Sources and other links:Jodi Arias Interrogation and Interview Body Language Analysis (2021)https://bannedcast.com/why-i-believe-jodi-arias-is-innocent/http://jodiariasisinnocent.com/https://justice4jodi.com/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC24nnIVWy8RYFvNNyKGU9GQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhxEynLiwdIhttps://youtu.be/0wKVy8z5rQsWrath of Jodihttps://myspace.com/tvalexander/photoshttps://wildabouttrial.com/jodi-arias-trial-photos/https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27612575/travis-victor-alexanderhttps://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2015/03/03/jodi-arias-trial-timeline/24326127/https://www.alycelaviolette.com/https://www.change.org/p/end-abuse-long-beach-remove-alyce-laviolette-from-their-guest-speakersMusic:Titles: Simplicity, Stop Overthinking It, Lost Time, Handfastening Ceremony, Cold RainTim Kulig (timkulig.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0997280/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1CO.AG Musichttps://www.youtube.com/@co.agmusic1823Support:For $3 a month, you can support this show on Patreon, in return you will receive ad free, early, and bonus episodes:https://www.patreon.com/crimeatoriumFor one time or recurring donations:http://Ko-fi.com/crimeatoriumIf you like the podcast, please share it on social media and with friends, and take a minute to leave a review for Crimeatorium on Spotify, Podchaser or Apple Podcasts.Contact:[email protected]:https://www.speakpipe.com/CrimeatoriumThank you for listening!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/crimeatorium9009/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Welcome to Crimatorium, where loss of faith in humanity is delivered to you one case at a time.
Most of you have heard the name Jodi Ann Arias, and it probably conjures feelings about her innocence or guilt. Some hate her, some idolize her. Questions arise like, was she really defending herself? Does she have a mental illness? And if so, what is it? Was the killing of Travis premeditated?
This case was a media sensation, with thousands of spectators glued to their TVs watching the trial, including myself. Many people defended her because they believed that Travis was a player and that he used her. They also believed Jodi's claims that Travis was a pedophile. If you're not familiar with this case, there are plenty of videos and articles that cover it in depth. Part 1.
Jodi's Childhood Jody was born on July 9, 1980. She describes her childhood as happy for the most part, up until she turned seven. It was at that age, she testifies, her parents began to use corporal punishment on her and her three siblings. She describes to the court how her mother and father carried out this punishment.
Speaking of that, your life was pretty ideal up until about age seven. Is something different after age seven?
It seemed like, well, my parents would just, you know, spank us or hit us as discipline. So it seemed like at age seven, around then, it started getting a little bit more intense. That's something I remember.
You said they started spanking you.
Well, I was spanked before on occasion, just it seemed like the frequency and the intensity of it increased around that age.
What do you mean by that, frequency and intensity?
Well, just there were, I think that's the first year my dad started using a belt. My mom began to carry a wooden spoon in her purse.
You were just now telling us that your mother carried a spoon with her. What did she do with that spoon?
It was a wooden kitchen spoon that she would keep in her purse, and we were misbehaving, my brother and I. This was before Angela and Joseph were born, although it continued through that point. If we were misbehaving, she would use it on us. Sometimes she would pull the car over and, you know, if we were just being brats or something.
You said that these were frequent, these incidents where your mother would hit you. They were frequent and intense. I think those are your words, right?
They were definitely intense, but they increased in frequency as I got a little older.
Can you discern for us how many times a week your mother would beat you with this?
I don't recall how many times particularly, but it seemed like it could go anywhere from four times a week to...
It seems that she's trying to elicit sympathy for events that a lot of us experienced as children, being spanked by their parents. It's safe to say that what she went through pales in comparison to what she did to Travis. Also, because of her history of lying, one has to question everything she says.
This particular line of testimony really demonstrates to me her level of narcissism, given the fact that she killed Travis in such a brutal way. Jodi's mother, Sandy, responded to these allegations by simply saying, I am a mom. Just like any other mom, I did the best job I could raising my children. Part 2. Possible Diagnoses. The Four Therapists. Plus Dr. Grande.
Jodi appears to be intelligent, yet it doesn't seem that she applied that intelligence to schooling or higher-end jobs. She indicated that she took classes in real estate as she was interested in pursuing a career in that field, yet she didn't finish. The course typically lasts three months. If she was interested in that field, why didn't she just take the full course and become an agent?
The answer could be lack of funds or even time constraints. My own theory is that Jodi lives in the moment. She adapts to whatever situation she's in and becomes whoever or whatever her partner at the time needs her to be. Case in point, the quickness with which she was baptized into the Mormon church by Travis.
Also, with her looks and manipulative ways, she felt she could skirt by as long as she had a man in her life to take care of her. That's not to say that when she sets her mind to something that she can't make plans and follow through with those plans. This is obvious with the way the prosecutor says she planned and executed Travis's murder.
the rented car, the three gas cans, her phone being turned off during key times, the upside-down license plate, the fact that she had the gun that was stolen from her grandparents, etc., etc. There were three mental health professionals that evaluated Jodi for the trial, and each one diagnosed something a little different.
One diagnosed her with PTSD and that the killing was a result of a fight-or-flight mode Jodi was in. Another said she was a victim of domestic violence. The prosecution witness diagnosed Jodi with borderline personality disorder and that she was terrified of being abandoned.
According to Dr. Grande, a mental health professional who has a YouTube channel, he says Jodi has symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder, more so than borderline. He didn't give her a definitive diagnosis. He said that sometimes people just do bad things. If you haven't watched his channel, I recommend it. I'll leave a link in the notes. Part 3. The Crime
On June 8, 2008, Travis's roommates discovered him deceased in the shower of his Mesa, Arizona home. During the investigation, his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias, was brought up many times as a possible suspect. It was stated that she was obsessed with him and often arrived at his home uninvited. She was also suspected of slashing the tires to his car.
Travis suffered a gunshot wound to the head and 27 stab wounds all over his body. He had a deep gash on his neck that was six inches wide and one and a half inches deep. The medical examiner, Kevin Horn, testified that Travis's carotid artery, jugular vein, and trachea were slashed and he had defensive wounds on his hands.
Fingerprints were located throughout the home and officers located a camera that had been placed in the washer. Investigators were able to view the pictures from the camera and match the fingerprints found in the home to Jody, which led them to question and arrest her. In the interrogation, Jody informed Detective Flores that she didn't go to Travis' house while on a road trip at that time.
He used several investigative techniques to get the truth from her, but Jody stuck to that story. Later on in the investigation, Jody told the story about the intruders entering Travis's home and shooting him, then allowing Jody to leave the house, retrieving all of her belongings on the way out.
She states that she left Travis behind and didn't call the police because these intruders threatened to do the same thing to her and her family if she told anyone. There were holes in this story, so that's when she settled on her final story, that she was defending herself from Travis after he became angry that she dropped his new camera and he attacked her. Part 4.
Trial, Verdict, and Sentencing On July 9, 2008, Jody was indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder, for which she pleaded not guilty. Opening arguments commenced on January 2, 2013, and closing arguments began on May 4, 2013. Jody took the stand and testified for 18 days, an amount of time described as unprecedented.
The interaction between her and the prosecutor, Juan Martinez, was interesting. The jury deliberated for 15 hours before finding Jody guilty of first-degree murder. After the verdict was read, the crowds outside cheered. In the penalty phase, Jodi gave an allocution to the jury as to why her life should be spared.
A few months before trial, and by that I mean jury selection, my hair was past my waist, and I donated it. Additionally, I've designed a t-shirt. This is the t-shirt. of which 100% of the proceeds go to support nonprofit organizations, which also assist other victims of domestic violence.
In the end, the death penalty was taken off the table due to one lone juror voting against it. After the penalty phase retrial, Jody was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also ordered to pay more than $32,000 in restitution to Travis's family.
A side note about the one juror who voted against the death penalty, she claimed that her life was threatened after her name was leaked to the public. It also emerged that Juan Martinez had been the prosecutor in a case involving her ex-husband. She claims she let the bailiff know, but she was allowed to continue as a juror. You can watch the trial in its entirety from the channel CrokerQueen123.
A link will be provided. Part 5 Aftermath A GoFundMe has been set up for a retrial that her fans hope will set her free. There are also sites that sell t-shirts dedicated to Jodi, as well as a website called Jodi Arias is Innocent.
One can only imagine that having others dedicate so much time on one's behalf would feed into a narcissist's feelings of superiority, if that is indeed what Jodi suffers from. It's perplexing to me that she has so many defenders given the fact that she described Travis's last moments to the court at the penalty phase of the trial.
Maybe there's a theory that has been written about that on one of those sites. A quote from one of those sites says, Remember, each day that passes takes us one day closer to Jody's release date. As part of the research for the case, I watched a documentary called If I Can't Have You on Discovery+. The defense attorney, Jennifer Wilmot, spoke about the case against Jody.
It is evident that she truly believes in Jody's innocence from the vantage point of defending herself against Travis's abuse. She makes some compelling points. The strongest one in my mind was the scene of the crime. To paraphrase, she states Jody did not plan this murder as she left a contaminated crime scene. Plus, it looked more like it was a crime of passion because of how messy it was.
She spoke about how Travis was manipulative with Jody and that she always did what Travis wanted. She also mentioned that Travis was unfaithful to Jody. As for her initial lies to the detectives, Wilmot's response to this was that most defendants lie at first as a defense mechanism. She also feels that Jodi didn't get a fair trial because of the media sensation that it was.
The prosecutor, Juan Martinez, took photo ops with the crowd that gathered outside the courtroom every day, which did add to the media sensation and seemed inappropriate for such a high-profile case. One of the defense psychologists, Professor Robert Geffner, said that Martinez was portrayed as a saint in the trial.
He also states that he is in possession of nearly 15 pages of text messages between Travis and other women, and in those messages, Travis gets sexually graphic. Bottom line, Jodi was living in another state and had therefore escaped her so-called abuser, yet she traveled from California to Arizona to see Travis.
I know that abusive relationships are complicated, but this is just one piece of the whole puzzle. She was not a teenager at the time she was dating Travis. She was a grown woman who is responsible for the decisions she makes. There was no evidence presented that backed up her allegations of abuse from Travis, nor pedophilia.
I think it was established that Travis looked at Jody as not a life partner, but a sexual one. Does this justify her murdering Travis? No, it doesn't. Jody slaughtered Travis in life and again after he died by making unsubstantiated allegations that he was not around to defend. In the notes below, there are some links to more information regarding this case.
There are photographs of Travis at the crime scene and at the time of the autopsy. If you want to view those, some can be found on Wild About Trial. There were many twists and turns in this case and here are a few that I found interesting. Travis's friends testified that Jodi would often enter Travis's home uninvited as she knew the code to his door.
They also stated that once the code was changed, she entered through the doggie door and even slept under the Christmas tree. Jodi won a Christmas singing contest in prison and she and her cellmates received a turkey dinner.
night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till he appeared and the soul felt its
After practicing law for 30 years, Prosecutor Juan Martinez agreed to be disbarred rather than go to trial for years of accusations of sexual harassment and professional misconduct. By agreeing to the disbarment, he is not admitting to any wrongdoing. A photo expert testified in court that he could see a reflection of Jody holding a camera in Travis's eye.
It was presumably the last photo taken of his face before he was killed.
This is a reflection of the left eye as depicted in Exhibit 159, correct? Mr. Alexander's left eye, correct. And this is the eye we see as reflected in Exhibit 159. This is a focus on that.
On Mr. Alexander's left eye. Basically what it is is a reflection from the cornea, and it's actually, it's interesting because if it was not in the middle of the pupil, we would not have got that kind of photo. What it is, if I may stand?
You may stand.
It's basically a camera being fired from this position, the camera held about chest height. And the reason you can tell that is because of the center of the flash, and you can see the chromatic aberrations around that, which are the colors.
And we can tell the height relative to the cornea, correct? The height, the level of the camera relative to the cornea? You stood up and you demonstrated us how you could see that the photograph was being taken.
It would actually be more like this. Okay. So, again, I don't know the height of Mr. Alexander and I don't know the height of Ms. Arias, so it'd be purely speculative. So I did an outline, a rough outline, of what I can see in the lab.
What you've done for purposes of demonstration here is that you've shown us a figure that is visible on your equipment but not visible, completely as visible here, of a person holding a camera, correct?
Yes.
And this outline you've done That's not an alteration to the photograph, is that correct?
No, the only thing that was changed on it, the light level, the overall, what would you call brightness, was cranked up by about 19%.
Jody and Travis exchanged 82,000 emails throughout their relationship. Jody has filed for appeal twice since her conviction, both citing prosecutorial misconduct. Her conviction for first-degree murder has been upheld each time. The prosecution team wanted to introduce evidence that Jodi tortured animals. Torturing pets.
The defendant tortured her cat. And I want to get into that. And it's in her notes. And it's something that she knows about. And if this is the chart that they're going to be using, how do we establish that the family of origin issue is involved? Also, my argument is going to be that if anybody's the abuser here, that's where I'm headed.
Let me have some more information about the notes. What does it say about it?
Let me go get it.
Okay. Mr. Martinez, I did read the notes, and it says that she poked at the cat and she slapped the dog. But I don't know that that rises to the level of torturing a pet, which is what is listed under terrorism as torturing pets.
And she also sneezed at the cat out of anger. She also...
This was according to something she had told one of the defense mental health specialists, Alice DeViolette. The judge felt that what Jodi reported to LaViolette didn't amount to animal abuse. Speaking of Alice LaViolette, she was a strong advocate for Jodi and named Travis as the abuser. Her testimony caused a huge backlash towards her by defenders of Travis.
One of her books on Amazon received numerous bad reviews as a result, and a change.org was set up asking that she no longer be allowed to speak at domestic abuse seminars based on her testimony during the Arias trial. She currently has a counseling practice in California. The following clip is Jody speaking to the court before the delivery of her sentence.
Judge, I just want to respond to a few of the things that were said earlier. My legal team and I tried to settle this case on four different occasions before trial. We tried two times before the 2013 trial, and what Samantha said was not accurate. I was not the one who refused to settle.
It was Travis's family who not only refused to settle and insisted on both trials, but then they bragged about it all over social media, including posting a group photo on the steps of this very courthouse, holding out all of their thumbs down, refusing to settle. As for not wanting the death penalty, it's my firm belief that death would bring me untold peace and freedom.
That's my personal belief. If I died today, I would be free and I would be at peace. For years, that's exactly what I wanted. but I had to fight for my life just like I did on June 4th, 2008, because I realized how selfish it would be for me to escape accountability for this mess that I've created.
I have two brothers, two sisters, several nieces and nephews, a mom, a dad, eight aunts, nine uncles, over 20 cousins that I've grown up with, as well as countless friends, all of whom would suffer greatly if I took my own life or if I allocated and begged for the death penalty and then got it. I did not drag Travis through the mud. I protected Travis's reputation for years.
I did say he was an influential person. I kept his skeletons in the closet all to my own detriment for years. What I testified to was not false. They were not made up. They were not things that I wanted to get out into public either. But when I was on the stand, I told the truth.
Your Honor was also here during the second trial when a lot of evidence came to light that supported my testimony from people that never even knew me but knew Travis. I do remember as I testified to this I'm sorry, I think I would have testified to this in the 2014 trial. I do remember the moment when the knife went into Travis's throat and he was conscious. He was still trying to attack me.
It was I who was trying to get away, not Travis, and I finally did. I never wanted it to be that way, Judge. The gunshot did not come last, it came first, and that was when Travis lunged at me just as I testified to, and just as the state's own detective testified two years ago before he and Juan got together and decided to change their story for trial.
As for not being abused, maybe I wasn't as badly abused as Travis and his siblings were by their parents. But I didn't consider it abuse either. I didn't consider being beaten and hit and all those things abuse. That was discipline in my family. That's how my parents were disciplined by their parents. That's why I didn't consider those things abuse. I understand now that that's abuse.
So for Samantha to say that I was not a victim of abuse is wrong because I was. And my family understands that now. And we, like my mom said, I didn't come with instructions. They did the best they could. They didn't do it because they're bad parents. They did it because they thought that they were disciplining us. And that's the best that they knew how.
The most important thing I wanna say is that I am very sorry for the enormous pain that I've caused the people that love Travis. I never thought I would cause so many people so much pain. I live every day wishing that I could undo what I did to Travis and wishing that I could take away their pain, just put it onto myself.
To this day, I can't believe that I was capable of doing something that terrible. I can't even, I'm truly disgusted and I'm repulsed with myself. I'm horrified because of what I did and I wish there was some way I could take it back.
It's chilling and it gives us more of a candid peek of the real Jodi and what happens to people when they cross her.