(CNN) - On the third anniversary of the day 2-year-old Caylee Anthony was last seen alive, attorneys for her suspected killer - her mother, Casey Anthony - kicked off their defense Thursday, presenting testimony about DNA and forensic procedures.

Testing found no blood on any of Anthony's clothes, in her car trunk or in the interior of the car, according to FBI examiner Heather Seubert and Orange County, Florida, Sheriff's Office crime scene technician Gerardo Bloise.

The two were the first witnesses called by Anthony's defense on a day that saw several heated exchanges between the prosecution and the defense.

Prosecutors allege that Anthony, 25, killed Caylee in 2008 by using chloroform on her and putting duct tape over her nose and mouth. They allege she then put the little girl's body in black garbage bags and stored it in her trunk before dumping it in woods near her home.

Caylee's skeletal remains were found December 11, 2008. Although she was last seen June 16 of that year, her disappearance was not reported until July 15, after Anthony's mother demanded answers from her daughter about Caylee's whereabouts.

Anthony faces seven counts in Caylee's death, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators. If convicted, she could face the death penalty. She has pleaded not guilty, and her defense attorney Jose Baez has said that when all the facts are known, his client's innocence will become clear.

The defense has said Caylee was not killed but rather drowned in the family pool June 16. Baez told jurors in his opening statements that Anthony and her father, George Anthony, panicked when they discovered the body and covered up her death. George Anthony rejected that scenario in his testimony the first week of the trial.

(CNN) - Casey Anthony's defense attorneys are seeking to question a convicted felon who served prison time for kidnapping, claiming in court documents he is linked to Anthony's father through cell phone records.

Vasco Thompson, 52, is on an amended witness list filed Tuesday in Anthony's capital murder trial. Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. has not yet ruled on whether Thompson can be deposed or testify in the trial.

Casey Anthony's father, George Anthony, denied knowing Thompson or ever speaking to him in a statement released by his attorney.

Prosecutors allege that Casey Anthony, 25, killed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008 by using chloroform on her and putting duct tape over her nose and mouth. They allege she then put the little girl's body in black garbage bags and stored it in her trunk before dumping it in woods near her home.

Caylee's skeletal remains were found December 11, 2008. She was last seen June 16, 2008, but her disappearance was not reported until July 15, 2008, after Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, demanded answers from her daughter about Caylee's whereabouts.

Anthony faces seven counts in Caylee's death, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators. If convicted, she could face the death penalty. She has pleaded not guilty.

"Mr. Thompson is a recently discovered witness through the ongoing efforts of defense investigators," according to the court documents filed Tuesday. "This witness was connected to George Anthony through his cell phone records."

A background check revealed that Thompson "has a violent criminal history and has served a 10-year prison sentence for kidnapping," according to the court documents.

"Because of the recently discovered and unexplained relationship between George Anthony and Vasco Thompson, their finite contact which, based on cell records, existed only during the relevant time period, and Mr. Thompson's violent criminal history, good cause is shown for the late disclosure of this witness," the defense says in the filing.

Those contacts, they allege, included four contacts on July 14, 2008 - the day before Caylee was reported missing by Cindy Anthony.

The defense said it needs to question Thompson "to determine the existence of relevant admissible evidence in this trial."

Thompson refused to speak with defense investigators and called police when he was questioned, the documents said.

"Mr. Anthony does not know Vasco Dagama Thompson," the Anthonys' attorney, Mark Lippman, said in a statement. "Mr. Anthony does not recall ever speaking with Mr. Vasco Dagama Thompson at any time including July 14, 2008, by any form of communication."

Lippman pointed out the defense has failed to identify who initiated the calls or the length of time of each telephone call.

"This simply appears to be another attempt by the defense to attack my client," Lippman said. "Mr. Anthony has and will continue to maintain the position that he had nothing to do with the death of Caylee Marie Anthony or any of the events that occurred afterward regarding the actions of the defendant Casey Anthony established by the state of Florida in the presentation of their case."

According to records attached to the amended witness list, Thompson was sentenced in 1998 to 40 years in prison for kidnapping. He was required to serve eight years in prison and 30 years on probation. The Florida Department of Corrections website shows he was in and out of custody but was released in 2004.

It was unclear how Thompson might fit into the defense's strategy in the Anthony case.

Prosecutors rested their case earlier Wednesday, and Perry rejected a defense request for a judgment of acquittal, saying the jury must decide what to make of the evidence.

Casey Anthony's defense attorneys will begin presenting their case Thursday. The trial, held in Orlando, is in its fourth week.

The defense has said Caylee was not killed, but rather drowned in the family pool on June 16.

(CNN) - One of the prosecution's final witnesses, Casey Anthony's mother took the stand again Tuesday in her daughter's capital murder trial, breaking into tears from time to time as she discussed items found with the remains of her 2-year-old granddaughter, Caylee.

The prosecution plans to rest its case Wednesday, prosecutor Jeff Ashton told Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. The defense was unable to move its first few witnesses, Perry said, and will begin its case Thursday.

Cindy Anthony began crying when a photograph of Caylee wearing a shirt reading "Big trouble comes in small packages" was introduced into evidence. Previous testimony has suggested that scraps of the shirt were found at the scene along with Caylee's skeletal remains.

Cindy Anthony said she did most of the laundry at the home, and "I don't ever remember seeing that shirt."

She also identified photographs of objects similar to canvas laundry bags she said were in the Anthony home and said that Caylee had a Winnie the Pooh blanket but that she had not seen the blanket since the end of May, before Caylee disappeared. A canvas laundry bag and Winnie the Pooh blanket were found with the little girl's remains.

Cindy Anthony's testimony followed that of a long line of investigators and forensic experts, called to the stand in the Orlando courtroom in an effort to support prosecutors' theory that Casey Anthony, 25, killed her daughter by knocking her out with chloroform and putting duct tape over her nose and mouth. They allege she then put the little girl's body in black garbage bags and stored it in her trunk before dumping it in woods near her home.

Caylee's skeletal remains were found in December 11, 2008. She was last seen June 16, 2008, but her disappearance was not reported until July 15, 2008, after Cindy Anthony demanded answers from her daughter about Caylee's whereabouts.

Anthony faces seven counts in Caylee's death, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.

She has pleaded not guilty. Her attorneys have said Caylee was not killed but rather drowned in the family pool on June 16. Defense attorney Jose Baez told jurors that Casey Anthony and her father, George Anthony, panicked when they discovered the body and covered up her death. George Anthony rejected that scenario in his testimony the first week of the trial.

(CNN) - The Casey Anthony murder trial ended an hour and a half early on Thursday, with Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. telling members of the media in the courtroom that Anthony was ill.

Jurors were not told why the trial ended early Thursday, and Perry asked them not to speculate. He said court would be in recess until Friday.

After the jurors left, Perry spoke to members of the media in the courtroom, saying that Anthony was ill and that neither the prosecution nor the defense had any comment on the matter. The judge asked reporters not to question either side about it. The details of Anthony's illness were not given.

During a short break before the announcement, Anthony drank a bottle of water quietly as attorneys spoke together and went back to Perry's chambers, according to In Session's Michael Christian. She was escorted out of the courtroom during the break, then brought back in, but lay her head down on her arms at the defense table. She did not stand as the jurors left the courtroom.

Earlier Thursday, testimony centered on the recovery of the skeletal remains of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, from a wooded area in December 2008. Anthony cried as photographs of the remains were displayed in the Orlando courtroom and avoided looking at the screen where they were displayed.

Anthony, 25, faces seven counts in Caylee's death, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.

The toddler's family last saw her on June 16, 2008, but no one alerted police until July 15, when the girl's maternal grandmother tracked down Casey Anthony and demanded answers.

Prosecutors allege Casey Anthony used chloroform on her daughter and suffocated her by putting duct tape over the little girl's mouth and nose. They allege she put her daughter's body in her car trunk before disposing of it. Caylee's skeletal remains were found on December 11, 2008, less than a mile from the home of Casey Anthony's parents.

Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty and denied having anything to do with her daughter's death. Defense attorney Jose Baez has said that when all the facts are known, it will become clear his client is innocent.

(CNN) - Someone conducted keyword searches on "chloroform" using a desktop computer located in the home Casey Anthony shared with her parents, a computer examiner testified Wednesday in Anthony's capital murder trial.

The searches were found in a portion of the computer's hard drive that indicated they had been deleted, Detective Sandra Osborne of the Orange County Sheriff's Office testified.

However, she told jurors, deleted material remains on a computer's hard drive and can be retrieved until it is overwritten by new data. It had not been overwritten on the Anthonys' computer, she said, and "a complete Internet history" was obtained.

Anthony, 25, faces seven counts in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.

The toddler's family last saw her on June 16, 2008, but no one alerted police until July 15, when the girl's maternal grandmother tracked down the suspect and demanded answers.

Prosecutors allege Anthony used chloroform on her daughter and suffocated her by putting duct tape over the little girl's mouth and nose. They allege Anthony put her daughter's body in her car trunk before disposing of it. Caylee's skeletal remains were found in December 2008, less than a mile from the home of Anthony's parents.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty and denied having anything to do with her daughter's death. Defense attorney Jose Baez has said that when all the facts are known, it will become clear his client is innocent.

(CNN) - In jail visits with her brother and parents following her arrest, Casey Anthony alternately cries, giggles, expresses love to her relatives and insists her sole focus is finding her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, according to tapes of those visits played for jurors in her capital murder trial on Thursday.

"If you can speak to the media directly, my concern for me is Caylee," a tearful Anthony tells her brother, Lee Anthony, on July 25, 2008, from an Orange County, Florida, jail. "No one has said for me that I love my daughter, that I want her safety and that she and the rest of my family is my only concern. All I want is to see her again, to hear her laugh, to see her smile and to just be with our family. Nothing else matters to me at this point."

The same day, Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, asks her during a visit, "Are you protecting Caylee? Are you protecting me?"

"I'm protecting our family, yes," Anthony replies. "Not from anything I've done."

"Is someone threatening us?" Cindy Anthony asks, then asks again after receiving no answer.

"Just leave it at that, please," her crying daughter replies, adding that she will write her and elaborate. The family was careful about what they discussed, mindful the conversations were being recorded.

Now 25, Casey Anthony is charged with seven counts in Caylee's death, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading police. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.

She has pleaded not guilty and denied harming her daughter or having anything to do with the little girl's disappearance or death. Defense attorney Jose Baez has said that once all the facts are known, it will become clear his client is innocent.