Ariz. woman charged in lover's slaying describes abusive childhood
PHOENIX (AP) - The woman at the center of a sensational murder trial in Phoenix took the witness stand Monday, telling jurors how she endured an abusive childhood at the hands of her parents and contemplated suicide after the killing.
The decision by defense lawyers to put Jodi Arias, 32, on the stand was a surprise move in a case that has become a daily fixture on cable news with its story of sex, betrayal and violence.
Arias is charged with killing her lover in 2008 in what prosecutors describe as a jealous rage as she stabbed and slashed Travis Alexander 27 times and shot him in the head. Arias claims it was self-defense against an abusive boyfriend.
In a soft-spoken voice, Arias calmly described how an idyllic childhood in California turned abusive when she was about 7 years old. She said her parents beat her with belts and wooden spoons, and the abuse later escalated into shoving her into furniture and slapping her in the face for misdeeds such as sneaking out of the house.
Her mother sat in the front row of the courtroom and showed no emotion as Arias described her childhood.
She also said she made false statements early in the investigation about not being at the scene of the crime because she planned to commit suicide and never have a trial.
"At the time, I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me because I didn't expect any of you to be here," Arias said. "I planned to be dead."
The decision by defense lawyers to put Jodi Arias, 32, on the stand was a surprise move in a case that has become a daily fixture on cable news with its story of sex, betrayal and violence.
Arias is charged with killing her lover in 2008 in what prosecutors describe as a jealous rage as she stabbed and slashed Travis Alexander 27 times and shot him in the head. Arias claims it was self-defense against an abusive boyfriend.
In a soft-spoken voice, Arias calmly described how an idyllic childhood in California turned abusive when she was about 7 years old. She said her parents beat her with belts and wooden spoons, and the abuse later escalated into shoving her into furniture and slapping her in the face for misdeeds such as sneaking out of the house.
Her mother sat in the front row of the courtroom and showed no emotion as Arias described her childhood.
She also said she made false statements early in the investigation about not being at the scene of the crime because she planned to commit suicide and never have a trial.
"At the time, I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me because I didn't expect any of you to be here," Arias said. "I planned to be dead."
they always say they have been abused. Â It is the standard line.
I have no question that she has used her looks only to try to advance in life. Trouble is, there are legions of OTHER good looking people in the world..so there you are. Casey Anthony got away with it, but this one will probably go down in flames.
Did she commit murder? Â Enough said.
She looks like Alexis Wright of Maine who was running a prostitution business from her Zumba studio.
Hmmm, so she has a bad childhood and kills this guy with dozens of stab wound and shots him in the head, and the jury is supposed to say, " hey, sorry for the bad childhood, now you go do this again.. She is delusional !
But of course, all of her other legal angles have failed her thus far. She's lied about her whereabouts, claimed that she wasn't even at his apt, and when confronted with the evidence, she claimed it was all in self defense. Stabbed him 27 times and then shoots him? OK, now that angle has failed her and let's resort to.... I was abused as a child.... here we go again.
The "abuse" card? She couldn't leave this allegedly abusive relationship? She had to kill him? She has some issues besides an abusive "lover" I be thinking. Why did she put herself into that kind of relationship, or even worse, why did she stay in one?
Why are the crazy ones so smokin' hot....
Odd how little sympathy there is for this woman if she indeed did have a horrible, abusive childhood. Not that it really explains the overkill of her guy...I am not sure how child abuse leads to this jealous killing. Â And he was abusive? Â JEEEZ what a sordid, sad story this looks to be....hard to accept blaming the parents for this act though.
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 @BCH mom The abuse excuse is BS these POS needs to grow up and move of with their lives,  what is too bad is this woman didn't put a bullet through her so called brain first,Â
" . . . and then they grounded me for setting the house on fire . . . OH THE INJUSTICE!!!!"  Give me a freakin' break! Honey, you weren't abused. You were a rotten kid that thought you didn't have to play by the rules and got really mad when you had to pay the consequences. Looks like nothing has changed in your small, pathetic little life.  Hope you like jail.
Doesn't sound like parental abuse to me. Sounds more like discipline.
My mom hit me with a shoe and a spoon
......who can I kill
@CadillacGod Ya I'll line up too, wooden spoon, hand, belt. It was called disicpline when I was growing up.
Another case of someone doing something bad and blaming it on someone else. Â I guess taking responsibility for one's actions in today's world just isn't the way things are done. Â The worst part of cases like this is that there are people out there who will feel sorry for her and want her set free. Â This country has gone to hell.
A bad childhood justifies murder???
Putting her on the stand is the last, desperate act of a defense team that has nothing left to lose.Â
Dang this one could F%$# you up if you picked her up at a bar. Not too bad on the eyes but then she is stabbing you and shooting you. Hey, not what I signed up for!!! This one needs to be taken out of the public. She has the looks that can kill, the knife that can kill and the gun that can kill.
how you react to your life is 100% up to you. Stop blaming other for the decisions you made as an adult.
Abusive childhood. Time people started getting off that crutch.
"...slashed Travis Alexander 27 times and shot him in the head..."
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"I say we stomp him! Then we tattoo him! Then we hang him! And THEN we kill him!
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Never would I have thought someone would quote Pee Wee's Big Adventure, :P
So which is it, a jealous rage or self defense? Stabbing someone 27 times and then shooting them is just a wee bit beyond self defense.