Several media sources nationwide have reported on the trial of Jodi Arias, charged with the murder of her lover, as she continues to perplex the jury with stories of the couple's tumultuous relationship that she felt forced to end in an act of self-defense.
Arias, accused of killing Travis Alexander, is facing the death penalty.
Her attorneys have portrayed Arias, 32, as a woman the jurors should sympathize with as she was taken advantage of by the victim's deceit.
In Arias' own testimony she told the court that her parents abused her when she was still a child, she had endured several bad romances and, as she has failed to maintain a steady job, finds it difficult to manage her bills.
Arias also recounted how her relationship with Alexander began with his constant sexual advances while he worked to convert her to the Mormon faith. Over the five-month long relationship, according to Arias, Alexander was domineering, belittling, called her names, put her through painful sex and kept himself emotionally detached.
Arias claimed that though the couple had broken up they continued to meet for sexual trysts.
Prosecutors have painted a different picture of the couple's doomed relationship. Arias had grown jealous after the relationship ended – which caused her to eventually snap and kill him.
The relationship between the pair began late 2006, after Alexander convinced Arias to join his church and then he performed her baptism. At the same time, according to Arias, Alexander was pressuring her for sex, which she felt was opposite of what the church stood for – sex after marriage. Allegedly Alexander explained that the sex they were having – that was not vaginal – was allowed.
Arias claimed that her friends told her to end the relationship that made her feel like a prostitute, or a "skank" as Alexander had called her.
The relationship was a long distance one as Arias lived in California while Alexander resided in Arizona.
On June 4, 2008 Arias stalked Alexander as she had become possessive and jealous since the breakup according to his friends. Arias, however, claimed that she came to his home that day as he asked her to come.
At first Arias claimed not to have had anything to do with Alexander's murder, later she said he died at the hands of masked intruders, and then she finally settled on self-defense claiming that Alexander burst into a rage and attacked her.
During the incident Alexander received 27 stabs and slashes – including one slice that pierced his throat – and was shot in the forehead. Friends found him approximately five days after the attack.
Evidence collected includes time-stamped photographs on a memory card in a camera that place Arias at the scene at the time of the murder. The story in photos began with Alexander nude on his bed, then lying on the bed and end with his crumpled body in his shower.
Whatever your plan for defense is for a criminal charge, do yourself a favor and contact a criminal defense attorney to prepare you for what lies ahead.
