PHOENIX - Jurors reached a verdict Wednesday in the trial of Jodi Arias after deliberating about 15 hours over four days on whether the former waitress should be convicted of murder in the 2008 fatal stabbing and shooting of her onetime boyfriend.
Arias, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Travis Alexander, a motivational speaker and salesman, at his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities said she planned the attack in a jealous rage after being rejected by the victim while he pursued other women.
Arias initially denied involvement and later blamed the killing on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said she killed Alexander in self-defense.
Jurors got the case Friday afternoon. They deliberated for two full days this week before reaching a decision late Wednesday morning. The verdict was announced about 4 p.m. CDT.
Arias fought back tears, and family members of the victim wept and hugged one another, as the verdict was announced.
Outside, a huge crowd that had gathered on the courthouse steps screamed, whistled and cheered the news in a case that has attracted followers from across the country.
The jury of eight men and four women reached its verdict after four months of testimony, including 18 days on the witness stand by Arias. The jury will return to the courtroom today to begin the next phase of the trial that could set the stage for her being sentenced to death.
During the “aggravation” phase, prosecutors will argue the killing was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner. Both sides may call witnesses and show evidence during a minitrial of sorts. If the jury determines the killing was cruel, heinous and depraved, then another phase will begin to determine whether she should get the death penalty.
Minutes after her conviction, Arias told a TV station that she hopes for the death penalty, because she would “prefer to die sooner than later.”
“Longevity runs in my family, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place,” a tearful Arias told Fox affiliate KSAZTV. “I believe death is the ultimate freedom and I’d rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”
Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the forehead and had his throat slit before Arias dragged his body into his shower. He was found by friends about five days later.
Authorities said Alexander fought for his life as Arias attacked him in a blitz, but he soon grew too weak to defend himself.
“Mr. Alexander did not die calmly,” prosecutor Juan Martinez told jurors in opening statements.
Arias said she recalled Alexander attacking her in a fury after a day of sex. She said Alexander body-slammed her to the tile floor of the bathroom. She managed to wriggle free, she said, and ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf. She said he came at her “like a linebacker,” and she fired in self-defense but had no memory of stabbing him.
Psychologist Richard Samuels testified for the defense that Arias suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative amnesia, which explained why she couldn’t recall much from the day of the killing. Another defense witness, psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette, concluded that Arias was a battered woman.
Arias later said she shot Alexander first, but he kept approaching, forcing her to grab a knife and defend herself.
However, Dr. Kevin Horn, a Maricopa County medical examiner, testified it would have been highly unlikely that Alexander could have suffered so many defensive wounds from the knife attack had he been shot in the head first.
Meanwhile, Arias’ grandparents had reported a .25-caliber handgun - the same caliber used to shoot him - stolen from their Northern California home about a week before Alexander’s death, but Arias insisted she didn’t take it. The coincidence of the same caliber gun stolen from the home also being used to shoot Alexander was never resolved.
Arias acknowledged trying to clean the scene of the killing, dumping the gun in the desert and working on an alibi to avoid suspicion. She said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth at the time, but insisted at her trial she wasn’t lying to jurors.
The case attracted dozens of followers each day to the courthouse as they lined up for a few open public seats in the gallery. One trial regular sold her spot in line to another person for $200. Both got reprimands from the court, and the money was returned.
Adding to the spectacle, Arias sold drawings from jail throughout the trial on a website, said her mother, Sandra Arias. Nothing prevented Jodi Arias from profiting from her notoriety because she hadn’t been convicted of a crime.
Information for this article was contributed by Cristina Silva of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 05/09/2013