The murder trial of Jodi Arias began on Wednesday, four and a half years after she allegedly killed former lover Travis Alexander on June 4th, 2008. His body was found five days later by his roommates in the shower stall of his Mesa, Arizona, home. The 30-year-old entrepreneur and motivational speaker had been shot in the face, stabbed 27 times, and had his throat slit.
The trial, which has been compared to the Casey Anthony trial in terms of publicity and social media squawking, is expected to last until April. However, after this morning's open statements, they have already moved on to witnesses. The first witness was Marie Hall, who was a friend of Travis's from church. The two had gone on a few dates, and she had been planning to accompany him to Cancun when his body was found. Ms. Hall was thoroughly interrogated regarding the rules of the Mormon church, as well as her relationship with Alexander and the finding of his body. Next up was Officer Sterling Williams of the Mesa PD, who described the state of Travis Alexander's body when he was found, even identifying pictures taken of the scene. Arias covered her face and appeared to cry during the officer's testimony.
If convicted, Arias faces the death penalty. She first claimed that she was not present when Travis was killed, which was later refuted by forensic and photo evidence. Her next tale involved a scenario where two disguised people had broken into the house and killed Travis, letting her run free. Her current defense is that Travis was physically and sexually abusive and she killed him in self defense.
It will be interesting to see what the outcome of this case will be. Could Jodi Arias walk free? The stacked evidence against her leads one to wonder why she didn't just take a deal. It seems very unlikely that the jury will find her not guilty. Of course, no one expected Casey Anthony to be found not guilty, either. Remember how your jaw dropped? Could she be the 4th woman put on Arizona's death row? Only time will tell, but until then, watch live trial coverage at AZFamily.com.
Photo credit: Facebook
recommend
Facebook
Twitter
bookmark 
print
Comments: 2