Federal judge OKs settlement in Casey Anthony case
Nov 26, 2013, 5:09 PM
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a settlement between Casey Anthony and a Texas search group that helped look for her missing 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
Texas Equusearch Mounted Search and Recovery will be allowed to have an unsecured claim of $75,000 in Anthony’s bankruptcy case under the terms of the settlement.
Judge K. Rodney May approved the settlement Monday in Tampa.
The search group won’t be entitled to any other claims and won’t be allowed any further dealings in the case.
The group had objected to the bankruptcy, claiming it spent more than $100,000 searching for the girl in 2008. Attorneys for the group said Anthony knew her daughter was already dead.
Anthony was acquitted of murder in the girl’s death during a 2011 trial and has been in hiding since then.
She filed for bankruptcy in January, claiming just $1,000 in assets and $792,000 in liabilities.
Two other parties have complaints pending in Anthony’s bankruptcy case.
Both Zenaida Gonzalez and Roy Kronk claim they were defamed by Anthony, but she has asked a judge to dismiss their claims. Anthony’s attorneys say the claims they were defamed are baseless.
Anthony told detectives investigating Caylee’s disappearance that a baby sitter named Zenaida Gonzalez kidnapped the girl.
Kronk found Caylee’s remains in woods near Anthony’s home. He says he was defamed when Anthony’s defense team made false statements, including that Kronk killed Caylee and that he moved the remains.
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