Jodi Ann Arias has been found guilty of murder. She was found guilty of killing her ex boyfriend and could receive the death penalty.
The eight-man, four-woman jury, which heard four months of testimony and final arguments, deliberated over four days before returning the verdict of first-degree murder.
The Arias case has been a highly-watched event as it progressed through its 17 weeks, involving a combination of a prim-looking defendant and issues of violence and kinky sex.
The prosecution, lead by Juan Martinez, argued that the murder of Alexander was premeditated. The case was that Arias drove to Mesa Arizona from California after renting a car, dying her hair and turning off her cellphone, in order to murder Alexander.
The two had broken up following a secret affair and after Arias converted to his Mormon religion. She admitted to killing Alexander after a day of sexual activity. She shot him in the face and stabbed him more than 20 times, although she claimed self defense at the trial.
NBCNews reported that Arias told the jury Alexander had been abusive and demeaning. On the day of his killing, she said it all started off with sex play—each photographing the other—but ended in violence when she dropped his camera—and, she claimed, he attacked her.
“He lunged at me and we fell…. And I got up and he’s just screaming angry and after I broke away from him he said [I’ll] ‘f—— kill you, bitch,’” she said on the stand.
Tearfully, she then told the jury she did not remember stabbing Alexander.
