'Crime Scene Confidential' CSI Takes Viewers 'Under the Tape' With Casey Anthony Case (Exclusive)
Alina Burroughs is ready to take true-crime fans "under the tape" and show them the reality of being a crime scene investigator – no sunglasses required. Ahead of ID's new series, Crime Scene Confidential, premiering Tuesday, March 8, the seasoned CSI and forensic expert opened up about her experiences working the Casey Anthony case – which she re-examines in the season premiere – and other high-profile crime scenes.
"You know what they say, 'With great risk comes great reward,'" she told PopCulture. "It's the same thing with this job. It's 'With great personal trauma comes great payoff,' but it really is that way." Working everything from the scene where toddler Caylee Anthony was found in 2008 to the medical examiner's office identifying victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, Burroughs' responsibility is caring for each and every victim as she would her own family.
"Crime scene [investigating] has enabled me that opportunity for every one of my victims to provide that service, whether I know them or not. I can do that for somebody. To have them feel somebody gives a damn about their loved one, whether I've met them or not," she said. "Whether I know them or not, to feel personally [that] I need to care for this person. Personally, I need to figure out who did this. Personally, I need to find somebody and hold them accountable."
Investigating the scene where Caylee's body was found, Burroughs said she had no idea how much the case would take over headlines worldwide. While there are political and socio-economic aspects as to why Caylee's case drew such interest over similar cases, Burroughs thinks the case really challenged people's idea of "what a killer looks like."
"Is a killer a mother? Is it a homecoming queen? Is it a doctor? Is it a lawyer? We have ideas in our head," she explained, noting that consciously or unconsciously, society's internal bias reasons, "No, it can't be those things because those are things that I trust. So, therefore, it cannot be that because that conflicts with the category in my head for things I trust."
On Crime Scene Confidential, Burroughs wants to take in the evidence and the conclusions of experts over the narrative people buy "hook, line and sinker," and apply it to the Anthony case and beyond. Interviewing detectives who investigated the Anthony case, chief medical examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia who pronounced the cause of death and testified in the trial, and Caylee's grandmother, Cindy Anthony, Burroughs is determined to find the truth.
"We're going to look at the physical evidence because it simply is, or it isn't," she told PopCulture. With the seasoned investigator guiding viewers through the technical aspects, Burroughs wants to move beyond the "sunglasses acting" of how CSIs are portrayed on TV. "I want to show up for the real CSIs that are motivated to be that voice for the victim and to let everybody know this job is gritty. It's hard physically, emotionally," she said. "I want to take people under the tape and be like, this is what we do." Crime Scene Confidential premieres Tuesday, March 8 at 9 p.m. ET on ID and streaming the same day on discovery+.