A Shocking New Casey Anthony Allegation

Just when you thought the Casey Anthony story was over and done with, some new allegations from a private investigator named Dominic Casey have have raised some new questions. And make no mistake, these are very inflammatory allegations indeed: Casey alleges Anthony admitted to killing her daughter, Caylee, to her lawyer Jose Baez, and subsequently informed the investigator what happened. Baez adamantly denies Casey's claims, saying in a statement, "I unequivocally and categorically deny [them]."

The allegations were reportedly first made in the course of the 30-year-old Anthony's bankruptcy case, by way of an affidavit by Casey, and the documents went public this week. Here's the basic gist: Casey claimed (under penalty of perjury) that he was hired by Baez in the days immediately after the defense attorney took Anthony's case, and that he was told that Anthony had allegedly admitted to killing her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, and hiding her body, according to Casey. Baez denies this conversation ever took place.

Here's what Casey specifically alleged about Anthony's role in Caylee's death, as Fox News detailed, and what he's claiming Baez knew about it:

Baez had told me that Casey had murdered Caylee and dumped the body somewhere and, he needed all the help he could get to find the body before anyone else did.

It's an explosive allegation. But it's important to note that even if it was not false, this would not speak to any legal or ethical wrongdoing on Baez's part. Defense attorneys in the United States are tasked with ethically defending their clients to the utmost of their abilities, in accordance with the constitutional right to legal defense, regardless of any potential knowledge of their client's guilt or innocence. And Baez has nonetheless staunchly denied this allegation, as detailed by The Charlotte Observer, calling Casey's claims "ridiculous" and stating that he decided not to work with the investigator after two meetings in 2008. Said Baez:

It’s absolutely, 100 percent false. He’s the last person in the world that I would share an attorney-client relationship with.

The inflammatory allegations in Casey's deposition reportedly don't stop there, however. He also claimed that he witnessed Anthony naked at Baez's office, and that, when confronted, she told him she'd engaged in a sexual relationship with the attorney because she didn't have enough money to pay him. Baez has also denied this allegation in strong, condemning terms. In a statement to People, he called it a "libelous" charge, in keeping with Casey's "many other outrageous claims and theories." (Indeed, according to the magazine, Casey stated in a deposition in 2011 that he wasn't even sure it was Caylee's body that was been discovered, among other theories.)

Baez expanded even further on these denials in a statement from his law firm on Wednesday:

Various media outlets have irresponsibly reported uncorroborated allegations that my former client, Ms. Casey Anthony, traded sex with me in exchange for my legal services in connection with her 2011 homicide trial. Media reports that a former investigator, Dominic Casey, made these claims in a bankruptcy court affidavit, which he filed on his own accord, and without a request by any party, or the court.

I unequivocally and categorically deny exchanging sex for my legal services with Ms. Anthony. I further unequivocally and categorically deny having any sexual relationship with Ms. Anthony whatsoever. I have always conducted my practice consistent with the high ethical standard required of members of the Florida Bar. My representation of Ms. Anthony was no exception.

The source of these reports, an uncorroborated affidavit of a former investigator, who has a history of making outrageous claims to both the media and in court proceedings (See attached claims that Caylee Anthony was kidnapped by drug traffickers and flown in a plane operated by the post office to Venezuela, Colombia and Puerto Rico). This libelous claim is in line with many other outrageous claims and theories that this individual has advanced regarding the Casey Anthony case.

Legal action is forthcoming, and I ask that if you choose to report these outrageous claims, that you do so with due diligence, in a responsible, journalistic manner.

Bustle could not reach Anthony for comment.