Accused murderer Jodi Arias underwent more fiery cross-examination Thursday, with Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez demanding to know if she was crying when she shot, stabbed and cut the throat of her ex-boyfriend.
Arias, 32, sobbed as the prosecutor showed her a picture of Travis Alexander's crumpled body. Martinez, grilling Arias for a fourth day of cross-examination, showed no sympathy.
"Were you crying while you were shooting him?" Martinez asked.
"Were you crying when you were stabbing him?" Martinez asked.
"I don't remember," Arias replied.
"How about when you cut his throat, were you crying then?" Martinez asked.
"I don't know," Arias sobbed.
The exchange was one of many Thursday that left Arias looking haggard and beaten by the close of court.
Arias is accused of the June 2008 slaying of Alexander inside his Mesa, Ariz., apartment. She faces the death penalty if convicted. Alexander was stabbed 27 times, shot twice in the face and his throat was slashed. The prosecution contends Arias was motivated by jealousy. Arias told the jury she killed Alexander in self defense after his increasing sexual demands and after she caught him masturbating to a picture of a little boy.
Earlier Thursday, Martinez questioned Arias about her activities on June 4, 2008 -- the day of the killing. Who deleted photos on Alexander's digital camera, later found in his washing machine?
"I might have deleted them ... It could have been me," Arias said.
Later, during a follow-up question, Arias said, "I believe it was probably" Alexander who deleted the photos.
Arias memory problems caused obvious frustration for Martinez.
"We're here because you killed him, right?" Martinez asked.
"Yes," Arias replied.
Arias said Alexander became enraged when she dropped his camera on the bathroom floor.
"I dropped it ... It landed on the mat ... and sort of did a little double bounce on the tile," Arias said. "He said that I'm a f--king idiot."
Alexander was so upset that he slammed her to the bathroom floor, Arias said.
"I got the wind knocked out of me and I hit my head," Arias said.
Alexander chased after her and she ran to a walk-in closet, Arias testified. She said she grabbed a .25-caliber pistol off a shelf.
"You chose to escalate this didn’t you, even though you had the … head start, didn’t you?" Martinez asked.
"No, I didn’t choose to escalate it. I was trying to deescalate it," Arias replied.
"And you chose to deescalate the situation by … getting a handgun, right?" Martinez asked.
"Yes," Arias replied.
Arias said she ran to the bathroom with the gun and held it out with both hands as Alexander charged her like a "linebacker."
"He's lunging at you and he's almost on you and the gun goes off, right?" Martinez asked.
"The last memory you have of him is after you shot him, right?" Martinez asked.
"Yes," Arias replied.
Arias said that her mind went into a fog after she shot Alexander and that she has no memory of stabbing him 27 times or cutting his throat from ear to ear. She acknowledged she was likely the killer.
"You say you went into a fog ... This gun, you tell us you took it out to the desert ... If you were in a fog ... would you agree there would be no need to take the gun?" Martinez asked.
"I would not agree with that," Arias replied.
"Why would you even think of taking the gun unless you really knew what was going on?" Martinez asked.
"I can only speculate ... I don't remember taking the gun," Arias said.
Arias said the next thing she remembers is being in the desert, about an hour from Hoover Dam. She said she tossed the gun and cleaned herself with bottled water.
Martinez then played a recording a message Arias left on Alexander's voicemail after the killing.
"This fog is not so deep that it stops you from attempting to fabricate evidence, right?" Martinez asked.
"That would be correct," Arias replied.
"All of these lies ... are meant for your benefit, so that you can escape responsibility," Martinez said.
"Yeah, so I could escape whatever for the time being," Arias replied.
Martinez then played a recording from a 2008 interview with the CBS news show "48 Hours." Arias said in the interview that no jury would convict her of killing Alexander.
"You believe you're going to be acquitted because you came in and told those stories, don't you?" Martinez asked, referring to Arias' claim that Alexander sexually exploited and abused her.
"I can't predict the future," Arias replied.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, when the cross-examination of Arias will resume.
THURSDAY'S LIVE BLOG:
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
The trial of Jodi Ann Arias, which began Jan. 2, is one of the biggest court proceedings to take place since Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her child. The 32-year-old photographer is accused of shooting her lover, Travis Alexander, in the face, stabbing him 27 times and slitting his throat from ear to ear in the shower of his Mesa, Ariz., apartment. The case, which has been more than four years in the making, has routinely captured headlines around the world, especially as the details became public.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
September 2006 – Travis Alexander met Jodi Arias at a conference in Las Vegas. At the time, Alexander was a 30-year-old motivational speaker and legal-insurance salesman. Arias, then 28, was living in Yreka, Calif., and was trying to make it as a saleswoman and an independent photographer. The two had an instant connection and spoke on the phone every day. Court records indicate that the couple exchanged 82,000 emails.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
November 26, 2006 – Because Alexander was a Mormon, Arias chose to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. February 2, 2007 – Alexander and Arias began dating. June 29, 2007 – Alexander and Arias broke up. Although they were no longer dating, the couple maintained a physical relationship. December 2007 – Alexander began dating another woman. He allegedly told friends that Arias was so jealous that she slashed the tires on his vehicle twice. After those incidents, his new girlfriend received a harassing email from a "John Doe." Alexander suspected that Arias was responsible.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
January 8, 2008 – Arias, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Alexander: "Ahhh!! I fell asleep! But to answer your question, yes I want to grind you. And I want to be LOUD. And I want to give you a nice, warm 'mouth hug' too. :)" January 18, 2008 – Arias, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Alexander: "My p---y is SO WET." March 2008 – Arias and Alexander visited several states together, including Oklahoma and Texas.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
April 2008 - Arias moved from Arizona to California. That same month, Alexander posted a blog entry stating, "This Year will be the Best year of my life. This is the year that will eclipse all others. I will earn more, learn more, travel more, serve more, love more, give more and be more than all the other years of my life combined." April 20, 2008 - Alexander, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Arias: "I am at a night club right now and it helped me to come to the conclusion that you are one of the prettiest girls on the planet." April 21, 2008 - Alexander, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Arias: "Send me a naughty picture."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
May 10, 2008 - Arias posted the last entry to her online blog. It reads, in part: "I cannot ignore that there is an ever-present yearning and desire that pulses within me. It throbs for gratification and fulfillment." That same day, according to prosecutors, Alexander sent this text to Arias: "Why don't you have him come and f--k you in the woods, I can only imagine you are so worried about me reading. You are paranoid because you have no respect for people privacy and you dare insult me of all people. Someone you should through your actions you hate more than love by denying me a human right of privacy countless times. You have a lot of freaking nerve. We are all not like you in that aspect."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
May 18, 2008 - Alexander posted the last entry, titled "Why I want to marry a Gold Digger," to his online blog. It reads, in part: "I did a little soul searching and realized that I was lonely ... I realized it was time to adjust my priorities and date with marriage in mind ... This type of dating to me is like a very long job interview and can be exponentially more mentally taxing. Desperately trying to find out if my date has an axe murderer penned up inside of her."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
May 28, 2008 - Kevin Friedman, a police officer with the Yreka, Calif. Police Department, investigated the reported theft of a .25 caliber gun, $30 in cash, a stereo and a DVD player from Arias' grandparents' home.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 2008 - During the first week of June 2008, Alexander told friends that he suspected Arias had hacked into his Facebook account. He allegedly said that he told her to stay out of his life forever. June 2, 2008 - Arias, according to police, picked up a vehicle from Budget Rent-a-Car in Redding, Calif.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 4, 2008 - Arias allegedly went to Alexander's home in Mesa, Ariz. That same afternoon the last outgoing call was made from Alexander's phone.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 5, 2008 - Arias went to visit Ryan Burns, a once-budding love interest and co-worker at PrePaid Legal Services, at his home in West Jordan, Utah. June 7, 2008 - Arias, according to police, returned her rental car to Budget Rent-a-Car in Redding.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 9, 2008 - Alexander's friends, concerned because they had not heard from him for several days, went to his home in the 11,400 block of East Queensborough Ave. and found him dead inside his standup shower. A state of advanced decomposition suggested that he had been dead for several days. Large amounts of blood were discovered throughout the master bathroom, including on the floors, walls and sink area. It was ultimately determined that Alexander had been shot in the right brow with a .25-caliber gun -- the bullet was found lodged in his left cheek -- and that he had been stabbed 27 times. Someone had also cut his throat from ear to ear.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
Investigators found several vital clues inside Alexander's bedroom and bathroom. A spent .25-caliber shell casing was located on the floor near the sink, and a hair and a small latent print in blood were found near the entrance to the bathroom hall. Also, a digital camera was found in the washing machine in the downstairs laundry room. The camera appeared to have been run through the wash cycle.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
When questioned by police, Alexander's friends and family members indicated that Arias should be questioned. "[Arias] was totally obsessed with him," Alexander's close friend Sky Hughes told The Huffington Post. "She wouldn't let him go. Whenever he would try to sever all ties, she would threaten to kill herself ... He would tell her he didn't want anything to do with her, and she would show up at his house. We knew it was her. We didn't want it to be her, but [we] just knew it was."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 13, 2008 - Arias posted a photo gallery on her MySpace page titled "In Loving Memory of Travis."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 17, 2008 - Arias went to the Mesa Police Headquarters and was voluntarily fingerprinted. She also gave investigators a sample of her saliva for DNA testing. While waiting for the lab test results to come back, investigators were notified that several shocking images, some of which had been deleted, were recovered from the memory card of the camera found in Alexander's washing machine. The deleted pictures were of Alexander, naked in the shower, just before his death. He appeared to be posing in some of the photographs. However, other photos, which were dark and grainy, "were of a subject on the floor of the bathroom bleeding profusely," police said.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
Six other photos, time-stamped that same day, allegedly showed Arias on Alexander's bed. According to police, "all were nude pictures," and in some she was in "provocative sexual poses." Based on the photos, an investigator wrote: "Jodi was lying about not seeing Travis since April of 2008. This also proves that Jodi was the last person I can prove had contact with Travis prior to his death."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 19, 2008 - Police contacted Arias and questioned her about Alexander's murder. "Jodi stated she last saw Travis in April of 2008," a police officer wrote in a document to establish probable cause. "She admitted they had been seeing each other as boyfriend and girlfriend for over five months but had officially broken up in June of 2007, after some jealously issues on the part of both of them. After they broke up, they continued to have a sexual relationship, but kept it quiet from people they knew. She said she last spoke to Travis on Tuesday 6-03-08."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 19, 2008 - At 10:54 p.m., Arias posted this message to her MySpace page: "misses Travis. See you soon, my friend, but not soon enough."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 21, 2008 - Travis Alexander was laid to rest in Olivewood Memorial Park in Riverside, Calif.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 26, 2008 - Investigators were notified that hair and a bloody print found inside Alexander's home belonged to Arias. DNA typing results also indicated that the bloody print was a mixture of Arias' and Alexander's DNA. The same day, Arias attended a memorial service for Alexander.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
July 9, 2008 - Arias celebrated her 29th birthday. That same day, a grand jury in California indicted her on first-degree murder charges in the death of Alexander. July 15, 2008 - Mesa police detectives and Siskiyou County sheriff's deputies arrested Arias at her Northern California home. Arias was booked in the Siskiyou County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
September 5, 2008 – Arias was extradited to Arizona. September 9, 2008 – A public defender was assigned to represent Arias. September 11, 2008 – Arias entered a not-guilty plea at her arraignment.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
September 12, 2008 - In a jailhouse interview with The Arizona Republic, Arias denied killing Alexander but refused to discuss how she would refute the DNA and photographic evidence that police claimed linked her to the crime. "God knows I'm innocent. I know I'm innocent," said Arias. "I had nothing to do with his murder. I would never hurt him. He was my friend."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
September 24, 2008 – Arias was interviewed by the TV show "Inside Edition" and said publicly for the first time that she was present when Alexander was attacked by two intruders.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
October 31, 2008 - The Maricopa County Attorney's Office filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Arias. The notice, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, accused Arias of committing first-degree murder "in an especially cruel, heinous or depraved manner."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
June 23, 2009 – Following her arrest, Arias expanded on her second story about the day of Alexander's death. In an interview with "48 Hours," she admitted that she was present when he was murdered, but she said that his death occurred during a home invasion. Arias reported that the two were having fun playing with his new camera when things took a sudden turn. "I heard a really loud pop. And the next thing I remember, I was lying next to the bathtub and Travis was screaming," Arias told "48 Hours." "At that point, I sort of was just trying to come around and kind of orientate myself to what was going on," she continued. "And I looked up and I just -- I saw two other individuals in the bathroom. And they were both coming toward us." The intruders, whom she described as a man and a woman dressed in black, were armed with a knife and a gun. At one point, she said, the man pointed the gun at her, but she was miraculously spared. "He pulled the trigger. And nothing happened with the gun. And so I just grabbed my purse, which was on the floor at that point, and I ran down the stairs and out of there and I left [Travis] there ... I pushed past him and -- and his gun. And I just didn't look back." Arias said that she kept driving and never called the police. "It was -- I was terrified. And I was scared for my life. And I think there was a naive belief that I could pretend like it didn't really happen," Arias said.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
August 8, 2011 - Arias told Judge Sherry Stephens of Maricopa County Superior Court that she wanted to represent herself. Stephens granted the request but had Arias' public defenders, Victoria Washington and Kirk Nurmi, remain on as advisory counsel. August 16, 2011 – A request to admit letters that Arias claimed Alexander sent her prior to his death was denied. In the letters, Alexander allegedly admitted to being a pedophile. Prosecutor Juan Martinez told the court that the letters were tested and found to be forgeries. After the ruling, Arias told Judge Stephens that she was "over her head." The judge then reinstated her defense counsel.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
Arias' third story about Alexander's death was detailed in court documents as part of the request that she made to admit electronic copies of Alexander's alleged letters. "Defendant had previously attributed the crime to intruders. She now argues that all of the letters must be admitted to support her domestic violence defense," prosecutors wrote in a motion to preclude the letters. "Defendant argues that the letters are relevant to her claim of self-defense and that she was a victim of previous 'sexual and physical abuse' by Mr. Alexander." Arias, according to prosecutors, claimed that Alexander "became angry when she dropped his camera" and that she was forced to kill him in self-defense.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
December 16, 2011 – Washington filed a motion to withdraw from Arias' defense. December 21, 2011 – Washington's motion was granted. December 27, 2011 - Arias' younger sister, Angela Arias, said that her sister's statements during the "48 Hours" interview were lies and that Alexander's death was an act of self-defense on her sister's part during an incidence of domestic violence. "She was not under oath when she spoke on TV and yes, she lied," Angela Arias wrote on Facebook after The Huffington Post sent her a request for comment. "But, it was because she was so in love with that man she did not want people to know what a monster he really was. She wanted everyone to believe that he was as amazing as they thought he was ... My sister is innocent of the crime they are accusing her of ... She did kill Travis but it was not in cold blood, it was not for revenge, it was because she was afraid for her life."
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
January 2012 - Jennifer Willmott, a death penalty-qualified defense attorney, was assigned to represent Arias.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
February 9, 2012 - Judge Stephens denied a motion by Arias' defense lawyers to remove the death penalty as a punishment option. The defense argued that Arias should not face death because she had not planned to kill Alexander. His death was an act of self-defense, her attorneys argued. December 10, 2012 - Jury selection for Arias' trial began. The court summoned 375 potential jurors. December 20, 2012 - A panel of 12 jurors and six alternates -- seven women and 11 men -- were sworn in for Jodi Arias' trial.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
January 2, 2013 - Opening arguments began in Arias' trial. Maricopa County Prosecutor Juan Martinez cited the various stories that Arias had told law enforcement before she finally settled on a self-defense motive. Martinez described Alexander's murder as violent and said there were three different ways Alexander could have received a death blow: He was shot, he was stabbed in the heart, and his throat was slit from ear to ear. Alexander also had defensive wounds on his hands, according to Martinez. In wrapping up his opening argument, Martinez played part of a media interview conducted after Arias' arrest, in which she said, "Mark my words, no jury will convict me." Martinez asked the jury to mark Arias' words and concluded his opening statement. During the defense team's opening argument, lawyer Jennifer Willmott acknowledged that Arias had killed Alexander, but said that the key questions is what motivated her to do it. Willmott alleged Alexander had pressured Arias into having vaginal, anal and oral sex with him. Willmott also said she planned to call to the stand an expert who would testify about how Arias' relationship with Alexander fit the mold of domestic violence. Willmott concluded her opening argument by saying that Alexander had become enraged when Arias dropped his camera and that she had had to defend herself or she would not be alive today.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
At the close of the opening arguments, the prosecution called their first witness, Maria Hall, to the stand. Hall testified she had attended church with Alexander and had gone on a few dates with him. Hall said she felt safe in Alexander's company and never saw his temper.
Key Dates In The Jodi Arias Case
Prosecutors then called their next witness, Sterling Williams. A patrol officer with the Mesa Police Department, Williams described what he witnessed when he responded to the crime scene, as well as the condition of Alexander's body. Shortly afterward, court was recessed for the day.
There haven't been many punters drafted in the fourth round or higher like Tory Taylor just was. Chicago's No. 1 overall pick welcomed him in unique fashion.
The NFL will allow players to wear protective Guardian Caps during games beginning with the 2024 season. The caps were previously mandated for practices.
Atlanta Falcons first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. said quarterback Kirk Cousins called him after he was picked No. 8 overall in one of the 2024 NFL Draft's more puzzling selections.
Cousins doesn’t have a track record inside the team. Unlike Alex Smith, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, there are no entrenched locker room soldiers behind him.
![When questioned by police, Alexander's friends and family members indicated that Arias should be questioned. "[Arias] was totally obsessed with him," Alexander's close friend <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/29/jodi-arias_n_1174274.html" target="_hplink">Sky Hughes told The Huffington Post</a>. "She wouldn't let him go. Whenever he would try to sever all ties, she would threaten to kill herself ... He would tell her he didn't want anything to do with her, and she would show up at his house. We knew it was her. We didn't want it to be her, but [we] just knew it was."](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Pb40_LimKu1QzQzOSPIL8w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5ba29e933c000066000ae9e2.jpg)
![<strong>June 23, 2009</strong> – Following her arrest, Arias expanded on her second story about the day of Alexander's death. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50139320n" target="_hplink">In an interview with "48 Hours,"</a> she admitted that she was present when he was murdered, but she said that his death occurred during a home invasion. Arias reported that the two were having fun playing with his new camera when things took a sudden turn. "I heard a really loud pop. And the next thing I remember, I was lying next to the bathtub and Travis was screaming," Arias told "48 Hours." "At that point, I sort of was just trying to come around and kind of orientate myself to what was going on," she continued. "And I looked up and I just -- I saw two other individuals in the bathroom. And they were both coming toward us." The intruders, whom she described as a man and a woman dressed in black, were armed with a knife and a gun. At one point, she said, the man pointed the gun at her, but she was miraculously spared. "He pulled the trigger. And nothing happened with the gun. And so I just grabbed my purse, which was on the floor at that point, and I ran down the stairs and out of there and I left [Travis] there ... I pushed past him and -- and his gun. And I just didn't look back." Arias said that she kept driving and never called the police. "It was -- I was terrified. And I was scared for my life. And I think there was a naive belief that I could pretend like it didn't really happen," Arias said.](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/IF_dBV4aQrVc7v7tsFV83w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5ba29e96260000350080a5dc.jpg)
