Jodi Arias Trial Update: Prosecution presents testimony to prove Arias, who killed ex-boyfriend, is a pathological liar

The prosecution presented testimony Thursday aimed at proving Jodi Arias is a pathological liar who plotted the murder of her ex-boyfriend, 30-year-old Travis Alexander. Arias, now 32, is facing the death penalty for the brutal stabbing and shooting of the former motivational speaker and salesman in his Mesa, Ariz., home on June 4, 2008. 

 

Arias was first arrested in her hometown of Yreka, in Siskiyou County, Calif., after Mesa police detectives discovered physical evidence that linked her to the crime. In court on Thursday, a former Siskiyou County sheriff’s detective, Nathan Mendes, who assisted in the investigation, presented incriminating receipts. The numerous receipts were found at Arias’s grandparents’ home, where she was living at the time of the murder.

The prosecution showed that Arias rented a car in Redding, Calif., instead of her small town of Yreka, implying that she wouldn’t be recognized there.

Numerous other credit card receipts that were presented provide a physical trail of Arias driving through Southern California and Nevada as she described to police, but no receipts reflect a presence in Arizona.

The prosecution is trying to establish that Arias plotted Alexander’s murder after she learned he was taking another woman on a business trip to Cancun. After the murder, she visited a new love interest in Utah, who testified Arias was sexually aggressive with him less than 24 hours after Alexander’s slaying.

That new love interest, Ryan Burns, also testified that Arias told him she got cuts on her hand from broken glass at her bartending job at “Margaritaville.” She also told Burns she had to return to that job in Yreka after a 24 hour visit to Utah. But Thursday, the former Siskiyou detective said there is no such restaurant or bar in Yreka and there never had been. Arias worked at a local Mexican restaurant in Yreka called “Casa Ramos” in 2008.

Arias’ defense team also filed a motion for a mistrial after contending that the state’s theory on the order of how Alexander was killed has changed over time. The defense argued that the lead Mesa police detective, Esteban Flores, initially believed in 2008 that Alexander was shot first and then stabbed in the chest and across his neck, causing the fatal injury. But testimony during the trial by the medical examiner, Dr. Kevin Horn, and repeated by Flores, was reversed. They stated it to be stabbing and then the shooting.

Detective Esteban Flores cleared the matter up under direct examination. He said this was clearly a misunderstanding. Not an attempt to reverse anything that would make the crime appear more heinous than it already is. The Judge appeared to be fine with his reasoning for making the claim.  It was simply the order in which he believed at the time Travis Alexander was murdered. 

The reversal shows a level of suffering for Alexander and could increase the severity of punishment for Arias who is facing the death penalty. Arias’ attorneys have admitted she committed the crime in self-defense. They say she killed Alexander, a devout Mormon, because he was abusive, controlling and a sexual deviant in his relationship with Arias.

The judge denied the motion for a mistrial. Prosecution testimony continues on Monday.

The State of Arizona VS. Jodi Arias

Jodi Arias

                                                                

 Jodi Arias  is accused of the premeditated murder of, Travis Alexander. Jodi Arias faces the Death Penalty if convicted of the June 4,  2008 murder.

The murder trial of Jodi Arias is expected to be the most watched court proceedings since the Casey Anthony case, and the 32-year-old seems determined to become a celebrity from the alleged grisly crime.   Deemed by many in the media as a “beauty” or  “gorgeous” this site will not refer to Jodi Arias by anything but what she is.   A woman on trial for murder.

 Far from keeping a low profile during the almost five years she has been in prison awaiting trial for the June 2008 killing of former friend, Travis Alexander.  Jodi even entered an American Idol style caroling competition two Christmases ago, and won. 

 The 2012 holiday season was no doubt more stressful for the convict,  whose high profile Death Penalty murder trial began on Wednesday, January 2, 2013 with Prosecutors determined to make her the fourth woman on Arizona’s death row.

 As a  California native Arias is accused of stabbing Travis Alexander in the heart, slitting his throat from ear to ear.  Then shooting Alexander, a 30-year-old motivational speaker and legal insurance salesman from Mesa, in the face and then stabbing him an additional 29 times. 7 of those stabs were in his back as he stood in front of his bathroom sink gushing blood from his heart. Travis Alexander endured a brutal death and what many have called a bloodbath. 

The couple first met at a conference in Las Vegas in September 2006, and even after they broke up, Arias moved from California to Arizona and began allegedly harassing him and his new girlfriend.  During the first week of June 2008, Alexander told friends that he suspected that Jodi had hacked into his Facebook account,  sliced his car tires, broke into his email account and bank account.  He even told a friend who testified on his behalf he was being stalked by Aria.  Travis Alexander allegedly said that he told her he wanted her to stay out of his life forever.

 However, on June 4, 2008 she went over to his house and they had sex and took explicit photos of each other, according to court records.  After Travis’ s body was found, a digital camera was discovered in the washing machine in the downstairs laundry room.  It appeared as though it had been run through the wash cycle, with bleach it also contained photos of Alexander’s body in the shower.  Moments before, the camera depicts a very much alive Travis Alexander.  One minute and twenty-four seconds later the camera shows the suspect, Jodi Arias dragging a very dead Travis Alexander on the floor.

Jodi has changed her story 3 times.  She is now claiming self-defense because she was a victim of criminal domestic violence. 

 As the trial continues, stay with me as I tweet live at @RobynD323.  Please bookmark this site for daily updates.  The trial can also be viewed on the daily live stream.