Casey Anthony lawyers assail meter reader

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Lawyers for the Florida mother charged with killing her toddler daughter say the man who found the toddler's remains should be investigated.

Casey Anthony's attorneys allege Roy Kronk, a meter reader who found the remains of 2-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony in December 2008, has a violent past and should be a suspect.

Jill Kerley, one of Kronk's former wives, alleges to a private investigator for the Anthony team that Kronk once tied her up with duct tape, records cited by the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel indicate.

Forensic evidence released by the State Attorney's Office shows Caylee's mouth was covered by duct tape when she died.

It is not clear if Kerley, a nurse, filed a criminal complaint against Kronk, the Sentinel said. He has no criminal record in Florida.

Kerley herself is a convicted felon in Tennessee on probation after writing bad checks, the newspaper said.

She was also arrested in 2000 on a controlled-substance charge, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation records cited by the Sentinel indicate. The outcome of that case was not immediately available.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Anthony, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and claims a babysitter kidnapped Caylee. The toddler's body was found near Anthony's home in Orlando after a months-long search.

Anthony's murder trial was set to begin this summer, but that now seems unlikely, prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick said.