Casey Anthony Murder Trial: Witness Said Car Smelled Of Human Decomposition - Huffington Post

Casey Anthony Murder Trial: Witness Said Car Smelled Of Human Decomposition
First Posted: 05/28/11 01:38 PM ET Updated: 05/28/11 03:56 PM ET

Excerpt:

asey Anthony's prosecutors on Friday provided a refreshing relief to the monotony of testimony adduced in the last few days of her capital murder trial when they called a key prosecution witness to the stand.

Simon Birch, the former manager of Johnson’s Wrecker, the Orlando towing company that impounded Anthony's Pontiac Sunfire on June 30, 2008 –- roughly two weeks after her daughter died -– delivered the most explosive testimony to date when he described inspecting the vehicle.

"It was an odor consistent to what I have smelled in the past when it comes to decomposition," said Birch, who noticed the odor while examining Anthony's car four or five days after it was impounded in the secure lot.

The towing veteran testified he has been exposed to about half-a-dozen dozen vehicles during the course of his 30-year career that have had deceased bodies in them and that he was familiar with the odor of decomposition. Having previously worked in the sanitation industry for two years, Birch said he was also familiar with the smell of garbage.

Birch testified that decomposing human remains have a "very unique and distinctive smell" and that there was no mistaking the nature of the odor that was emanating from Anthony's car.

"The instant flash in my mind was, 'Whoa, I know what that smell is,'" Birch said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/28/casey-anthony-car-decomposition_n_868352.html#s284908&title=Casey_Anthony_Trial