Murder of Travis Alexander: Difference between revisions

On June 4, 2008, salesman Travis Alexander was murdered at his home in Mesa, Arizona. His injuries consisted of multiple stab wounds, a slit throat, and a gunshot to the head; the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. Jodi Arias, Alexander's ex-girlfriend, was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8, 2013;^[1] at trial, she testified that she had killed him in self-defense. Both the murder and trial have received widespread media attention,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the level of which has been considered a media circus.

Travis Victor Alexander was born on July 28, 1977,^[7] in Riverside, California. After his father's death, Alexander and his siblings were taken in by their paternal grandmother, Norma Jean Preston Alexander Sarvey (1932–2012), who eventually introduced them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[8] Alexander was a salesman for the multi-level marketing company Prepaid Legal Services; he also worked as a motivational speaker.

Jodi Ann Arias was born on July 9, 1980, in Salinas, California. She and Alexander met in September 2006 at a Prepaid Legal Services conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. On November 26, 2006, Arias was baptized into the Latter-day Saint faith by Alexander.^[9] They became a couple in February 2007.^[7][9] After the two broke up in June 2007, Arias moved to Mesa, Arizona,^[10] before moving to her grandparents' house in Yreka, California, in April 2008.^[11]

On June 9, 2008, Alexander's body was discovered in a shower at his home in Mesa, Arizona. Alexander's throat had been cut, and he had been shot in the head and stabbed multiple times.^[12][13] There have been conflicting reports over the number of stab wounds, with some reports stating 29^[14] and others stating 27.^[13][15] Medical examiner Kevin Horn testified that Alexander's jugular vein, common carotid artery, and windpipe had been slashed. Alexander's hands also had defensive wounds. Horn further testified that Alexander "may have" been dead at the time the gunshot was inflicted, and that the back wounds were shallow.^[16][17] Alexander's death was ruled a homicide.

On May 28, 2008, a burglary occurred at the residence of Arias' grandparents, with whom she was living. Among the missing objects was a .25-caliber gun, which was never recovered.^[18] A spent .25 caliber round was found near Alexander's body.^[19]

On June 2, Arias rented a car in Redding, California, about 100 miles south of her home. She told rental company staff that she would only be driving the car locally, but when she returned it on June 7, the car had been driven about 2,800 miles. The car was missing its floor mats, and had red stains on its front and rear seats. The car was cleaned before police could examine it.^[20]

On June 5, Arias left several voicemail messages and accessed Alexander's messages.^[21]

Alexander missed an important conference call on the evening of June 4. On June 9, having been unable to reach Alexander, people from Prepaid Legal Services went to his home. His roommates initially said he was out of town. After finding a key to Alexander's master bedroom, they entered the room and found large pools of blood in the hallway to the master bathroom, where his body was discovered in the shower.^[22] In the 9-1-1 call they made to authorities (not heard by the jury), they mentioned an ex-girlfriend, Arias, whom Alexander had said was stalking him, accessing his Facebook account, and slashing tires.^[23][24][25]

Alexander was scheduled to leave on June 10, 2008, for a work-related trip to Cancun, Mexico.^[26][27] In early 2008, Alexander had told his company that Arias would be joining him, and that in April he asked to change his companion to a female friend.^[28]

Alexander's recently purchased digital camera was found damaged in the washing machine of his home. Police were able to recover deleted images showing Arias and Alexander in sexually suggestive poses, which had been taken at approximately 1:40 p.m. on June 4. The final photo of Alexander alive, and in the shower, was taken at 5:29 p.m. that day. Photos taken moments later show an individual believed to be Alexander "profusely bleeding" on the floor.^[29][30] A bloody palm print in the bathroom hallway was found to contain DNA from both Arias and Alexander.^[29][31]

On July 9, 2008, Arias was indicted by a grand jury on a first-degree murder charge.^[32] She was arrested at her home on July 15^[33] and extradited to Arizona on September 5. She pleaded not guilty on September 11.^[34]

Arias gave several different accounts of her involvement in Alexander's death.^[35] She originally told police that she had not been in the home at the time, and that she had not seen Alexander since April 2008.^[29][31] She later told police that two intruders had broken into Alexander's home and that they murdered him and attacked her. Two years after her arrest, she stated that she killed Alexander in self-defense and she was a victim of domestic violence.^{[12][36][37][13][38]}

In March 2009, because of expressed concerns about possible violation of victim’s rights by holding ex parte mitigation status conferences, it was ordered that the appointed mitigation master was relieved of further duties, with limited exceptions. In May 2009, the Court could not determine whether IQ testing and/or competency screening had been previously ordered, so it was ordered that that Arias submit to IQ testing, and that she should be tested for competence.^[39]

In August 2009, Victoria Washington and Kirk Nurmi were appointed as defense counsel, replacing Maria Schaffer. In September 2009, a defense motion to extend the last day beyond March 3, 2010 was denied, but in November, 2009, another motion was granted after the State did not file a response, and the last day was set to August 31, 2010.^[39]

In April 2010, a motion to disqualify the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office was denied. In December 2010, after a rule of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure was amended changing the "last day" in capital cases from 18 to 24 months from arraignment, the State sought the death penalty.^[39]

In January 2011, a defense filing detailed the efforts Arias’ attorneys went to obtain text messages and email. Initially the prosecution told the defense attorneys that there were no available text messages sent or received by Alexander and then was ordered to turn over several hundred. Mesa police Detective Esteban Flores told defense attorneys that there was nothing "out of the ordinary" among Alexander’s emails; about 8,000 were turned over to the defense in June 2010.^[40] In March 2011, the court ruled that the office of the public defender did not have unilateral authority to dismantle the defense team.^[39]

The trial commenced on December 10, 2012, in Maricopa County Superior Court before Judge Sherry K. Stephens. During jury selection on December 20, Arias' defense attorneys argued that the prosecution was "systematically excluding" women and African-Americans; prosecutor Juan Martinez said that race and sex were irrelevant to his decisions to strike certain jurors. Judge Stephens ruled that the prosecution had shown no bias in the jury selection.^[41]

In opening arguments on January 2, 2013, prosecutor Juan Martinez sought the death penalty.^[42] Arias was represented by appointed counsel L. Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott, who argued that Alexander's death was a justifiable homicide committed in self-defense.^[43]

A man testified that Arias visited him in Utah on June 5, and that she told him she had cut her hands on broken glass while working at a restaurant called Margaritaville. A detective testified no restaurant by that name had ever existed in the Yreka area. At the time, Arias was working at a restaurant called Casa Ramos.^[44] Later, Arias testified that after she cut her finger: "I had a bazillion Margaritas to make."^[45]

The prosecution argued that since a .25 caliber round was found near Alexander's body, and a week before a gun of the same caliber went missing during a burglary of the Yreka home where Arias lived with her grandparents, she had staged the burglary and used the gun to kill Alexander.^[18][19]

Arias took the stand on February 4, 2013.^[46] In her testimony, she described being violently abused by her parents beginning when she was approximately seven years old.^[46] She said that she killed Alexander in self-defense when he became enraged after a day of sex and a gun accident, forcing her to fight for her life.^[47] On her second day on the stand, Arias said that their sex life included oral sex and anal sex; she said the anal sex was painful for her the first time they experienced it together and that while she considered oral sex and anal sex to be real sex, Alexander did not and he believed these forms of sexual activity, in contrast to vaginal sex, were technically not against Mormon rules. She said that they eventually had vaginal sex, but less often.^[48]

Arias testified that she rented the car in Redding because a budget website gave her two options, one to the north and one to the south, and her brother lived in Redding.^[49]

Arias addressed comments she made in a September 2008 television interview that had been played earlier in the trial. In the interview, she had said: "No jury is going to convict me ... because I am innocent. You can mark my words on that." Discussing the statement during her testimony, Arias said, "At the time [of the interview], I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me, because I didn't expect any of you to be here." At the close of his cross-examination of Arias, Martinez replayed the video and prompted Arias to affirm that she had said during the interview that she would not be convicted because she was innocent.^[46][50][51]

Arias testified for a total of 18 days, which criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos described as "unprecedented".^[52]

Starting March 14, psychologist Richard Samuels testified for the defense for nearly 6 days. Samuels testified that Arias was likely suffering from acute stress at the time of the killing, sending her body into a "fight or flight" mode to defend herself, which caused her brain to stop retaining memory. In response to a juror question asking whether this scenario could occur even if this was a premeditated murder, as the prosecution contended, Samuels testified: "Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? No." Samuels also diagnosed Arias with post-traumatic stress disorder.^[53] Prosecutor Juan Martinez attacked Samuel's credibility, accusing him of forming a relationship with Arias and being biased. Samuels had previously testified he had compassion for Arias.^[54]

Beginning on March 26, Alyce LaViolette, a psychotherapist who specializes in domestic violence, testified that Arias was a victim of domestic abuse, and that most victims don’t tell anyone about abuse because they feel ashamed and humiliated.^[55] The jury posed nearly 160 questions to LaViolette, many of them focusing on Arias' credibility.^[56]

On April 3, a member of the jury was dismissed for "misconduct".^[6] The defense team asked for a mistrial, which the judge denied.^[6] On April 12, another juror was excused for health reasons.^[57] A third juror was dismissed on April 25 after being arrested for a DUI offense.^[58]

Clinical psychologist Janeen DeMarte testified for the prosecution that Arias did not suffer from PTSD or amnesia, and that she found no evidence Alexander had abused Arias. Instead, DeMarte said Arias suffered from borderline personality disorder, showing signs of immaturity and an "unstable sense of identity." People who suffer from such a disorder "have a terrified feeling of being abandoned by others," DeMarte told jurors.^[59]

On April 24, the prosecution called a Wal-Mart employee, who had worked at Walmart, 1800 N. Main St, Salinas for five months. She had reviewed all of the records for that store for June 3, 2008 and found no return of a five gallon gas can.^[60] Arias had earlier testified that she bought a gas can from a Walmart store in Salinas on that day and returned it to the same store.^[45] In 2010, Walmart Salinas moved from 1375 N. Davis Road to a new store at 1800 N. Main St.^[61]

The final defense witness was psychologist Dr. Robert Geffner, who said that DeMarte's borderline diagnosis was "not appropriate" and that all tests taken by Arias since her arrest pointed toward an anxiety disorder stemming from trauma. He also said the tests indicated that she answered questions honestly, without lying.^[62][63] Following Geffner's testimony, the state recalled Dr. Horn who testified further on the gunshot wound, and called Dr. Jill Hayes, a forensic neuro-psychologist, concluding a long day in court at 8:29 p.m.^[39]

In closing arguments on May 4, Arias' defense argued that the premeditation theory didn't make sense. "What happened in that moment in time? The relationship, the relationship of chaos, that ended in chaos as well. There is nothing about what happened on June 4th in that bathroom that looks planned ... Couldn’t it also be that after everything they went through in that relationship, that she simply snapped? ... Ultimately, if Miss Arias is guilty of any crime at all, it is the crime of manslaughter and nothing more."^[64] In rebuttal, prosecutor Martinez described the extent and variety of Alexander's wounds. "There is no evidence that he ever laid a hand on her, ever. Nothing indicates that this is anything less than a slaughter. There was no way to appease this woman who just wouldn’t leave him alone," he said.^[64]

On May 8, 2013, after 15 hours of deliberation, Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder. Out of twelve jurors, five jurors found her guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, and seven jurors found her guilty of both first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder.^[65]

Following the first-degree murder conviction, the prosecution was required to convince the jury that the murder was "cruel, heinous, or depraved" in order for them to determine that Arias was eligible for the death penalty.^[66] The aggravation phase of the trial started on May 15, 2013.^[67][68] The only witness was the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. Arias' attorneys, who had repeatedly asked to step down from the case, gave only brief opening statements and closing arguments, in which they said the adrenaline rushing through Alexander's body may have prevented him from feeling much pain during his death. Prosecutor Martinez showed photos of the corpse and crime scene to the jury, then paused for two minutes of silence to illustrate how long he said it took for Alexander to die at Arias' hands. After less than three hours of consideration, the jury determined that Arias was eligible for the death penalty.^[69]

The penalty phase began on May 16, 2013, where prosecutors called Alexander's family members to offer victim impact statements, in an effort to convince the jury that Arias's crime merited a death sentence.^[69]

On Monday, May 20, The Republic reported that Patricia Womack, a friend of Arias, who was supposed to testify Friday, but could not because the defense attorneys and the prosecutor spent the afternoon behind closed doors, ostensibly arguing over the defense case, would not testify. "After returning home Ms. Womack began receiving threats, threats that included threats on her life if she were to testify on Ms. Arias’ behalf," attorney Kirk Nurmi wrote in his motion for mistrial. "On May 19, 2013, Ms. Womack contacted counsel for Ms. Arias that she is no longer willing to testify due to these threats. It should also be noted that these threats follow those made to Alyce LaViolette, a record of which was made ex-parte and under seal." Judge Sherry Stephens also denied a motion for a stay in the proceedings that had been sought to give Nurmi time to appeal her decisions to the Arizona Supreme Court.^[70]

On Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Arias offered an allocution, during which she pleaded for a life sentence. Arias acknowledged that her plea for life was a reversal of remarks she made to a TV reporter shortly after her conviction, when she said she preferred the death penalty. "Each time I said that, I meant it, but I lacked perspective," the former waitress said. "Until very recently, I could not imagine standing before you and asking you to give me life." She changed her mind to avoid bringing more pain to members of her family, who were in the courtroom. At one point, she held up a white T-shirt with the word "survivor" written across it, telling the jurors that she would sell the clothing and donate all proceeds to victims of domestic abuse. She also said she would donate her hair to Locks of Love while in prison, and had already done so three times while in jail.^[71]

That evening, in a joint jailhouse interview with The Arizona Republic, 12 News and NBC's Today show, Arias said she didn't know whether the jury would come back with life or death. "Whatever they come back with I will have to deal with it, I have no other choice." Regarding the verdict she said "It felt like a huge sense of unreality, I felt betrayed, actually, by the jury. I was hoping they would see things for what they are. I felt really awful for my family and what they were thinking." ^[72][73]

On Thursday, May 23, 2013, the sentencing phase of Arias's trial resulted in a hung jury, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial for that phase. A retrial to determine Arias's sentence was scheduled to begin on July 18, 2013, with a new jury empaneled for that purpose.^[74][75]

After the mistrial was declared and the jury discharged, the jury foreman stated that he believed Arias was mentally abused, but that had not been enough to excuse her crime. He also said, "I think 18 days hurt her, I think she was not a good witness. We're charged with presuming innocence, right? But she was on the stand for so long, there were so many contradicting stories." He said the jury found the responsibility of weighing the death sentence overwhelming, but were horrified when their efforts ended in a mistrial. "By the end of it, we were mentally and emotionally exhausted," he said. "I think we were horrified when we found out that they had actually called a mistrial, and we felt like we had failed."^[76]

On May 30, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery discussed the next steps at a news conference. He said he was confident an impartial jury could be seated, but it was possible that lawyers and the victim's family could agree to scrap the trial in favor of a life sentence with no parole.^[77] Arias had said "I don't think there is an untainted jury pool anywhere in the world right now. That's what it feels like. But.. I still believe in the system to a degree so we'll just go through that if that happens." in an interview on May 21.^[72] On June 4, the defense attorneys stated "If the diagnosis made by the State’s psychologist is correct, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is seeking to impose the death penalty upon a mentally ill woman who has no prior criminal history. It is not incumbent upon Ms. Arias’ defense counsel to resolve this case."^[78]

During the trial, defense attorneys filed for mistrial in January and April.^[79][80]

Arias' lawyers argued in January that Detective Esteban Flores, the lead Mesa police detective on the case perjured himself during a 2009 pretrial hearing aimed at determining whether the death penalty should be considered an option for jurors. Flores testified at the 2009 hearing that based on his own review of the scene, and a discussion with the medical examiner, it was apparent that Alexander had been shot in the forehead first. Contrary to Flores' testimony at the 2009 hearing, the medical examiner told jurors the gunshot probably would have incapacitated Alexander. So given his extensive defense wounds, including stab marks and slashes to his hands, arms and legs, it wasn't likely the shot came first. Flores denied perjury and said during his trial testimony that he just misunderstood what the medical examiner told him.^[81]

In April, the defense claimed the prosecutor had acted inappropriately and said the case resembled a modern-day equivalent to the Salem witch trials. In the motion the defense team contended "the prosecutorial misconduct has infested these proceedings with a level of unfairness that cannot be cured by any others means." The motion also stated there is a "circus-like atmosphere inside the courtroom" and prosecutor Juan Martinez had yelled at witnesses, attacked witnesses on a personal level, and had thrown evidence. The motion also alleged that Martinez chose to release evidence and to pose for pictures with his fans on the steps of the courthouse. The attorneys claimed Arias was in a position where she could not present a complete defense and the only constitutional course was to declare a mistrial.^[80]

On Wednesday, May 29th, the Arizona Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal filed three months earlier after Judge Sherry Stephens denied a mistrial motion, also refused by the mid-level Arizona Court of Appeals. Nurmi had asked the high court to throw out the aggravating factor of cruelty because the judge had allowed it to go forward based on a different theory of how the murder occurred. The state had originally claimed that Arias first shot Alexander; based on that theory, Stephens ruled there was probable cause to find the crime had been committed in an especially cruel manner, an aggravating factor under state law. Right before trial, prosecutor Martinez revealed his new theory that Arias had shot Alexander after he was already dead.^[81][82]

The trial will continue. As of March 29, 2013, $1.4 million had been spent on providing public defenders for Arias.^[83]

The case featured on an episode of 48 Hours Mystery: Picture Perfect in 2008,^[7] an interview which, for the first time in the history of 48 Hours, was used as evidence in a death penalty trial.^[84]

In September 2008, Inside Edition interviewed Arias at the Maricopa County Jail where she stated, "No jury is going to convict me ... because I am innocent and you can mark my words on that. No jury is going to convict me."^[85]

The Huffington Post reported that the Arias case "instantly commanded headlines around the world".^[3] The Associated Press said the case "grew into a worldwide sensation as thousands followed the trial via a live, unedited Web feed".^[86] They added that the trial garnered "daily coverage from cable news networks and spawned a virtual cottage industry for talk shows" and, at the courthouse, "the entire case devolved into a circus-like spectacle attracting dozens of enthusiasts each day to the courthouse as they lined up for a chance to score just a few open public seats in the gallery"; "For its fans, the Arias trial became a live daytime soap opera."^[86] The Toronto Star stated, "With its mix of jealousy, religion, murder, and sex, the Jodi Arias case shows what happens when the justice system becomes entertainment."^[87]

HLN staff and their commentators compared the case to the Casey Anthony case for the perceived similarities between Anthony and Arias and the emotions that the cases incited in the general public.^[4][5] Additionally, HLN aired a daily show covering the trial called HLN After Dark: The Jodi Arias Trial.^[88] The cable network sent out a press release titled "HLN #1 Among Ad-Supported Cable as Arias Pleads for Her Life." bragging that they led in the ratings. The release stated: “HLN continues to be the ratings leader and complete source for coverage of the Jodi Arias Trial. On Tuesday May 21, HLN ranked No.1 among ad-supported cable networks from 1:56p to 2:15p (ET) as Jodi Arias took the stand to plead for her life in front of the jury that found her guilty of Travis Alexander’s murder. During that time period, HLN out-delivered the competition among both total viewers (2,540,000 million) and 25-54 demo viewers (691,000). HLN also ranked No.1 among ad-supported cable networks for the 2p hour delivering 2,227,000 million total viewers and 620,000 25-54 viewers.”^[89]

On May 27, 2013, Janice Harper, in a satirical article, asked "Speaking of which, what about those HLN-TV experts? Are they just a tad too over-the-top, or is that just me? I mean, really. "I don't know, Nancy," they all seem to say, shaking their heads in bafflement at whatever question they've been asked. "It must be because she's evil?" Well, okay, that works in cartoons, but shouldn't we expect a soupçon of erudition from our learned experts? Something like, "We can't objectively evaluate anything about this case because we are making bucketloads of money by gushing like a clique of schoolgirls about how awful that psychopathic murderess is." (And while we're on the subject, perhaps Jodi could make a killing, ahem, by teaching some of these TV show experts how to apply their makeup. I'm just sayin'.)"^[90]

On 28 May, 2013, Fox News reported that the Jodi Arias saga would become a made-for-TV movie, courtesy of Lifetime. The network announced Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret will hit the small screen in June. The flick will star Lost actress Tania Raymonde as Arias and Jesse Lee Soffer, of The Mob Doctor, as Travis Alexander. Prosecutor Juan Martinez will be played by Ugly Betty actor Tony Plana and David Zayas, of Dexter, has signed on to portray detective Esteban Flores.^[91]

In late January 2013, artwork drawn by Arias began selling on eBay. The seller was Arias' brother; he claimed that the profits went towards covering the family's travel expenses to the trial and "better food" for Arias while she was in jail.^[92]

On April 11, USAToday reported that during the testimony of defense witness Alyce LaViolette, tweets and other social media posts attacked her reputation. "You can show your disgust with LaViolette," they posted her office phone number and her website, and they suggested that people write negative reviews of her bestselling book on Amazon.com. There were more than 500 of them, panning the book and calling LaViolette a fraud and a disgrace. "It's the electronic version of a lynch mob," said retired Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields.^[93] Attorney Anne Bremner, who said she received death threats after she provided legal counsel in the Amanda Knox case, told The Huffington Post that the kind of online ridicule LaViolette received could affect attorneys and witnesses in high-profile trials. "It's something to take into account," Bremner said. "If I had kids I would consider it even more so." ^[94] Two weeks later, USAToday reported that Jennifer Wilmott had received a voicemail stating "You don't have to return my call, but I'm just telling you: If Jodi, if you get her off of the death penalty, we will find you, we know where you're at, we will kill you. I told Alyce the same thing, and we're tired, and we're sick and tired of you defending this person, and we will get you."^[95]

Supporters were attacked online in similar fashion, one posted: "i admit i don’t like jaun martinez and he really makes me sick to my stomach, but ultimately he is doing his job to the best of his ability, just as every other employed person dealing with this case, and the families and supporters should not be badgered in any way, but yet. i have been told that my family should be killed because i support jodi. its nuts"^[96]

On May 9, The Republic commented: "The Jodi Arias trial has been a social-media magnet. And when Arias was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder, Twitter and Facebook exploded with reaction. Much of it was aimed at Arias, though plenty of people tweeted at the media coverage, such as the antics of HLN host Nancy Grace. During the trial, hardcore followers of the proceedings were accused of trying to use social media to intimidate witnesses, or otherwise influence the outcome. Whether it had any effect is questionable, but it’s a notable development."^[97]

On May 14, HLN reported "Well, now she's out of the psych ward and back at the Estrella Jail. Her first tweet came out just hours later. In it, Arias directs donors to her site and warns of fraud". The tweet was: "Any donations to my family or me are made only at jodiariasisinnocent.com … Any other source asking for donations is fraudulent. Thank you."^[98]

On May 24, Victoria Washington, who was one of Arias’ attorneys until she had to resign in 2011 because of a conflict, said “Arias’ lead attorney, Nurmi, was pilloried in social media. At one point, Internet denizen photoshopped his face onto a crime-scene photo of Alexander dead in the shower of his Mesa home. I know people were aggravated with him constantly filing for mistrial, but you have to make and preserve the record for federal review (on appeal). If you don’t file for mistrial, the appeals courts will say you waived it.”^[99]

On May 28, Radar Online reported the jury foreman had been receiving threats ever since the panel deadlocked on the sentencing phase, and now his son was claiming he’s receiving death threats. “Today I read hate mail my dad had gotten. Some person had sent him a threatening message complete with his email address, full name, and phone number (which at the very least means that this guy should retake Hate Mail 101). I also read some comments on an article online about my dad. Surreal. They say my dad was fooled by the defendant, that he was taken with her, that he hated the prosecutor” his son wrote on his public blog.^[100]

• Capital punishment in Arizona
• Courtroom photography and broadcasting
• Crime in Arizona
• Social Media
• Talking Head
• Trial by media

• Timeline and map of Jodi Arias' roadtrip from June 2 to June 7, 2008