B (25:10)
On July 15, 2008, 28 year old Jodi Arias was arrested and charged with the murder of her ex boyfriend, 30 year old Travis Alexander. The evidence against her was overwhelming. Not only could Jodi be placed at the crime scene, but she'd taken a picture of Travis's body, possibly just moments after he was murdered. Despite all of that, Jodi insisted she hadn't killed him. But by then, the authorities knew everything that came out of Jodi's mouth was a lie. After her arrest, Jodi was questioned by Detective Esteban Flores of the Mesa, Arizona pd. At first, she insisted that she hadn't been in Mesa since April. But after the police revealed that they had evidence to the contrary, Jody seemed to rethink her story. On the second day of her interrogation, Jody reversed course. Now, she claimed that she was with Travis on June 4th forth the day he was killed. But in her version of events, she didn't have anything to do with his murder. Jodi claimed that while she was with Travis in the shower, intruders wearing ski masks had burst into the home and attacked them. Jody said she remembered Travis screaming as they jumped on him. In the midst of the chaos, Jody got hit in the head. She thought the blow might have knocked her out, which was apparently why her memory of what happened that day was hazy. She also claimed that one of the intruders held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her. But for reasons Jodi couldn't explain, the intruders let her live, allegedly telling her that they were only there for Travis. Before the masked assailants fled the scene, they told Jodi they'd come after her entire family. If she talked about the attack, Jodi said she took their warning seriously, which was why she never told a soul what had happened until this moment. Even though the story was totally outrageous, Jodi was committed to it. While she was recounting it to the police, she started crying. It was the first time during any of their interactions that she showed any emotion. There was just one problem. Detective Flores didn't buy it. After Jodi finished talking, he told her it was one of the most far fetched stories he'd ever heard and that she wasn't doing herself any favors by sticking by it. Jody didn't seem to care. At her arraignment on September 11, 2008, she pleaded not guilty. And days later, she told her intruder story to the entire country during a jailhouse interview for the news program Inside Edition. By then, Travis's murder was national news, and everyone seemed to have an opinion on what happened. It was hard to believe that Jody, who was young, charming and beautiful, could be a killer. And Jody leaned into the image she'd cultivated for herself. In the interview, Jodi was calm and collected, poised even. When asked about Travis, she spoke of him fondly before recounting the same mystery killer story she had told Detective Flores. She stuck to it with complete confidence before she went on to utter the words, no jury will convict me because I am innocent. Despite her bravado, Jodi eventually changed her story. As her trial approached. In August of 2010, she admitted that she did kill Travis, but now she claimed it was self defense. According to Jodi, Travis had been physically, emotionally and sexually abusive. She painted a picture of a relationship defined by fear and manipulation. She claimed it all came to a head on June 4, 2008, after she accidentally dropped Travis camera. Jodi said that Travis got so angry at her that she was scared for her life. That's why she decided to fight back. It was a stunning twist, and it completely changed Jodi's defense strategy. By claiming she was a battered woman, Jody thought she could justify killing Travis and that maybe a jury might show her mercy. Armed with this updated lie, Jodi went on to do multiple interviews from jail before her trial began and even went on air with Inside Edition again. But Jodi could only argue her case in the court of public opinion for so long. In January of 2013, the 32 year old finally went on trial in a court of law. In the four and a half years since Travis's murder, Jodi had drastically changed her appearance. She now wore glasses and had a new hairstyle long, with wispy bangs that skimmed her forehead, giving her a meek, almost childlike appearance. News of her trial and her new look was everywhere, from front page tabloids to morning talk shows. In the nightly news. At this point, Jodi had made it clear she didn't mind the spotlight. In fact, she might have welcomed it, because on February 4, 2013, she did something most people being tried for murder avoid. She testified in her own defense. For 18 days, Jodi talked about abuse she allegedly endured as a child, manipulation she'd experienced in past relationships, and ultimately the trauma that Travis's supposed violence had caused her. Jodi claimed that Travis was able to keep his abuse hidden from the rest of the world. According to Jodi, she was the only one who knew the real Travis, and he was a monster. She went on to explain how Travis controlled her, degraded her, and called her terrible names. She said he'd choked her, and during their final violent encounter, she feared that if she didn't fight back, she wouldn't survive. During Jodi's testimony, she had all sorts of excuses about why she'd repeatedly changed her story. She claimed that she was ashamed about the alleged abuse and that she didn't want to damage Travis reputation. Not only that, but she insisted she had no memory of the killing itself. It seemed like a case of convenient amnesia, but under cross examination, Jodi was confronted with all of her previous lies. And even Jodi had to admit that she couldn't keep them straight. She'd been deluding herself for so long, it wasn't clear if she knew what the truth was anymore. But the prosecution did. On the stand, they pointed to all of the evidence that proved Jodi was a cold and calculated killer. They brought up Jody's erratic behavior in the months before the murder. The rental car, the bloody handprint, and most importantly, the photos. In the end, though, it was up to a jury to decide what really happened. On May 8, 2013, they reached a verdict. After 15 hours of deliberation, they found Jodi Arias guilty of first degree murder. Now the question was, what would her punishment be? Per Arizona law, the jury had to be in unanimous agreement about whether she would get life in prison or be executed. But they couldn't reach a consensus, which meant a new jury had to be brought in to hear the entire case all over again. The second jury also found themselves divided. At that point, the final decision went to the judge who sentenced Jody to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of this recording, Jodi remains incarcerated at the Perryville Arizona State prison complex in Goodyear, where she works as a library aide. Her sentence is final and can never be appealed. Jodi Arias once told the world that no jury would ever convict her. She'd spent years convincing the world that she was a good person who'd been betrayed by those closest to her. But in the end, there was no denying that the only victim in her story was Travis Alexander. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories. Come back next time for the story of another murder and all the people it affected. True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media crime house on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode early and ad free. We'll be back on Friday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy, and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertofsky, Markie Lee, Sarah Camp and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. Foreign.