Read Casey Anthony’s First Interview

After the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008, Casey Anthony's life changed forever — and her name took over headlines in the United States as her daughter's very public murder trial unfolded over the next few years. Anthony was eventually acquitted in 2011, but in the following years, she laid low, knowing many still believed she was guilty of killing her daughter. Now, for the first time since her trial, Anthony has spoken to the media about her daughter and the case, and Casey Anthony's first interview with the Associated Press has given the public a strange inside peek at Anthony's life.

First of all, Anthony was quick to acknowledge other people's doubts about her innocence. "Based off what was in the media, I understand the reasons people feel about me," she told the Associated Press during one of five on-the-record interviews. "I understand why people have the opinions that they do." However, she maintained that she was innocent, saying:

I didn't do what I was accused of but I fought for three years. Not just for me, but for my daughter. ... I don't give a s--- about what anyone thinks about me, I never will. I'm OK with myself, I sleep pretty good at night.

She drew parallels between her case and that of O.J. Simpson, saying she empathized with him. She explained that she saw herself as an Alice in Wonderland, with the public as the Red Queen. "The queen is proclaiming: 'No, no, sentence first, verdict afterward,'" she said. "I sense and feel to this day that is a direct parallel to what I lived. My sentence was doled out long before there was a verdict. Sentence first, verdict afterward. People found me guilty long before I had my day in court."

Of course, Anthony didn't exactly do herself many favors while her trial unfolded, according to ABC. She told police that the last time she had seen Caylee alive had been when she left her with a babysitter in June 2008 — a fact that turned out to be untrue. She recounted a story of Caylee talking to her on the phone about a book she was reading at a point when Caylee was already dead. She pretended she was employed by Universal Studios when she wasn't. During the period in which Caylee was missing (and, as police discovered later, was already dead), Anthony told her mother Caylee was at Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios.

But Anthony told the Associated Press that she would have been treated as she was even if she hadn't lied:

Even if I would've told them everything that I told to the psychologist, I hate to say this but I firmly believe I would have been in the same place. Because cops believe other cops. Cops tend to victimize the victims. I understand now ... I see why I was treated the way I was even had I been completely truthful.

Even now, Anthony claims she has no idea what happened to her daughter. "Everyone has their theories, I don't know. As I stand here today I can't tell you one way or another," she said.

Associated Press journalist Josh Replogle wrote that his interviews with Anthony were "at turns revealing, bizarre and often contradictory." Unfortunately for the many people who still have questions about the contradictory case, Replogle wrote, Anthony's interview responses "raised more questions than answers."

For those whose curiosity about the Anthony case hasn't waned, however, the interview is an interesting glimpse into the mind of Casey Anthony. Chances are, it won't change readers' minds on her innocence or guilt either way.