Woman who claims affair with Casey Anthony’s father testifies

ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) – The woman who claims to have had an affair with George Anthony gave conflicting testimony on Thursday about whether he knew or merely speculated in 2008 what had happened to his then-missing granddaughter Caylee.

Krystal Holloway took the stand as a defense witness in the first-degree murder trial of George’s daughter, Casey Anthony.

Casey, 25, is accused of smothering her 2-year-old daughter with duct tape on June 16, 2008 so she could “live the good life” free of the demands of motherhood. Prosecutors say Casey stored the child’s body in her car trunk, then dumped it in woods near her home.

The defense contends Caylee accidentally drowned in the Anthony family’s backyard pool, and George found the body.

George previously has denied an affair with Holloway or having anything to do with Caylee’s death.

In a sworn statement Holloway gave to detectives in 2010, she quoted George as saying this about what happened to Caylee: “It was an accident that snowballed out of control.”

But under cross examination by prosecutor Jeff Ashton, Holloway said George also told her, “I really believe that it was an accident, and it just went wrong and she tried to cover it up.”

Asked by defense lawyers and prosecutors whether George said he knew that Caylee died as a result of an accident, Holloway seemed to agree with defense attorney Jose Baez that George knew, and also with Ashton that he didn’t know.

Ashton said in court that even he was confused by her answers.

Holloway also acknowledged that she initially lied to detectives when she denied an affair with George. She said that a few days after she talked to detectives, her sister told the media about the affair.

Holloway said she negotiated a deal to sell her story to the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper for $4,000. Holloway agreed with Ashton that she selected the tabloid over traditional media outlets that don’t pay because she felt the Enquirer would tell her story in the most “fair, honest and non-sensational way.”

Over Baez’s objection, Judge Belvin Perry instructed jurors to consider Holloway’s testimony only in terms of how they feel it reflects on George’s credibility, and not consider it as evidence of how Caylee died.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Johnston)