In what many viewed as the most dramatic day yet in the trial of Jodi Arias, the prosecution once again pressed the alleged murderer to intimately describe the 2008 killing of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in his Arizona home.
A photographer from California, Arias is charged with the the gruesome first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend Alexander in June 2008, in which she allegedly stabbed the then 27-year-old man 27 times, slit his throat, shot him in the head and left his bloodied corpse crumpled over in his bathroom shower.
"You would acknowledge that Mr. Alexander was stabbed, and that the stabbing was with the knife, and it was after the shooting according to you, right?" Martinez asked, according to ABC News.
"Yes, I don't remember," Arias said, burying her face in her palms.
Arias has tried to explain away many of the inconsistencies in her stories, claiming her memory was foggy the day Alexander died. Arias has wavered back-and-forth between providing surprisingly acute details surrounding the murder to claiming she has little to no memory of certain pieces of the case, such as the actual act of killing Alexander, saying her memory of the fateful day has "huge gaps," according to The Tri-City Herald. Martinez has pounced repeatedly on Arias throughout the trial for the numerous inconsistencies and admitted lies in her stories, and her seemingly convenient memory loss of the most important aspect of the trial, sniping that it was interesting her memory of killing Alexander was so spotty, yet you "can tell us what kind of coffee you bought at Starbucks sometime back in 2008."
"Do you acknowledge the stab wounds, and we can count them together, were to the back of the head and the torso?" Martinez said, displaying a picture of Alexander's bloody body on the courtroom's projector. "Do you want to take a look at the photo?"
Still hiding her face in her hands, Arias quietly answered, "No."
Martinez asked Arias yet again to take the court through the act of killing Alexander. She contended that she killed Alexander in self-defense when he became enraged and attacked her during a nude photo shoot at his home. While taking the photos, Arias says she accidentally dropped Alexander's camera, he became infuriated, and the next thing she knew, he slammed her into the floor of the bathroom. "At that point, Travis flipped out," Arias said, and called her a "stupid idiot," USA Today reported.
Soon after, Arias said, Alexander was chasing her down the hall of the bathroom and she ran into a walk-in closet where she remembered he kept a gun. "He had already almost killed me," she said. "I was terrified."
Martinez then noted photographs taken by police of the crime scene seemed inconsistent with her version of the killing. He drew the court's attention to the fact that nothing in the crime scene appeared to have been disturbed by what Arias has claimed was an extremely violent "frantic" brawl that led to Alexander's killing.
Arias has already admitted to lying about Alexander's death to just about everyone. She first claimed she was never at Alexander's home the day he was killed, then she invented the masked intruder angle, and finally she backtracked to admit she killed the victim, but claimed it was in self-defense, as he attacked her in the shower, forcing her to fight for her life.
Martinez also noted the entire idea that Alexander owned a gun in the first place was suspect. Authorities have reportedly also said they don't believe Alexander owned a firearm, and no one has testified in court to support Arias' story that Alexander kept a gun in the closet, according to The Herald. Martinez drew attention to the fact that Arias' own grandparents had a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their home in northern California just one week prior to Alexander's death, the same caliber used in the killing.
Seeking to further underline her lack of credibility, Martinez pointed out that none of Arias' accusations of Alexander's allegedly abusive behavior have been backed up by the numerous emails, text messages or recorded phone calls between the two already played in court. Much of the defense's case rests on this portrait of Alexander. Arias has testified throughout the trial about the couple's equally violent and volatile relationship, claiming he was sadistic towards her, was possibly a pedophile, and was "emotionally detached." But the man she's described is nothing like the Alexander his friends knew, according to the Associated Press.
Martinez then showed another picture of Alexander's body with his back littered with stab wounds.
"If he's being stabbed in the back, would you acknowledge at that point that he's no threat to you?" said Martinez, according to The Associated Press.
"I don't know," said Arias, sobbing.
"How could he possibly be a threat to you?" Martinez prodded.
"I can only guess. I don't know what you're asking me," answered Arias.
"All of these lies, ma'am, are meant for your benefit so you can escape responsibility," Martinez accused.
"You would have been satisfied to avoid any responsibility for the killing of Mr. Alexander, wouldn't you?" Martinez asked.
Arias paused for a moment, appearing to think and responded, "Relieved."
Arias faces the death penalty if convicted, the Associated Press reported. Cross examination resumes for the 52nd day of the trial Monday.
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