The Horrific Crime Scene Of Travis Alexander
"I started seeing things that were just disturbing. I said, 'Travis, I'm afraid we're gonna find you chopped up in her freezer.' ... From very early on, she was completely obsessed with him." Tragically, these desperate and foreboding words that Lovingier Hughes leveled at her dear friend Travis Alexander weren't enough to deter him from engaging a relationship that would ultimately end in his grisly murder. According to ABC News, Alexander and his girlfriend Jodi Arias commenced their courtship on amicable and hopeful terms, but as days passed and their time together grew dense, an ugly underbelly started to breach the surface of their love.
Arias readily aligned herself with Alexander's Mormon faith, which was something he took very seriously. He even went so far as to baptize her himself, as ABC News reports. However, as the sexual component of their relationship started to blossom (it's strictly prohibited in the Mormon religion to engage in premarital sex), so did Alexander's guilt. After less than a year, he left her, though All That's Interesting reports that the two young lovers continued to see each other even after the fact.
Inside Travis Alexander and Jodi Arias' relationship
Various reports from close friends revealed a deep and abiding concern for Travis Alexander well being as Jodi Arias' evident obsession with him started to manifest itself in disturbing behaviors. Before they broke up, All That's Interesting reports that she would regularly read his emails, meticulously investigate his social media activity, and forward messages to herself that Alexander was exchanging with other women for his job. Her antics amplified tenfold after he left her and started dating other women. Arias reportedly once slashed his tires, hacked into his social media accounts, harassed girls he was seeing, and even broke into his house a few separate times.
Still, they periodically met up and had sex. Alexander's friends were at a loss for words, unable to wrap their heads around why he went on seeing her. A string of text messages between Arias and Alexander exhumed later on depicted vicious arguments and an ever-increasing animosity growing at the core of their unmanageable relationship. Then, one day, he reportedly remarked to his friends (per All That's Interesting), "Don't be surprised if you find me dead one day."
The murder scene of Travis Alexander
As it turned out, Travis Alexander's ominous warning to his friends was more prophetic than he realized. After days of not hearing from him amid plans to travel to Cancún as a group, a few of them stopped by his home to check in. What they found was a nightmare: Alexander was curled up, collapsed in the shower, and covered in blood. He'd been stabbed a grand total of 27 times, shot once in the head, and his throat had been slit (via All That's Interesting). The 30-year-old had been brutally butchered and left alone in his Arizona home, and the suspect was nowhere to be found.
However, suspicions immediately gravitated toward Jodi Arias. Those who knew Alexander closely were fully aware of the couple's toxic dynamic, with one telling police that Arias was a "stalker" and that she was likely involved in the homicide (per All That's Interesting). After the forensics team discovered a waterproof digital camera, long brown hairs, and a bloody handprint on the wall of Alexander's home, it didn't take long for suspicions about Arias to manifest in her arrest.
The evidence and Jodi Arias' arrest
According to ABC News, Jodi Arias contacted police herself after purportedly hearing of Travis Alexander's murder. Upon questioning, she insisted that she hadn't seen her ex-boyfriend in over two months (via All That's Interesting), but investigators quickly debunked the claim after they found photos of Arias and Alexander together on the day of his death — June 4, 2008. Additionally, the bloody handprint on the wall contained remnants of both Alexander's and Aris' blood.
Police later found out that a .25 caliber handgun had been stolen from Arias' grandparents' house — the same caliber pistol used during the assault — shortly before Alexander was killed. Arias' story continued to morph as the ever-emerging evidence looked more and more damning for her. After confessing to being in the house the day of the murder, she asserted that she and Alexander had been descended upon by two masked intruders while in bed together. According to her, they killed Alexander and threatened to murder her family should she ever unveil the truth to the police or anyone else (via ABC News).
The trial and conviction of Jodi Arias
Naturally, Jodi Arias' version of the incident didn't hold much clout, and she was ultimately charged with first-degree murder. The trial lasted for some time (ABC News reports that Arias lingered behind bars for four whole years before she was finally convicted), and as part of her defense campaign, she stated that Travis Alexander had been verbally and physically abusive to her throughout their entire courtship and that she'd killed him in self-defense. However, according to All That's Interesting, no tangible evidence was ever produced to support this claim.
In the end, Jodi Arias' allegations proved feeble and unreliable. She was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, and according to ABC News, she narrowly averted the looming threat of capital punishment after the jury failed to come to an agreement on the matter. Arias never fully conceded to her role in Alexander's murder and continued to proclaim her innocence after the fact. "I was really hoping the jury would see things for what they are. ... I didn't expect to walk away. I knew that was a possibility, a slim chance...in a parallel universe somewhere, but certainly not first-degree," she shared following the trial (per ABC News).
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.