

The eighth day of Casey Anthony trial was largely spent by the jurors listening to replays of the suspected child killer's jailhouse conversations with her family members even as a lead investigator said she had frustrated the detectives with her lies.

On Thursday, the prosecutors replayed the recorded conversation that took place between Casey and her brother Lee at Orange County Jail.

During the conversation, Casey told Lee that all that mattered to her was seeing Caylee back again.

All I want is to see her again, to hear her laugh, to see her smile...nothing else matters to me at this point, she said.

In another jailhouse recorded conversation with Cindy, Casey told her mother that she wants to forgive Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, the nanny who had kidnapped Caylee.

I forgive her (Zenaida), Casey said. My only concern is that Caylee comes back to us and she's smiling and she's happy and she's okay.

She's the most important thing in the entire world to me. I truly, truly love that little girl and miss her so much, Casey said, bursting into tears.

Casey also told her family that she could not trust the detectives as they had misconstrued whatever information she had given to them. You've seen what's blown up in my face, she told her mother, adding that if she made any statement to them in future she would do so in writing.

On Thursday, lead detective Yuri Melich testified that Casey had continuously lied to them about where she worked, about Zenaida and about having received a phone call from Caylee on July 16, 2008.

Melich said that on July 16, 2008 when the detectives were questioning Casey about Caylee's disappearance, she had claimed that Caylee had called her up earlier that day and sounded okay.

She (Caylee) was perfectly fine, there was nothing in the background. She was excited to talk to me, Casey had told the detectives.

Casey told them that when she had asked Caylee to hand over the phone to an adult, the call abruptly got disconnected.

Melich also told jurors that Casey had duped the detectives by leading them to an empty apartment where she insisted Zenaida lived.

The detective also told the jury that Casey led them to believe that she is working in Universal Studios, whereas in reality she never turned up for work ever since giving birth to Caylee.

Melich said Casey even tried talking her way into the employee entrance at the Universal Studios park in Orlando, telling the security guard that she did not have her identification badge with her.

Having somehow gained entrance, she took the detectives to a building, claiming that she works there.

However, after they entered the building and were halfway down a hallway, Casey suddenly stopped, turned around and told them, 'I don’t work here.

Melich said when the detectives later asked Casey why she had lied to them, she said that she was scared.

I know I’m running out of options, I’m scared of not seeing my daughter ever again, Casey had told the detectives.

I'm absolutely petrified ... I know my Mom will never forgive me, I'm never going to forgive myself, because there’s a chance I might never see Caylee again, she had said.

Melich also testified that the police could not extract any reliable information from Casey that could have led them to finding Caylee.

A replay of the recorded conversation between the detectives and Casey was played on Thursday and the jurors could hear the detectives telling Casey that she should tell them the truth about Caylee's whereabouts or they'll be forced to think of her as a cold, callous and a monster who doesn't care.

However, Casey repeatedly kept on telling them: This is the honest to God's truth. I don't know where she is. The last person that I saw her with is Zenaida.

On Thursday, a man named Jeff Hopkins also testified in court, saying he knew Casey back in middle school but other than that, the Jeff Hopkins Casey had spoken about to the detectives was not him. He said he did not know any Zenaida and, though he knew that Casey had a daughter, he had never met Caylee.

The prosecutors say Casey chloroformed Caylee and then put duct tape over her nose and mouth, suffocating the girl.

Casey's lawyers claim Caylee was not murdered. They say the toddler accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and George, Casey's father, helped her keep the death a secret. George denied the claim on Thursday.

Caylee was last seen alive on June 16 and it was only on July 16 that she was reported missing to the police. Cindy had alerted the police by calling a 911 dispatcher and saying that she had smelled a dead body in the trunk of Casey's car that was spotted in an impound lot. The car was later towed by authorities for forensic analysis.

Initially, Casey told the police that a babysitter had abducted Caylee. Investigations showed Casey was lying as the babysitter Zanny was fictitious. Five months later, in December 2008, Caylee's decomposed skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near her parents' house by a meter reader who was relieving himself. The remains were wrapped in a Winnie the pooh blanket.

Casey has been charged with seven counts, including first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading the police in the death of Caylee. If she is convicted of first degree, she could be sentenced to death by the seven-woman, five-man jury.

The trial could take 4-6 weeks before a verdict is reached.