Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story: A Beautiful Photographer, Her Mormon Lover, and a Brutal Murder

by Hogan, Shanna

  “I don’t remember being angry that day,” she said calmly.

  “Why were you afraid of the consequences if you killed in self-defense?”

  “I believed that it is not okay, in any circumstance, to take someone’s life, even if you are defending your own life,” Jodi said. “I felt like I had done something wrong and I was afraid of what the consequences would be.”

  “After all the lies you told, why should we believe you now?” The question brought groans from the spectators’ gallery.

  “Lying is not something I typically do,” Jodi said. “The lies I told in this case can be tied to protecting Travis’s reputation or my involvement.”

  * * *

  Jodi would spend one more day going over final questioning from both Nurmi and Martinez. In total she would spend an unprecedented eighteen days on the witness stand.

  When she was finally dismissed, she calmly returned to her seat at the defense table.

  CHAPTER 39

  By the time Jodi Arias stepped down from the witness stand, the public’s fascination with her high-profile murder trial had grown fanatical.

  Trial watchers flew in from as far away as Canada, lining up outside the courthouse before dawn for a chance to score one of the coveted seats open to the public.

  While in line for a spot in the gallery, friendships formed, fights broke out, and one woman even sold her place in line for $200. Because the transaction was witnessed by court staff, the woman was forced to return the money.

  In the waiting area the banter was often loud and raucous as the trial watchers debated the facts of the case. As the chatter grew louder, security guards occasionally ordered the gaggle to be quiet.

  While a small segment of the trial watchers backed Jodi—believing she was a victim of domestic violence—the vast majority supported the Alexander family and prosecutor Juan Martinez. Frenzied followers vilified Jodi and demonized her defense, turning Martinez into a celebrity. After court, prosecution groupies hounded Martinez for pictures or to get his autograph—spurring the defense at one point to ask for a mistrial for prosecutorial misconduct, a motion that was denied.

  Behind bars, Jodi seemed to relish the attention. Through her friend and former cellmate, Donavan Bering, she established a Twitter profile where she promoted the sale of her artwork and posted derogatory comments about the prosecutor. Through periodic phone calls Jodi relayed messages to Donavan, who posted them on the social networking service. Jodi also penned a manifesto and autographed several copies of the book.

  In her life outside of jail, Jodi had always sought control in her relationships, spying on her boyfriends’ private correspondence. And in court, Jodi attempted to direct the trial.

  On multiple occasions court was canceled when Jodi claimed she had a migraine headache. When spectators began wearing navy blue ribbons in support of the Alexander family, she complained to the court, prompting the judge to disallow anyone other than the Alexander family to wear them. At one point, Jodi even filed an order of protection against three of the journalists covering her trial.

  Meanwhile, Jodi remained optimistic and told several of her supporters she believed her testimony had swayed the jury. She thought she may be found guilty of manslaughter, or possibly second-degree murder, but expected her trial would likely result in a hung jury.

  * * *

  As the chaos surrounding the trial trickled into the courtroom, the defense continued to present their case, calling two expert witnesses to back Jodi’s claims that she was abused and experienced a blackout during the slaying.

  Psychologist Dr. Richard Samuels testified that following his evaluation he had concluded Jodi suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder that had caused amnesia. Samuels claimed a large percentage of people subjected to a traumatic event have “cloudy and foggy” recollections. “There are many people that never remember the actual events,” he said.

  On cross-examination, however, Juan Martinez claimed Samuels’s diagnosis of PTSD was flawed because when he examined Jodi, three years prior, she was still telling the story of the phantom intruders.

  “You confirmed the presence of PTSD, even though you’ve just now told us that this is based on a lie,” Martinez said with a tone of incredulity.

  “Perhaps I should have readministered that test,” Samuels reluctantly admitted.

  In making his diagnosis, one of the qualifying symptoms Samuels had observed were Jodi’s bouts of irritability and anger. But under questioning, Martinez forced Samuels to admit that Jodi had anger issues throughout her life.

  “When she was a teenager, isn’t it true that the defendant had such anger toward her mother, Sandy, that she treated her like crap?” Martinez asked.

  “Yes,” Samuels replied.

  “Isn’t it true that they argued all the time?” asked Martinez. “And isn’t it true that during that time, the defendant hit Sandy for no reason?”

  “Yes.”

  “And this was all before this June 4, 2008, incident?”

  “But it’s irrelevant for the diagnosis,” Samuels contended.

  Finally, Martinez attacked Samuels’s integrity, asserting that by sending her a self-help book in jail, the doctor’s relationship with Jodi had become inappropriate.

  “You have feelings for the defendant, right?” Martinez asked.

  “I beg your pardon, sir!” retorted Samuels.

  * * *

  Following Samuels, domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette recounted incidents of physical and emotional abuse Jodi claimed she endured.

  “Do you believe in your expert opinion that Jodi was a battered woman?” Jennifer Willmott asked.

  “Yes, I do,” LaViolette said.

  “How would you characterize their relationship?”

  “I would call it a domestically abusive relationship,” said LaViolette.

  On cross-examination, however, Martinez pointed out that the only evidence of abuse were Jodi’s statements.

  To undermine her credibility, Martinez ridiculed LaViolette for a presentation she gave in 2012 where she made the case that Snow White was a battered woman, illustrating that she could find abuse even in a fairy tale.

  “What this shows us is that even if it’s a myth—all made up—you can come up with the opinion that the person is a victim of domestic violence,” Martinez said.

  As the questioning grew increasingly aggressive, LaViolette shot back at Martinez, “If you were in my group I’d ask you to take a time-out, Mr. Martinez.”

  Martinez went on to question LaViolette about her evaluation of Jodi.

  “So when you’re interviewing then you’re not talking, right?” Martinez asked.

  “Mr. Martinez,” said LaViolette, before being interrupted.

  “Yes or no? My question is: are you talking—yes or no?” Martinez snapped.

  “Mr. Martinez, are you angry at me?” LaViolette suddenly asked, prompting laughter from the gallery.

  “Is that relevant to you?” Martinez barked back. “Does that make any difference to your evaluation, whether or not the prosecutor is angry?”

  Meanwhile, outside the courtroom, trial watchers, angered by LaViolette’s testimony, attacked her online, posting more than a thousand negative book reviews on Amazon, calling her a fraud and a disgrace. Hundreds also called organizations that had booked LaViolette for speaking engagements in an attempt to persuade them to cancel her appearances.

  The barrage of harassment was the subject of lengthy closed-door meetings in the judge’s chambers and later sent LaViolette to the emergency room for anxiety attacks and heart palpitations.

  * * *

  In concluding their case, the defense asked the jury to look deep into Travis’s eyes in his last seconds of life.

  The defense called a forensic audio and video expert who had examined one of the final photographs Jodi had taken of Travis while he was still alive.

  In a hearing held outside the presence of the jury, the expert enlarge
d the photo to show a reflection in the cornea of Travis’s left eye. In one shot, he had sketched a white outline around the shape of a head and elbows that he identified as arms holding a camera. The image was intended to support Jodi’s claims that she had no weapon when she was photographing Travis and had to run to get the gun and knife.

  Initially, Juan Martinez scoffed at the blurry reflection and demanded tests to prove the expert’s opinion. “I don’t see a camera, I don’t see a knife. I don’t see anything but a blotch,” Martinez said.

  After a two-hour meeting in the judge’s chambers, however, Martinez grudgingly admitted that the figure in the image was holding a camera.

  Following the closed-door meeting the jury was brought into the courtroom, where the enlarged photograph of Travis’s eye was displayed on the screen. Judge Stephens explained to the jury that the lawyers had stipulated that Jodi was not holding a gun or knife when the picture was taken.

  On April 16, after thirty-eight days of graphic and emotional testimony, the defense rested its case.

  * * *

  Over the next few weeks Juan Martinez presented his rebuttal case, refuting many of the defense’s claims. A psychologist, Dr. Janeen DeMarte, was called to dispute abuse allegations, noting that even those claims varied wildly during Jodi’s many evaluations.

  “This reporting of domestic violence has changed over time, frequently,” she said. “My opinion is that there did not appear to be significant abuse.”

  DeMarte also dismissed claims that Jodi had suffered memory loss from post-traumatic stress disorder. She explained that PTSD could not result from a fabricated event, such as the intruder story. Further, she said Jodi’s memory lapse wasn’t consistent with PTSD, which usually involves short bursts of blackouts.

  “She does not have post-traumatic stress disorder,” DeMarte maintained.

  According to tests she had administered, DeMarte concluded that Jodi suffered from borderline personality disorder. Her diagnosis was based on Jodi’s history of unstable personal relationships, inappropriate anger, feelings of emptiness, suicidal thoughts, and paranoia she was being persecuted. DeMarte compared a person suffering from borderline personality disorder to an immature teenager with identity issues.

  The disorder caused Jodi to have an irrational fear of abandonment, according to DeMarte.

  “You could see it in her journal entries that went from happy to sad very quickly,” she said. “There is some indication that she has some anger problems, that she has strong feelings of anger, internally.”

  As Martinez continued to poke holes in the defense’s case, Jodi seemed defiant, disregarding the witnesses while silently sketching on a notepad.

  As part of Martinez’s rebuttal, a friend and former coworker of Travis’s testified he observed Travis and Jodi being affectionate in public and even shot photos and video that captured romantic public exchanges.

  A Tesoro employee spoke about three gas purchases made at a Tesoro gas station in Salt Lake City, two days after Jodi killed Travis.

  Returning to the stand, Michael Melendez testified that he did not find any pornographic images of any kind on Travis’s computers. Detective Flores also told the jury that Travis was not a registered gun owner and no evidence of a gun was found in his house—no bullets, no holster.

  Martinez also disputed Jodi’s claims regarding a gas can she had purchased from Walmart the day before the murder. Jodi said she returned the gas can on June 3, 2008. However, a Walmart employee, who had reviewed records from the Salinas store, said no one had returned a five-gallon gas can that day. According to the store’s records, Jodi returned the gas can one week after the purchase.

  Finally, Travis’s best friend, Deanna Reid, spoke about her relationship with Travis.

  “Would he ever call you names?” Martinez asked.

  “No, he did not,” Deanna said.

  “Did he ever strike you or physically advance on you or inflict any physical violence on you?”

  “No, never.”

  On cross-examination, Nurmi questioned Deanna about the intimate details of her relationship with Travis, forcing her to admit she had sex with him several times while keeping it secret.

  “That was our private business,” Deanna said.

  CHAPTER 40

  After four months of testimony, and over six hundred pieces of evidence, closing arguments began on May 2, 2013.

  Dressed in a navy blue suit with a striped tie, Juan Martinez spoke directly to the jury. “This individual, Jodi Ann Arias, the defendant, killed Travis Alexander.”

  Repeatedly raising his voice, Martinez reminded jurors that it was Jodi who manipulated and abused Travis, not the other way around.

  “Even after stabbing him over and over again, even after taking a gun and shooting him in the face, she will not let him rest in peace,” he said. “Now instead of a gun, instead of a knife, she uses lies. She uses these lies in court when she testified to stage the scene for you like she did for the police.”

  Throughout his arguments, Jodi doodled, ignoring Martinez. When Martinez described Jodi faking an orgasm during the phone sex call, Jodi flashed a smirk. Later, she slowly shook her head.

  Martinez described Jodi as a manipulative liar, who craved the limelight and sought out the media attention. She lied from the beginning and continued to lie on the stand, he said. “This is an individual who will stop at nothing, and who will continue to be manipulative and will lie at every turn.”

  Presenting some of the text message exchanges between Travis and Jodi, Martinez spoke of the heated argument the former couple had on May 26, 2008. During their fight Travis had written: “You are the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

  “No one can dispute that those are the truest words that are spoken in this case, and they are spoken by Mr. Alexander—even though he is not here—through his writing,” said Martinez. “Any doubt that that’s the truth? Do we need to look at the pictures of his gashed throat?”

  During the fight Travis had called Jodi a “sociopath,” “liar,” and a “scammer.”

  “Whatever reason, he believed that she had done something to him,” Martinez said.

  Two days after the fight Jodi stole the gun from her grandparents. She then borrowed gas cans, rented a car, and turned off her cell phone to avoid leaving a trace of her presence in Arizona. On June 4, Jodi came to Mesa intending to slaughter Travis. “This is a meticulous approach to premeditation. This is a meticulous approach to killing.”

  Once again Martinez presented the images of Travis’s decomposing body covered in stab wounds. As a close-up image of Travis’s throat wound was displayed on the screen, gasps could be heard from the spectators. “This was a strike to kill, right at the neck.”

  Finally, Martinez reviewed the charges, explaining that Jodi committed murder in the first degree under both theories of premeditated and felony murder—a murder that takes place during the commission of a felony. If Jodi brought the gun to Travis’s house, then the murder was premeditated; if after killing Travis she took his gun with her, it was considered robbery and therefore felony murder.

  Martinez concluded by imploring the jury not to be manipulated by Jodi’s lies, making an analogy about the gas cans she brought on her road trip.

  “She wants you to carry those gas cans. She wants you to help fill them with gas,” Martinez said. “Don’t leave this courtroom with the stench of gasoline on your hands.”

  * * *

  “Sex, lies, and dirty little secrets,” Kirk Nurmi began his closing statements. “These aspects of the human condition may not be universal, but each one of these aspects of the human condition played a prominent role in the relationship Jodi Arias shared with Travis Alexander.”

  In stark contrast to her distracted disposition during Martinez’s closing, Jodi watched Nurmi intently as he laid out his case.

  On the screen, Nurmi displayed one of the last photos taken of Travis alive and then the blurry picture of his b
ody on the bathroom floor—time-stamped three minutes later.

  “What happened in those three minutes is ultimately what you have to decide,” he said. “Was this three minutes in time the culmination of a plot that Jodi hatched in June 2008? Or was it an act of self-defense forced on Ms. Arias by the actions of Mr. Alexander?”

  Aware that his client comes across as unlikable, Nurmi pleaded with the jury to take an impartial look at Jodi.

  “It’s not about whether or not you like Jodi Arias. Nine days out of ten, I don’t like Jodi Arias,” Nurmi said. “But that doesn’t matter.” Jodi smiled briefly at the statement before returning to an unemotional gaze.

  Repeatedly, Nurmi argued the prosecution’s theory of a planned attack “didn’t make any sense” and disputed the evidence that seemed to point to premeditation. It was never a “covert mission,” he said, dismissing his client’s behavior after the crime as insignificant.

  “Why, if someone is there to commit a murder, do you hang out and let the intended victim take pictures of you in what’s soon to become a crime scene?” he said. “That doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

  Nurmi described the saga of Travis and Jodi as a “sad ending to a toxic relationship.”

  “This relationship was one of chaos,” he said. “The sex, the love, the fear, the lies, and the dirty little secrets all culminate on June 4.”

  Toward the end of his closing, Nurmi speculated that Jodi simply “snapped.”

  “What this evidence shows is that either what happened is that Jodi Arias defended herself and didn’t know when to stop, or she gave in to a sudden heat of passion,” Nurmi said. “Ultimately, if Miss Arias is guilty of any crime at all, it is the crime of manslaughter and nothing more.”

  * * *

  The jury deliberated for less than three days, a total of fifteen hours, before reaching a verdict on May 8, 2013.

  As the word spread through e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook, hundreds mobbed the courthouse, some carrying homemade signs in support of the prosecution.

  Inside the courtroom, Jodi remained stoic as the bailiff handed the verdict to the judge, who silently read it and handed it to the clerk.