Jodi Arias found guilty
A jury found Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder today for the June 2008 death of her former boyfriend Travis Alexander. The verdict was read around 4:50 p.m. E.T.
According to prosecutors, Arias killed Travis Alexander in a jealous rage after he rejected her and pursued other women. Alexander, a motivational speaker and salesman in Phoenix, Arizona was stabbed 30 times, shot in the forehead and had his throat slit before Arias dragged his body into his shower.
Arias at first claimed that masked intruders killed Alexander but two years later admitted to the crime citing self defense. Arias told prosecutors that after a day of sex, Alexander snapped and began to attack her. She managed to break free from him however and find his gun in his closet. She did not recall stabbing him.
If jurors believed her self defense claim Arias would have been acquitted and almost immediately released.
The first-degree murder charge makes her eligible for the death penalty. The penalty phase for Arias begins tomorrow May, 8. –danielle canada
