In the year 1980, on Wednesday the 9th of July, at exactly 11:54 pm,
a little girl named Jodi Ann Arias was born in the city of Salinas, California.
And completely unbeknownst to her doting parents,
was destined to become one of the most infamous people
in the United States of America.
For what we know about her behavioral sequences,
and despite what her defense team will later want you to believe,
there’s virtually nothing in Jodi’s childhood that can be linked
as a contributing factor to what she eventually be capable of.
The only thing worth mentioning was that she dropped out of high school in the 11th grade
to pursue a career in photography, but it went nowhere.
So she began working at a hotel restaurant,
which became her occupation for the next 8 years.
In February of 2006, at 26 years of age,
she began a new job as a salesperson
for a network marketing company called Pre-Paid Legal,
and it was through this occupation, where she crossed paths
with fellow sales representative Travis Alexander,
a 28 year old practicing Mormon from Arizona,
who also worked part-time as a motivational speaker.
When you get so into the briefing they say no, that counts.
When you get someone fully exposed and they say no, that counts.
Every time you get one of those,
cross one off the list.
By the time the 100th one's crossed off the list you won't be able to spend the money.
He was a very charismatic young man, which immediately caught Jodi’s attention.
They met at a business conference in September of 2006
and began a curious relationship from that point forward.
To cut a long story short,
Jodi was in love, and Travis was not.
They broke up after just five months.
But soon after the split, Jodi moved from her grandparents home in Yreka, California
into an apartment just two blocks from Travis’s house, in Mesa, Arizona.
She was at that moment labeled “The crazy stalker ex” by all of Travis’s friends,
and although Travis agreed,
he would continued having sex with her out of pure convenience.
She would show up unannounced on countless occasions,
sometimes in the middle of the night,
and Travis would let her in every time.
It became somewhat of a routine,
and a dysfunctional situation that neither were happy with.
Travis, although he enjoyed the sex, essentially wanted her out of his life,
while Jodi desperately wanted a serious relationship,
and going off the myriad of entries in her diaries,
she firmly held on to the belief that they were meant to be together.
In late May of 2008, however,
she would ultimately have a change of heart.
Travis had a work retreat planned to Cancun, Mexico for July 10th.
It was all paid for by his employer, and allowed him to take a friend with him.
Jodie knew about this and believed,
or at the very least hoped, that she would be the one going.
Yet, in the last week of May, it became known
that Travis was taking another woman instead:
a Mormon girl by the name of Mimi Hall,
someone that Travis had been romantically interested in for some time.
When Jodi found out, it would be safe to assume that she was heartbroken.
It would be even safer to assume that she was absolutely enraged,
and the collective opinion is that a specific thought process
began to emerge in her mind,
one that forged a psychological justification for a certain decision.
On June 4th, 2008, 6 days before Travis was set to leave for Mexico,
Jodi would, once more, show up unannounced.
All we know for sure, is that they had sex
and took explicit pictures of each other using Travis’s new camera.
At roughly 5 pm, Travis would get in the shower,
and Jodi would begin taking pictures of him using the same camera.
Then, moments after this picture was taken,
Jodi would stab Travis a total of 27 times.
She would also cut his throat and shoot him in the face.
During the onslaught, Travis’s camera took two accidental photographs.
The first was taken as Jodi dropped it, during the onset of the attack.
The second was taken as she kicked it by mistake while moving Travis's body.
It shows Jodi’s foot, and a fatally wounded or deceased Travis.
The amount of time that passed between the two photographs was 62 seconds.
Jodi then spent an estimated 45 minutes, cleaning down the crime scene
to make sure none of her DNA was left behind.
This included wiping down the victim’s body with a cup of water and a cloth.
She also deleted the pictures from Travis’s camera
before throwing it in the washing machine.
She would then drive back out into the desert and leave Travis a voicemail
for the purpose of placing herself away from the crime scene,
and giving herself an alibi.
Jodi would then drive to another man’s house in Utah
by the name of Ryan Burns, and stayed the night.
He would later testify that nothing seems off about Jodi’s behaviour.
Only that they kissed and engaged in sexual intercourse.
Travis’s body was discovered by Mimi and her friends 5 days later.
The day before they were supposed to leave for Cancun together.
How long were you there, trying to get into the house?
Hmm, just, you know, a couple of minutes.
I banged on the door, rang the doorbell over and over again,
nobody answered.
I was... I was scared that something might be happening to him,
because I knew that he had a stalker.
Travis's friend, on the phone,
suggested that we go in through the garage and look for him in the house.
And then, as soon as they said that they saw blood,
that there's blood everywhere, I stopped looking.
And said: "He's dead! He's dead!"
and so, immediately I called the police.
After the news of Travis's death broke the following day,
Jodi called the police and offered to help with the investigation.
She was then transferred to the lead detective Esteban Flores,
of the Mesa Police Department.
The most notable detail of the phone call,
was that Jodi agreed to provide a sample of her DNA.
Over the following month,
forensics were able to uncover the deleted photos from Travis's camera
and, despite her best efforts, discovered Jodi's DNA all over the crime scene.
During this time, oblivious to the evidence that was building against her,
Jodi would post multiple pictures of her and Travis on Facebook,
alongside emotional messages to Travis himself.
She even sent his family flowers
and a letter expressing her grief over his death.
The Mesa Police Department launched their case against Jodi on July 15th,
41 days after the murder.
Detective Flores would be the one to conduct her interrogation.
He had spoken with her once over the phone
and was present when she was fingerprinted and swabbed for DNA.
The Siskiyou County Police arrested Jodi at her grandparents' house at 7:35 am,
and only said they had a warrant for her arrest,
without giving further information.
She was placed in handcuffs and didn't once ask what she was being arrested for,
in the six minute drive to the local police station.
What makes Jodi Arias stand out among the many cases in the realm of true crime,
is the manner in which she attempts to navigate the system.
She seems to believe that if she presents herself in a certain way
and adopts a very specific character, with very specific traits,
it will give her the best chance at evading the consequences of her actions.
In her mind, this character is a soft-spoken,
sweet-natured, God-fearing individual.
Yet, to everyone else, is quite possibly the most universally annoying person
to ever abide in the history of existence!
In the next moment, Jodi will hear detective Flores approaching the room.
She will then abruptly place her head on the table
to make it appear as if she's sleeping.
She will now notice the detective has, instead, walked past the room,
and then revert back to her regular sitting position.
For whatever reason, Jodi wants to appear
as if she's in a far calmer state than she actually is.
She wants the detective to believe that she's relaxed enough to doze off,
when she is in fact extremely alert and anticipating his arrival.
She places her head back on the table to feign a placid state once more,
and you'll notice her left shoulder hovers,
in what looks like a very uncomfortable position,
for just over a minute.
She then hears the external door open,
at which point she takes a deep breath and then fully rests onto the table.
- Do you remember me? - Of course I do!
I traveled all the way up here to talk to you.
Because...
You know, I've been working on Travis's case ever since it happened,
And I know exactly when it happened, when he was killed,
I know a lot of details.
And just recently we found quite a bit of evidence
and I'll discuss that with you.
The main thing that I'm looking for, though, is answers
on why certain things happened, why they went so far,
and also to get your statements.
She's been brought to a police station in handcuffs
and now just told her arrest is concerning the death of her ex-lover.
An innocent person sitting in her position
would want immediate clarification as to what exactly is going on.
Jodi doesn't inquire further,
just gently accepts to cooperate after being given a very vague,
yet highly accusive, clarification of the situation.
A lot of details on this case haven't been released to the public,
and not even to Travis family’s...
And those details are known only by us
and the person who did it, okay?
And that's one of the reasons I'm here.
Because I believe that you know some of these details
and I think you can help us.
I would love to help you in any way that I can!
Because we're here at the Police Department,
the Sheriff's Department here in... Was it Siskiyou County?
- Siskiyou. - Siskiyou, okay.
And you're considered under arrest or detained.
You're not free to go home.
And I'm a police officer, I have to read you your rights, okay?
I'm sure you've heard them on TV, you know.
I have to read them off this little card here, but they're pretty much the same,
- and I'll explain them to you as we go, okay? - Okay.
And... you know, if there's a question that you don't want to answer,
you don't feel comfortable, you can say no, you know?
Or, you know, you can elaborate as much as you want.
That's completely up to you, it's at your speed,
I don't want to pressure you.
Is this recorded at all? Or... should we?
No I don't... I don't know if there's a recording, or something.
I don't know if these are voice recorders... I noticed them.
They have video... audio batteries.
I don't think they're on...
Hindsight allows us to recognize
this is simply an attempt to appear innocent.
She seems to think that if she appears confident enough
to recommend the use of an outdated voice recorder,
that it will seem as though she has nothing to hide in the eyes of the detective.
But it's just bizarre.
If the detective wasn't already certain of Jodi's guilt,
he would most certainly become suspicious at this moment.
- Yeah I haven't touched those, or anything but… - Uh... okay.
Jodi's mind would be racing here,
yet she desperately wants her exterior self to appear calm.
She's so focused on having this nonchalant disposition,
that she completely fails to realize
her behavior doesn't match the situation whatsoever.
She's in a state of hyper-arousal, while feigning a state of composure,
and the end result just looks very strange.
It gives reason for her unusual infatuation with a voice recorder,
and also for her oncoming sitting position, which really can't be described.
Only compared to a sea lion peeking over a rock
And they're not on, so... What I want to do is just get to the bottom of it.
Everybody wants to know, okay? And...
You know, I'm going to ask you some questions.
You can voluntarily answer them, if you want, okay?
- Is that cool? - Yeah, that's fine.
There was some question about you being...
Well, let's just let's start with this.
What have you been up to since... um... since Travis's death?
What have you been doing?
Well I've been working.
I haven't been really working in PrePaid Legal.
There's not a whole lot... umm...here, in this marketplace.
- Which is... - It's kinda small around here
It's small here, and… but really that could be seen as an opportunity.
Umm... rather than...umm--- a hindrance.
Because that just means the market is is untapped, in a lottery way.
So I could have, if I wanted to, but...
I have, I'm kind of like a deer in the headlights when it comes to PrePaid Legal.
I kinda... I just have a fear of just... approaching people...
You'll come to notice that Jodi will go off on these unrelated tangents
anytime she has the slightest chance to do so.
It's a recurring theme in interrogations for when the suspect is facing serious charges,
and the common theory is that it's an attempt at gaining a momentary escape
from what is likely the most terrifying moment of their life.
Going into detail about topics completely unrelated to the situation at hand,
essentially delays the onset of their new reality.
Forensic psychology views this as a form of denial
and also a subconscious coping mechanism.
This particular tangent was about the local climate in multi-level marketing.
But she'll also ramble about photography, religion, relationships,
spirituality, household pets, her ex-boyfriends, road trips,
hitchhiking, designer clothing and computer virus software.
The detective subtly nudges her away from the theme of network marketing
and on to the topic of Travis.
She starts off with a Facebook post she made in his memory.
I realized, looking back on it, that it was kind of... it kind of sounded immature.
It's more like: “My dear Travis…” kind of letter.
- And so I took it down, because... - More personal.
Yeah, some of it was...I dated him, so it was a little more personal.
Not too personal, nothing inappropriate.
Just... um... I just felt funny.
I think, because I'm a photographer, I tend to communicate more with pictures,
so I posted a ton of pictures that I had of him... um...
and I have a ton more that I just can't access right now.
And videos and things that I know his family would want, but... um...
She then explains how it's hard to talk about Travis's death
with the guy she's now dating.
And we've been talking a lot, and we try not to talk about that,
because it's kind of like ugh.
Plus, Travis is my ex-boyfriend, but at the same time he's my friend.
So, while I'm mourning my friend,
how do you talk to your new, potential, possible,
maybe person that you might start dating about your friend?
Even though he was your ex-boyfriend. So it's kind of a gray area.
The detective knows she'll happily trail off until the morning comes,
so he cuts her off and locks her into the situation at hand.
I’ve talked to a lot of people and...
everybody's pointing the finger at you, you know.
Everybody is saying: “I don't understand what happened to Travis,
I don't know who killed him, but you need to look at Jodi”.
And sometimes the simplest answers are the correct ones.
One of the most fascinating parts of this interrogation
is how long the detective allows Jodi to cling on to hope.
For the first 45 minutes she will be terrified,
yet still believe there's a chance she will be going home at the end of it.
The detective will hint at her suspicions and culpability in a gradual manner,
yet not directly accuse her until a much later stage.
Dangling the idea of hope above someone's head,
while simultaneously hinting at the grim future that awaits them,
would perhaps be considered cruel in most other circumstances.
Yet, on this occasion, it is tolerated for a tactical purpose,
which is to allow for as much divulgence from the suspect as possible.
Her fear will cause her to panic.
Not enough to the point where she completely locks up,
but just enough so that she continuously tries to claw at her own salvation.
And in the process will divulge information
that will be extremely damaging to her defense later on.
And that's one of the reasons I started looking at you a little bit closer.
And over the last month or so,
I've gotten into Travis's life,
talked to all his friends, his family.
I got a really good understanding of who he is now.
and ...
I got a very good understanding of your relationship with him.
Obviously you weren't boyfriend and girlfriend anymore...
But you were still having a sexual relationship, which...
Does his family know about that? I’m just curious...
No, his family doesn't know anything.
I just, I'm interested in protecting his... how he's remembered as well
Just for the purpose of integrated context,
at Jodi's trial she would label Travis a sexual deviant,
a domestic abuser and a pedophile.
He truly had feelings for you,
and for some reason he felt that the relationship between you and him
was somewhat unhealthy.
But he couldn't stop it,
and I assume that's probably, maybe, the same way you felt about him?
Or maybe you didn't understand why he didn't believe it was healthy?
No, I didn't think it was healthy either, spiritually at least.
And probably emotionally, but mostly spiritually.
And I think that kind of... once you have something that's not healthy spiritually,
it filters through all aspects of your life.
Her dialogue alters from spirituality, to her work history,
and then to her finances, before moving on to her family.
Bear in mind she wasn't asked about any of this.
Financially, I wasn't doing well, I missed my family.
I moved away shortly after high school and I come back to visit
but I realize over the years I've missed out on a lot of things.
My little brother and sister. I missed out on just...
their karate, or their baseball or cheerleading or...
The detective nudges her back to the subject of Travis once more.
He asks if the sexual element combined with his religion
was the reason the relationship didn't work.
Jodi then takes it upon herself to recount her sex life history,
and simultaneously preach about her own devotion to the Bible.
I've been... I've had a couple of serious relationships before
where I was... where I was intimate with a few people.
And, it's kind of silly, but I used to always joke that,
regardless of what the Bible says, and, yes, I'm Christian,
I just live my life by the ten commandments, and that's my...
Those are my rules, you know.
“Thou shalt not…” this or that, but it doesn't say “Thou shalt no fornicate”.
So I just... used to joke about that.
We did pray about it. I remember we knelt by his bed once.
And um...
And...
surprisingly he suggested it. Normally, you know, we would...
I would suggest that we pray before we go on a trip, or before we eat, if we're alone.
It was kind of unusual for him...
Yeah, because he was very resistant to prayer.
He's like… So I'd say: "Will you say a prayer?"
He's like: “Why don't you say a prayer?"
"Why don't you say a prayer?" "Why don't you say a prayer"
So we'd go back and forth.
"Jodi will you say a prayer?", and I said "sure", and Travis was like...
The detective endures as much prayer talk as humanly possible,
before shifting the topic once more.
He was at a point in his life where he wanted to really start settling down.
He felt like he needed to kind of grow up, you know?
Become a husband, become a father.
Did you guys ever discuss, possibly, getting married, or anything?
- When we were dating, we did. - Okay.
Once we broke up, he brought it up.
He actually proposed to me a lot of times, but he wasn't serious.
- Let's move to after the breakup. - Oh, okay
What kept you in Mesa at that point?
I actually moved to Mesa a few weeks after we broke up.
Really?
And then there was a time period who really wasn't seeing anybody
and then Mimi came into the picture...
What did you think about her?
I didn't know a lot about her. She seems like a really nice girl,
he showed me her picture on Facebook, you know.
I don't think she had a lot of pictures on there.
He said that, he's not sure why,
but he's pretty sure that she could be it.
And I was happy for him. I didn't find out about…
This conversation you had face to face with him?
Yeah, it was in his room.
And he had his laptop, you know? Just on his bed.
Jodi is desperately trying to make it appear as though her and Travis were on good terms,
but this is just overkill.
Jodi was labeled the "crazy stalker ex"
by all of Travis's friends, and even Travis himself.
The idea that he would show, and then discuss
any potential future romances with Jodi, is ridiculous.
- And I truly believe he does love her, so... - Oh, he does!
Travis have had a...
He's what you call a player,
- You know what that means? - Yeah.
- He kind of pulls girls in... - He doesn't intend to hurt anybody though.
He was reluctant to make a commitment, first up.
And, truly, he didn't think that you were marriage material.
And I don't know why not!
I mean, I see you, you're a wonderful girl.
You know, you're struggling, you're trying to make your way through life,
and I don't see why you guys couldn't have made it.
I think we're just...
We have very different philosophies on a lot of ways
We would argue about the dumbest things.
There was so many times I just couldn't wrap my mind around what he would...
I could, but I tried to get him to do the same for me.
There was a time when I broke down on the way to LA, once.
And my car got a flat tire,
so I had at the time roadside assistance, because my car was still under warranty.
And they pulled... they went to take the car, and change the tire,
and realize that, when they sold me the car, they didn't give me the wheel lock key.
I was kind of hungry, it was dinner time,
it was 7:38, and it was dark, because it was January.
The tow truck guy said: "You know, there's a Denny's two blocks down here,
and there's a Jack in the Box there", and he was driving me.
I said: "Is there an IHOP around? Cause I really like IHOP".
He's like, "Yeah, but it's, kind of, like five miles back in the other direction"
I was like: "okay", he's like "I can drive you there if you want",
and I was like...
He's like this short Mexican guy,
and he seemed really harmless, and I was like: "Oh... okay".
And he, you know, and I asked him about his life,
and he had a wife and kids, so he wasn't flirting.
The travels of Jodi and the sweet Mexican, continues on for another two minutes.
The detective then brings Jodi's attention
to what he already believes was the trigger motive for the murder.
So, you know, moving over to his trip to Cancun that he was going to.
When did you first find out about that? That he was going with Mimi.
Oh I didn't find... I found out about that at his memorial services, on Monday.
It was the Monday night memorial ceremony.
But you didn’t know he was taking Mimi?
I didn't know that, I think that's awesome actually!
Right!
Well, unfortunately, Mimi had called him a week or two before,
and told him: "Look, if you want to take somebody else it's fine,
but I have something to tell you.
I don't look at you that way. I don't look at you as a boyfriend.
If you want to be friends, we can be friends".
The detective essentially stated that Travis was friendzoned by Mimi,
but he still invited her instead of Jodi anyway.
What kept it to him? I don't understand.
Well, moving is expensive for one.
So once I was there, I was kind of stuck there.
But why do you continue to go back to him?
You know what he wants, you know that it's not healthy,
but yet, you continue to go back!
And it brings us to this point, where we are now.
Part of that... part of my perspective now has to do with the fact that
I'm going through a repentance process
that I've worked out with, you know, with my Bishop.
And he's given me, you know, certain scriptures to read,
and then ponder, and pray about... and
Preacher Jodi emerges for another two minutes,
going into detail about scriptures and baptisms.
The detective then interjects and starts getting more confrontational with the facts
about Jodi's behavior towards Travis.
And obviously you guys kept this relationship hidden
from everybody else, and...
Because nobody really knew about it.
- Well - There were some people who...
who I've talked to and they said: “Yeah, they continued to have a relationship
even after they broke up”.
And there are others who are saying that you had become obsessive with him,
to the point to where you would, uhh,
go into his house when he wasn't there, or when you weren't invited.
And he would talk to people saying, “You know, she just kind of showed up, and...
I don't want to tell her to leave but... you know, I don't want her here...”.
Oh, that was... It must have been early on,
because there were a couple times when...
we established a rule early on. Just don't come over and
he said: “you can come over anytime, but I need to know first”.
The detective then starts ramping up the pressure
and brings Jodi's alibi and road trip into the discussion.
Was it the week of the... well, the first week of June...
you took a trip to Salt Lake City.
Which route did you take from there?
I was supposed to get on the 15 and go all the way up,
and I somehow got off the 15.
Where did you end up?
For a while I was lost, and I'm not above sleeping in the car,
so I slept for a while. I'm a heavy sleeper, and I sleep a lot, so...
But you were on the 15 for a while,
and you ended up getting off the 15 somewhere?
Yeah, I looked at a map, and I'm pretty sure I know where I went,
- I went... can I draw you a map? - Sure.
So this trip took you a little over 48 hours.
I have a problem with this trip!
- Well, I went first to... - Yeah, I know you went down here...
I've gone over this trip over and over, in my mind, and on paper.
And, even if... There's still 20-somewhat hours.
Even if you pulled over to sleep a couple of times.
- Oh! Did I tell you that I got stranded? - Yeah.
- Okay. - You mentioned that.
- If you slept for 10 hours here and here... - I only slept for about 8 1/2
It would still leave 18-somewhat hours
for something else, okay?
This is what people are focusing on. It's this trip that you took,
because they're saying: "She left, she didn't get to till Thursday".
Wednesday, it's when Travis was killed.
I did not go near his house, isn't there...
I pulled your cell records.
Your cell phone was turned off between here and here.
Well, I didn't turn it off physically, but it died.
And then it magically... you found your charger here?
It was under the...
packed under the seat of the passenger side and it was when I was...
When you were lost, you couldn't have, maybe, pulled over and found it?
I did finally start looking when I was stranded.
I wouldn't have pulled over when I was lost.
Detective Flores explains to Jodi multiple times over
how the trip doesn't make any sense whatsoever,
and whether it's feign naivety,
or that she literally doesn't understand the concept of time and distance,
she pretends to be confused by the allegation,
rather than actually confront it.
This goes on for three minutes, before the detective confronts Jodi
with the evidence of the photographs on Travis's camera.
But, I don't think you're being completely honest with me about that trip!
I honestly got lost!
It's... it's bad timing.
- Were you at Travis's house on Wednesday? - Absolutely not! I was nowhere near Mesa!
I was nowhere near Phoenix.
I wasn't even close to him!
What if I could show you proof you were there?
Will that changed your mind?
- I wasn't there. - You can be honest with me, Jodi.
I was not at Travis's house! I was not!
You were at Travis's house,
you guys had a sexual encounter, which... there's pictures.
I know you know there's pictures, because I have them.
I will show them to you.
Okay?
So, what I'm asking you is for you to be honest with me.
I know you were there.
Are you sure those pictures aren't from another time?
Positive.
Remember I told you about the camera? - Mm-hm.
The card's intact.
Remember I told you that card was destroyed?
I didn't want to tell you the truth.
And I have pictures of you, in Travis's bedroom, with Travis,
pictures of him, and...
it's obvious you guys are having sex,
taking photos of each other,
and they're dated and time-stamped on the day he died.
Are you sure it's me? I mean... because I was not there!
It's you.
And you know it's you.
I know all the details of this case. The only thing I don't know is why.
Why did you choose to go visit Travis that day?
And why did you do what you did?
I would never hurt Travis…
You did.
You hurt him.
That's why we're here.
That's why I flew up here.
Because I needed to talk to you about this.
I can just arrest you and throw you in jail, but I want to know why.
Why did you do this to him?
I wouldn't hurt Travis, he's done so much for me!
I know you took pictures of him in the shower,
just before he died.
I don't think he would allow that.
And the camera actually took a couple of photos by accident
during the time he was being killed.
- Really? - Yeah, Jodi, really.
You were there!
Quit playing this game!
It's time for you to just come out and tell me.
I didn't know. I did not hurt Travis.
I wouldn't do that to him.
The detective then goes on to explain the DNA evidence collected at the crime scene,
which includes Jodi's blood, Jodi's blood mixed with Travis's blood,
Jodi's hair, and Jodi's bloody palm print.
You either had blood on your hand and you touched the wall,
or there was blood on the wall and you touched blood.
Could my palm print have already been there, and then I touched it?
Jodi.
Jodi, this is over!
This is absolutely over.
You need to tell me the truth.
Listen, the truth is I did not hurt Travis.
If you want I can show you some pictures of him.
Do you want to see pictures of him?
Part of me does, and part of me doesn't.
Why? Because you don't want to remember?
- No! - Jodi.
- There's a morbid curiosity. - Jodi.
I wanted to know how he died!
We can keep playing these games, over and over again.
I'm not going to believe you.
- Listen... - It's over!
- Could it have been my blood from before? - Your image is not important right now,
saving the rest of your life is.
Listen, if I'm found guilty, I don't have a life.
I'm not guilty. I didn't hurt Travis.
If I hurt Travis, if I killed Travis, I would beg for the death penalty.
It just seems so impossible. I'd want to see it, I'd want to know.
I mean, I'm not like...
I'm not a murderer, but I guess if I were to do that,
I would wear gloves or... you know, something!
Okay, let's say for a second that I did,
and I say: "I did it".
I mean…
The motive is there. The jealousy issue.
But I wasn't... I wouldn't even say it was jealous!
I mean there may have been some jealousy there but...
Then what is it? What caused this?
I think if, you know, if anyone... maybe Travis was jealous but…
That's not what everybody else says.
I can prove you were there. I can prove it!
But what I don't have is, I don't have answers on why it happened...
or, you know, maybe something just got out of hand.
- Maybe things got out of hand. - Did you find the gun? Maybe that would...
Jodi, we're just playing games here.
I'm gonna take a little break but I need you to think about what you're doing here,
because the best thing for you to do is to tell me the truth.
It's so important that you tell me why this occurred,
what was going through your mind and what caused you to do this.
I'll let you think about that, okay?
And I'm gonna go look up for some pictures, and I'll bring them over,
and we'll continue this discussion, okay?
Let me go find it. I'll be right back.
Detective, I’m not a murderer…
What kind of gun is that? Just curious.
It’s a Glock.
- I just bought a gun. - Did you?
- They probably found it by now. - Probably.
These are just a few photos,
and I want to be careful showing... not showing you certain photos,
because some of them are very bad.
If Travis were here today, he would tell you that it wasn't me.
My job is to speak for Travis right now.
And everything Travis is telling me is that “Jodi did this to me…”
Look at that one!
Remember him? - Yeah.
Is he naked?
- In the shower? - Yeah.
Jodi is then shown one of the pictures that was taken by accident
while she was in the process of murdering Travis.
That's your foot, Jodi. These are your pants.
Now, it's off color because we had to enhance it and the color kind of changes a little bit.
That’s Travis.
This is his bathroom.
That is not my foot!
We couldn't even recognize Travis cause he'd been there so long.
Do you have any recent cuts that are healing?
Well my cat scratches me, little things.
These are all her work, you can see. This is her, that's her, I've got scars.
She's very... she's a feral cat. All these little things are her.
Enough about your cat, but...
There's no doubt in my mind that you were there.
There's no doubt in my mind that you did this. None.
So you can go until you're blue in the face,
and tell me you weren't there, you had nothing to do with it.
I won't believe you.
I want to know why.
It's killing me inside that I don't know why.
That's the thing, there's no reason for it, there's no reason why.
There's no reason I would ever want to hurt him.
I have a solid case against you and I can present it to the judge,
as cold as it is, as it is now.
"I don't know why she did it."
Or I can present it to the judge with your explanation.
If I’m found guilty, what happens?
- You'll have to pay the price! - Well, what's the price?
- I don't know! - Don't you know what the sentences are?
Sentences that are carried for something...
It depends on your situation, how old you are.
Depends on the type of crime.
It depends on whether you show remorse or not.
And part of that remorse is at least coming clean.
When somebody doesn't come clean, I don't see any remorse.
I know you're afraid but you're already going through it right now.
There's no backing up.
There's no backing up to yesterday, there's no backing up to that day.
It's already happened.
And, unfortunately, you're gonna have to face the consequences.
I'm, you know, if I did that, I would...
I'd be fully ready to face the consequences.
I'm not really for things like, you know...
I'm all for the ten commandments: “Thou shalt not kill”, okay?
I just can't... I didn't kill Travis.
I just didn't... I did not take his life.
You need to come out and tell me why this happened.
I will not accept any other excuses.
I will just move on with my investigation, with my final report,
submitting all the conclusions and all the evidence.
And we can just let the judge and the jury decide.
We can leave it in the hands of a jury. - What about a lie detector test?
We can do that, that's fine.
Would that help me at all?
I mean, you can't use them in court, but...
Well, then there's no point in taking it.
You took a knife to him…
and couldn't stop...
you couldn't stop.
And before you knew it, it was all over, and then you panicked and then
I've never been angry, that angry at him.
Not enough for that. I've been so far angrier at other people,
at other ex-boyfriends.
Then tell me who could have done this.
Who did this?
I don't know, but if I am...
If I go to trial for this and, if I'm convicted for this,
whoever did this, is going to be sitting very pretty somewhere,
glad that it wasn't them.
And it's my job to make sure that an innocent person does not go to jail.
But I don't see an innocent person sitting in front of me.
Travis has done a lot for me, and I wouldn't hurt him.
He introduced the gospel to me.
Why is everybody saying that you are capable of hurting him?
Everybody says that.
- I don't know why... - So don't tell me that you're not capable.
I don't even hurt spiders...
I kicked a dog once!
I was a freshman in high school
and, I love, love, love, animals!
And once we had this dog, his name was Doggy Boy
and my parents, until this dog that they have now, have never been able to...
and I don't mean just them...
we as a family have never been able to care for a dog properly,
as far as given attention and take it for walks, and be consistent...
To save you the oncoming ramble about Doggy Boy the dog,
she lightly tapped him with her foot for tearing open the trash,
and she's felt so bad ever since,
that it changed her entire world view on the animal kingdom.
She now apologizes to the dog through the detective,
who's conducting her interrogation for first-degree murder.
And I need to apologize for that to him. I know it sounds weird,
my relationship with animals is kind of like, they're like people too.
You know, they have souls.
What you need to do is, you need to apologize to Travis.
If you just refuse... I can't help you anymore,
if you're not gonna... if you're not gonna help yourself.
- You've asked me prior... - I can't! I can't, Jodi!
It's fascinating to observe how fast she can switch from one emotion to the next,
once she realizes a particular strategy hasn't worked.
The attempt at elevating her character by expressing how much she cares for spiders and pets,
hasn't seemed to have any effect on the detective.
So she then switches her disposition from sorrowful to analytical,
as she once more tries to manipulate his perception of her.
If I did anything, that had anything to do with his death in any way.
- It's not “if” to me! - I wouldn't.
- It's not “if”, it's not “if” at all! - Well, to me it is! I would...
I would be more than remorseful.
So maybe it’s something you're blocking out of your head?
I don't think so! I mean, I tend to write everything down.
I tend to... I just finished the book “The Road Less Traveled”, and he said:
“The true definition of sanity is dedication to reality at all costs”.
Oh, this is definitely reality!
We are sitting here inside of an office at the Sheriff's Department.
And you are facing first-degree murder charges...
- What is the difference? - And you are going to be booked into jail,
and eventually you will be brought back to Arizona and you will stand trial.
That's the reality.
And once you realize that, I think you'll be better for it.
I've had worse issues with other people, they're all still alive.
I'm still friends with my ex-boyfriends, they're all still alive...
You know? I've been doing this a long time,
and there's one thing that I can never get out of my head.
Ever since the first day I talked to you.
It's... there's an old saying that, you know,
someone's just not acting right, look into it.
You have not acted right from day one.
You're just not acting right, Jodi.
You're acting like somebody who's guilty.
How so?
You tell me!
I know it, because I've been doing it a long time.
- It's not that I don't... - It's taken me a long time to figure it out,
but within the first 30 seconds to a minute of a conversation, I can...
I know when somebody's acting right, there's a certain way people act.
How did I act that would make you think...?
It's not like TV, it's not anything like that.
It's not what you see in the movies.
- Is it because I'm not crying? - No, it's not because of that.
What is it? I mean, I'm not going to change how I act.
No. Obviously, you can’t change the way you’re acting.
- I mean, I am who I am, - Okay, you're.. you're sincere in the way you're acting.
But uh...You're just, you're just not telling the truth.
How is it different?
Well, it's not really something you need to focus on anymore.
After Jodi failed her attempts to extract inside knowledge
on the best way to behave in order to appear innocent,
she then attempts to explain why she hasn't been able to appear innocent.
It's not that I'm not remorseful that he died.
The reason I hesitate is because
you made this as something that's wrong with me psychologically.
As I think of the butterfly effect, and it's like...
you could say that the guy pumping gas down the station could have potentially...
because you see all these movies, these funky movies
where it's like: this affected this, which affected this, if you've ever done this.
I know if you'd never met him, he'd probably still be alive.
- That's true. - Yeah, that's because you killed him.
No! I just can't admit to something that I didn't do.
If it would help, if it would help my case and give me an easier sentence...
I know people plead guilty for those things.
And I don't want you to do that.
That is the absolute last thing I want.
I wish that I had answers, I'm sorry.
There's just no reason, there's just no reason.
There's no good reason why this happened.
There's never a good reason why somebody dies like this.
This seems to be the moment Jodi fully confronts the reality of her situation.
The anguish she has over her own fate will become visible.
Yet she will now disguise this anguish as grief over Travis's death.
She does this by posing a question.
How many times was Travis stabbed?
More than I want to remember.
I think you're feeling the reality in the moment now.
Travis's family is gonna miss out umm… with Travis...
There's just no reason I would ever want to hurt him.
All I know is that...
I need a story or else it's just cold.
It's so cold.
But without the truth, I can't paint another picture.
And it's going to be up to the prosecutor to paint that picture.
And if you want that prosecutor... and I've met him,
and you don't want him painting that picture.
I have to maintain my innocence.
I can't admit to doing something that I haven't done.
- There's just no reason... - Well, I have more work to do.
Can you give me a rundown of what's going to happen from here when you leave?
- Yeah, you're... - Like, just today, for example…
Well, you'll probably be taken across the street to the county jail.
You'll be processed through there
Um... 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 gonna be taken the way you are.
I can't give you anything else.
- Do I have to go in handcuffs everywhere? - Mm-hm.
That's just procedure?
Whether you wrote a bad check, or you're facing murder charges,
you're gonna go in handcuffs.
You should have at least done your makeup, Jodi, gosh…
(Sings “Here With Me" by Dido)
Goodness...
Still beat me…
Or...
Jodi was then taken to the county jail
and charged with the murder of Travis Alexander.
She stayed there overnight, and it would be a total of 16 hours
before she was taken back to the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office.
Her second interrogation commenced at approximately 9:30 am.
(Sings "The Rose" by Amanda McBroom)
All right, if you want to go ahead and stand up for me.
As I take these cuffs off,
just go ahead and put your hands down at the waist, okay?
The game plan for this second interrogation will be a lot more strategic.
Investigators will have studied the footage the day prior,
and will now have a greater understanding of Jodi's personality.
The initial tactic is for detective Blaney
to criticize and berate the suspect's character,
while simultaneously reinforcing fear and apprehension.
She makes it very clear from the offset,
that the suspect's fabricated naivety and sickly sweet persona,
will not work on this occasion.
And Jodie's self-esteem will be broken down
in a manner that would typically be considered bullying or abuse
under different circumstances.
This is done so that, when detective Flores returns, it will be a welcome relief
and an immediate report will then be attained,
which in turn will make the suspect far more likely to cooperate.
It's a derivative of “good cop / bad cop”,
and the two investigators execute this technique in a near perfect manner.
Detective Blaney's time with a suspect is, essentially, a non-stop psychological onslaught,
which is sometimes executed in a passive manner,
while other times in a far more direct manner.
During the latter stages of the “bad cop” procedure,
Jodi will be asked if she would prefer to speak with detective Flores instead.
This question is posed a total of five times,
and only on the fifth time will Jodi finally give in and admit that she would.
This will give her the impression that, when detective Flores finally returns,
it was all her doing, rather than a calculated and pre-arranged strategy.
Okay...
The voice recorder isn't actually for the purpose of recording the conversation.
It is a prop to reinforce the perception of detective Blaney being the enemy
and not to be trusted.
You'll notice that when detective Flores returns, this device will be switched off,
therefore reinforcing the idea that he is the friend, who can be trusted.
Today's date is July 16th
and my name is detective Rachel Blaney...
And I'm here with Jodi Arias, is that how you say your last name?
- Arias - Okay, I'm sorry, this is just formality...
and this is, you know, if I have to, you know, write up a report of what we talked about,
at least I know word for word, you know, what you said and there's no mistakes. Okay.
The reason that I wanted to talk with you this morning...
There's a couple of reasons actually.
Let me say this, it's obvious to me that,
you know, you're not... um... you're not our typical suspect, you know.
You come from a good home, a good family,
your parents obviously care about you.
That was evident, you know, when they talked to them yesterday.
And you're a bright girl.
Probably more intelligent than you were letting on yesterday.
And...
there's no question in my mind, or any of the other investigators' mind
that you were the person that took Travis's life.
But what I need to know, what I'd like to know,
and give you the opportunity to do,
is determine whether, you know,
you're a cold-blooded, cold-hearted murderer who slaughtered this guy,
or are you somebody that got caught up in circumstances and things got out of control.
When this hits the news,
and it will, it'll go to the media,
do you want to be portrayed as that cold-blooded, cold-hearted murderer?
Because the media loves that! I'm trying to help you out.
I'm trying to give you a chance to make things right, you know.
Show the families that you do have some remorse.
But when you continue to deny, deny, deny, when it's obvious that that's not the case,
you appear to be the cold-blooded killer.
And things are going to start moving real fast here for you,
this is kind of a pause, you know, before things, you know, start getting heavy.
This is your opportunity to help yourself out.
We don't need you to tell us anything.
I'm doing this for you.
It's a matter of "do you want to take control of your situation
and paint the picture of who you are?"
because you're the only one that knows that.
The professional ruthlessness of this investigator is quite astonishing.
The demeaning and sarcastic tone she manages to superimpose
over straight facts is gripping to witness.
You know, was it just a matter of... like I said,
this guy... Travis...
building some sort of... what you thought was some sort of relationship, you know.
Were you hoping for marriage?
Is this something that you were hoping for? Was he leading you down that path?
You know, did he take advantage of you?
Was there... were there promises made that were broken?
Did he betray your trust in some way? I don't know!
Only you know that.
This is not going to go away anytime soon for you Jodi.
You know, you're a young... You're a young woman just starting your life.
You had a lot going for you.
You should be fighting for yourself right now.
And you let this eat at you
and it's going to destroy you,
or change you in a way that you wouldn't want.
Jodi manages to veer off on trivial aspects
of her and Travis's relationship that paint her in a positive light.
Officer Blaney makes it very clear that she has far less patience than officer Flores.
With what appears to be a very sympathetic tone,
she will snap the suspect's focus back to the element of the murder.
As much as I love Travis, I just have always...
There's something inside that says: “He's not the guy you're gonna marry”
So then what was it? What was it that led up to all of this?
I mean, there's got to be something.
So I honestly don't believe that, you know, that you're cold-hearted
and you would just go and just, you know, kill somebody on a whim.
That doesn't fit your profile.
So what was it that that led up to that?
You know, you tell me! You tell them!
You tell, you know, Travis's family.
I'm just trying to fill in the holes there, you know,
and just kind of guessing about the emotions,
you know, what was it that would make you, you know, so angry or upset?
Once Jodi is forcefully brought back to reality,
she all of a sudden has nothing to say.
The passive, yet disparaging, tone of the detective,
must be a very hard thing for an individual to have to sit there and take.
Especially someone who has used their fabricated sweet nature to their advantage most of their life
in order to avoid these types of situations.
And if you're smart, you'll realize that, you know…
You're not going to get a whole lot of other chances to do this. Probably none.
Once the wheels start turning, they move real fast
and you will be out of control then.
You know, I'm a spiritual person myself
and I don't think that I would want that,
you know, inside of me.
I wouldn't want all of the ugliness of the lies inside of me.
Take a minute just to think about what I said.
Jodi is clearly exhausted and terrified.
She, at this moment, was being observed
by both detective Blaney and detective Flores in another room.
And they even contemplated having detective Flores enter at this moment.
They ultimately decide against it, however,
and detective Blaney re-enters the room to maximize this state of dejection.
The pressure will now be increased to a considerable degree.
Maybe I did have a wrong picture of you.
You know,
all of this time that you and I have been talking,
and I got information from your other interview,
you are talking about insignificant things at this point.
You're talking about money, you're talking about material things,
you're talking about everything but...
I'm just talking about things that affect the people I care about…
You're talking about everything but how bad you feel about Travis.
You only respond to my questions...
If I’d murdered Travis, I would be very remorseful.
I think that I've gotten the wrong picture of you.
I think that, you know, maybe I was wrong,
maybe you are that cold-blooded person that they're trying to portray.
And, you know, I'm just really confused.
I just... at this point, you know, maybe you're right.
Maybe there isn't anything that you can do to help yourself,
you know, maybe I was wrong.
Maybe you're not as intelligent as I thought you were.
Maybe I was wrong.
I don't know what else to do for you here, Jodi.
I'm kind of at the end of my rope.
I was...
You're not going to get a whole lot of people that are trying to help you out along the way,
beyond this point.
And what I'm hearing is somebody who doesn't give a rep about what happened.
I'm hearing somebody that's worried about money,
your appearance, everything about you.
I don't hear anything about Travis, unless you're specifically asked.
How do you think that looks?
- Listen. I don't care so much... - No, you listen!
You are not grasping the reality here, Jodi!
You are acting like the person that I portrayed,
the ugly, cold-blooded murderer.
Every time Jodi breaks down,
the detective immediately focuses on Travis's family.
She makes it abundantly clear that she has absolutely no sympathy for the suspect,
despite her best efforts.
I know Travis's family is struggling with why.
And that would be the one thing that would give them closure.
They may never like you,
but I think that they would be appreciative of why their son's life was taken.
I know if it was my child, that's what I would want.
And I know that you're not a mother,
but all women have those mothering instincts within them,
and I think that you can understand that, what I'm saying.
Was I off-base, Jodi?
- Could you get me a Kleenex that I could use? - Sure.
I understand that you're a very private person.
Everybody has said that, and that's glaringly apparent.
But all your business is going to be out in the open right now,
so there's really nothing to hide from anymore.
You know what I mean?
Do you think, at this point, that your pride matters more than Travis's family's grief?
This is your chance to make at least something right.
Even if it's on a small scale, it's a big deal to his folks.
This is your opportunity to make right on some of your selfishness.
I wasn’t angry at Travis.
Everyone keeps saying: “Whoever did this was so angry.”
Then what were you?
Were you jealous?
Was he expecting you to come over that day?
He wanted me to.
I told him I wasn't going to…
So was it a surprise that you actually showed up?
Jodi prepares to set off on another tangent about photography,
but gets shut down right away.
The detective doesn't allow her thoughts to keep wandering off on something unrelated,
as a means for attaining a brief distraction from reality.
I got pictures of him once shaving, and then he was already weird about that...
Well, Jodi, when you say things like that,
it's obvious to me that you don't want to do the right thing for the family.
You don't want to unburden yourself, you don't want to give them closure,
and you're jerking my chain.
And I don't appreciate my chain being jerked.
I'm tired of playing games.
I'm tired of skirting around it.
I thought that it would be easier for you to talk to a woman,
to say what you need to say to a woman. Sometimes it is.
But unless you're willing to give me something,
then I can't do anything for you.
After today, things are going to go so fast for you,
you're going to be totally out of control of the situation.
The wheels of justice will start turning.
I understand that you're afraid,
and that you're horrified about that person within you that could do something like that.
But it happened, and it's a done deal, and you did it.
The least you can do is tell the family how it happened,
so they can understand why.
I mean, do you think you're going to get this opportunity again?
To sit down and just have a free-form discussion?
There's not going to be any situation or place that's going to make it any easier for you.
This is as good as it gets for you right now.
Would you rather talk to him?
If you do, you know, that's that's fine, and I'm sure that he'd be willing to talk with you again.
Or would you rather continue talking with me? It's up to you.
I don't, I don't really have a preference I guess.
I don't know what it is that's going on inside your head right now.
I don't know whether you're weighing the odds,
you know, trying to figure out how you can save your own skin here.
Don't you think that it's going to make just a little bit of difference inside yourself,
as far as that closure goes, if you know that the family at least has something?
And if you're not going to do that today with me right now,
I'm just going to send you back across the street,
because we've been in here for a while
and I don't have, you know, the entire day.
I guess my patience is running a little thin.
And if you think you're feeling grief over this whole incident,
think about how they feel.
For once, think about somebody else.
And if you want to talk to detective Flores as opposed to me,
you know, you can do that.
Like I said, I thought it would be easier for you to talk to a woman.
I kind of do want to talk to him,
because he has been in contact with their... with Travis's family a lot.
- Okay. - I don't know if that would make any difference,
but I know that he already talks to them on a regular basis.
Yeah, I'm sure that, you know,
he has a somewhat of a relationship with them.
So I'll go see if he's..
Yeah, I'm not trying to stall or anything, but I've got to go to the bathroom again.
- Can we go? - Yeah.
- Hello. - Hey.
Rachel called me and told me that you wanted to talk to me.
Are you doing okay?
- It doesn't matter how I'm doing. - It does to me. It does.
Thank you, but it doesn't matter...
What matters is how his family is doing.
I told you yesterday, I've been doing this for a long time.
And you're absolutely right.
You know, the person's family who was hurt, they're obviously hurting.
But there's a second family that hurts as well,
and in this case, it's your family.
The objective of “good cop / bad cop”, seems to have worked.
A higher level of trust and rapport seems to now be established.
Jodi pours out her emotion,
as the detective offers a sympathetic and understanding tone.
But then something very interesting happens.
Once she composes herself,
she, for some reason, requests to see the photos of Travis.
Not before, but after he was murdered.
Many could think she is attempting to gain
some sort of depraved satisfaction from seeing them,
yet going off how the rest of this interrogation plays out,
it's more likely that she is trying to gather information,
or at least confirm something in the photographs,
before she amends her new narrative.
This is more of a selfish reason,
I think it might give me some sense of closure.
I know it's kind of morbid, I don't even think I really deserve closure.
What is it you want to know about the photos?
Do you want to see the room?
Do you want to see the bathroom? Or do you want to see him?
Or is it the photos before it happened that you want to see?
I think the photos of after everything.
I won't show you those..
Okay, is there any that you can?
No, I can't do that.
We had a difficult time identifying who he was, by the time we got there,
and he wasn't the same person.
So that's why I don't want to show you photos.
The detective attempts to get the dialogue flowing in a subtle manner,
yet he's given the silent treatment anytime he poses an incriminating question.
Jodi knows exactly what she can and can't say with respect to her own preservation.
Her internal self is far more calculated than the naive exterior she continuously portrays.
So, why were you there that day? Please tell me.
Did you just miss him?
Should I be looking for somebody else?
Was there anybody else with you, besides you and Travis?
Are you protecting somebody else?
The detective allows for extended periods of silence.
Only Jodi will know for sure what she was thinking,
yet one could safely assume she is desperately constructing her new narrative during these moments.
I’m trying to just figure it out.
I'm just trying to think.
What would happen to me today… from here on out if...
if I just told you every single detail that I know?
And I gave you a confession?
Nothing else changes,
it just speeds up the process.
It's kind of... It's all really blurry. It really is blurry.
It's all a blur.
Can I please see those photos?
Why did you throw the camera in the washing machine?
We found blood in a downstairs bathroom,
where somebody had tried to wash their hands.
There's blood on the outside of the washing machine.
There's little things that give us clues to what you were doing afterwards.
Everybody says he just leaves his doors open when he's home. Trusts everybody.
Um... have you ever seen the movie “The Secret”?
I don't think so.
This was the cue for Jodi's next series of insufferable rambles.
The detective valiantly endures this for the next 31 minutes, to lower her guard.
I used to go to sleep at night and I would hear gunshots,
we weren't in a bad neighborhood, but our neighborhood neighbored another neighborhood.
It was not great, gunshots, scary...
And they were, because Salinas is agricultural, and there are a lot of fields
and I used to think that they were hunters in the field, their dogs.
They were swinging by and pick up Amy, right?
And I wasn't there, I don't think... I was at work or something...
I've never been endowed, I've never been through the temple
but from what I understand, I think that it's such a sacred place,
and meditating there, and being there will help to give you further insight about where...
There were three fears: one was handguns, which is one of the reasons I got a gun,
There was a CHP here in town that said he would take me out and go target practicing
and I went to the sporty good store several times to see what he had
and they were all in the five or six hundred dollar range, for the kind that I wanted.
So they were too expensive, but then there was this one and it was cheap.
Jodi's dialogue eventually winds up on the subject of Travis,
and how Travis was private about the shower.
The detective seizes the moment to catch Jodi off guard.
He suddenly poses a highly incriminating question in a jokingly manner.
He was very private about the shower, like we…
- Is that why you were taking pictures of him in the shower? - No, no...
She doesn't deny she was there,
only that she wasn't taking the pictures for that particular reason.
She doesn't refute what is, essentially, an accusation.
Only a part of the context within it.
This seems to be the moment where Jodi realizes the holes in her story are beyond repair.
She has to admit she was, at least, at the scene of the crime
and will now start to scramble her thoughts to garner the most self-preserving storyline.
- Trying to get back at him? - No... um
What went wrong?
Did he say something to you?
What did you do?
Did you plan on doing that the whole time?
I don't believe you planned it.
Jodi, please.
- I can't! - Why not?
Did someone catch you there?
Someone not expecting you to be there? - Probably...
But… they would have seen my car…
Then who was it?
I don’t know.
They’re evil.
Listen I will... I can tell you...
I can tell you everything that I know, or that I remember,
Okay. What do you remember?
Is there any way I can see those pictures? It just...
- No, not right now. - Can I see him soon? I will…
You need to start letting me know what happened.
You're telling me that some other people were there.
He was kneeling down in the shower.
I don't remember.
Like, if this is his shower and the sink is over here,
I was like right here taking pictures,
and I don't really know what happened after that exactly.
Except I think he was shot.
Where were you?
If this is his shower, he was sitting here,
I was like, well…. if this is his shower and he's sitting here,
I was like here, on my knees and his bathtub was right here
and I was taking him here,
and I was just going through the pictures and I heard this loud ring.
And,
I don't really remember, except Travis was screaming.
I think I got knocked out, but I don't think it was that long.
And there were two people there, and...
What were you saying?
I remember putting my hand on his back,
so he was on his... all fours... on his knees.
He was like on his knees, like this...
doing something like this... or something like... I don't know.
And I was like, I was like: “Are you okay?
What's going on? What's going on?”
he's like “Go get help! Go get help!”,
and I said: “Okay”,
and I turned around and there were two people there.
One was a guy and one was a girl.
I couldn't tell that at first, but I could just see one was a girl,
and I assume the other was a guy, because of their built and then their voices.
Travis was screaming the whole time,
he wasn't screaming like a girl, he was just like... like he was in pain,
like he was like shocked, like "awhh!" you know.
What happened, Jodi? What did you see?
I chickened out like a little bitch.
I ran.
- He was still, like, conscious and still alive. - But you just left him there.
No, I ran into the closet.
And he stopped me, and...
He didn't touch me, 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! I didn't see...
He told me to stay there and not to move.
- And where was that, in the closet? - No, it was...
She describes that the man stopped her from leaving,
and then goes into detail about how her phone wasn't charged,
and how she forgot her phone charger.
She then describes how she valiantly tried to save Travis from the female attacker.
She was over him, and I just rushed her and I pushed her.
In the next moment, she will state that the assailant comes back,
when she never went anywhere to begin with.
I got Travis and he wasn't, like, standing up really.
He wasn't really doing much.
And he was..
I was trying to get him
and she came back,
and got him kind of far, like, right here. She came back.
He was starting to just get weaker and weaker.
And this guy came back in,
and she said that...
she said they... they needed to do me too.
Because...
Because I was there, and he's like “No, that's not why we're here”.
From what you're telling me, she was the aggressive one, and he was the more passive...
Yeah, I mean there was definitely aggression, as far as...
I mean, I don't know what you define aggression like...
I was... There was definitely a sternness.
So it seemed like they knew him, obviously.
Yeah, but he didn't seem to know them.
I mean, he was a little out of it.
Plus they had masks on anyway, but he didn't express any kind of recognition.
Well, he couldn't talk...
The detective takes her back to the moment she tried to save Travis from the female attacker.
So, I wasn't sure. I just knew I had to hold on to her hands,
because she had a knife.
What hand did she have it in?
She had it in this hand, but ... her right I guess?
Alright.
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!”
Jodi had obviously seen a lot of bad movies.
Bear in mind this conversation she had with Travis,
was supposedly happening as she was simultaneously fighting off a knife-wielding attacker.
She glosses over the struggle and she somehow ends up outside the bathroom.
The two assailants are now inside the bathroom,
arguing with each other about Jodi's fate.
She hasn't stated whether Travis is alive or dead at this point.
It wasn't, like, super yelling, it was kind of like hushed but intense.
Like, “you need to do that,” “shut up,” “it's not over here.”
Things like that.
The male assailant then takes Jodi's registration out of her wallet
and looks at her address.
He said:
“If you ever, ever, ever… say anything about this…”.
He said, they'll do to my family... same way... and me.
And I didn't care so much about me at that point.
He said: “you need to leave…”
and, “don't you call anybody”, “and don’t you say anything”.
He's all: “I’m giving you one chance…”.
And then she said: “She's gonna rat us off, she's gonna say something”.
And he's like: “Shut up!”. He's like: “You get one chance!”
Jodi then leaves in her car.
She, of course, doesn't mention the fact that she then left Travis a voicemail,
to give herself an alibi for not being there.
I was really scared. - Okay.
I was really freaked out of my mind. - Okay.
I don't believe you.
I came in here hoping that you would tell me the truth,
and this is not the truth, Jodi.
- This is all I know. - This does not make any sense!
I feel responsible because I feel that I could have done more.
I feel that I should have gotten help.
I feel that I should have been stronger.
You feel responsible because you did this.
- I did not kill Travis! - Jodi, you did it.
You did it.
And there's nothing you can say that'll change my mind at this point.
This is an elaborate story, which does not make any sense.
I've done this for a long time,
and this is the most far-fetched story I've ever heard.
And it's not going to help you.
Is that how you want to leave this?
I just don’t want my family to get hurt.
There is a reason why you did this, and you just refuse to tell me why.
Maybe because you are cold.
And calculated...
There's no reason somebody else would come in and do this to him.
There's no motive whatsoever. We haven't found any!
What is my motive?
Jealousy, anger, fear...
fear of being alone, angry at him for not keeping you in his life... I don't know!
That's why I'm trying to figure it out. There are so many motives with you!
Too many!
Jodi continues to give random details about the fictional assailants
for a further eight minutes without being asked.
The detective then ends the interrogation.
One was male, one was female. They were taller than me.
Not by a whole lot.
Okay.
Are you ready to go back?
Uum... yeah I guess. I'd still like to say something to his family, but...
I don't think I have anything that could bring them comfort. - Okay.
Maybe I could write them a letter.
Even as the detective is leaving the room,
Jodi attempts to add further credibility to the new narrative
and gives more details of the two attackers.
- I can give you the best description... - So many inconsistencies,
that I don't even want to deal with it right now!
- Okay, I just don't want my family to get hurt. - Okay.
They won't get hurt.
You're hurting them right now, by not telling me the truth.
That's what you're doing, okay?
Detective Blaney comes back with a pen and paper three minutes later.
She was curious to see what Jodi would write to Travis's family.
It ended up being a self-serving and whimsical paragraph
about how sorry she was that she couldn't save Travis.
The family were never given the letter.
Jodi completely dissects and carefully examines
the ham and cheese sandwich before she eats any of it
and, as you've probably guessed by now,
continues to behave in a rather unusual manner.
Okay, are you ready to go?
- I think so. - Okay.
I guess that's really all I needed. Sorry, don't roll the tape yet.
Why was he a good traveling companion?
Oh! He was a great traveling companion for many reasons.
Traveling with Travis was kind of like traveling with your own personal comedian,
or serenader.
Jodi not only stuck with her story about the assassination squad,
she doubled down and agreed to every media request that came her way.
She also stuck with the soft-spoken, sweet-natured, Jesus-loving character,
that wouldn't hurt spiders, let alone human beings.
But she once again fails to realize,
this fake disposition doesn't match the situation whatsoever.
If you were sitting in a squalid jail, wrongfully accused of murder,
and as a result facing life in prison, or even the death penalty,
you wouldn't be acting like this.
She's trying to come across as the innocent girl next door,
but she just looks like a terrifying lunatic.
To know that he was stabbed some 27 times. And shot once in the left cheek...
Who could have done this to him?
- I don't know. - Who do you think killed him?
I have no idea.
Jodi, you're pretty calm sitting here. How are you managing to stay so calm?
Through my faith, and through the knowledge of my own innocence.
That's the only thing.
I would be shaking in my boots right now if I had to answer to God for such a heinous crime.
Jodi Arias killed Travis Alexander.
There is no question about it.
This is Jodi's defense team,
and what you just saw was the very beginning of their opening statement,
on the first day of her trial.
The date is January 2nd, 2013.
Exactly four years, six months, and two days after Travis was murdered.
The million dollar question is what would have forced her to do it?
They must have figured the assassination story wouldn't go down well with a jury.
Especially when confronted with the many steps Jodi took to get away with the murder.
So the narrative has now changed for a third time,
and the defense have to come up with a plausible explanation
for Jodi's trail of deception.
The hole she had dug herself into was exceptionally deep,
and her attorneys are now crafting the rope to pull her out.
Jodi did not always tell the truth about what happened that night.
She was scared.
Scared about what had happened, and scared about what she had done.
She had absolutely no experience with police interrogation before.
You don't say!
And so when they talked to her, she wasn't always truthful.
Her fear and her panic about what had happened,
led her to tell different stories.
Throughout this trial you will learn more about Jodi Arias
Although not everyone in Travis's family were devout Mormons,
all of them were close.
He, in particular, had a very strong relationship with his sister Tanisha.
And as you can probably tell, a picture can say a thousand words.
...much more about Jodi.
You will find that she is an articulate, bright young woman
who is a very talented artist and photographer.
And, so, what would have forced her to have to take Travis's life on that awful day?
In order to answer that question, we have to go back to the beginning.
The bulk of the defense's opening, was to paint Jodi as the naive victim,
and Travis as the calculated villain.
Being a temple member, and an executive director of PrePaid Legal,
outward appearances would be very important to Travis.
And so, while he continued this facade of being a good and virginal Mormon man,
he was inwardly dealing with his own sexual issues.
And in Jodi...
In Jodi, he found somebody who was easily manipulated and controlled.
Someone who would provide him with that secretive sexual relationship that he needed.
They also mentioned that Travis was violent with Jodi on several occasions.
That he would fly into these sudden rages for almost no reason.
And that Jodi was terrified of him.
They end their statement with Jodi's latest account of how Travis was killed,
which is now a case of justifiable self-defense.
The attorney gets to the moment Jodi was taking pictures of Travis in the shower.
Jodi accidentally drops Travis's camera.
And as that camera was falling, that was enough for Travis.
Because he lunged at Jodi in anger,
knocking her to the ground in the bathroom where there was a struggle.
Jodi's life was in danger.
In just under a minute, from... in just a minute, from this picture,
we go to the next picture, it's Travis's body.
He's clearly injured already, in a minute.
Now, that very brief moment of time,
a minute, is not the result of premeditation.
In that one minute, had Jodi not been forced to defend herself,
none of us would be here.
In that one minute had Jodie not chosen to defend herself,
she would not be here.
This is not of a case of “who done it”.
The person who done it, the person who committed this killing sits in court today.
It's the defendant Jodi Ann Arias.
And the person that she done it to,
is an individual by the name of Travis Victor Alexander,
a former boyfriend of hers, an individual that she was in love with,
an individual that was a good man,
an individual that was one of the greatest blessings in her life.
And this love... well she rewarded that love, for Travis Victor Alexander,
by sticking a knife in his chest.
And, you know, he was a good man according to her.
And, with regard to being a good man, well...
she slit his throat as a reward for being a good man.
And in terms of these blessings,
well she knocked the blessings out of him by putting a bullet in his head.
She took the knife and began to stab him
when he was in that defenseless, sitting position.
This is very important to take note of.
The prosecution just referred to this: the last photograph of Travis alive.
Their argument is that Jodi either asked him to sit down,
or at least waited for him to sit down, before she began her attack.
She knew Travis had to be in a disadvantaged position before she commenced her assault,
and the prosecution's argument is that it was at this moment
when Travis received a stab wound to the heart.
He would have then begun to rapidly lose consciousness from that point forward.
He attempted to protect himself and escape,
but he was soon overwhelmed by his attacker, due to the rapid blood loss.
The pool of blood outside his bathroom reinforces the argument
that his throat was cut after the stabbings.
And a coroner's report, which will be revealed in more detail later on,
concludes that Travis was, in all likelihood, shot in the head last.
Jodi's version, on the other hand, has to be that Travis was shot first.
The reason for this will also be explained later on.
And began and stuck the knife in his chest.
He struggled, he grabbed the knife.
And when he grabbed the knife, of course, that resulted in more blood.
“I pushed the girl who was there,
and I was able to get the better her, and I was about to run out.
Get out, and go get some help.
Except that, I was then confronted by the guy.
This guy started looking through my purse,
and lo and behold, in my purse, believe it or not,
I happen to have my car registration that shows my address,
because that's what I carry around.
So they knew, “they” being this guy, knew exactly where I lived,
and he said to me: “Well, if you tell what happened here,
the same thing is going to happen to your family”.
There's a different story now.
Now it's not that she wasn't there,
now it's not that it's two people
with whatever variation she may have provided to these national shows.
Now she admits it: it was her.
She's the person who actually did this.
And even though she says that, she still has a view as to the evidence.
This is exhibit number 248.
- No jury is going to convict me. - Why not?
Because I'm innocent, and you can mark my words on that one.
No jury will convict me.
I also ask that you mark her words
while you're marking the guilty verdict
for her premeditated killing of Travis Alexander.
Jodi spent 18 days on the stand.
When she knew what questions were coming, and when completely uncontested,
she was very much in her element.
She was able to respond to the questions instinctively,
and her dialogue came out in a confident and natural manner.
You could tell she had each and every one of her responses planned to a T,
and had considerable faith that her manipulative prowess would ultimately save her.
I don't know why, but they were Spider-man. And...
At this point in the trial the defense had already detailed
how Travis was physically abusive, sexually overbearing,
and a deep-seated pedophile.
Jodi stated that she caught him on his computer looking at images of children,
and that Travis had even asked her to wear Spider-man underwear during sex.
The next segment is Jodi's supposed theory as to why Travis had such a request.
I do know however, that prior, the year prior, he...
There was a child he was close with, that really liked Spider-man.
I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but
he was very much into Spider-man.
This is the reason why she never left Travis
after finding out about his pedophilic urges:
Umm... I was under the impression that when he was able to sleep with a woman,
as opposed to fantasizing about a child, he felt, like, more normal as a man.
So... also I had seen prior to this incident many beautiful qualities about him,
and good qualities about him, and things that were attractive about him.
And I believed this incident was a negative part of himself
that he didn't want to foster,
or that he was fighting or struggling against,
and that he ultimately wanted to eradicate.
So just to clarify what she actually said,
her understanding and supportive nature
was the reason she stayed in a relationship with an unashamed pedophile.
She kept it a complete secret, hoping he would change.
All the while he was being physically and emotionally abusive on a regular basis.
She's tearing down his character, but trying to do so in a subtle manner.
She gives off the impression that she's holding back on his detraction
to preserve some of his reputation,
when she's actually trying to destroy it, as much as she possibly can.
This is Jodi's version of events that led up to the killing in her own words.
It's important to note, that when you rehearse something in your head repeatedly,
it can be as though it actually happened.
And, as we know, Jodi had nothing but time on her hands
for the last four and a half years.
The clip will begin at the moment she dropped Travis's camera.
It slipped, it was kind of like... the best I could describe it,
like, when you go to catch a football, but it bounces and you kind of fumble it a little, because it
it didn't slip and just drop, it slipped and I tried to catch it,
and it kind of bounced a little and then fell on the ground
and bounced and rolled onto the tile.
It fell first on the mat, then it rolled right onto the tile.
The mat isn't very big, it's just kind of right outside the shower.
At that point he got very angry, and he stepped out of the shower.
He lifted me up from the crouch position,
with enough force that my feet came off the ground momentarily.
And he body slammed me on the tile.
At that point I rolled, and I ran down the hallway.
I ran into the closet, I slammed the door. I start running.
If you are looking at the diagram it would be on the left side of the seat.
I began running that way, with my initial intent to probably run out this door.
I instead went for the gun.
According to Jodi, a gun was hidden above the shelves in Travis's closet.
She had discovered it a month earlier, while cleaning.
I grabbed the gun.
Right about then, Travis was opening the door.
I grabbed it, I ran out into the bathroom.
He ran, I believe, straight toward the door as well.
At that point I had run out of the bathroom, and I turned and...
I just wanted him to stop, so I pointed the gun at him,
hoping that would just make him halt, and it didn't.
Instead he lunged at me right around the time that the gun went off.
And I didn't mean for it to go off.
This is why her version has to be that Travis was shot first.
According to her, it was all an accident.
There was no intention to actually kill,
and Travis's death was the unintended result of his own senseless aggression.
So you might be wondering how she can explain
the 27 stab wounds and the laceration to his throat.
We got... we fell with a pretty good force down in the corner.
Near 15, but not quite up that close.
It was kind of near the sink, kind of, sort of, that area.
And he felt, kind of on top of me, but to my right.
I didn't want him to get on top of me.
He was grabbing at my clothes, he was trying to get on top of me.
I don't know where the gun went at that point, it was not in my hands anymore...
If it got knocked out of my hands, or if I dropped it, what...
I broke away from him, and as soon as I broke...
The moment I broke away, that's when he threatened my life.
Just to be clear on what Jodi is talking about.
After she accidentally shot Travis in the head, he wrestled her to the floor,
but she then managed to break away, at which point he screamed the words:
"I'll fucking kill you, bitch."
I'd have no clear memories after that, at all!
These things began to get really foggy after the gun went off.
So there it is. Her explanation as to why she slit the throat
and continued stabbing the man she had no intention of killing,
is that she can't remember.