20/20 - True Crime Vault: Gone In A Flash

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Details surrounding the Jodi Arias murder case, including excerpts from Arias' personal journal and victim Travis Alexander's blog, and new interviews with Alexander's friends and family. Originally aired 02/14/2020 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi everybody, it's Deborah Roberts, co-anchor of 2020. We're bringing you more 2020 each week with the 2020 True Crime Vault. That's right, you're going to hear a story pulled from our archives, shows that we just can't seem to get out of our heads, and we think you're going to be drawn in too. Thanks for listening. She's the sanest, crazy person you've ever met. The public was obsessed because this was a case that was drenched in sex and lies and religion and sex. That is so debasing.

I like it. Travis was addicted to Jodie. He's had a little taste, but he wants even more. She was his kryptonite. She was his dirty little secret. He made me feel like a very beautiful person on the inside. She became very possessive of him. Very possessive. I said, Travis, I'm afraid we're going to find you chopped up in her freezer.

It was a fatal attraction. Definitely a fatal attraction here. What's going on? Um, our friend of ours is dead in his bedroom. The amount of blood all over. All over. It was everywhere. He was slaughtered. There's no other way to describe it. So you arrived at the house, he's having sex with them, they're taking the pictures.

The camera accidentally fell and took a couple shots. Photos of Travis in the shower. Even as the homicide occurred, the camera is continuing to click photographs. It's almost like having somebody videotape your murder. The final picture of him alive. Jodie is taken into the interrogation room, and what she does there stuns the world.

I think it's wrong, but I don't want to be right. I can't... I am an artist. I'm a photographer. It started off that way when I was younger. I got a little 110 camera, which is kind of that old cheap film. I took pictures of everything from my foot to a tree or a leaf or my cat. Over the years it developed into something that I became really passionate about. Jodi Arias had a very normal upbringing.

She grew up in the middle of California. I have a large family. We're all pretty close. In high school yearbook photos, Jodi appears to be a happy, innocent, carefree kid. Her family moved around a little bit in California. She spent some time in her childhood in Salinas, and then they moved up near the Oregon border to Wairika. Jodi Arias's parents owned a Mexican

food restaurant where Jodi worked as a waitress when she was a teenager. Moving to a new town while she was a teenager was really tough on Jodi, and she started documenting this in a journal. I often ask myself why I'm here. I'm completely aware that I dwell in the past all too often to a time of pure fun and true friendships. I don't belong here. I shouldn't be here in Wyricka. Wyricka is a small California town. The main street has little shops, a lot of family-owned businesses. There's a lot of beautiful mountain ranges.

I've always been drawn to nature and things like that. I think that inspires a lot of my art and a lot of my photography as well. Jodi never makes a big name for herself as a photographer. She never makes a lot of money, but she shoots weddings. She eventually just picked up and grabbed everything she owned and moved to a resort town in California. Jodi was looking to make more money and to be more successful in life. So she decides to get involved in a network marketing company called Prepaid Legal Services.

She thought, wow, this looks like interesting work, selling legal services to people where they would pay a fee and they would have these lawyers on call for them. And she decided to go to a conference that prepaid legal had. The company was having a convention in Vegas and it was a big deal and so everybody was beating the drum. You gotta go to Vegas, gotta go to the convention. You can see in videos posted on YouTube the energy that was created in these conventions. Please have me welcome Mr. Travis Alexander.

Travis Alexander was a successful 29-year-old motivational speaker and salesman for prepaid legal. He had risen quickly up the ranks. He had tons of friends and tons of people that always wanted to be around him, just because he was a great guy. His main goal in life was just to make people laugh and to make them feel better about themselves. In this YouTube video, Travis talks about being single.

When I first started, you can imagine the first thing I would hear a lot of is, by the way, he's single. And I'm like, that's right, maybe he's going to hit me. That's been going on for six years. Travis was the T-Dog. He was a huge flirt. Travis was always in the market. He was always looking for, Travis was looking for his wife. I knew that Travis was single and I said,

hey, there's this really good looking gal on my team. You ought to meet her. Jodi's at the MGM Grand. They're standing outside the Rainforest Cafe and this handsome, well-dressed man comes up to her and says, hi, I'm Travis. And it's clear from the get-go, they have a potent chemistry.

She's beautiful, she's friendly, has long blonde hair, cute figure, she was very sweet. He said, hey listen, do you have a nice dress, because I'd like to take you to the formal executive dinner with me as my guest. During the dinner, they just talked the whole time. She seemed to like him as much as he liked her.

He's riveted with everything she's saying. It was cute, you know? I mean, I was like, okay, I mean, good for you, Travis. It was cute to watch. Jodie was actually in a committed relationship, but you wouldn't know it. Jodi had been with the same guy for about four years, but they were having problems.

She was desperate to get married and have kids. He had already been married. He had a kid, he didn't want to do it again. So she was looking elsewhere. After the banquet, Travis and her hung out until four o'clock in the morning, just talking and getting to know each other. And the next morning, he tells me that he's found his wife,

and this is the girl that he wants to marry. Her, this night, was the magic, was the Cinderella moment. She met her prince, and that was Travis. One thing he always told me is that, you know, pretty girls are a dime a dozen, but it's what's on the inside that kind of makes people stand out. He made me feel like a very beautiful person on the inside.

After that first encounter, Travis is very much infatuated with Jodi. He's had a little taste, but he wants even more. We got to know each other through hours upon hours of phone conversations. We just discovered a lot of common interests and grew close. Travis lives in Mesa, Arizona. Jodie lives in California. So they're having a long-distance relationship, and they begin meeting at Travis' friend's house.

It's a convenient rendezvous point. She was really excited about the relationship. She loved how funny he was, how much fun they would have together. Travis loved to take adventures and do different things. Jodi documented their time together online by posting photos on her MySpace page. So Jodi and Travis, they shared a lot of interest together,

a key being traveling. They had a book called A Thousand Places to See Before You Die, just traveling around to these places in the book together. We went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. We saw Sedona. We saw the Grand Canyon. It was a mutual goal to check things off that list. I'm always pointing the camera in every direction,

and he was always a very enthusiastic and willing subject. In emails that Travis sent to Chris and Skye, he actually talks about how deeply he cared about Jodie. I went from intrigued by her to interested in her to caring about her deeply to realizing how lucky I would be to have her as a part of my life forever. She is amazing. It's not hard to see that whoever scores Jodie, whether it be me or someone else, is

going to win the wife lotto. The biggest problem, however, when it came to any kind of romantic relationship was one of religion. Travis Alexander was Mormon and Jodie Arias was not. He was a Storman Mormon. He was deeply involved in the Mormon Church, devout. He was very open with how he wanted his life to be and how he wanted his marriage to be

and so, you know, there would be no compromises. Jody was the first person I ever heard of that he was dating that was not a Mormon. She was very sensual and very sexual and Travis was extremely attracted to that because he was not used to that with the women he had dated in the Mormon faith before. If anyone is even remotely familiar with the Mormon beliefs, no sex before marriage. She was his kryptonite. Their relationship was white hot sex. Travis Alexander started a blog called Travis Alexander Being Better Blog,

in which he was writing very honestly and candidly about his life and his struggles. I used to imagine myself as some dangerously handsome tycoon in Time magazine, as one of the world's most eligible bachelors. Then I turned 30. As I tend to do, I did a little soul searching and realized that I was lonely. Travis is getting older. Being a devout Mormon, typically when you're 30, 31,

you're expected to have a family, have children, be settled down. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in these singles congregations that they've got set up across the world, when you turn 31, you're out. Like you have to go to a regular congregation, almost like you're getting moved from the main toy box to the broken toys, like the broken toys go over here. Travis was feeling a bit of pressure to find, as one friend put it, a good Mormon girl and to marry her.

That wasn't Jodi Arias. Travis starts sending Mormon missionaries to her house. At night he talks about the Book of Mormon. He quotes scripture to her. Mormon, he quotes scripture to her. He had a very significant influence on me as far as, you know, my decision to join the church. She was very spiritual and so she was open to learning about Mormonism. And this was also a way for her to be more a part of Travis's life. She chose to become baptized because she thought

that's what Travis wanted. Within a couple of months of them meeting, Jodie is now converting to a new religion. This was unbelievably fast. Travis actually baptized Jodie himself, and there's a picture of the two of them before the ceremony. and there's a picture of the two of them before the ceremony. He baptized me and it was emotional, it was spiritual, it was powerful. It's a feeling that, like everything, just comes right into alignment

and nothing can go wrong. It was very important for Travis to remain true to his faith because Mormonism saved his life. Travis had a difficult childhood. He grew up in Southern California, very poor. Both of his parents were serious drug addicts. My childhood, unfortunately, was very much like any child's that had drug addicteds. My childhood unfortunately was very much like any child that had drug addicted parents. It was a very tough life living with our mother. We kind of fended for herself and you know top ramen was the main source of nutrition. When his mother was doing drugs she would sleep for days

at a time and he was scared to wake her up. When you sleep for four days with a house full of kids, there isn't any food cooked. We would eat what was there, but before long, what was edible would be eaten or rot, and then what was rotten would be eaten too. His home life got to the point where it was so incredibly abusive. He ran away and went over to his grandmother's house. Our grandmother was a saint. I mean, she was the greatest woman. Put clothes on our back, food in our belly, a warm place to sleep. She got us all in the church and pointed us in the right direction.

That kind of became like his saving grace. It gave him his identity and his importance. He was always incredibly strong in the church, but after meeting Jodie, some of the conversations were about the challenge of morality because this girl's in his life. The law of chastity in the Mormon church is clear. Pre-marital sex is forbidden. Well, there is a video showing Travis and Jodie very affectionate with each other. It's clear that they have a strong connection.

There's a lot of tenderness and just warmth. What people may not have known was that despite both being Mormons, they were also having sex. In Jodie's journal, she actually writes a lot about the lengths to which the two of them go, indulging in these sexual fantasies. His bedroom becomes our playground where our passions run wild and certain fantasies are taken to the extreme.

The rules melt away. ... Travis was addicted to Jodie. This was a woman, a gorgeous woman, who was fulfilling all of his sexual desires. ... He really was struggling and suffering in guilt, you know, because he knew that he was outside

of the tenets of the faith. was struggling and suffering in guilt, you know, because he knew that he was outside of the tenets of the faith. They're both sitting in the eyes of his church. Travis wanted to marry a virginal, pure Mormon girl. By having sex with him, Jodie eliminated herself as ever being marriage potential for Travis. But there were a lot of other problems. Travis and Jodie have been dating for a couple of months

when his friends started noticing there's something off with Jodie, something not quite right. For example, one night we're all in the hot tub. There's four of us, you know? This is a time to chat and hang out. Well, Jodie is, like, climbing on Travis while we're trying to have this conversation.

She was all over him. I mean, like, eighth graders whose parents are out of town, like, straddling his lap and sucking on his neck, and Travis just kept pushing her off. And he's like, Jodi, like, get off me. Like, what are you doing? And I look at Chris, I'm like, does she not realize we're sitting here?

That was one of those nights where we're like, she's weird, you know? Like, this off me. Like, what are you doing? And I look at Chris, I'm like, does she not realize we're sitting here? That was one of those nights where we're like, she's weird, you know? Like, this is weird. This is around the time where she became very possessive of him. Very possessive. She just had to sit right by him. She didn't appreciate when he was talking to another female.

She didn't like the fact that if there was anyone that didn't know that they were together, she wanted to make that clear. I've never experienced being around somebody that's that clingy to another person and just wouldn't leave them alone. I started seeing things that were just disturbing. Jodie is infatuated with Travis, and she is not letting him go. She had come undone.

I said, Travis, I'm afraid we're gonna find you chopped up in her freezer. I love him so greatly that my love is bigger than even I can grasp. It fills me and explodes through me. So within months of meeting, Jodie is attached to Travis beyond belief. They were dating long distance, and Jodie was going to a lot of work for this

relationship. Jodie desperately wanted not just to be Travis's girlfriend, she wanted to be Travis's fiance and Travis's wife. Travis's friends didn't embrace Jodie the same way Travis did. They saw her a little differently. As they get to know her better, they get more and more creeped out by her behavior. From very, very early on, she was completely obsessed with him. I started seeing things that were just disturbing, you know, her following him to the bathroom and standing outside the door

without him knowing or eavesdropping on his conversations, freaking out if he was out of her sight. She went through his cell phone on multiple occasions. She went through his emails. She went through his Facebook. She went on his email and forwarded every email message to her from a woman to herself. There was this one time where she said that she was getting these messages from some strange man who says that he watches her.

Travis came to me and he goes, let me read you this email, it's really scary. And it was like, Jodi, you're so beautiful, you're so amazing, Travis doesn't deserve you. Travis lives in Mesa and you live in California and he's too far away, he can't protect you and I know where you live. And I'm laughing at this point and Travis like, Sky, this is serious, she's very scared. And I said, Travis, she wrote the email. She wants you to ask her to move to Arizona. I said, this is fake. Like, she made this up.

We finally decided, like, Chris and I were like, okay, this is ridiculous. Like, there's something wrong with her. And so we're like, hey, let's chat. So, Sky, Travis, and myself were all sitting on my bed. We were just telling him all the things that we were worried about with her, Sky, Travis, and myself were all sitting on my bed. We were just telling him all the things that we were worried about with her,

and I said, she's scary, there's something wrong with her. We started to tell him how we think she's not only not good for him, but she's dangerous. He said, you know, gosh, guys, she's so good, like you don't know she's so good. She's so sweet, she doesn't have anybody else. Like, I really like her. And I said, Travis, I'm afraid we're going to find you chopped up in her freezer.

And all of a sudden, I got this cold feeling over me, and I knew she was outside our door. And I mouthed to them and pointed the door, and I said, she's out there. And Travis was like, no way. And she just goes... And Travis rips the door open, and she's there. And the look on her face was just... It was evil. There was a rage in her eyes.

So Skye and I are very frightened at this point. She might burn down our house, you know, with all of us in it. And I said, I don't want her in our house anymore. And he said, I agree. She and I went into the study and I said, I'm not comfortable with you in my house. I said, you're obsessed with him, Jodi. I'm telling her your behavior is out of control. There's something wrong with you, and no change in expression. Until she says to me, are you gonna tell him not to date me?

And I said, I already did. And she starts crying. And that was the last time Jodie Harris was in my home. MUSIC Travis and Jodie continue seeing each other for another couple months until finally it's over. Travis had began to see things in Jodie that he just wasn't happy with, the obsession and everything else. He told her, you know, I don't want to be together with you anymore. This isn't going anywhere.

Within weeks of them breaking up, Jody does the unthinkable. To any guy who's trying to break up with a woman, she packs up her stuff and moves to Mesa, Arizona to be closer to him. That's pretty weird, right? I don't ever want to see you again, and then she moves across the country and into your town. He was saying things like, you know, you have no reason to be in Mesa.

We're not together. We're not going to be together. Why can't you leave me alone? I just remember thinking, that's bananas. That's crazy. With Jodie now living 10 minutes away, this breakup isn't going to work. With her so close, he couldn't stay away from her.

Travis told friends that Jodie would show up unannounced at his house, that she would sneak in through the garage door because she knew the code, and at one point she even snuck in through the doggie door. And sometimes Travis would be angry, and other times he would jump into bed right with her and they would have sex. The drug dealer with the drug for the addict is there and he just can't get enough and he can't help himself. It was very much a mutual thing.

He would send me these little code text messages like Z's, dot dot dot, which meant I'm getting sleepy, coast is clear, company's left, day's work is done, come on over. Maybe I should have been more disciplined but all it took was a text message, and I said, all right, I infatuated with a girl named Lisa. Jodi wanted to sabotage Travis's relationship with Lisa and scare her off. She made Lisa's life horrible. She would knock on her door and run away. She would knock on the windows.

It's believed that Jodi slashed Travis's tires, not once, but on two consecutive nights, when Travis was at Lisa's house. So at this point, Lisa's scared, and so she asks Travis to stay the night, and Travis slept on the couch, and Lisa slept in her room, and the next morning, Lisa woke up to an e-mail. Lisa received a note with heavy religious language

saying that if you ever lay with this man again, God will punish you. Your heavenly father must be deeply ashamed of the whoredoms you've committed with this insidious man. His friends obviously knew this came from Jodi, but it was anonymous, so there was never any proof of it. When he confronts her, she denies everything. This doesn't even love anymore for Jodie.

This is a complete obsession. Travis has become Jodie's sole focus. It was a fatal attraction, definitely a fatal attraction here. He makes me sick and he makes me happy. He makes me sad and miserable, and he makes me feel uplifted and beautiful. The further she sunk in this relationship, the more depressed she grew and actually had

talked about taking her own life. I was honestly contemplating suicide this afternoon. I want nothing more than to end it all. After about eight months, Travis convinces Jodi to move back to California from Mesa. She finally just picked up and went back home to her parents and grandparents. It just became obvious at the time that we needed to be apart. We needed to grow apart.

I was excited. And Travis was excited. He said, I'm getting my life back. Like, this is a whole new start. She's gone. This was supposed to be a new beginning for both of them. She goes back to California, but it's definitely not the end of it.

You make me so worried. I seriously think about having sex with you every day. Several times a day, I guess. MUSIC This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Is there something that scares you? There. thing is not facing our fears in the first place and holding ourselves back. If you've benefited from therapy in the past, you know how useful it can be. It can help you to learn positive coping skills and how to set boundaries. Therapy empowers you to be the best version of yourself and it isn't just for those who've experienced major trauma. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be

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Late payment may negatively impact your credit score. Results may vary. Early access to direct deposit funds depend on payer. Out of network ATM withdrawal and OTC advance fees may apply. Bank ranking and number of ATMs according to US News and World Report 2023. So Jodi Arias and Travis Alexander are now a thousand miles apart. She's in California, he's in Arizona. They're broken up, it's finally done, over.

And they're each moving on with their lives. A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulder. I'm saddened, yes, but it feels like a conclusion, like closure. The final chapter was finally written. He was excited about getting his life back to normal, not having to deal with her all the time. So things were looking really good.

Each of them is pursuing somebody else. He started dating a woman named Mimi. Devout Mormon seems to be someone that he could settle down with. Mimi was very well educated. She was eloquent, she was confident, and he was just smitten with her. In the meantime, Jodie seems to have found

her own new love interest as well. She starts having a relationship with this new guy. His name is Ryan Burns. Ryan Burns is a Mormon who has the body of a linebacker. Big guy. Jodie described him as a hottie biscotti. I met Jodie Arias at a national convention for our company. She was very easy to talk to.

She seemed very intelligent, articulate. She was beautiful. He lives in Utah. Jody and Ryan start this long-distance relationship where they're talking all the time and making plans to meet up. Meanwhile, Jody and Travis, while living hundreds of miles apart, they're still talking on the phone and texting. This was the classic can't live with you can't live without you scenario. They both knew that they were toxic for each other but they had this connection that they couldn't break. They couldn't

cut the cord entirely. We are truly good people at the core, both of us, but we can't behave ourselves when we're around each other, not even over the phone. He said I'm still like kryptonite to him. So now they would call each other and have phone sex. Unbeknownst to him, she was tape recording him. You're pretty. Thank you. You are just so attractive. Like everything about, like, the details of your body is so hot. On May 10th, Jodi Arias records them having sex on the phone. And it is triple x-rated.

I wish you were here. If you were here, my grandparents would have sleeved I'd let you ride in my bedroom and we'd shut and lock the door and we would just have a big f***ing bet. You'd go at it all night. You make me so horny. When my grandparents were asleep, I'd put you right in my bedroom. We'd shut and lock the door, and we would just have a big f***ing bet. We'd go out at all night. You make me so worried. I seriously think about having sex with you every day.

Several times a day. Get off me, I'm glad I thought you were for Jodi. F***. Well, it fits wrong, but I don't want to be right. I think Jodi recorded it to have a weapon in her arsenal to use against him if he did something that she didn't like or just to threaten him with. Because within a few weeks, they're having a huge fight over G-chat and email. Back and forth, long communications where he is enraged.

You've hurt me so bad, over and over again. You made me want to die. You don't know what horror you have caused me. Please understand that. It wasn't really my intention to harm you. They never quite reveal, either one of them, what exactly they're arguing about. What made him so upset? He says, you're a sociopath. You scammed me. You lied to me.

You're not who you say you are. You're the most evil person I've ever met. It is bad. It is the fight to end all fights. And I think a lot of people thought at that point, great. It's done. Time for each of you to get on with your lives. It's done. Time for each of you to get on with your lives. In early June, both Travis and Jodi have travel plans with different people.

Jodi is supposed to go to Salt Lake City to visit her new love interest, Ryan Burns. I was interested in getting to know her better. She actually called me and said she's going to go on a road trip, and she wanted to come out and visit me. I said, cool, sounds awesome, yeah, you should definitely come out. And Travis has plans too, with Mimi. The two have gone on a few dates, but Mimi's a bit lukewarm on him.

He really liked Mimi, but she liked him as a friend. She didn't wanna date him. So Travis sets about trying to win her over and invites her. There's a company retreat coming up in Cancun, Mexico. He wanted Mimi to come with him, to see him in his element. My job was to convince Mimi how amazing Travis was. Pretty easy job.

This was a marketing ploy for the T-Dog. So Chris and I had gone several days before and Travis and Mimi were gonna meet us later. He was super excited about this trip, and we were calling Travis to try to plan some excursions with him and Mimi. We wanted to, you know, look at the pyramids. We wanted to swim with whale sharks.

Well, so I'm calling him, and I'm texting him, do you want to do this, do you want to do this? He wasn't responding. Then Travis missed a conference call that he was supposed to run, I'm calling him and I'm texting him. Do you want to do this? Do you want to do this? He wasn't responding. Then Travis missed a conference call that he was supposed to run. And Chris said, that's not like Travis to miss the call. He becomes worried and he leaves him a voicemail message. I said, T-Dog, you better be dead, bro.

Yeah, like I was joking. Call me back. You know, why are you dissing me? Why aren't you calling me back? Nobody can reach Travis. Nobody has seen Travis. They know something is wrong. There's a company retreat coming up in Cancun, Mexico.

All expenses paid. Travis is going with Mimi. Travis's friends have gone a head few days before Travis was supposed to fly out. Once they get to Cancun, they keep calling Travis. But it's very strange they can't reach Travis. Her call has been forwarded to an automatic voice mail. His phone just kept going to voicemail. We kept trying to call again and again, and all of a sudden the voicemail was full. At the same time, Mimi is getting concerned because they're supposed to leave to Mexico the next day.

By June 9th, it has been five days since any of Travis's friends have heard from him. A few of Travis's friends, including Mimi, go to Travis's house. They knock, but nobody's answering the door. So they call another friend to get the garage code. Travis has rented out bedrooms in the house, so he's got two roommates. They hear music on in Zach's room, who is one of Travis's roommates, and they ask him,

hey, have you seen or heard from Travis? He said, no, he's in Mexico. And Mimi said, he's not in Mexico. I'm supposed to go with him to Mexico tomorrow. So that roommate gets the key to Travis's bedroom. I found the key to Travis's bedroom, and so I unlocked the door. When they first cast open the doors from the master bedroom, there's this smell, this horrendous, foul odor,

something that appears to be rotting. At this point, my heart was pounding, just because I feared for the worst. I opened the door and immediately as soon as I opened it, there was a puddle of blood on the carpet. And so as soon as I saw that, I walked in, walked past it. I looked down the hallway to his bathroom and so I could see the blood all over the ground, all over the walls.

As he turns the corner, he spots Travis curled up in the shower, and he's clearly dead, and has been dead for several days. The friends frantically exit the bedroom and call 911. What's going on? Um, a friend of ours is dead in his bedroom. We hadn't heard from him for a while. We think he's dead. His roommate just went in there and said there's lots of blood. I didn't go in but I can give you the phone to someone who went in there. Can, yes please, can you? Hello, he's dead. He's in his bedroom in the shower.

How did this happen? Do you have any idea? No, we have no idea. Everyone's been wondering about him for a few days. She said that there was blood. So is it coming from his head? Did he cut his hand? It's all over the place. Shortly before midnight on June 9, Mesa police detective Esteban Flores arrived on the scene. The first thing that caught my eye was the amount of blood all over. All over.

Flors, sinks, the wall, even saw some on the ceiling, on the windows, it was everywhere. First thing I thought was there was a major struggle in here. He struggled with somebody I thought maybe even two people at that point. My first indication was that it was deeply personal at that point. Why did you was that it was deeply personal at that point. Why did you think that?

Somebody knew him. Somebody wanted him dead. It wasn't as though it was a burglary. It was somebody wanted to make sure that he was dead. He was slaughtered. There's no other way to describe it. It was one of the most gruesome scenes many of the police had ever seen.

Travis was stabbed multiple times. We began to count as many wounds as we could at that point. And we had to stop. There was just too many. The wounds were not just numerous. They were devastatingly deep. I mean, his throat was cut from ear to ear. Yes, it was hard to deal with.

All the wounds were. When you roll him over and you saw several wounds on his back in a tight cluster, you knew this guy was almost motionless at that point and just stabbing him in the back. Whoever murdered this man was standing inches away from him when it happened. And as he crawled or staggered and tried to escape, they followed him.

This was personal. It was three or four in the morning. The phone rings. It was a colleague, and he said, Chris, T-Dog's dead. He said, Chris, T-Dog's dead. And I remember just saying, almost like Howling, you know, like, no, no, no, no, no. And oh my gosh, how did this happen? It was a shock.

I couldn't feel anything. I was sitting in the room by myself, and it hit me. Travis was gone. Detectives spent a total of three days at that house processing the crime scene. They're looking for fibers, fingerprints, footprints, hairs. They're looking for anything they can find that can help them reconstruct the crime. What happened?

It was an all call. Everybody was there because we had a whodunit. Did you see any murder weapons at the scene? No, absolutely none. So there was no knife? No. No gun? No.

It wasn't until the first morning that I happened to look down on the bloodstained tile and I realized it was a shiny little object there and it was a small bullet casing. That was interesting to us because looking at the body you really couldn't tell because of the mummification whether or not the person had been shot. He had been murdered at least three times over. 27 stab wounds. His neck sliced. To top it off, he was shot in the head.

This was overkill to the extreme. Investigators find on the wall leading to the bathroom a bloody palm print. Stray long brown hairs are found on the bathroom floor and some stuck to the wall. The sheets had been removed from the mattress. Quite bizarre. Travis Alexander's killer decided to wash the sheets. Cops make their way to the washing machine. We went through the laundry room and something just caught my eye and it was on the washing machine. There was a slight little red stain.

It just happened to lift the lid of the washing machine and lo and behold, there's a camera. A camera? Yes. Inside the washing machine? It's extremely unusual. A computer forensic investigator, he called me up and said, you're not going to believe what I just found.

It's the clue that's going to unlock this entire case. That's unheard of, to have that kind of evidence. This is about obsession. We are young. White hot sex. Rage. Love is a family. She was a chameleon.

Very possessive. It was kryptonite. This was a woman, a gorgeous woman, who was fulfilling all of his sexual desires. He made me feel unique and special. The trial was a circus. all of his sexual desires. He made me feel unique and special. The trial was a circus. It was Arizona's version of the O.J. Simpson trial. Jealous, devious killer shooting her boyfriend, stabbing him. Raunchy graphic pictures.

This was the classic, can't live with you, can't live without you. You know, it was a fatal attraction. Definitely a fatal attraction. He was murdered. They're all thinking, she did it. She had gone from blonde bombshell sex pot, boom. Now she's walking into court looking like a librarian.

We're like, that's it? Are you kidding me? You sliced this guy up and stabbed him. And we're like, that's it? Are you kidding me? You sliced this guy up and stabbed him? And you don't remember any of it? None of it proves that I committed a murder. But Jodie is still fighting, and she has a pending appeal right now. So is this case ever going to be really over?

Who knows? Love is a battle of feel. Who knows? passed away and I heard there was a lot of blood. I heard that a friend passed out, and more people were, I'm sorry. Within hours of the body being discovered, Jodi calls the homicide detective to ask what was going on. Do you know when all this happened? I mean, I got a call last night, but is there any word on?

Sometime between Thursday and last night. We're not sure yet. She asks questions, but she doesn't seem to be overly stressed or overly concerned. Maybe you can't talk about this, but was there any kind of weapons used? Or was there a gun?

I can't say what type of weapon was used, but I'm guessing there was a weapon used by some type of injuries that were left behind. She wanted to know how he died and she was probing for information. It's almost like I was being interviewed by her. I've heard that nobody's been able to get ahold of him for almost a week, which, and that was about the last time I spoke to him, too. And what did you guys talk about? It was great. He, I was, I was driving out to Utah, and, you know,

he was like, are you going to come out and see me? And I'm like, no. She's explaining to him that she had been on a road trip to see this Ryan Burns, her newest love interest in Utah, and that she in fact broke up with Travis some time ago and hadn't seen him for months. I know people were saying that she wasn't in town, but her name is coming up. She was an ex-girlfriend. She wouldn't leave Travis alone. One of his closest friends, again mentioning your name, is, you know, hey you need to call her because

she probably knows what happened to him or she possibly had something to do with it. Oh gosh. Detective Flores says hey people are saying that you guys had a fatal attraction. Jody immediately denies ever being in Arizona or anywhere near Travis's house on the night he was killed. You guys were not romantically together at any time? We were intimate, but I wouldn't say romantic as far as the relationship goes. Now you say intimate, does that include a sexual relationship with him? Yeah, it does.

Detective Flores becomes increasingly intrigued by Jodi Arias. Here we have a former girlfriend of a man whose friends have said the ex-girlfriend's a woman scorned and angry. And now the former girlfriend's on the phone saying, we're still having secret sex. Yeah, and if you could just keep it confidential for now,

just so you know that he's more seriously looked out on in the end than I'm sure. Jodie basically talks herself right up to the top of the list of potential suspects. I contacted her and said, look, if you're ever in town, please get a hold of me. We're getting fingerprints and DNA from everybody who has been in the house. And she said, absolutely, I'm coming down for his memorial service. ["Hail to the Chief"] I just remember there being tons and tons of people.

It was a great service. My siblings, a lot of my siblings, spoke. Just loved to be with his family and his friends and just bring joy to everybody's life. He truly loved life. Memorial service, I think, looking back on it would have been something that he would have really liked and they honored him in a very, very good way. She showed up at the memorial for Travis down in Arizona, as if she's some grieving widow.

They look across the room, and there is Jodi Arias. He was murdered. They're all thinking, she did it. His family members were there, some family members. And there's a part of me that wanted to reach out to them. I don't think that they would have felt comfortable with me approaching them as much as I wanted very much to express my condolences.

While Jodi's in town and the investigation is ongoing, police are collecting evidence from everybody. Jodi volunteers to go down to the police station and be fingerprinted. She got her fingerprints done. I had a DNA sample from her, and that's all I needed. She got her fingerprints done. I had a DNA sample from her, and that's all I needed. The detectives wanted Jodi's DNA because there

was a bloody palm print at the murder scene, and they wanted to see, does it match Jodi Arias's? Well, until the forensics come back, there's a waiting game. What doesn't take long to analyze is the memory card in that camera found in the laundry room. That took just a matter of days. A computer forensic investigator, he's in an office just below me. He called me up and said, you're not going to believe what I just found. To their shocking surprise, there are photographs on this digital camera

that are date stamped from the day of the murder. He asked me, who's this girl? Because she was there the same day that he was killed. And I took one look at it and I said, oh my goodness, that's Jodi Arias. She lied to me. She was there. They find photos of both Travis and Jodi

in sexually provocative positions. Photos of Travis in the shower, looking directly at the camera. I believe that's the last photo that was taken of him before something happened. The camera apparently, accidentally, somehow fell and took a couple shots during the course of the killing. Unbelievable. One of the photos is of the back of Travis's head with blood running down and in the foreground is a leg and

a foot wearing blue pants. It is one of the most astounding pieces of evidence in the history of jurisprudence. The idea that even as the homicide occurred, the camera is continuing to click photographs. That's almost like having somebody videotape your murder. The photographs are a huge deal in the case, but they're just one piece of the puzzle. They need that DNA to come back. It takes about a month for the blood in that palm print to come back. And what it shows is the blood in that palm print

is Jodie and Travis'. It's like, oh my goodness, we now have evidence that places Jodi physically at the scene with blood on her hand. Within a week, Flores is in Wairika working with the Siskiyou Sheriff's Department to pick Jodi up. Jodi Arias is taken into the interrogation room

and what she does there, stuns the world. Who does that? If you ever worry about the safety of your home and family, there's no better time to act. Right now, SimpliSafe is extending its massive Black Friday deal for our listeners. Get 50% off a new SimpliSafe is extending its massive Black Friday deal for our listeners. Get 50% off a new SimpliSafe security system by visiting simplisafe.com slash ABC.

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had put private investigators on him. From Tortoise, this is Elon Spies, a journey into Musk's private world. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and follow the feed to make sure you don't miss an episode. It's been about a month since Travis's murder and theuffs have now gone to California. They are in Jody's hometown and they're about to move in and arrest her. We knocked on her door with several deputies

and placed her in handcuffs and told her she was under arrest for Travis's murder. It was almost an out of body kind of experience. It was like I was watching the whole thing unfold. I remember vividly her being walked towards me and she had handcuffs on. She took one look at me, smiled and said, hello, Detective Flores, how are you doing?

I traveled all the way up here to come talk to you because I believe you can help us. I would love to help you in any way that I can. They just wanted to know my whereabouts on the day he passed away. They wanted to know a little bit about certain sequence of events. Obviously their number one goal here is to just get a confession. The investigator starts asking her questions, obviously, about where she was during the time Travis was killed. She says she was on her way to Salt Lake City, Utah to meet with a new love interest, Ryan

Burns. You took a trip and you decided to go to, instead of going over to Utah, you went straight out to Los Angeles area. Ryan Burns. Where did she end up? For a while, I was lost. I don't know where Phoenix is. May said it's gotta be over here. I didn't go anywhere near there. The problem with Jodi Arias' story is that this road trip has her arriving in Utah a day late. And that's what Detective Flores keys in on. Where were you that day?

This is what people are focusing on, is this trip that you took. Because they're saying she left, she's going to get to tell Thursday. Wednesday? That's when Travis was killed. I did not go near his house. Jodie has a slew of excuses

about how she had this very strange trip. Jodie says, oh, my phone died. I honestly got lost. It's...it's bad timing. Darn. Of all days, at the same time Travis was being stabbed dead, Jodie Arias claims to be lost, alone, and without a cell phone.

Now, that's convenient. We tried to contact her maybe three or four times throughout that day, and every time we called, it went straight to voicemail. She shows up looking quite different. Gone is her platinum blonde hair. It suddenly died back brown. We watched a movie and spent some time together. The two start making out very passionately. This is within hours of Travis Alexander being slaughtered.

We kissed a few times. We never had sex, but she certainly wasn't acting like she had something troubling her in any way. Maybe she just doesn't have the same ability of emotions that the rest of us do. I don't get it. Or she's doing a really good job of acting. As Detective Flores keys in on that missing day on Jodi's road trip, he keys in on something else. About a week before Travis' murder, a gun went missing from Jodi's road trip, he keys in on something else. About a week before Travis's murder, a gun went missing from Jodi's grandparents' house.

You, uh, has reported a gun stolen. 25 Auto. Just happens to be the same caliber as the weapon used to kill him. A 25 Auto was used to kill Travis. as a weapon used to kill him. A.25 auto was used to kill Travis. Mm-hmm. She's always articulate, soft-spoken.

She seems sincere. I'm not guilty. I didn't hurt Travis. If I hurt Travis, if I killed Travis, I would beg for the death penalty. I'm not a murderer. I was thinking, well, is she really telling the truth? Do I not have the right person?

If Travis were here today, he would tell you that it wasn't me. Very quickly, I just snapped back into it and said, no, I've got the right person. She's just a really good liar. Were you at Travis' house on Wednesday? Absolutely not. I was nowhere near Mesa.

The detective is going on and on with Jodie and he's just not getting anywhere. Finally the detective decides he's gonna pull his card. Detective Flores plays his ace and his ace is those photos, which placed Jodie in Travis's bed a few hours before he was killed. What if I could show you proof you were there? Will that change your mind? I wasn't there. in Travis's bed a few hours before he was killed. I have them and they're dated and time stamped on the day he died. Are you sure it's me? I mean that because I was not there.

It's you. The camera actually took a couple of photos by accident during the time he was being killed. Really? Yeah, Jolie, really. Can you imagine what is going through her mind? She must have been thinking, how did I leave that camera in the washer? Gosh, I thought I covered all my steps. The first photo that Detective Flores pulls out

is Jodie in all her naked glory. I covered the private areas of the picture because I didn't want her to be embarrassed It's you I wanted to cover you up because oh That's you all of you Looks like me She looks at it Lifts up looks at it again. I went

That looks like me It is you this one I don't know if I should show you, but it's just one of the photos that was taken by accident. It was very disturbing. It showed what looked like maybe it was Travis and what looked like a perpetrator of some sort. It's your foot, Joey. Let's try this.

This is his bathroom. That is not my foot. No matter how much evidence I would tell her about, she was not going to admit that she was even there. You left palm print at the scene. In blood. This one, you absolutely cannot, you cannot explain that away.

Could my palm print have already been there and touched it? Jodi, this is over. This is absolutely over. Jodi, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence, evidence that proves that she was there at the time of the murder, Jodie is still in denial. This is a really trivial question, and it's going to reveal how shallow I am. But before they book me, can I clean myself up a little bit?

You're going to be taken for what you are. Thank goodness they had a camera going, because nobody would believe what happened next. She does this weird yoga-like backbend that's kind of sexual. Oh, holy night. She sings. The stars are brightly shining.

She even does a headstand in the interrogation room. Who does that? I noticed that there was carpet on the floor, and I thought, this might be the last time I see carpet. So I'm going to do a headstand. There's no words really to describe that kind of thought process. Very very odd behavior for someone accused of murder. She wanted to put makeup on prior to getting her booking photo done because she knew that her picture was gonna be on the internet.

It's gonna be on the news. Jodie is a narcissist without a doubt. She wasn't about to have her mug shot taken without looking as pretty as possible. She smiled for the camera. That is Jodie Arias. Jodie returns to her jail cell and the next day she has an entirely different story.

He was just held the gun to my head. I was so scared. Oh! After spending a night in jail, Jodi Arias comes in for a second day into the interrogation room, this time wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. Now she has an astounding story to tell. We brought her back in the following morning,

asked her again if she was willing to talk. What is it you can tell me about that day? She said she would only talk to me. Did Travis know you were coming? He knew? This is hard. Do you remember what time you rolled in? Three o'clock.

A.M. It was too dark. You stayed in the Three o'clock am. It was dark. I stayed in the house. Slept. In this story, Jodie was there at Travis's house. She said they went to sleep, then they had sex, and then she decided to start taking some photos of Travis while he was taking a shower.

And then suddenly all hell breaks loose, and she is attacked attacked and he is attacked I don't really know what happened after that Exactly except I think he was shot. I don't really remember except Travis was screaming I think I got knocked out but I don't think I felt long she came up with the off-the-wall story of two intruders in black and ski masks coming in to assassinate Travis. They were white Americans from what I could tell. They had to call those things.

They were like beanies, but they covered your whole face. Or ski tops. This became known as the ninja story. That two people dressed all in black had come and killed Travis for some unknown reason. Who is a girl? Who is a girl? They had an argument back and forth and she wanted to kill him and he didn't. If they came to kill Travis and they killed him in such a heinous way, 27 stab wounds shot in the head, why in the world are they not even going to touch you?

Why didn't they kill you? He said that's not what we're here for. I'm trying not to laugh inside because you have to be a good actor, you know, to go along with her. And you try to show her that you have compassion for her story, knowing the whole time that she's the one who did it. Did she have any weapons on her? I thought she was the one with the gun, but maybe she had the gun, but he had a gun. So there were two guns or one gun, I don't know. Okay.

He started coming in toward the weapon too, and I... What happened, Jodie? What did you see? I took it out like a little bitch. You know what? This woman should win an Oscar for her performance. He was just held the gun to my head, and he was like, you don't go anywhere.

And he told the other girl to finish it. In Jodie's explanation of the ninja, she has herself fighting with the female. She wanted the police to believe that she was trying to protect Travis. She came after me, and she didn't get me. How was she going to get you? Does she have a weapon?

She had a knife. You said she had a gun before. I don't know if she had a gun. They pointed out to her, well, wait, wait, wait. You changed weapons on me. What did she have, a gun or a knife? Jodi continues to come up with phenomenal detail. She describes Travis looking at her, still conscious,

despite being mortally wounded and pleading with her to go run and get help. I just said, come on, come on. You know, he was naked, but I didn't care. Just come on. And he was like, I can't. I said, come on. He's like, I can't feel my legs. The Masked Intruder story really had a sort of fantastical movie-like ending to it. He got my registration out from my wallet.

He said, you must be that bitch from California. And he said, you ever be that bitch from California. And he said, if you ever, ever, ever say anything about this, he said they'll do to my family the same way. He said, you need to leave. You know, you act like anything happened. I mean, leave and don't ever tell anybody what you saw here. I don't think that would get past a Hollywood scriptwriter. When we just left, she didn't try calling.

Why didn't you do that? I was really scared. OK. I was really freaked out at that moment. She says she was panicked and ran out the front door and headed to Utah, never telling anyone that Travis was murdered. The fact that they left you alive and let you go,

that never happens. Detective Flores is a seasoned homicide detective, and he was not buying it at all. This is the most far-fetched story I've ever heard, and it's not gonna help you. Did not kill Travis? I believe you did, and there's nothing showing anybody else did this.

I had planned to hurt him in any way. I, you know, I'm not the rightest person, but I don't think I could stab him. I think I would have to shoot him continuously until he was dead. That's telling, isn't it? If you were accused of murdering someone you loved, would you parse words with a detective about,

would you rather stab him dead or would you rather shoot him dead? No! This girl was not gonna tell me the truth. She was never going to admit to it. But it ain't over yet. There's a trial to come, and at that trial, Jodie Arias debuts not only a whole new look, but a whole new story. long. A Guardian Bike. The easiest, safest, and quickest bikes for kids to learn on.

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And in over 30 years there has been no trace of her. I did know before the night was over she was dead though. A story of murder and heartbreak and investigative error. He was 90% sure he was going to be convicted. From CBC podcasts, I'm David Rigeigen and this is Someone Knows Something Season 9, the Christine Herron case, available now. Jodi Arias was locked up waiting for trial for more than four years. Jodi was largely a model prisoner. When she's behind bars, she wins a singing competition. performance of Oh Holy Night. Oh night divine oh night.

Jodi needs the spotlight and now she's locked up. She's got a captive audience. She would invite journalists. I guess I've seen better days but that'll have to do. To come in and interview her. All of the evidence, to me, is very compelling, but none of it proves that I committed a murder. She wanted to control the narrative.

I don't think it was warranted. So she was constantly courting the media. No jury is going to convict me. Why not? Because I'm innocent, and you can mark my words on that one. Shocking murder case underway now in downtown Phoenix. The trial was a circus. It was Arizona's version of the O.J. Simpson trial.

This entire street is lined with satellite trucks. It's a real shock to people to think that a female could kill somebody in such a brutal fashion. Mic check again. One, two, three, four. The fascination of this murder trial is drawing crowds. That's right, people actually standing in long lines. The public was obsessed because this

was a case that was drenched in sex and lies and sex and religion and sex. People quit their jobs to attend this trial. This is the time set for trial to begin. When Jodi Arias first came into the courtroom, it was quite different from the image we had of her and photos with Travis. She had gone from blonde bombshell, sex pot, boom, now she's walking into court looking like a librarian.

What a makeover. Please be seated. They don't sell Clarell hair dye in jail, so this is my natural hair color. My eyes deteriorated in here, my vision, so I got glasses. It just seemed like it was all a ploy to manipulate the jury. Alright, this is the state of Arizona versus Jodi and Arias. Is the state ready? Juan Martinez, the prosecutor, was seeking the death penalty against Jodi. They wanted to see Jodi Arias face the same fate that Travis Alexander faced, and they felt they had plenty of evidence to back that up.

This is not a case of who done it. The person who done it sits in court today. It's the defendant, Jodie Ann Arias. In prosecutor Juan Martinez's version of events, she had carefully planned this murder of Travis as an act of rage from a woman scorned. She had planned or thought about killing Travis Alexander before she actually killed him.

Jodi was telling other people a story that she was going to visit Ryan Burns, who lives in Salt Lake City. That was her alibi. She was going to drive down to LA first. And then from there, she was going to come and see me. The prosecution claimed that Jodi had stolen the gun that was taken

from her grandparents' house. Police believe she then engaged in what became known as the killer road trip. She knew at the start of this trip that she was going to kill him. She dyed her hair so that if anybody spotted her in the neighborhood, she wouldn't be that blonde that was seen a lot at Travis Alexander's home. She borrowed two gas cans from her ex-boyfriend and bought a third.

That seemed strange because why would she want to take gas cans on a trip? Last time anybody was in California, the place is dotted with gas stations. Her cell phone was conveniently off from the time she crossed over into Arizona. I tried to call her at nine, but her phone went straight to voicemail, so I couldn't get through. She knew that we were going to track her phone. She knew, and she did not want to leave a trail.

It seemed that she thought of almost every little detail. It was clear that this was premeditated. I don't want to leave a trail. It seemed that she thought of almost every little detail. It was clear that this was premeditated. She arrived at the house, she's having sex with him. They're taking the pictures. You know, she's just waiting for a moment to kill him. Back in 2013, ABC built an exact replica of Travis Alexander's bathroom and bedroom suite, where the murder happened.

The prosecution's theory is that it begins here. ABC News' chief legal analyst, Dan Abrams, gave me the prosecution's version of what happened. It appears that she's the one that's taking photographs of him in the shower, and there's many poses of the water running down him. So she's taking photos of him and asks for one final picture where he's looking directly into the camera. Look straight into the camera,

the final picture of him alive. He's in the shower, his defenses are down, he's very comfortable. At some point the prosecution says she gets a knife and stabs him in the chest. He's stabbed, and he still lives. And he staggers to the sink, coughs up blood on the mirror. And at the same time, she continues stabbing him, according to the prosecution,

in the middle of his back. Mr. Alexander did not die calmly. He fought. He somehow continues to try to get away. Around right here, he goes down. And that's where the slitting, ear to ear, took place. That one was rapidly fatal. At this point, she then decides to drag him back into the bathroom. By the time she was dragging him down, he didn't need that shot to the head. But she had a gun somewhere.

She got that gun. She put that bullet right in his temple. She did everything she could to make sure that he was never going to leave that bedroom unless it was in the body bag. Now we want to hear what's the defense case going to be? How are they going to beat back all of this evidence? Ms. Wilmot, you may proceed.

They had to kind of construct a whole alternate storyline to explain this behavior. Jody was Travis's dirty little secret. Her mission was to murder my brother again by destroying his reputation. I'm serious you may come forward and take a seat please. Jodi Arias had changed her story twice. Jodi Arias now had a third story. Did you kill Travis Alexander on June 4th 2008? Yes I did. Why? The man who shot him was a life or death trial for Jodi Arias.

The man who shot him was a life or death trial for Jodi Arias. The man who shot him was a life or death trial for Jodi Arias. The man who shot him was a life or death trial for Jodi Arias. She's the one that did the stabbing, she's the one that slit his throat, and she's the one that shot him. This was a life or death trial for Jodi Arias. This was a life or death trial for Jodi Arias.

If Jodi was going to be found not guilty in any way, she had to explain away this evidence. Her defense attorneys say she, Jodi Arias, insisted on taking the stand. Mr. Arias, you may come forward and take a seat, please. I was shocked. It's not often that you see a murder suspect in a death penalty case take the stand in their own defense. Did you tell him this is where the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to help you, God?

Yes, I did. Jodi Arias had changed her story twice, from not being at the scene at all to being attacked by two apparently professional killers dressed as ninjas. Jodi Arias now had a third story. Did you kill Travis Alexander on June 4, 2008? Yes, I did. Why?

Um, the simple answer is that he attacked me, and he defended me. Yes, I did. Why? Um, the simple answer is that he attacked me. And I defended myself. She now changes the story to self-defense. It was Travis's continual abuse. And on June 4th of 2008, it had reached a point of no return. The only path the defense could take was basically make Jody the victim, demonize Travis as much as possible.

The strongest play of the defense was to point to Travis Alexander's hypocrisy, that he was viewed as a chaste Mormon when he was having this sordid sexual relationship with this woman. The defense introduced a much anticipated audio recording. You'll actually hear a recorded call between Travis and Jodie.

That's very explicit. The courtroom's full of a lot of Mormons and women, Travis' family, and we start hearing them having sex. I'm gonna tie you to a tree and... Oh, my gosh. That is so debasing. I like it. The sex tape was like a hand grenade thrown into this trial. You're mad. You make me feel so dirty.

You are dirty, baby. We are just horny toads. Jodi Arias said she was physically battered by Travis Alexander four times. Her mission was basically to murder my brother again for a second time by destroying his reputation. He crossed the room and he started shaking me. And he body slammed me on the floor and he called me a bitch and he kicked me in the ribs. There was absolutely no proof that Travis had ever been physically abusive with her or anyone in his life in the past.

Jodie Arias would stop at nothing to make that jury hate Travis Alexander. What's the worst thing you can say about someone when they're not around to defend themselves? I went into his bedroom and Travis was on the bed masturbating. And I got really embarrassed. He started grabbing at something on the bed

and it was a photograph. What was in the photograph? What was the photograph of? It was a picture of a little boy. I don't know how much lower you can go than labeling a charge of pedophile at somebody, but that's what she did. None of these claims were ever proven. Police never found child pornography

anywhere in Travis' house. MUSIC pornography anywhere in Travis's house. We hear Jodie Arias' testimony about her tortured relationship with this monster, Travis Alexander. But what it all boils down to is what happened the day Travis was murdered. We were trying out different poses and as I moved the camera it slipped out of my hand. Travis flipped out and he stepped out of the shower. So she claims he comes out. Renowned defense attorney Kathleen Zellner recapped what Jody says happened in Travis's bathroom.

He lunges at her. And he picked me up. I was crouching, but he lifted me up as he was screaming that I was a stupid idiot. Flips her over in a body slam. And he body slammed me again on the tile. She recovers from it though and takes off down the hall. She claims now she's in fear of her life. It was like, I pissed him off the worst I'd ever though and takes off down the hall. She claims now she's in fear of her life. It was like I pissed him off the worst I'd ever seen and pissed off. He'd almost killed me before and now he was saying he was going to.

She runs this way according to her testimony and then back into the closet. Exactly. So I ran into the closet. I remembered where he kept a gun so I grabbed it. She grabs the gun. It's a.25 caliber. She continues out this door. Runs into the bathroom, to the middle of the bathroom, at which point she turns around.

Right. Like a linebacker, he got kind of low and grabbed my waist. But before he did that, as he was lunging at me, the gun went off. Shoot him right temple through the left cheek. Basically the gun went off and she doesn't remember anything after that. I don't know if I blacked out or what.

There's a huge gap. Do you remember stabbing Travis Alexander? I have no memory of stabbing him. Do you remember dragging him across the floor? No. We're like, that's it? Are you kidding me? You sliced this guy up and stabbed him. You stabbed him in the heart.

You almost decapitated him and you don't remember any of it? The most clear memory that I have after that point is driving in the desert. That's all the questions I have, Judge. The self-defense story was a joke. My brother didn't even own a gun. The defenses case was not very strong. To try and paint Travis as this abusive pedophile just wasn't believable. It was never backed up with evidence.

It was just, here's Jodi's story, believe me or not. Ladies and gentlemen, I understand you have reached a verdict. I'm kind of grasping the arm rest. I remember hearing somebody let out a gas. But it's not over. We're in the middle of another day of deliberating, coming to an end for George.

Jodi Arias' very high profile murder trial. It was very nerve-racking to wait for that verdict. We'd been in this trial for nearly five months and living this case for much longer than that. On the day of the verdict, that was a zoo. Just people everywhere. Justice for Travis! The jury came in, they sat down, and it was very somber.

We the jury, duly impaneled and sworn, do find the defendant, SD count one, first degree murder guilty. I remember hearing somebody let out like a gasp, and then incredible relief. As word made its way outside the courtroom, the crowd burst into joyous applause. Get it, Jen! Woo!

Everybody in my family was bawling. They were happy. We were all hugging. I was really hoping the jury would see things for what they are. I feel a little betrayed by them. I don't dislike them. I didn't expect to walk away,

but certainly not first degree. Now we had to get into the penalty phase. Jodie has the right to speak to the jury and tell them why she should not be put to death. The people who will hurt the most are my family. I'm asking you please, please don't do that to them. She spoke all about the things that she would do in prison. If I get permission I'd like to implement a recycling program. Additionally I've designed a

t-shirt. This is the t-shirt. She held up a t-shirt that said survivor which was a real slap in the face to Travis Alexander's family who doesn't believe that she had been a victim of domestic abuse. I want everyone's healing to begin and I want everyone's pain to stop. The jury deliberated and they were eight for death and four for life. The jury gives up. A decision on her fate is postponed. We can't come to a decision and it was gut wrenching. A completely new jury is called, and a new trial is held just to decide

what the sentence should be. The jury in Phoenix voted 11 to one in favor of the death penalty, not enough to send her to death row. And under the law in that jurisdiction. For the rest of her natural life. Two mistrials at death penalty phase equals life behind bars.

Jodi is in Perryville prison in Arizona, where she will spend every day for the rest of her life. But it's not over yet. This court should reverse Ms. Arias' conviction. The case has gone up on appeal. Part of the appeal claimed that because of misconduct by prosecutor Juan Martinez, that Jodi deserves a new trial. The state denies any misconduct, saying that Jodi Arias had a fair trial.

I don't think Jodi Arias is going anywhere, but she is fighting. I'm not too concerned about it. None of it affects the fact that she murdered my brother and admitted to it. She snuffed out a very bright light from this earth. He was just larger than life. He did so much good. My brother should have a couple of kids running around. He should have a beautiful wife.

He should have a beautiful home. And he should have that beautiful smile that was on his face all the time. ["The Truth of the Truth"] You've been listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. Friday nights at nine on ABC, you can also find all new broadcast episodes of 2020. Thanks for listening. new broadcast episodes of 2020. Thanks for listening. In the dry states of the Southwest, there's a group that's been denied a basic human right.

In the Navajo Nation today, a third of our households don't have running water. But that's not something they chose for themselves. The Navajo Nation has been persistently denied true sovereignty by the U.S. government because of the ongoing colonial relationship that we have. In this season of Reclaimed, I'll take you back over a hundred years to when a controversial deal was signed that would change the fate of the Navajo. And how today, a new deal being negotiated between the tribe and its neighboring states may do it again. We will hear argument this morning in case 21-1484, Arizona versus the Navajo Nation.

Can the Navajo people reclaim their right to water? Our water, our future. Our water, our future. That's in the next season of Reclaimed, the lifeblood of Navajo Nation. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.