


Arias, 32, initially denied involvement, then later blamed the killing on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

Arias talked to Fox affiliate KSAZ in the courthouse minutes after she was convicted of first-degree murder. With tears in her eyes, she said she feels overwhelmed and that she was surprised because she didn’t believe she committed first-degree murder.

She said she would “prefer to die sooner than later” and that “death is the ultimate freedom.”

30 knife wounds



The trial will move into a phase during which prosecutors will argue that the killing was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner, called the “aggravation” phase. Both sides may call witnesses and show evidence during a mini trial of sorts. The jurors are the same.

A throng of spectators gathered outside the courthouse to hear the verdict, while TV crews, media trucks and reporters lined nearby streets. Family and friends of Alexander wore blue ribbons and wristbands with the words “Justice For Travis.”

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the forehead and his throat was slit before Arias dragged his body into his shower. He was found by friends about five days later.


Scared, ashamed

Arias said she recalled Alexander attacking her in a fury after a day of sex. She said Alexander came at her “like a linebacker,” body-slamming her to the tile floor. She managed to wriggle free and ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf. She said she fired in self-defense but had no memory of stabbing him.


None of Arias’ allegations that Alexander had physically abused her in the months before his death, that he owned a gun and had sexual desires for young boys, were corroborated by witnesses or evidence during the trial. She acknowledged lying repeatedly before and after her arrest, but insisted she was telling the truth in court.


No dispute of killing

Psychologist Richard Samuels testified for the defense that Arias suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative amnesia, which explained why she couldn’t recall much from the day of the killing.


Their testimony would be crucial to convince jurors that Arias wasn’t lying about her memory gaps from the day of the killing, and that she did suffer physical abuse by Alexander.


After all, there was no dispute that Arias killed Alexander. It was the first thing Arias’ defense acknowledged.

“Jodi Arias killed Travis Alexander,” Arias attorney Jennifer Willmott told jurors in opening statements. “There is no question about it. The million-dollar question is, what would have forced her to do it?”


He later called his own expert, clinical psychologist Janeen DeMarte, who told jurors Arias didn’t suffer from PTSD or amnesia, and that she found no evidence that the defendant was a battered woman.