Corporal Yuri Melich's testimony

YM: my name is Yuri Melich

LDB: how are you employed?

OCSO

LDB: how long?

just under ten years

LDB: ?

internal affairs

LDB: in 2008?

corporal in missing persons

LDB: can you give responsibities?

we investigated cases of missing persons and investigated allegations of child abuse.

LDB: how long?

transfered in 2008

LDB: prior to promotion?

two years homicide division, investigation property crimes

LDB: break ins at houses?

yes

LDB: prior to your assignment as a dect were you patrol?

yes

LDB: on july 16th 2008 did you receive a call from Hosey re: the events at Hopespring?

yes

LDB: did you respond?

I did

LDB: time?

just before four in the morning three fifty one I believe

LDB: when arrived did meet with ICA?

yes

LDB: did you know she had given a written statement?

yes

LDB: If I may approach the witness your honor?

LDB: do you recognize it?

I do

LDB: were you provided with that on arrival?

yes

LDB: from the patrol deputies?

yes

LDB: show it to casey?

I believe I did, yes

LDB: ask if her statement?

yes

LDB: wrote it herself?

yes

LDB: seek to put "ki" into evidence

JB: objection due to ettiquite...this officer was not present...

HHJP: florida?

LDB: these statements were adopted in their entirety and ask the defendant if they were her statements.

HHJP: overruled and received in evidence.

LDB: sorry that is number 60. Permission to publish 60 to the jury your honor.

JB: objection

HHJP: its in now, its in.

LDB: technical difficulty with trying to display it on the monitor. I apologize.

LDB: you see the doc in front of you?

I do

LDB: (long pause) Can you read to the jury Miss Anthony's statement?

On monday june 9th 2008 between 9 and 1 I KC took Caylee Marie to her Nanny's apt. Caylee is about three feet tall, white female, shoulder length hair. On the day of her disappearance...On monday june 9 2008 I took Caylee to the sawgrass apartments. Her nanny ZFG has watched her for the last two and a half years...she has dark brown curly hair and dark brown hair...Jeffery Micheal Hoppkins...met Z in 2004 around Christmas...after dropping Caylee off I went to work at Universal...I let work and went to apt to pick up daughter but I realized no one was home. I had briefly met...I waited outside the apt. I had called Z earlier that day...phone no longer in service...about seven I headed to familiar places...one of Caylee's favorite places was JBP...I paced at one of the places I felt at home TL apartment. Since Caylee's disappearance I have stayed at TL. I have lied stolen from my friends and family to do what it took...out of fear...I am still afraid of what my have happened to caylee...a quick call from zenaida but cannot get info from her...everyday I have gone to malls, parks, any info about Caylee or Zenaida, whether going to a popular bar...Jeff lives in Jacksonvill...around 12 pm I received a phone call from Caylee...the first time I heard her voice in four weeks...all that matters is getting my daughter back...never able to check on the well being of my daughter...zenaida never said if she will bring Caylee home.

LDB: where did you review that statement with miss anthony?

?

LDB: did she agree to speak with you?

yes

LDB: spare bedroom and speak with her?

yes

LDB: did you place her on tape?

yes

LDB: have you listened to that tape?

yes

LDB: does it fairly reflect the convo with kc?

yes

(oh, we get to hear the tape, I think. woo hoo. )

HHJP: objection overruled and received into evidence.

LDB: have you reviewed the transcript from the tape?

yes

LDB: have you determined the transcript is a accurate account?

yes

LDB: seek to enter it into evidence

HHJP: you may publish

(tape is playing)

Casey states birthday. YM tells her he was called because of a missing child. He wants to make sure her sworn statement is hers. She says yes. He wants to explain what happens if she makes a false statement, that if she wants to change the statement. She says it is the truth. He says Okay.

Your daughters name is Caylee?

yes

On june 9th you took Caylee to the baby sitter?

ZFG, Casey spells, sawgrass apartments, she does not remember address but remembers 210. She gives directions as to where it is, shed near building...

she new Zenaida four years, meet through JMHopkins met through Universal...she was his nanny at the time.

Does Jeff work for Universal?

No moved down to Jacksonvill...last spoke to him a month ago, does not have number for him off hand. She had two phones one through universal, one won't keep charge.

Lose a phone? personal?

She uses it for personal and business. Same number she just lost the phone. The SIM card is in the other phone...one other number for Zenaida and Jeff but they are not saved on the SIM card. She filed an incident report...she left the phone on her desk she wants to have a working phone instead of having a phone that does not stay charged.

She knows she left it on her desk and had not been to desk in three or four days. Met Zenaida through Jeffery...for almost four years...met her when Casey was pg...within the last year she began watching Caylee...looking for new nanny...Jeff offered she agreed and it went from there...Lauren Gibbs...

when she stop watching child?

April of 2006. Zenaida started watching. I would drop her off, for a few months we went to Jeffs house that was a couple of years off, to drop off Caylee where Zenaida would go to watch the kids...then started to bring the kids to Zenaida's apt.

When did you start taking Caylee? 2006 2007 your started taking her to Sawgrass...

Robinson....close to downtown lived there for a few months and moved to sawgrass...bumby can't remember apartment number...

six seven months the middle 2007...Zenaida was at that apt for the last three months before that she lived with her mom...not a well marked neighborhood...

had you dropped the child off there before? yes...

so sawgrass..mom's house..

yes, her mom was not living there at the time she had gotten a place with her sister...

she was living with these two girls at sawgrass?

yes

you dropped off Caylee to go to work?

I got off of work, left universal like a normal day, knock on door nobody answers...her cell is out of service...so I sit down on the steps to see if it was a fluke if something happened time passed and I went to JBP, went to a couple of stores...and after about seven when I hadn't heard anything I was upset and frantic and went to a neutral place...didn't want to come home didn't know what I would say...I ended up going to sutton place...

talk to Tony about Caylee?

no

Talk to anyone about Caylee?

A couple mutual friends, Jeff Hopkins...tried to attempt to contact Zenaida's mother.

You know her mother's name?

(long pause) it is gloria

any of these numbers in the SIM card?

no

so after a full year you do not have...

Zenaida has switched phones a number of times, Jeff's number has changed because he moved...

How can we get jeffs number?

the internet I can get it off of maybe

Juliette Lewis is an event co ordinator?

Have a number for Juliette?

I..can't...her number just changed just in the last two months just moved to NY. she left universal about two months ago.

who else did you talk to?

within that small group, I tried to get info by going to fusian ultra lounge asking if anyone heard about my nanny. the only two people I told were jeff and juliette...definitely online on our old worksheets...she has a new number that I just programed...talked to her three weeks ago shortly after she left.

what is the reason you didn't call the police before? we are here because your parents, why didn't you call?

I was naive to think I could handle this myself...fear of the unknown of the potential of Caylee getting hurt of not seeing my daughter again.

Is there anything about this story that is untrue?

no

did you hurt Caylee?

no sir

ZFG took your daughter?

she is the last person I seen with my daughter yes.

Taking some money from some people, any problems with drugs?

nothing

Thoughts of suicide?

no

Underlying cause to why Zenaida would take your child?

Only how much she loves Caylee and what a great child she is.

Zenaida has family in NY?

she is originally from NY, she pretty grew up there, she is black and puerto rican...birthday is in september...

Willing to drive with me?

yes

Anything you want to tell me that is important?

Caylee has distinctive features, birthmark on shoulder.

What kind?

Like a small line like a small be be mark.

Anything else?

I just want my daughter back.

Raise your hand, is the truth?

yes

LDB: did you go to look at those places?

yes

LDB: where did you go?

301 n polside, near bumby and robinson off of glenwood

LDB: did you get out of car?

no we drove by and I asked her to point out the windows of Zenaida's family, she indicated the two windows belong to the apt.

LDB: are there people Casey knew that lived off glenwood?

RM

LDB: during the drive that morning did she mention friends lived across the street?

no

LDB: did she say she spent time there since her daughter went missing?

no

LDB: where go?

sawgrass, I asked her to direct me to the apt where she dropped caylee off

LDB: ?

210

LDB: get out of car?

no

LDB: any other statement other than to direct you?

I don't recall no

LDB: last location?

no, almost katty corner apartments on Conway and Michigan...but its a several single story town homes...each individually owned.

LDB: what doing there?

she claims this was a location where Zenaida lived and she had dropped the child off at we drove through the complex more than once but in the general area.

LDB: anywhere else?

no the only location where we got out of the car

LDB: what occurred?

we had a marked following us...

overruled

if we got out of the car and knocked on the door, I asked Casey to sit in car, I would knock on doors and if anyone looked familiar and we would go from there.

LDB: did miss anthony tell you any of those people looked familiar?

no

LDB: directed anywhere else by miss anthony?

no

LDB: what time is it after this is completed? It was light?

just after six in the morning

LDB: where did you go?

drove her home

LDB: did you have her cell

I don't recall if she had it I did not have it.

LDB: when you dropped her at home you let her go in house?

yes

LDB: did you indicate you would continue to investigate?

general sense, yes

LDB: did you leave at that point and begin an investigation of the information she had provided to you?

yes

HHJP: cross

JB: you ever go by any other names other than Yuri Melich

sustained

JB: may we approach?

HHJP: no

JB: I'd like to show the relevance

HHJP: okay you can approach.

JB: I would like to approach the bench

HHJP: no

JB: I would like to explain the relevance

HHJP: okay

side bar

(hope this one posts, I lost the first)

HHJP: I am going to ask the jury to step outside we are going to take care of this brief legal matter, thank you.

Will the jury rise.

HHJP: do you have copies of those for us Mr. Baez?

JB: fumble, bumble...gave to LDB

LDB: I have not received them I have notes on all I have received, although if Mr. Baez can provide a copy at this time...

HHJP: Dect. Melich please stand down while we obtain a copy of this.

Please note that Websleuths had a surge of guests when Websleuths was mentioned and so some of this testimony may be missing.

http://www.wftv.com/video/28098253/index.html

Video testimony begins with this link.

This link discussed his credibility issue that JB brought up ---->http://www.wftv.com/video/28099804/index.html