Jodi Arias, 29, is incarcerated at the Estrella Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, awaiting trial for the murder of her 30 year old boyfriend, motivational speaker Travis Alexander. He was found dead on June 9, 2008 at his home, with a gunshot wound to the face and stab wounds all over his body. It turns out he had been dead for five days before being found.
Family and friends immediately put Detective Esteban Flores of the Mesa Police Department on Arias’ trail, believing that she had killed him. Evidence implicating her included a bloody palm print, hair samples and a digital camera with eight incriminating photos from the day Alexander was murdered.
The couple had a penchant for taking photos of their sex scenes. Alexander, because of his Mormon faith, was forbidden from engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage, but according to close friends, was totally taken in by the feminine wiles of Arias. The couple had reportedly split but continued to remain in phone and e-mail contact.
Arias denied having any knowledge of the murder until police confronted her with some damning evidence. They had discovered a camera in the washing machine at the crime scene. The memory card had been wiped clean and the camera had been run through a wash cycle but the crime lab was able to restore six photographs of their sexual escapades on the day of the killing and two photos of the murder victim, bleeding from stab wounds.
Arias admitted to being in the house on June 4. She said that she had traveled to see Alexander and they were photographing a sexual encounter in the bathroom when she was suddenly knocked to the floor, dazed and stunned while Alexander was attacked by a man and woman wearing disguises.
She told police that she pulled herself together and was able to grab her purse and flee the scene. She spent 24 hours with her current boyfriend, Ryan Burns, who worked for the same company as Alexander. Not telling anyone about what happened, she returning home to Yreka, California.
Arias was arrested and charged with first degree murder. She is expected to be tried for the crime in 2010. She has a MySpace page that is filled with photos of the couple. Check them out below.