Jodi Arias: Murder of Travis Alexander

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The story of Jodi Ann Arias and the murder of Travis Victor Alexander is known as one of the most highly followed criminal trials in the history of the United States. Millions tuned in daily to watch live courtroom footage of the trial, the testimonies, and the stories.

Jodi Ann Arias was born on July 9, 1980 in Salinas, California and dropped out of high school after the 11th grade.

Jodi Ann Arias

Photo Source: Eyes for Lies (website)

She met Travis Alexander in September 2006 at a Pre-Paid Legal Services company conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Even though, Travis was a devout Mormon, and Jodi wasn’t, the two developed a nearly instant intense, long-distance relationship.

Jodi meets Travis in September 2006 at a company conference in Las Vegas, Nevada

Photo Source: NY Daily News

After 2 months of meeting, in November 2006, Jodi was baptized into the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints where Travis was a member. Travis and Jodi carried on an on-and-off again long-distance relationship for the next year and a half.

Jodi and Travis date on-and-off for nearly a year and a half after first meeting in September 2006

Photo Source: CBS News

Friends of Travis describe Jodi as crazy and possessive. They describe their relationship as toxic from the very beginning. His friends were right to be concerned about Jodi and her behavior.

By April 2008, Travis told Jodi that he no longer wanted to take her on an upcoming work trip to Mexico, infuriating Jodi. Travis had plans to bring another girl along on the work trip.

Travis Alexander tries to break-up with Jodi several times during their relationship

Photo Source: Wikipedia

On May 28, 2008, while Jodi was living with her grandparents, the house was burglarized and several items were stolen including a .25 caliber automatic colt pistol, $30 in cash, a small stereo, and a DVD player.

A few days after the burglary at Jodi’s grandparent’s house, Jodi rents a car to head out on a road trip to visit her friend and coworker, Ryan Burns in West Jordan, Utah. But before she heads to Utah, she stops in Mesa, Arizona to visit Travis on June 4th. After spending the day with Travis, Ryan Burns recalls Jodi had changed her hair color and had cuts on her hands.

Jodi changed her hair color after visiting Travis on June 4th from blonde to brunette

Photo Source: Huff Post

By June 7th, friends of Travis become concerned because they haven’t seen or heard from him in several days. Travis’s friends head over to his house on East Queensborough Avenue in Mesa, AZ, where his roommate provided a key to his bedroom.

Inside the master bedroom, the friends discover a blood bath and the lifeless body of Travis Alexander hunched over in the shower.

Blood trail in Travis’s bedroom hallway towards bathroom

Photo Source: Oxygen

Travis’s autopsy revealed he had been stabbed between 27 and 29 times, his throat had been slit from ear to ear, and he had a single gunshot wound to his head. Crime scene technicians recovered a .25 caliber shell cashing on the bathroom floor, near Travis’s body.

Right after the murder, Travis’s friend begged police to look into Jodi Arias. On June 17th, Jodi voluntarily provided her fingerprints, and saliva for DNA testing. During the interview, Jodi told police the last time she saw Travis was in April, two months prior to his murder.

While police waited for the DNA test results, crime scene technicians recovered a digital camera in Travis’s washing machine. The camera contained many X-rated images of Jodi and Travis together on June 4th. Images that proved Jodi lied about the last time she saw Travis.

The DNA test results came back and revealed the hair and palm print found inside Travis’s bathroom belonged to Jodi. In fact, all the blood from the bathroom was a mixture of Jodi and Travis’s blood.

Bloody bathroom sink in Travis’s bathroom

Photo Source: Crime Online (website)

Exactly 1 month after Travis Alexander was found murdered, Jodi Arias was arrested for murder on July 9, 2008. The same day she celebrated her 29th birthday.

Jodi was arrested at her grandparent’s home in California and extradited back to Arizona to face murder charges. She was assigned a public defender and pled not guilty on September 11th.

Jodi Arias arrested and charged with the murder of Travis Alexander

Photo Source: AP News

Jodi provided a number of different stories about Travis’s death. At first, she claimed she was never in Mesa, Arizona. Then her story changed to that two intruders broke into Travis’s house. Lastly, she changed her story and said she killed Travis out of self-defense for dropping his digital camera.

The Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office announced that they would be seeking the death penalty against Jodi.

Jodi’s murder trial began in December 2012. During the trial, Jodi stuck to her claim that she killed Travis out of self-defense. But the prosecution argued that the fact Jodi brought the gun with her to Arizona showed premeditation of the murder.

Jodi Arias and her defense counsel during trial

Photo Source: ABC News

The murder trial became a media sensation. Millions tuned in daily to watch live courtroom footage of the trial. Jodi and Travis’s relationship and sex life became the focus on the trial.

Jodi’s claim of self-defense didn’t sway the jury, and she was found guilty of first-degree murder after only 15 hours of deliberating. After 2 sentencing mistrials, Jodi was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Travis Alexander.

Jodi showing the jury a domestic violent “survivor” t-shirt she was selling to raise money for victims of domestic violence

She is currently serving her life sentence in an Arizona state prison.

 

Episode Sources:

Murder of Travis Alexander Wikipedia

Huff Post: Timeline of Jodi Arias website

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