Casey Anthony Trial Day 9: human decomposition odor, strands of hair and Casey's hopelessness

The trial of Casey Anthony, who has been charged with murdering her 2-year old daughter Caylee, dragged onto Friday and completed its second week with the prosecutor drawing the jury's attention to the decomposition odor noticed in Casey's abandoned car and her recorded lies.

A crime scene investigator testified, Friday, that he detected the odor of human decomposition when he first examined Casey's car just days after her initial July 2008 arrest.

Gerardo Bloise, who has seen as many as 45 bodies in various stages of decomposition in his 23-year long career, said his personal opinion on the odor that wafted out from the interior of Casey's car was 'human decomposition.

Earlier, Casey's mother, father and an impound lot manager had testified that they had recognized the distinct odor of human decomposition that came out from the trunk of Casey's car.

Bloise also testified that he had discovered a stain on the liner of the car's trunk, which he had sent to an air analysis expert. However, the tests came up negative for the presence of blood.

The investigator also said he found a few strands of hair in Casey's car, which could be Caylee's.

He also identified numerous photos of Anthony’s Pontiac Sunfire as well as envelopes and boxes that contained evidence from the car.

On Friday, the jurors also saw videotape recordings of the visits made by Casey's parents and the conversation that went on between them.

In one of those conversations, Casey said she was just as much a victim as the rest of them.

I miss her (Caylee), and I'm being as strong as I can considering the situation, she said. I feel hopeless.

My entire life has been taken from me. Everything has been taken from me ... I don't have any answers, Casey said.

The trial will continue on Saturday and is expected to take 6-8 weeks before a verdict is reached.

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 Casey's house by a meter reader who was relieving himself.

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.