I thought this blog post was really interesting. The writer actually presumes that a mistrial could occur in this case. However, he also makes some really valid points regarding this murder.
Jodi Arias Mistrial? Eric Lageson
Jodi Arias, 32, is currently on trial for the brutal 2008 slaying of her boyfriend Travis Alexander. Not since O.J. Simpson’s suspected double-homicide has there been such a mountain of evidence presented to an unwilling-to-believe jury. Ms. Arias admits to killing Mr. Alexander, in self-defense. There’s no doubt about it. And yet the jury is asking if his roommates have an alibi. Do they think life is a TV-movie where the least likely one did it? Or that “Jodi” seems too pretty and nice?
Here are the facts of the case…
Jodi Arias and Travis Alexander had maintained an intimate relationship for five months. (Feb. 2007 – June 2007.) After breaking up because of “trust issues”, they continued a “friends with benefits” affair for a year. While Travis had a number of other girlfriends, Jodi continued to pursue him, even changing her religion to his: Mormonism.
Friends noticed disturbing behavior from Jodi, who spied on Travis, looked through his cellphone messages, hacked into his computer/bank account and slashed his tires twice.
June 4, 2008. Travis prepared to vacation to Cancun with another woman. After an afternoon of photographed sex with Jodi, he showered. Jodi entered the bathroom and began taking pictures with his digital camera. Ms. Arias claims she accidently dropped the camera – wherein he became enraged and attacked her. In what she calls “self-defense”, Jodi stabbed Travis twenty-nine times, slashed his throat from ear-to-ear and shot him in the face. Afterwards, she bathed him and then tried to erase the photos from the camera by dumping it into a washing machine.
Questions…
Why was Jodi Arias carrying a gun? (Stolen from her grandparents)
Why was Jodi carrying a knife?
How did she know the accident with the camera would happen?
Did she drop it on purpose?
Was this meant to start the violence?
If this is a self-defense case – where are Jodi’s injuries?
If she feared Travis so much to carry deadly weapons, why be there in the first place?
Wouldn’t pointing the gun at him have been enough?
REALITY
Jodi Arias was being dumped and she knew it. She conned Travis Alexander into a final round of sex, then waited until he was at his most vulnerable. Maybe she dropped the camera on purpose, maybe by accident, but, the camera kept taking pictures and she kept taking pictures; pictures of her lover’s gory body. Is this normal? Wouldn’t the average woman have called 911?
Jodi Arias’ account of what happened changes more than the autumn leaves. First, she wasn’t there when it happened. Second, it was home invaders, a man and a woman dressed as ninjas. Lucky Jodi ran off and drove away, barely escaping with her life! Third, they let her live, but warned her not to talk or there would be certain death. Fourth and finally, Jodi merely defended herself against a wild and crazed sex pervert: Travis Alexander.
More reality: a bloody handprint on the wall matches Jodi’s.
Why the self-defense plea doesn’t work…
Nine of the knife wounds are “running away wounds” – i.e., he was stabbed in the back.
The deadly cut to the throat could only happen if he was lying down. It’s too deep to be a superficial slash.
The gunshot occurred two feet away while she stood over him.
It all comes down to this. What proof is there that Travis was trying to kill Jodi on June 4
th 2008? None. Only the claims of a known liar. Travis Alexander was senselessly slaughtered by a hysterical woman who couldn’t stand being dumped. The false stories and the attempt to erase the final pictures only prove her guilt.
So why do I predict a mistrial?
As in 2011’s “Not Guilty” verdict for Casey Anthony and the 1997 verdict for O.J. Simpson – if the jury is looking for a way out for the defendant, they’ll find one. A juror for Ms. Anthony said they couldn’t convict her because they couldn’t figure out her motive. In a murder, you don’t need a motive, only to know that she did it. In the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car was a dead hair and body decomposition. She lied, saying the bad smell came from an old pizza. Her lawyer Jose Baez called the forensic evidence “junk science”. Likewise, the mostly black jury found O.J. “Not Guilty” based on a supposed racist plot by the LAPD to frame him.
In the case of Jodi Arias—
Her attorneys are smearing Mr. Alexander as a sexual pervert who forced her to wear a French maid costume and a t-shirt inscribed “Travis Alexander’s” (meaning that she was his property.) Some filthy phony letters (by Travis?) were thrown out by the judge. All of this “evidence” has nothing to do with the case and nothing to do with “self-defense”. Jodi Arias stabbed and shot an unarmed, naked man in the shower. No injuries were found on Jodi, except for a few minor cuts on her hands. The majority of injuries were performed while Travis Alexander lay dying in the shower – including a near decapitation and a gunshot to his face. At the time of her arrest (7-15-08), Jodi was moving out with her rental car loaded with boxes, two knives and a 9mm handgun hidden inside.
Currently, Jodi has changed her appearance to a pitiful-looking schoolmarm with glasses who cries at appropriate moments. “No jury will convict me!” Jodi, an ex-Wiccan proudly said. To me, Jodi reminds me of Regan MacNeil in “The Exorcist”: the glowering eyes – the disturbing hidden evil. When you open yourself up to witchcraft, you invite demonic spirits. (In “The Exorcist”, Regan becomes possessed after playing with a Ouija board.) The devil is in the details.
In the case of Lizzie Borden, most believed she killed her father and stepmother. In that day and time, (1892-93), the jury could not bring themselves to have a woman hanged.
Likewise, this is a torture slaying, made even more serious because Jodi entered Travis’ residence with a gun. The state of Arizona is seeking the death penalty.