Casey Anthony Trial: Heart-Shaped Sticker Residue Found on Duct Tape

An FBI scientist testifies about the the lack of fingerprints

Photo: Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Landov; Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Getty

Did Caylee Anthony’s killer place a heart-shaped sticker over her mouth?

In court at the Casey Anthony murder trial on Monday morning, Elizabeth Fontaine, a physical scientist and forensic examiner, testified that there was heart-shaped residue on the duct tape that had been over the mouth of the 2-year-old.

“It was approximately the size of a dime,” Fontaine testified. “If you were to wear a band aid for an extended period of time, and then take it off, there would be glue residue and debris. That’s what this looked like, but in the shape of a heart.”

The state plans to introduce evidence that similar heart-shaped stickers were found in the Anthony home.

But one thing was missing from the tape: fingerprints of the toddler’s killer. The FBI believes that the fingerprints vanished during the months Caylee’s body was outdoors. (Her remains were found in the woods near the Anthony family’s Orlando, Fla., home.) “Fingerprints are fragile,” testified Fontaine. “It’s not surprising that there were none.”

During cross-examination, defense attorney Jose Baez took aim at the sticker evidence. “When you examined it a second time, it was gone,” Baez said. “Is that correct?”

“It was no longer visible,” said Fontaine, who noted that other FBI agents had tested the duct tape in the meantime.

The trial is entering its fourth week, and the prosecution says it will wrap up its case soon. Anthony is on trial for the murder of 2-year-old Caylee. She faces the death penalty if she is convicted.