Exposed: The Secret Life of Jodi Arias

by Velez-Mitchell, Jane

  Ryan didn’t notice anything particularly unusual about her behavior. She hung out with him at the seminar, and then a group of more than a dozen PPL folks went to dinner at Chili’s. Jodi dined with Ryan and his friends, laughing and chatting. Afterward, they went to his place and watched a movie. She fell asleep for a while, and then left Salt Lake City between 2 A.M. or 3 A.M. Ryan couldn’t describe the car, but thought it was a white Ford Focus rental. The next time he heard from Jodi, it was by text, early in the next week. She told him that Travis had died. He knew about Travis, but only because Jodi had mentioned him several times.

  Ryan said a lot of mutual friends of his and Jodi’s in Utah were pointing fingers at her, saying she was responsible for his death. He said he had heard that Travis had been shot with a .25-caliber handgun and that he had also been stabbed. Detective Flores thanked him for his time, saying he would be in touch again soon.

  In the coming days, forensic results would give Detective Flores and his team the proof they were looking for. A senior print analyst at the Mesa police identification unit had been able to identify the latent print that had been left in the blood on the bathroom wall. She had individualized the latent print to Jodi Arias’s left palm print. It was further evidence that Jodi had been present at the time of Travis’s murder. Jodi had left the print when she touched the wall with her left hand.

  Members of the Mesa Crime Lab had also turned up something significant. The blood in the palm print indicated it was a mixture of DNA from two individuals, Travis Alexander and Jodi Arias. A long hair found in the same hallway, stuck to the wall in blood, was also identified as Jodi’s. Detective Flores had his killer.

  CHAPTER 8

  AT FIRST SIGHT

  Jodi was obsessed with Travis Alexander almost from the day they’d met: September 13, 2006. That initial meeting took place at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the third-largest hotel in the world, with more than five thousand rooms, five outdoor pools, artificial rivers and waterfalls, and nineteen restaurants. It was at one of these restaurants, the Rainforest Cafe, that Jodi encountered Travis for the first time.

  The two were in Las Vegas to attend the Pre-Paid Legal Services convention. Travis and Jodi were on opposite ends of the PPL organization. Travis had joined Pre-Paid Legal Services in 2001, when he was about twenty-four, and since then he had parlayed his role in the firm into something well beyond that of a mere salesman, becoming one of PPL’s most sought-after motivational speakers. He was such a successful salesman that by early 2006, he had already become an executive director by achieving at least seventy-five sales in one month, including sales made by those under him. He was now earning close to the hundred-thousand-dollar mark, which was the level at which salespeople were awarded a special ring for executives known as “Ring Earners.” As an executive director at the Vegas convention, Travis had access to all the executive perks, things such as special banquets, front-row seats to popular presentations, and other VIP treatments. The conventions were ways for him to network and to troll the crowd of newcomers for fresh recruits.

  By comparison, Jodi was a relative newcomer, who’d only just begun working with PPL a few months earlier, in March 2006. Jodi first heard about the opportunities at Pre-Paid Legal from a stranger who had come into the restaurant where she worked as a waitress. Her job at California Pizza Kitchen in Palm Desert was one of several she was juggling in an attempt to make her monthly bills. She and the stranger got into a casual conversation, so it kind of surprised her when he asked her where she saw herself in five years. He let her know that he was going to retire soon, having made enough money at a company called Pre-Paid Legal Services to do so at a young age. Jodi did not object when he handed her some printed material and a promotional DVD. The DVD sat in her house gathering dust for six months, when one day she came across it while cleaning. She was going to throw it away but decided to watch it first. She popped it into her machine. The message seemed like providence. Here, possibly, was the answer to her mounting problems.

  Jodi got so excited about the potential financial windfall that she signed up online and was soon contacted by one of the company’s salespeople, who signed Jodi up as an independent associate. At the time, Jodi had been struggling, working several jobs just to make ends meet, but because PPL’s associates work from home, Jodi didn’t have to give up her other jobs in order to make money. After she signed up with PPL, she heard about the company’s semi-annual convention in September. Apparently it was a great way to pick up tips on how to profit with the multilevel marketing firm, so when September came, Jodi traveled to Las Vegas with her sponsor/mentor and another Pre-Paid Legal associate to attend her first convention. She had been searching for something financially stable to lock on to and maybe this convention would provide the key. Jodi had just finished lunch and was standing with a group of people near the gorilla bench at the entrance to the Rainforest Café when Travis walked right up to her and introduced himself with an extended hand.

  “Hi, I’m Travis,” he greeted her. He was dressed in a dapper business suit and well-polished shoes. His short brown hair was combed back off his face, his features were chiseled, his green eyes were light and cheerful, and his smile was bold.

  “Hi, I’m Jodi,” was the response from the beautiful, demure blonde. Her dimples enhanced a smile befitting a model and her voice was soft, but confident.

  Though Jodi later claimed there wasn’t really any initial magnetic attraction between the two, what followed led many to believe there must have been a potent spark, a palpable heat, from the get-go. Jodi insisted that, at first, his was just another of the many names she had to remember given the hundreds of people she was meeting that weekend. Still, there was clearly something that drew the two into conversation.

  Travis joined Jodi and her friends for a stroll through the casino and before long, the two found themselves wandering away from the group. By the time they had reached the hotel’s lobby, where a larger-than-life gold lion statue sat in a raised pedestal surrounded by fresh flowers, they’d discovered their common interests.

  That night, Jodi was out for dinner at a Las Vegas Applebee’s when Travis called the cell phone of one of her friends. He wanted to invite Jodi to be his guest at the executive directors’ banquet, taking place at the MGM that very evening. The upscale dinner was reserved exclusively for the firm’s top performers and their guests. Although Jodi knew that being asked was an honor, she initially turned down the invitation because she didn’t have any “dress up” clothes, and it was starting in an hour. Her friend implored her to reconsider, telling her it would be a good experience and would get her more excited about the company.

  Jodi stopped at a Kohl’s department store, where she grabbed a few things off the rack, but she ended up calling Travis back to tell him she had had no luck finding something suitable. Travis was disappointed. He and his friends had been sitting around a table at the hotel waiting to hear from Jodi. Everyone was really excited for him. They knew he really liked her. He had even indicated that Jodi “could be the one.” He described her as “sweet” and “super cool.” He said the two had lots to talk about, and he was hoping she would be able to accompany him to the banquet that night. Everyone knew she was out looking for a dress, so when Travis’s cell phone rang, all eyes were on Travis.

  “She can’t find a dress,” he said with a look of disappointment.

  “Oh, what size is she?” his friend Sky Hughes asked. Sky was the wife of Travis’s original PPL contact, Chris Hughes. The two were among Travis’s closest friends.

  “About your size,” Travis replied.

  “Well, if she needs one, I have one upstairs that she can borrow.”

  A statuesque brunette, Sky had packed two dresses for the convention, so she offered Travis her black one with the white floral pattern. It wasn’t particularly fancy, but it would fit the bill. Sky gave Travis the key to her room and told him where he could find it. When Jodi returned to the hotel, sh
e met Travis upstairs and changed in the bathroom, while Travis waited. Jodi emerged looking gorgeous that Thursday evening. She was stunning to begin with, and even though the borrowed dress was nothing special, it fit her to a tee.

  At the banquet, Travis stood out in a black suit with bold white stripes, a reflection of his extroverted, larger-than-life personality. His outfit was punctuated with a black bow tie, giving him a look that telegraphed confidence. Travis’s colorful suits were well known to his friends, and he always wore them with style and assurance. Before dinner was served, there was a period of time for mingling, and Travis used the opportunity to introduce his group to Jodi.

  “Hey, everybody, this is Jodi,” Travis said with a big smile. “Jodi, this is everybody.”

  Several of Travis’s friends were surprised to see him with a woman this overtly sexy. Jodi was five feet six and a hundred and fifteen pounds, with an almost perfect body, and though nobody knew it then, she’d had breast implant surgery to enhance her cup size. Travis, too, had recently undergone a makeover of sorts. He had long struggled with his weight, and friends say he’d felt frustrated when trying to attract the bombshell women that some of his buddies seemed to wrangle. But he’d been working out furiously and losing weight, bringing out the natural attractiveness of his even features and making him more confident around potentially available women.

  This confidence was important because Travis was certainly ready to settle down. With his thirtieth birthday around the bend, he was affectionately considered the “old man” in his Young Singles Adult Ward. He was more eager than most to find a mate and settle down, as his advancing age would soon necessitate him moving to a more age-appropriate group, the Family Ward, where he’d be surrounded by married couples and older singles.

  Despite his bachelorhood, Travis was a star at Pre-Paid Legal, and his motivational talks were legendary. He wasn’t speaking at the executive directors’ banquet, but plenty of other people were. Jodi listened to the various speeches, and when the speakers talked about not worrying about money, it spoke to her. People were sharing details of their lifestyles and throwing around numbers. They spoke about how they no longer struggled, no longer worried about money. Instead, they were concerned with things of a higher nature, like how to use their incomes to better society. Travis’s friends who were there that night said that Jodi was socially appropriate, learning about the other people in attendance and asking good questions. She talked about herself, but not to the point of obnoxiousness. Jodi recalled that Travis spoke of his own success with the firm, as if he was hoping to impress her with the possibilities. At some point in the evening, it became clear to Jodi that his interest in her went beyond a professional relationship.

  There was definitely a potent chemistry brewing, but Jodi said she didn’t want to start anything romantic because, according to her, she was a “one guy at a time” kind of person, and the timing wasn’t right. She liked Travis and had essentially agreed to be his date at the banquet, but she insisted she could not act on her interest because she had a boyfriend back in Palm Desert. Travis was disappointed, but acted appropriately.

  Jodi and Travis spent much of the rest of the five-day conference in each other’s company. The following evening, the two shared a bench in the casino, where they talked into the wee hours of the morning. Jodi said that at one point, Travis leaned in close as if he wanted to kiss her, but when she reminded him of her boyfriend, he restrained himself.

  On Sunday, the last day of the conference, the two met for breakfast alone. Afterward, Jodi accompanied Travis to the front desk, where he checked out of the hotel and got in a taxi for the airport. She gave him her telephone number, hoping he would call. He reached out the very next day.

  Travis may have thought he was pursuing Jodi. But in reality, Jodi was already pulling the strings. Her history showed she liked to vine-swing by having another man ready to grab on to before she let go of the last. With Travis waiting in the wings, Jodi returned to Palm Desert and her relationship with Darryl, which she knew would not last much longer. For his part, Travis was amazed that this gorgeous stranger was showing interest in him. But Travis had seen just one side of Jodi Arias. Another side, far darker, was soon to emerge.

  CHAPTER 9

  REALITY CHECK

  On July 9, 2008, exactly one month after Travis Alexander’s body was found, a grand jury in Maricopa County indicted Jodi Ann Arias on one count of first-degree murder under two theories: premeditated murder, and felony murder, which is when the murder occurs during the course of a felony. Here, the grand jury said it was a burglary. The definition of second-degree burglary is entering or remaining unlawfully in a residence with the intent to commit any theft or felony therein. In Jodi’s case, she had caused the death of another person. The indictment charged that on or about the fourth day of June 2008, Jodi “intending or knowing that her conduct would cause death, with premeditation caused the death of TRAVIS V. ALEXANDER.” The state of Arizona further alleged that because a .25-caliber handgun was used, the offense was classified as a “dangerous felony.”

  Jodi had no knowledge of the indictment. At that moment, she was celebrating her twenty-eighth birthday back in Yreka, California. She had reluctantly moved back to her high school stomping grounds after leaving Mesa in April, in part because her mother, who had been worried about her, had invited her back. Sandy knew about Jodi’s financial troubles and was hoping to get her back on track. Jodi moved into the home of her grandparents, Carlton and Caroline Allen, on Pine Street. Right away, she found a job bartending at the Purple Plum, a casual restaurant on East Miner Street in the center of town.

  On July 14, Detective Flores and two other investigators from the Mesa Police Department, Danny McBride and Tom Denning, flew to Yreka to arrest Jodi on charges of first-degree murder. Besides the arrest warrant, Flores carried two search warrants, one to be executed on Jodi’s parents’ house, and another on her grandparents’ house. At 9 P.M., the three men from the Mesa Police Department met with members of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office to discuss their plan. Detectives from the Yreka police department had been trying to find Jodi. Everyone was given a description of Jodi’s car, so that they could locate her and put her under surveillance, but they were unsuccessful in finding the vehicle. Siskiyou County Detective Nathan Mendes reported that he had Jodi under surveillance at her grandparents’ and that she appeared to be packing. He could see her inside the house. This concerned them, because it looked as though she might be preparing to flee.

  Within an hour Detective Flores and his team joined Detective Mendes at the home under surveillance. The Mesa officers left around midnight, but when they returned the next morning, they noticed a white Chevrolet Cobalt parked in front of the house that had not been there the night before. They discovered that it was a rental car, picked up at 7:50 A.M. that morning at a Hertz location in Yreka. Jodi’s car was in Medford, Oregon, after having been repossessed by the bank. They could see that the rental car in the driveway had boxes in the backseat marked “JODI,” making them more convinced than ever that Jodi was on the move.

  During a briefing on how to proceed, the three law enforcement agencies—Yreka police, who had now joined them, the Siskiyou County sheriff’s deputies, and Mesa police—devised a plan. The Yreka police officer J. Potter would approach the house under the guise of following up on a burglary that had occurred at the Pine Street address on May 28, exactly one week before Travis was murdered. At that time, Jodi’s grandfather had summoned police to his house around 3:40 P.M. to report a break-in. Police arrived to find a broken doorjamb at the entrance to the home. There had been a rash of burglaries in that area recently, but this one had a few odd things about it. The TV appeared to have been moved, but only the DVD player had been taken. Mr. Allen had an extensive gun collection, which he kept in an unlocked cabinet; however, only one of his nine firearms was missing, a .25-caliber handgun. When Jodi had arrived home twenty minutes later, she was asked to in
ventory her property, and she reported only thirty dollars missing. That day, she had told police her only other valuable, her laptop, was safe, probably because she had it well hidden in a basket of laundry. But the gun Jodi’s grandpa had reported stolen that day was never found, and the fact that it was the same caliber as the weapon that had been used on Travis was not lost on the officers.

  Just after 9:30 A.M., Officer Potter knocked on Carlton and Caroline Allen’s front door, saying he was following up on the open burglary case. At that point, he executed both the arrest warrant and the search warrant. Jodi was removed from the house in handcuffs and was walked down the street to a car where Detective Flores was waiting for her.

  While Jodi might not have been surprised by this turn of events, her grandfather was so blindsided by the arrest that he became upset and angry, telling detectives they were wrong about his granddaughter, who he could prove had an airtight alibi. He insisted Jodi had been working at the Purple Plum when Travis had been murdered, and he demanded her immediate release, even going so far as to say he would sue the Mesa Police Department for the false allegations. At that, he asked to leave the residence, and when given permission, he went to the Purple Plum to retrieve Jodi’s timesheet. He returned with a sealed white envelope, which he pushed at Detective McBride.

  “I have the proof,” he announced, shaking the envelope confidently. “After you and I look at this, you are going to let my granddaughter go.” He opened it to reveal three photocopied pages of material. The first showed the payroll dates at the Purple Plum, and the second page showed the dates Jodi had worked during the month of May. The third sheet, the one Jodi’s grandfather was counting on, unfortunately showed that her last day of work before she quit had been May 31—five days before Travis’s death.