The murder of Travis Alexander was a shock for many because the victim was found stabbed and with a gunshot wound to his head in the shower of his house in Mesa, Arizona. The investigation process focused on Jodi Arias, Travis’s ex-girlfriend, as the main suspect. Initially, Jodi claimed that she was not in Arizona when the murder occurred, but it was later revealed that Jodi rented a car and drove from California to Arizona (MacBeth, 2021). Furthermore, the police recovered a camera that had gone through a wash cycle in Alexander’s washing machine. This device held images of Jodi and Travis having sex in the shower on June 4, a few days before the murder, which allowed the police to arrest Jodi Arias on July 15, 2008 (Barcella, 2019). The following step was to try and sentence the suspect.
Jodi’s case was one of the most complex and challenging in the criminal justice system. The first trial implied an excess of approximately $2 million, which was a significant financial burden (ABC15 Arizona, 2015). In court, the defense stated that Jodi had killed Alexander in self-defense, and bringing the victim’s ex-girlfriend, who highlighted his aggressive behavior, was used to support that statement (Barcella, 2019). However, the prosecution insisted that Jodi had murdered Alexander when she discovered that he intended to go away on vacation with a new girlfriend (Barcella, 2019). The court considered the prosecution’s version more probable because more evidence supported it.
It is not a surprise that such a brutal case implied harsh punishment. In 2013, a jury convicted Jodi of first-degree murder and sentenced her to life in prison (MacBeth, 2021). The jury failed to make a unanimous decision regarding the death penalty, and a sentencing retrial began in 2014 and ended in 2015 (Barcella, 2019). Consequently, Jodi Arias was finally sentenced to life in prison without parole.
References
ABC15 Arizona. (2015). Jodi Arias: The spectacle that won’t end [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Barcella, L. (2019). The murder of Travis Alexander and what killer Jodi Arias’s life is like behind bars. A&E. Web.
MacBeth, C. (2021). Murder of Travis Alexander: Why did Jodi Arias commit such an awful act? Film Daily. Web.