March 14, 2024 • 40 mins
In September 2006, Travis Alexander, a dedicated salesman and aspiring motivational speaker, crossed paths with Jodi Arias at a sales conference in Las Vegas, NV. Their initial encounter marked the beginning of a tumultuous relationship that lasted for two years. Despite Travis's efforts to communicate the impossibility of a future together, Jodi appeared persistent. She even underwent a significant transformation, changing her religion and relocating to be closer to Travis temporarily.
The turning point came on June 4, 2008, when Jodi, for reasons still unclear, traveled across the country to spend a day with Travis. Tragically, the day ended in his untimely death, as Jodi took his life in a shocking act of violence before fleeing the scene, leaving behind a web of deception about the events that transpired.
Join us, Deb and Shelbey, as we delve into this captivating narrative of the dark mind of Jodi Arias. Explore the complexities of this highly sensationalized case that captivated the nation during Jodi's widely publicized trial. Tune in to our podcast series as we unravel the twists and turns of this tragic story, as we celebrate our 100th episode!
*Dying to be Found and Dying to be Found: The DASH will be on hiatus as we bring you a brand new podcast that will be dropping this spring. We'll be back after Insinuation Podcast launches its first season this spring!
Visit @insinuationpodcast on TikTok and Instagram and @insinuationpod on Twitter to get a sneak peak of what we have in store as Deb teams up with MaryAnne @social_detective_podcast, where two docs discuss one crime and advocate for the innocent.
Please continue to follow us on on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest @dying2bfound or visit our website at www.dyingtobefound.com. Find us all in one spot at https://linktr.ee/dying2bfound. If you like what you hear, please share and give a 5-star review! Consider supporting us by buying us a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dyingtobefound.
Intro & Extro Music: Undersea World by Dragonov
Teachable Moments Music: Untold Story by Ballian De Moulle
REFERENCES:
48 Hours Mystery: Picture Perfect - Jodi Arias https://youtu.be/TjcfeV3YxS4?si=DMD1JDSMhmbUq0jS
Remembering Travis Alexander https://www.facebook.com/groups/supporttravisalexander/
How Travis Alexander And Jodi Arias' Relationship Ended In His 2008 Murder
Jodi Arias would 'freak out all the time,' mom says
Penalty Phase Retrial in State v. Arias Results in Hung Jury
Watch CBS News Live – free 24/7 online streaming news from CBS News - Free 24x7 news stream
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. Before we get started, I just wanted
(00:04):
to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals
and or humankind. Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the
content nature of this podcast. Listener discretion is strongly advised.
(00:32):
Oh, we're recording. Oh, we are so excited to be in the same room. I can't stand it.
Me neither. I'm so excited. So hi everyone, this is Deb and I'm Shelby. And we are a little
indie podcast called Dying to be Found. So if you've been around here for a little while,
(00:55):
you will know that one of my family members will join me. And today, excuse the sound,
is a little off. We're a little echoey, but we don't care because we are in the same room
together. Same state. Same state because we're going to a concert tonight. Yes. And we're
excited about it. We're so excited. We're having a little girls weekend. No kids. No
(01:19):
husbands. Just us. Just us. So thanks for joining us today. We are going to go see a
little country singer named Jodie Messina. We got our boots ready. Yes, Shelby grew up
listening to Jodie in the car with me. So when I knew that she was going to be somewhere
(01:41):
in between where we live, I just couldn't pass this up. So here we are. I'm so excited.
And she kept it a surprise for me for like three weeks. Yes. And then guess what? She
figured it out yesterday just before we got on the road. But I had to kind of play that
off. I think I threw you off for a hot minute. You did a good job. I was like, what are we
doing? Are we going to a rodeo? I literally said that to Chris. I was like, why do I need
(02:05):
my boots? I told her to bring her cowboy boots because I knew she had some. Oh, good. I'm
so good. Okay. So we're on one mic today and we're echoey. So we do apologize for the sound,
but we're in the same room together and Shelby, I'm going to go ahead and drop this on everybody.
I've not mentioned this on any of our recordings lately, but you know that I am going to be
(02:29):
starting a new venture with social detective podcast, Mary Ann McCullough. And that one
is called insinuation podcast, which will be dropping in the spring. So make sure you
listen to that. The trailer is already out there, but do you know what that means for
dying to be found? What does that mean? It means that you're with me on the series finale,
(02:53):
the series finale. We've been doing this for like two years. We have. It's so bittersweet.
You all, I'm going to try to put out episodes maybe once a month, but we'll just see how
that goes because so many things have changed this year and my commute is doubled and I
just don't have that time like I used to to sit here and do all the things that you have
(03:16):
to do when you're podcasting. I love you all. I appreciate your support as we have gone
on this journey together, but be sure to head on over to insinuation podcast and check that
out. In the meantime, I tried to give Shelby another surprise. Didn't work because I didn't
put the person's name on the title of our document that we were going to be looking
(03:41):
at and as soon as she saw the name, she knew what this story was about, but we've been
talking about doing this one for a while and so Shelby today we're going to be talking
about Jodi Arias. Yes is the story that got me into true crime probably almost 15 years
ago. Maybe not quite that long. I was about 20. So not quite 15 years, but a little more
(04:07):
than 10, a little more, a little more than 10, a little less than 15. So yeah, we're
on one mic today and the one thing I like about our platform that I do editing on is
that I can separate the files. That's not the case today because just bear with me.
If I talk over you Shelby, my apologies. I will try not to do that. Same. All right.
(04:31):
Let's get started. You ready? I'm ready. All right. In September 2006, a man named
Travis Alexander was attending a sales conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Travis was a salesman
by trade and an aspiring motivational speaker. So he appeared to be a rising star in his
own right. So he's at that age and everything's just looking good. He's moving up that corporate
(04:55):
ladder. And it was during this trip to Las Vegas that Travis met a cute, spunky, blonde
young woman and began a long distance relationship. Travis lived in Arizona and his new girlfriend
lived in California. We already know who this is because you figured it out. I was trying
to trick you, but yeah, not this time, not this time. You're too smart for me. So one
(05:20):
of Travis's work buddies who was present when the couple met in Las Vegas noted that Travis
and this girl, Jodi, she sparked an instant energy along with Travis. Travis knew at this
very moment in time that this was the girl that he was going to marry. Oh, I know. It's
always that moment. Do you remember that moment? No. Well, it seems that just a few months
(05:47):
later, unfortunately, the couple already broke up for the first, but not the last time. And
Travis tried to move on with his life and not that this is uncommon at this point in
time, right? I mean, I just spent most of this past couple months since November watching
the MTV series, The Challenge. And all I see besides the competitions is how quickly people
(06:13):
at this age group, you guys go through, I mean, I did the same thing. You go through
relationships pretty quickly, right? Right. So over the next two years, Travis continued
on with his on again, off again relationship, more so I'm going to say probably friends
with benefits. And this would be with Jodi Arias. Well, let's talk about Jodi for a moment
(06:36):
because some sources say that she had an uneventful childhood. Jodi was born on July 9th, 1980
and grew up in a house of four siblings. Her parents were still married and her grandparents
lived right around the corner. Man, that would be amazing if I lived right around the corner.
Yeah, that sounds like a good childhood growing up. Yeah, it does. Very stable. Yes, very
(07:01):
stable. Well, according to her mother, Jodi dropped out of high school in grade 11 and
began working dead end jobs. Jodi was a photographer and at one point during all of this, she always
had a camera on her. Jodi had a LinkedIn profile that said that she was employed with a company
(07:21):
called Prepaid Legal Services. Doesn't sound like a photography company, but she was in
sales just like Travis. And this is how she ended up at the same convention that Travis
was in when they met. Now, Jodi's mother believes that Jodi was undiagnosed bipolar and even
Jodi's friends took notice and told her mom that Jodi was in need of help. I would start
(07:47):
her looking in. I can kind of see that. I mean, I gauge in my opinion, I gauge people's
moods very, very well. So I can kind of see that. Yeah, I can see that as well. Well,
Travis and Jodi begin this long distance relationship, like I had said, they started dating in September
2006. And they made it official in February of 2007, which I suppose that means that they
(08:13):
told everybody they were dating, they probably took a couple months to kind of see if things
were going to work and they made it official. But it seems that not everyone was keen on
this newly declared relationship. According to Travis's friends, Jodi was very secretive
of her past and had little to no social circle. And I get that though, because I like my small
(08:37):
social circle, don't you? I also have little to no social circle. It's better that way,
less drama. Exactly. She was awkward and a whole lot of possessive towards her new man,
Travis. We are the complete opposite. Who? You and her? I should hope so. Do you know
(08:58):
where the story goes? I know where the story goes. But in regards to our men, I am more
love you, but no. One friend even told Travis that they were afraid he would be fanatic
around, chopped up in their freezer. Wow. I mean, what a premonition. That is so unfortunate.
(09:20):
Travis, of course, brushed off this comment. And Shelby, I know love is blind. You know
love is blind. Outsiders, like I said, always looking in. I mean, what happens when does
anybody ever, besides me and my big mouth, I know, but has anybody ever said anything
to you as an outsider looking in? And then how do you react? Do you believe them? Do
(09:40):
you brush them off? What's your initial reaction? I mean, you just kind of brush them off. But
then once, you know, a few months ahead, you're really going to see and be like, oh, I see
what you were talking about. Absolutely. I should have listened. Well, one thing I did
not mention is that Travis was of Mormon faith. And we've done a couple episodes on the Mormon
(10:03):
religion here. So you realize they really do take that religion very seriously, which
I think is very admirable. And one of their belief systems is that having sex outside
the marriage is a big no-no. And Travis was pretty devout. So he carried a lot of guilt
because he was in this relationship with Jodi. So Travis faced his moral dilemmas. And what
(10:29):
does Jodi do? She converts to Mormonism. I think she's the last person on earth that
I would think would do that. She just does not come across as I'm going to follow all
the rules. Well, although the couple was not married, I'm not sure how this would change
anything just because she changed her religion or declared a new religion. But by this time,
(10:53):
Travis and Jodi were in a five month relationship. And even when Travis initially said he knew
he would marry Jodi, at this point in time, he was not making any plans. In June 2007,
just four months after the couple went public with their relationship, Travis and Jodi officially
broke up. So they made it official and then they officially broke up. So I mentioned that
(11:18):
they were on again off again for two years. And how do you think besides the fact that
she changed her religion, how do you think Jodi reacted to this breakup nine months after
they met? She probably didn't take it very well, although I know how the story goes.
She did not take it very well. She did not. I mean, this kind of reminds me of two things.
(11:39):
There's a movie, I don't know if you ever saw it. It was probably back in the 80s, Fatal
Attraction. Have you ever seen that movie? Maybe. I don't want to give it away, but I
feel like yes, but I can't think of it. Yeah, this is totally a Fatal Attraction moment.
But then it also reminds me of that Carrie Underwood song before he cheats. I will say
after Jodi and Travis broke up, they continued talking. Okay. So they're friends and apparently
(12:05):
Jodi no longer liked the distance between herself and her ex boyfriend because right
after they called it quits, or at least Travis did, Jodi moved to Arizona for a very brief
period of time. She is a psycho. She's 100% a psycho. So she was doing a couple little
things on the side. She began hacking into Travis's personal accounts. Through all of
(12:31):
her tracking, Jodi discovered that Travis had begun dating other women. I mean, obviously
they broke up. It's time to move on. Yes. And Travis had told friends he was relieved
that he had ended things and was ready to move on with his life. I wonder how those
conversations went. Like those personal conversations leading up to there had to have been some
(12:53):
kind of texting, just like, I don't know, you see those episodes on say like catfish
or something where it's like this person is just texting you like 100 plus times a day.
Oh, yeah. I feel like that. I sense there was a lot of begging. Yeah, I'm just curious
about what was occurring leading up to Travis couldn't do it anymore. Yeah, I mean, I'm
(13:17):
sure if she's especially needy and clingy and is right there all the time and expects
you to answer those 100 texts in the last two hours. Yeah, he obviously got vibes and
it was time for him to move on. Well, she never got the hint because in April of 2008,
she moved back to California to live with her grandparents, but it did not stop Jodi
(13:41):
and Travis from talking. They were just no longer on good terms. Well, weeks after returning
to California, Jodi received a hateful text from Travis. Okay, because he's probably at
this point very annoyed. All right, enough's enough. I've told you a million times. It's
time to move on. What don't you see with that? And he actually accused her of being evil.
(14:02):
I mean, he's not wrong. No, and I'm not sure that they have blocking on the phones during
that time. They had to have. You had a cell phone at this point in time. I'm sure. Yeah,
that was 2008. As a parent, I still had to make you aware if I was tracking you or anything
like that. So if they had the tracking system, they may have had the blocking system because
(14:27):
even on the landline back then you could still block people. Two days after that text where
Travis called Jodi evil on May 28th, 2008, Jodi's grandparents reported a 25 caliber
gun stolen from their home. On June 2nd, just a couple of days later, Jodi rented a car
and made her way back to Arizona with a few stops along the way. She stopped at a former
(14:52):
boyfriend's house in Monterey, California to borrow two five gallon gas cans. And she
later purchased a third gas can in Salinas, California and filled up all three cans in
Pasadena. Wow. One, my first question is what the former boyfriend asked and what her reasoning
(15:15):
was behind getting the gas cans, because that's kind of random to ask your ex boyfriend, hey,
can I borrow some gas cans? That is very random to she had to have been blinding mad to drive
all the way from California, make several stops along the way, all the way to Arizona.
(15:37):
And all of that time, just no change in her thought like she was dead set on exactly what
she was going to do. Yeah, 100%. So she's definitely got a plan. This is all premeditated.
Did you ever hear in the news if she ever used any of that gasoline? Nope. Maybe this
is what she wanted to do. If she had a very long drive, she only wanted to stop once and
(15:58):
then she would just put the gasoline in her own car. Oh, maybe. So there was no trail.
That's possible. That's possible. That's a good thought. Look, we've been doing this
for a while. We have we can figure out how even if I don't have a psychology degree.
All right. In the early mornings of June 4th, 2008, Jodie arrived unannounced at Travis's
(16:20):
house. Travis invited her in and they spent the day together. So you just told this person
they're evil and she shows up unexpectedly at the door and you're going to welcome her
with open arms and spend the day. Yeah. They took nude photos together in the shower. Now,
remember, I told you she always had a camera on her. So she had this camera, had taken
(16:45):
pictures, those nude photos and the timestamps from deleted photos off that camera showed
that Travis was attacked somewhere around five thirty p.m. that day. Unfortunately,
Shelby, this is where a turn of events occurs and Jodie does attack Travis. Let me tell
you some of the things leading up to that. The timestamps from that camera, I will say,
(17:10):
first of all, she had deleted the photos, but they were able to retrieve those later
and the timestamp off of that camera showed that Travis was attacked at around five thirty
p.m. Between the digital photos and the crime scene, investigators believe that Jodie had
begun stabbing Travis while he was in the shower. So she's having intimate moments
(17:33):
with him and then she takes out a weapon. When he tries to escape, Jodie shoots him
with that 25 caliber shotgun that she had allegedly stolen from her grandparents. And
Travis did attempt to make a getaway. But unfortunately, Shelby, he fell in the hallway
(17:53):
when he was hit by that bullet. So sad gives me goosebumps. Yeah. Jodie ended up dragging
him back to the shower and attempted to clean up the crime scene just a little bit before
deleting those photos and leaving the scene of the crime and then heading up to Salt Lake
City, Utah, to visit another guy that she used to work with and had begun dating. OK,
(18:15):
I'm just going to make a pit stop, but I'll be there when I can to cover her tracks after
she left Arizona. Jodie left Travis not only a text message, but a voicemail and an email
to sending her regrets that she would not be able to come visit him as they had planned.
She had everything planned out to a T. I don't know. I have no thoughts on this because she
(18:38):
is just so manipulating. Yes. And she doesn't give off that vibe. Very beautiful, you know,
seems to be intelligent woman who just took a turn for the worse. Yeah. I think that's
what attracted Travis to her in the first place is because once they were at that conference,
she did appear to come across as bubbly and vibrant and personable. Well, by June 9th,
(19:04):
Travis had a great social circle shelves and his friends grew very concerned when he missed
a scheduled out of town business meeting and he didn't return calls for five days. I can
say that Travis was genuinely liked by everybody. He was a responsible adult. He led his spiritual
(19:26):
life and he had a group of friends who had nothing but wonderful things to say about
him. And I really genuinely feel like he was a very good person. I do too. I do too. One
of those friends who was concerned about Travis on June 9th showed up at the house to check
on him. Travis's roommate answered the door and was taken by surprise because he thought
(19:50):
Travis had left to go out of town on that business trip. I forgot there was a roommate.
I did not know there was a roommate. Before we go on, shouts just for the benefit of our
listeners. I do want to give a trigger warning that things are going to turn very, very bad
here. If you don't want to hear how Travis was found, you can probably skip ahead, let's
(20:12):
say 15 seconds or so. And I'm not going to go into graphic detail, but trigger warnings
are here just the same. The roommate and concerned friend both began looking around the house
and went to Travis's bedroom where they found a very gruesome discovery. A large amount
of blood was found all over the master bedroom, all over the master bathroom walls, floor
(20:36):
and sink. Travis's body was found inside the shower. Although they did not know it at the
time, Travis had been shot and stabbed 25 times. He also had additional injuries, but
I'm just going to leave it at that because I don't know how I came across some photos
here, Shelby, but they're out there. Now Travis's friends immediately called 911 at 1027 PM.
(21:03):
When the police arrived, they immediately pointed the finger at Jodi Arias because they
saw firsthand how possessive she had been throughout this relationship. Remember outsiders
looking in, right? For sure. I was going to say that that's, I knew they knew it was Jodi
Amid. Good for them that they were so close like that and they looked out for each other,
(21:24):
probably just young. We'll call them yuppies living their lives in their twenties and they're
just a good circle of friends that are always in touch with each other and you just know
when something's wrong. So, well, when investigators paid Jodi a visit, she said a couple of things
here. One, that she had just learned about Travis's murder from a mutual friend earlier
(21:45):
that day. Two, she was nowhere near the area during this crime. She'd been driving to Utah
to meet up with the guy that she was dating, but got lost and arrived a day later than
expected. Does she realize this is not a clear alibi when you are unaccounted for for 24
hours? I'm lost. I don't know where I am. But I have a cell phone. I can call somebody.
(22:11):
What gas stations did you stop by? Where'd you get lunch? She didn't. She had three cans
of gasoline in the car. True. But lunch, you're right. Everybody's got to eat. Well, to make
matters worse, Jodi sent flowers to Travis's family during his memorial service. I have
no words. Well, let's talk about the investigation for just a little bit. Crime scene investigators
(22:33):
found bloody fingerprints in the hallway just outside the bathroom and a bloody handprint
just outside Travis's house. After running DNA, the inside fingerprint was matched to
Jodi and the outside fingerprint was matched to both Jodi and Travis. Surprise. Investigators
(22:54):
also found a digital camera with sexually graphic images of the couple that were taken
when Travis was inside the shower on the day of his murder. The timestamps showed that
the photos were taken beginning somewhere around 1 40 p.m. So between 1 40 p.m. and
5 30 p.m. they were just hanging out and doing their thing. Now, several of those photos
(23:19):
I had mentioned had been deleted. But thankfully, forensic scientists were able to recover them
from the memory card. Both Jodi and Travis were seen in the shower taking nude photos
of each other. So obviously she was there. Those were the ones that she deleted. All
right. So she put herself there. She tried to delete it. But even back in 2008, the cool
(23:40):
thing is there's forensics that I don't care how deep you think you get rid of stuff on
electronic equipment. It's there to stay. It's like the Internet. You know, once you
put something out there on the Internet, it's never going to go away. Nope. So clearly the
evidence is stacking up against Jodi Arias because exactly one month after Travis's death
(24:01):
on July 9th, 2009, which happened to be Jodi's 29th birthday, Shelby. Wow. She was arrested
and indicted on one count of premeditated murder. On July 15th, Jodi was arrested at
her grandparents house in northern California and extradited to Arizona to face charges.
(24:22):
Now, Shelby, I don't know if you remember this, but Jodi's behavior during the initial
interrogations was really scrutinized. And you mentioned that this was one of the top
stories you remember that got you into true crime. And I don't know if you recall this.
Do you remember seeing her singing and laughing in the interrogation room? She thought she
(24:43):
was going to get away with it. I mean, one of her personalities did because it looked
like she was having multiple personalities with herself. Yes. And then the one that really
got a lot of publicity was when she was standing on her head, like doing a yoga move. Yep.
I remember that. I mean, did she say why she was doing that? Maybe to calm her nerves,
just relaxing a little bit, thinking, trying to get out of whatever predicament she was
(25:06):
in. Couldn't see standing on your head doing that, but to each their own. Yeah. We know
that Jodi had already told investigators that she was traveling to Utah during that time
period when Travis was murdered. Clearly, she knew the jig was up because she immediately
confessed that she was indeed at Travis's house the day that he was murdered. But that
(25:30):
two masked men had broken into the home and attacked both of them. Okay, we're grasping
at straws here. I mean, if that really happened, wouldn't you call immediately? 100%. 100%.
There should be a 911 call out there. Yeah. So what happened, Shelby, is they did what
they did to Travis and threatened to kill Jodi if she told anyone about this. How convenient.
(25:56):
Another point worth mentioning is that Jodi had a great big smile on her face in her mug
shot. And I'm going to explain the reason for that in just a moment. Did you know she
actually had a valid reason? Nope. It's not a good one. Oh, none of her. Nothing that
she has said or done has been good. So I could only imagine. I wanted to talk briefly about
(26:17):
the interview that Jodi did with the television show 48 Hours. In 2013, while Jodi was on
trial for Travis's murder, she agreed to be interviewed on the news show 48 Hours, which
I've added to our show notes. So you guys can go look at that when you're done here.
It's actually quite interesting. During this interview, Jodi said that the home intrusion
(26:40):
she endured with Travis was the scariest moment of her life. And it played out just like a
horror movie. Now she's telling this to millions of people on a highly publicized news crime
show. Jodi went on to describe how she ran out of the house as quickly as she could and
drove and drove and drove until she reached the desert. Everything else was a blur after
(27:06):
that. Really? Everything was a blur. I'm sure it probably was. How was Utah? Right? Okay.
So Jodi had this great big smile on her face for her mugshot. I had mentioned she had a
great explanation as to why she was smiling or at least a really good imagination here
(27:26):
because Shelby, she imagined what Travis would be doing if he were the one getting the mugshot
and she believed that he would be smiling. So she wanted to smile like he would. Plus
she knew the mugshot would be all over the internet. So why not? You've got to make sure
you look your best when you have a mugshot, right? I think there's a little more to this.
(27:48):
What is that where you see certain things? Oh, schizophrenia. Yes. Maybe. That's what
I'm getting. That's the vibe I'm getting. I don't know. I really haven't seen anything
about her in the news since this happened, but that's interesting. If any of our listeners
know, please DM us. Well, last but not least, Shelby, Jodi maintained her innocence and told
(28:13):
48 hours that there was no reason to be sad. She just knew the truth was going to come
out during her trial because she had not gone to trial yet. She was behind bars waiting
trial, but it had not happened yet. And she just knew that she was going to come out innocent
here. So she might as well smile and say cheese to the camera. Did this happen after Casey
(28:34):
Anthony's case? I almost feel like it did because I think that that's what she was kind of hoping
would happen. Okay. August 9th, 2005 through June 2008. So it was 100% the same time. You
might be right. You know, she sees these other things on the news and yeah, you might be
(28:54):
right. That's a good point. Four and a half years later, after Jodi was arrested on December
10th, 2012, Jodi's trial began. And due to the degree of violence in Travis's death,
prosecutors fully intended to seek the death penalty here. Before Jodi's trial began, her
defense lawyers petitioned for a sequestered jury and no media coverage. I would probably
(29:20):
do the same thing if I were her lawyer, but you remember this case being all over the
news. So obviously those petitions were denied. They were, I was sitting at the restaurant
that I worked at behind, it was just a beer bar, so no liquor or anything. And I would
work a lot of lunch shifts, you know, wasn't always extremely busy. So that's what I would
(29:41):
do was talk to my local customers at that time and watch the broadcast of this case.
Well, jury members were simply ordered not to watch the news. Yeah, you can be here,
but we're not going to sequester you. You can go home and live your life, but by all
means, don't watch the news. Someone tells me not to do something. I'm probably going
to do it. 100%. I'm going to do the opposite of what you ask me not to do. By the way,
(30:05):
I know that about you because you probably did the same thing. Anytime I said not to
do something while you were growing up. And you also can't use reverse psychology on me
either. Oh, wow. One juror was removed because she was overheard making statements that clearly
showed she did the exact opposite of what she was told. So I wonder, Shelby, how many
(30:26):
other jurors did the same thing? They were told not to watch the news. They were just
too smart and kept their mouth shut. What do you think? I think there might've been
one juror that listened. Possibly. The trial lasted 64 days, 18 of which Jodie got on the
stand and testified in her own defense. That's a lot of days, 18 days, eight hours. That's
(30:51):
a lot of testimony. And I think that this case at the time, Shelby, was compared to
the OJ Simpson trial as far as sensationalism. I mean, that makes sense to me. But the thing
here is OJ's trial lasted 134 days. So of course that was big in the news. I 100% remember
that being in the news. And 64 days to me is still a lot. That's a lot. And during those
(31:17):
18 days of testimony, Jodie told a very different story of Travis's murder. No, she was not
on her way to Utah. No, intruders did not break into Travis's house. Jodie testified
that yes, she did indeed kill Travis. Only Shelby, she testified that it was in self-defense.
(31:39):
All right. So Jodie testified that she killed her ex-boyfriend. And let me emphasize ex
here. She killed her ex-boyfriend because they were in an abusive relationship. In fact,
Travis had been the one to attack her. And that's how he ended up dead because he was
the one that had the gun, right? The one that was in her grandparents' house. Right. And
(32:02):
I feel like, I don't think we talked about this, but I feel like I remember that Travis
was a very tall and not large, but I mean, you know, like maybe not built, but like a,
you know, a decent sized man. He had a big physique, but it was like muscle and it wasn't
like he was overweight. If he was, he still had a lot of muscle. He was healthy. While
(32:23):
she was, I can't remember how tall she was, but I want to say she was a tiny little petite.
Yeah. Maybe petite. I don't, I don't remember exactly her height, but just thinking of,
you know, you can be very determined to ward off an attacker, but you're not going to get
away from that attacker with the size variance. So true. With nothing to show on her body.
(32:44):
You are right. I don't think she had any defensive wounds, did she? Not that I remember, at least
not what I found while I was researching this. Yeah. She testifies that she killed her ex-boyfriend
because they were in an abusive relationship. So five years after everything, after their
whole relationship starts five years later, when she is in court, she's still in denial
(33:06):
and will not own up to anything. So this trial goes on for 64 days, but it only took the
jury three days to find Jodie guilty. I'm surprised it took that long. Yeah, for sure.
It was that one juror that did not go home and watch the news. Yes. You're probably right.
Somebody holding out. That's good. Yeah. Good thought process there. On May 9th, 2013, Jodie
(33:32):
Arias was convicted of premeditated first degree murder in an aggravated manner. However,
during the penalty phase of sentencing, the jury was hung between giving Jodie the death
penalty or letting her live the rest of her life in prison, either with parole after 25
years or life without parole. The judge declared a retrial of the penalty phase. And on October
(34:00):
21st, 2014, six years after Travis's death, Jodie was given a life sentence without the
possibility of parole. She's housed in the Perryville State Women's Prison in Arizona,
where she sits amongst 4,000 inmates. And interestingly enough, Shelby, when I went and looked up Jodie
(34:20):
in prison, there's a lot of information out there. Her inmate number is 281129. And she's
currently listed as a moderate risk to the public and staff. So I want to just kind of
tell you about the natural progression here based on her offense. When she first comes
into the prison, she's going to be a high risk, right? Right. Jodie's profile is assessed
(34:44):
almost annually. And when she did first arrive at Perryville, she was classified as maximum
risk for the first couple of years that she was there. And she has only had one disciplinary
action while in prison. And that's just basically being listed as disrespect to staff back in
2016. I mean, she's laying low here. So she only has one little blemish. Otherwise, as
(35:10):
far as progression goes, she's been downgraded to close or close, I think it's close for
several years, which is in between maximum and moderate. But now she's a moderate risk
and is living her life as a library aide. How about that? I just tell you the other
day that I would love to work in a library. We did. We talked about that yesterday. So
(35:32):
I wonder if they're letting her take any pictures since she's a photographer in prison. I don't
know if she's a photographer in prison. I wonder if they let her take pictures in prison,
but they probably don't. She probably doesn't have that camera anymore. Probably not that
one. I doubt it. I don't know. You know, in today's age, I know for a fact inmates can
(35:54):
pretty readily get a hold of cell phones. Yeah. So Shelbs, that's the story of Travis
Alexander and his psycho girlfriend, Jodi Arias. I am so glad that we did this one.
Yeah, I was waiting for this. I figured if we were going to be phasing this wonderful
podcast out and moving over to Insinuation Podcasts, then this was going to be the one
(36:20):
finale that I was going to have for you. Yes. Oh yes. And I still, my heart goes out to
Travis's family. Yeah, 100%. And before we end, I do want to direct your attention to
Travis specifically. So I'm glad you brought that up. And I really wanted to give you more
of the type of person he was, but unfortunately Jodi's name came up. Anytime I did a search
(36:42):
on him, I did find a Facebook page entitled Remembering Travis Alexander, a voice for
victims of crime. It currently has 5,000 members. And I've also added this to our show notes
because he's the one worth remembering here. 100%. Yeah. So there you have it. Well, thank
(37:03):
you. This was, I think a very, very good season ender. Yeah. We don't do a ton of the big
name stories here, but you personally have said, I really want to do this over the years.
So I thought it was kind of appropriate to kind of end things here. It's kind of bittersweet.
Do you have a teachable moment for us today? I do. I say pick up the phone. And by this,
(37:27):
I mean, domestic violence doesn't simply happen to females. Travis clearly picked up on the
signs that something was off with Jodi and maybe he listened to his gut or maybe he listened
to his friends that were outsiders looking in. Regardless, he just got those vibes and
(37:48):
maybe Jodi was just a little bit nuts and never crossed the line when Travis felt that
he needed to make any police reports or get a restraining order. I didn't see anything
in the research that he had to try to do any of that. So I'm here to say, if you feel like
you could be in danger because of the relationship that you are in, regardless on if you're male
(38:11):
or female, pick up the phone, file a police report and get the paper trail started. Hopefully
this will never be the case for any of our listeners, but your life is more important
than ignoring signs of domestic violence or simply your gut instincts. Pick up the phone.
(38:31):
Nothing may ever come of it, but it's better to have that paper trail than nothing at all.
So my teachable moment here, Shelby, short and sweet to the point. And you are exactly
right. Well, there we have it. As always, we would love to receive feedback from our
listeners on this storyline or any other episodes and be sure to DM us on Instagram or TikTok.
(38:55):
We'll talk to you soon. I didn't know if I needed to say that or not. It's so bittersweet.
I might put something out probably once a month. You know, it's hard to let things go.
It is. It is. All right. There we go. As Aunt Beth says, that's a wrap. That is a wrap. Thanks
(39:16):
for listening to Dying to be Found. Before we go, we would love for you to leave a review
on your favorite podcast platform. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. You can access our website, email, social media and
storyline request form by clicking on our Linktree account found in our show notes.
(39:38):
If you like our episodes, consider buying us a coffee at BuyMeACoffee.com slash Dying
to be Found, spelled just like you see it on our logo. Feel free to message us on Instagram
and let us know how we're doing. With that, be sure to check us out every Thursday wherever
you get your podcasts.
Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. Before we get started, I just wanted
(00:04):
to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals
and or humankind. Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the
content nature of this podcast. Listener discretion is strongly advised.
(00:32):
Oh, we're recording. Oh, we are so excited to be in the same room. I can't stand it.
Me neither. I'm so excited. So hi everyone, this is Deb and I'm Shelby. And we are a little
indie podcast called Dying to be Found. So if you've been around here for a little while,
(00:55):
you will know that one of my family members will join me. And today, excuse the sound,
is a little off. We're a little echoey, but we don't care because we are in the same room
together. Same state. Same state because we're going to a concert tonight. Yes. And we're
excited about it. We're so excited. We're having a little girls weekend. No kids. No
(01:19):
husbands. Just us. Just us. So thanks for joining us today. We are going to go see a
little country singer named Jodie Messina. We got our boots ready. Yes, Shelby grew up
listening to Jodie in the car with me. So when I knew that she was going to be somewhere
(01:41):
in between where we live, I just couldn't pass this up. So here we are. I'm so excited.
And she kept it a surprise for me for like three weeks. Yes. And then guess what? She
figured it out yesterday just before we got on the road. But I had to kind of play that
off. I think I threw you off for a hot minute. You did a good job. I was like, what are we
doing? Are we going to a rodeo? I literally said that to Chris. I was like, why do I need
(02:05):
my boots? I told her to bring her cowboy boots because I knew she had some. Oh, good. I'm
so good. Okay. So we're on one mic today and we're echoey. So we do apologize for the sound,
but we're in the same room together and Shelby, I'm going to go ahead and drop this on everybody.
I've not mentioned this on any of our recordings lately, but you know that I am going to be
(02:29):
starting a new venture with social detective podcast, Mary Ann McCullough. And that one
is called insinuation podcast, which will be dropping in the spring. So make sure you
listen to that. The trailer is already out there, but do you know what that means for
dying to be found? What does that mean? It means that you're with me on the series finale,
(02:53):
the series finale. We've been doing this for like two years. We have. It's so bittersweet.
You all, I'm going to try to put out episodes maybe once a month, but we'll just see how
that goes because so many things have changed this year and my commute is doubled and I
just don't have that time like I used to to sit here and do all the things that you have
(03:16):
to do when you're podcasting. I love you all. I appreciate your support as we have gone
on this journey together, but be sure to head on over to insinuation podcast and check that
out. In the meantime, I tried to give Shelby another surprise. Didn't work because I didn't
put the person's name on the title of our document that we were going to be looking
(03:41):
at and as soon as she saw the name, she knew what this story was about, but we've been
talking about doing this one for a while and so Shelby today we're going to be talking
about Jodi Arias. Yes is the story that got me into true crime probably almost 15 years
ago. Maybe not quite that long. I was about 20. So not quite 15 years, but a little more
(04:07):
than 10, a little more, a little more than 10, a little less than 15. So yeah, we're
on one mic today and the one thing I like about our platform that I do editing on is
that I can separate the files. That's not the case today because just bear with me.
If I talk over you Shelby, my apologies. I will try not to do that. Same. All right.
(04:31):
Let's get started. You ready? I'm ready. All right. In September 2006, a man named
Travis Alexander was attending a sales conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Travis was a salesman
by trade and an aspiring motivational speaker. So he appeared to be a rising star in his
own right. So he's at that age and everything's just looking good. He's moving up that corporate
(04:55):
ladder. And it was during this trip to Las Vegas that Travis met a cute, spunky, blonde
young woman and began a long distance relationship. Travis lived in Arizona and his new girlfriend
lived in California. We already know who this is because you figured it out. I was trying
to trick you, but yeah, not this time, not this time. You're too smart for me. So one
(05:20):
of Travis's work buddies who was present when the couple met in Las Vegas noted that Travis
and this girl, Jodi, she sparked an instant energy along with Travis. Travis knew at this
very moment in time that this was the girl that he was going to marry. Oh, I know. It's
always that moment. Do you remember that moment? No. Well, it seems that just a few months
(05:47):
later, unfortunately, the couple already broke up for the first, but not the last time. And
Travis tried to move on with his life and not that this is uncommon at this point in
time, right? I mean, I just spent most of this past couple months since November watching
the MTV series, The Challenge. And all I see besides the competitions is how quickly people
(06:13):
at this age group, you guys go through, I mean, I did the same thing. You go through
relationships pretty quickly, right? Right. So over the next two years, Travis continued
on with his on again, off again relationship, more so I'm going to say probably friends
with benefits. And this would be with Jodi Arias. Well, let's talk about Jodi for a moment
(06:36):
because some sources say that she had an uneventful childhood. Jodi was born on July 9th, 1980
and grew up in a house of four siblings. Her parents were still married and her grandparents
lived right around the corner. Man, that would be amazing if I lived right around the corner.
Yeah, that sounds like a good childhood growing up. Yeah, it does. Very stable. Yes, very
(07:01):
stable. Well, according to her mother, Jodi dropped out of high school in grade 11 and
began working dead end jobs. Jodi was a photographer and at one point during all of this, she always
had a camera on her. Jodi had a LinkedIn profile that said that she was employed with a company
(07:21):
called Prepaid Legal Services. Doesn't sound like a photography company, but she was in
sales just like Travis. And this is how she ended up at the same convention that Travis
was in when they met. Now, Jodi's mother believes that Jodi was undiagnosed bipolar and even
Jodi's friends took notice and told her mom that Jodi was in need of help. I would start
(07:47):
her looking in. I can kind of see that. I mean, I gauge in my opinion, I gauge people's
moods very, very well. So I can kind of see that. Yeah, I can see that as well. Well,
Travis and Jodi begin this long distance relationship, like I had said, they started dating in September
2006. And they made it official in February of 2007, which I suppose that means that they
(08:13):
told everybody they were dating, they probably took a couple months to kind of see if things
were going to work and they made it official. But it seems that not everyone was keen on
this newly declared relationship. According to Travis's friends, Jodi was very secretive
of her past and had little to no social circle. And I get that though, because I like my small
(08:37):
social circle, don't you? I also have little to no social circle. It's better that way,
less drama. Exactly. She was awkward and a whole lot of possessive towards her new man,
Travis. We are the complete opposite. Who? You and her? I should hope so. Do you know
(08:58):
where the story goes? I know where the story goes. But in regards to our men, I am more
love you, but no. One friend even told Travis that they were afraid he would be fanatic
around, chopped up in their freezer. Wow. I mean, what a premonition. That is so unfortunate.
(09:20):
Travis, of course, brushed off this comment. And Shelby, I know love is blind. You know
love is blind. Outsiders, like I said, always looking in. I mean, what happens when does
anybody ever, besides me and my big mouth, I know, but has anybody ever said anything
to you as an outsider looking in? And then how do you react? Do you believe them? Do
(09:40):
you brush them off? What's your initial reaction? I mean, you just kind of brush them off. But
then once, you know, a few months ahead, you're really going to see and be like, oh, I see
what you were talking about. Absolutely. I should have listened. Well, one thing I did
not mention is that Travis was of Mormon faith. And we've done a couple episodes on the Mormon
(10:03):
religion here. So you realize they really do take that religion very seriously, which
I think is very admirable. And one of their belief systems is that having sex outside
the marriage is a big no-no. And Travis was pretty devout. So he carried a lot of guilt
because he was in this relationship with Jodi. So Travis faced his moral dilemmas. And what
(10:29):
does Jodi do? She converts to Mormonism. I think she's the last person on earth that
I would think would do that. She just does not come across as I'm going to follow all
the rules. Well, although the couple was not married, I'm not sure how this would change
anything just because she changed her religion or declared a new religion. But by this time,
(10:53):
Travis and Jodi were in a five month relationship. And even when Travis initially said he knew
he would marry Jodi, at this point in time, he was not making any plans. In June 2007,
just four months after the couple went public with their relationship, Travis and Jodi officially
broke up. So they made it official and then they officially broke up. So I mentioned that
(11:18):
they were on again off again for two years. And how do you think besides the fact that
she changed her religion, how do you think Jodi reacted to this breakup nine months after
they met? She probably didn't take it very well, although I know how the story goes.
She did not take it very well. She did not. I mean, this kind of reminds me of two things.
(11:39):
There's a movie, I don't know if you ever saw it. It was probably back in the 80s, Fatal
Attraction. Have you ever seen that movie? Maybe. I don't want to give it away, but I
feel like yes, but I can't think of it. Yeah, this is totally a Fatal Attraction moment.
But then it also reminds me of that Carrie Underwood song before he cheats. I will say
after Jodi and Travis broke up, they continued talking. Okay. So they're friends and apparently
(12:05):
Jodi no longer liked the distance between herself and her ex boyfriend because right
after they called it quits, or at least Travis did, Jodi moved to Arizona for a very brief
period of time. She is a psycho. She's 100% a psycho. So she was doing a couple little
things on the side. She began hacking into Travis's personal accounts. Through all of
(12:31):
her tracking, Jodi discovered that Travis had begun dating other women. I mean, obviously
they broke up. It's time to move on. Yes. And Travis had told friends he was relieved
that he had ended things and was ready to move on with his life. I wonder how those
conversations went. Like those personal conversations leading up to there had to have been some
(12:53):
kind of texting, just like, I don't know, you see those episodes on say like catfish
or something where it's like this person is just texting you like 100 plus times a day.
Oh, yeah. I feel like that. I sense there was a lot of begging. Yeah, I'm just curious
about what was occurring leading up to Travis couldn't do it anymore. Yeah, I mean, I'm
(13:17):
sure if she's especially needy and clingy and is right there all the time and expects
you to answer those 100 texts in the last two hours. Yeah, he obviously got vibes and
it was time for him to move on. Well, she never got the hint because in April of 2008,
she moved back to California to live with her grandparents, but it did not stop Jodi
(13:41):
and Travis from talking. They were just no longer on good terms. Well, weeks after returning
to California, Jodi received a hateful text from Travis. Okay, because he's probably at
this point very annoyed. All right, enough's enough. I've told you a million times. It's
time to move on. What don't you see with that? And he actually accused her of being evil.
(14:02):
I mean, he's not wrong. No, and I'm not sure that they have blocking on the phones during
that time. They had to have. You had a cell phone at this point in time. I'm sure. Yeah,
that was 2008. As a parent, I still had to make you aware if I was tracking you or anything
like that. So if they had the tracking system, they may have had the blocking system because
(14:27):
even on the landline back then you could still block people. Two days after that text where
Travis called Jodi evil on May 28th, 2008, Jodi's grandparents reported a 25 caliber
gun stolen from their home. On June 2nd, just a couple of days later, Jodi rented a car
and made her way back to Arizona with a few stops along the way. She stopped at a former
(14:52):
boyfriend's house in Monterey, California to borrow two five gallon gas cans. And she
later purchased a third gas can in Salinas, California and filled up all three cans in
Pasadena. Wow. One, my first question is what the former boyfriend asked and what her reasoning
(15:15):
was behind getting the gas cans, because that's kind of random to ask your ex boyfriend, hey,
can I borrow some gas cans? That is very random to she had to have been blinding mad to drive
all the way from California, make several stops along the way, all the way to Arizona.
(15:37):
And all of that time, just no change in her thought like she was dead set on exactly what
she was going to do. Yeah, 100%. So she's definitely got a plan. This is all premeditated.
Did you ever hear in the news if she ever used any of that gasoline? Nope. Maybe this
is what she wanted to do. If she had a very long drive, she only wanted to stop once and
(15:58):
then she would just put the gasoline in her own car. Oh, maybe. So there was no trail.
That's possible. That's possible. That's a good thought. Look, we've been doing this
for a while. We have we can figure out how even if I don't have a psychology degree.
All right. In the early mornings of June 4th, 2008, Jodie arrived unannounced at Travis's
(16:20):
house. Travis invited her in and they spent the day together. So you just told this person
they're evil and she shows up unexpectedly at the door and you're going to welcome her
with open arms and spend the day. Yeah. They took nude photos together in the shower. Now,
remember, I told you she always had a camera on her. So she had this camera, had taken
(16:45):
pictures, those nude photos and the timestamps from deleted photos off that camera showed
that Travis was attacked somewhere around five thirty p.m. that day. Unfortunately,
Shelby, this is where a turn of events occurs and Jodie does attack Travis. Let me tell
you some of the things leading up to that. The timestamps from that camera, I will say,
(17:10):
first of all, she had deleted the photos, but they were able to retrieve those later
and the timestamp off of that camera showed that Travis was attacked at around five thirty
p.m. Between the digital photos and the crime scene, investigators believe that Jodie had
begun stabbing Travis while he was in the shower. So she's having intimate moments
(17:33):
with him and then she takes out a weapon. When he tries to escape, Jodie shoots him
with that 25 caliber shotgun that she had allegedly stolen from her grandparents. And
Travis did attempt to make a getaway. But unfortunately, Shelby, he fell in the hallway
(17:53):
when he was hit by that bullet. So sad gives me goosebumps. Yeah. Jodie ended up dragging
him back to the shower and attempted to clean up the crime scene just a little bit before
deleting those photos and leaving the scene of the crime and then heading up to Salt Lake
City, Utah, to visit another guy that she used to work with and had begun dating. OK,
(18:15):
I'm just going to make a pit stop, but I'll be there when I can to cover her tracks after
she left Arizona. Jodie left Travis not only a text message, but a voicemail and an email
to sending her regrets that she would not be able to come visit him as they had planned.
She had everything planned out to a T. I don't know. I have no thoughts on this because she
(18:38):
is just so manipulating. Yes. And she doesn't give off that vibe. Very beautiful, you know,
seems to be intelligent woman who just took a turn for the worse. Yeah. I think that's
what attracted Travis to her in the first place is because once they were at that conference,
she did appear to come across as bubbly and vibrant and personable. Well, by June 9th,
(19:04):
Travis had a great social circle shelves and his friends grew very concerned when he missed
a scheduled out of town business meeting and he didn't return calls for five days. I can
say that Travis was genuinely liked by everybody. He was a responsible adult. He led his spiritual
(19:26):
life and he had a group of friends who had nothing but wonderful things to say about
him. And I really genuinely feel like he was a very good person. I do too. I do too. One
of those friends who was concerned about Travis on June 9th showed up at the house to check
on him. Travis's roommate answered the door and was taken by surprise because he thought
(19:50):
Travis had left to go out of town on that business trip. I forgot there was a roommate.
I did not know there was a roommate. Before we go on, shouts just for the benefit of our
listeners. I do want to give a trigger warning that things are going to turn very, very bad
here. If you don't want to hear how Travis was found, you can probably skip ahead, let's
(20:12):
say 15 seconds or so. And I'm not going to go into graphic detail, but trigger warnings
are here just the same. The roommate and concerned friend both began looking around the house
and went to Travis's bedroom where they found a very gruesome discovery. A large amount
of blood was found all over the master bedroom, all over the master bathroom walls, floor
(20:36):
and sink. Travis's body was found inside the shower. Although they did not know it at the
time, Travis had been shot and stabbed 25 times. He also had additional injuries, but
I'm just going to leave it at that because I don't know how I came across some photos
here, Shelby, but they're out there. Now Travis's friends immediately called 911 at 1027 PM.
(21:03):
When the police arrived, they immediately pointed the finger at Jodi Arias because they
saw firsthand how possessive she had been throughout this relationship. Remember outsiders
looking in, right? For sure. I was going to say that that's, I knew they knew it was Jodi
Amid. Good for them that they were so close like that and they looked out for each other,
(21:24):
probably just young. We'll call them yuppies living their lives in their twenties and they're
just a good circle of friends that are always in touch with each other and you just know
when something's wrong. So, well, when investigators paid Jodi a visit, she said a couple of things
here. One, that she had just learned about Travis's murder from a mutual friend earlier
(21:45):
that day. Two, she was nowhere near the area during this crime. She'd been driving to Utah
to meet up with the guy that she was dating, but got lost and arrived a day later than
expected. Does she realize this is not a clear alibi when you are unaccounted for for 24
hours? I'm lost. I don't know where I am. But I have a cell phone. I can call somebody.
(22:11):
What gas stations did you stop by? Where'd you get lunch? She didn't. She had three cans
of gasoline in the car. True. But lunch, you're right. Everybody's got to eat. Well, to make
matters worse, Jodi sent flowers to Travis's family during his memorial service. I have
no words. Well, let's talk about the investigation for just a little bit. Crime scene investigators
(22:33):
found bloody fingerprints in the hallway just outside the bathroom and a bloody handprint
just outside Travis's house. After running DNA, the inside fingerprint was matched to
Jodi and the outside fingerprint was matched to both Jodi and Travis. Surprise. Investigators
(22:54):
also found a digital camera with sexually graphic images of the couple that were taken
when Travis was inside the shower on the day of his murder. The timestamps showed that
the photos were taken beginning somewhere around 1 40 p.m. So between 1 40 p.m. and
5 30 p.m. they were just hanging out and doing their thing. Now, several of those photos
(23:19):
I had mentioned had been deleted. But thankfully, forensic scientists were able to recover them
from the memory card. Both Jodi and Travis were seen in the shower taking nude photos
of each other. So obviously she was there. Those were the ones that she deleted. All
right. So she put herself there. She tried to delete it. But even back in 2008, the cool
(23:40):
thing is there's forensics that I don't care how deep you think you get rid of stuff on
electronic equipment. It's there to stay. It's like the Internet. You know, once you
put something out there on the Internet, it's never going to go away. Nope. So clearly the
evidence is stacking up against Jodi Arias because exactly one month after Travis's death
(24:01):
on July 9th, 2009, which happened to be Jodi's 29th birthday, Shelby. Wow. She was arrested
and indicted on one count of premeditated murder. On July 15th, Jodi was arrested at
her grandparents house in northern California and extradited to Arizona to face charges.
(24:22):
Now, Shelby, I don't know if you remember this, but Jodi's behavior during the initial
interrogations was really scrutinized. And you mentioned that this was one of the top
stories you remember that got you into true crime. And I don't know if you recall this.
Do you remember seeing her singing and laughing in the interrogation room? She thought she
(24:43):
was going to get away with it. I mean, one of her personalities did because it looked
like she was having multiple personalities with herself. Yes. And then the one that really
got a lot of publicity was when she was standing on her head, like doing a yoga move. Yep.
I remember that. I mean, did she say why she was doing that? Maybe to calm her nerves,
just relaxing a little bit, thinking, trying to get out of whatever predicament she was
(25:06):
in. Couldn't see standing on your head doing that, but to each their own. Yeah. We know
that Jodi had already told investigators that she was traveling to Utah during that time
period when Travis was murdered. Clearly, she knew the jig was up because she immediately
confessed that she was indeed at Travis's house the day that he was murdered. But that
(25:30):
two masked men had broken into the home and attacked both of them. Okay, we're grasping
at straws here. I mean, if that really happened, wouldn't you call immediately? 100%. 100%.
There should be a 911 call out there. Yeah. So what happened, Shelby, is they did what
they did to Travis and threatened to kill Jodi if she told anyone about this. How convenient.
(25:56):
Another point worth mentioning is that Jodi had a great big smile on her face in her mug
shot. And I'm going to explain the reason for that in just a moment. Did you know she
actually had a valid reason? Nope. It's not a good one. Oh, none of her. Nothing that
she has said or done has been good. So I could only imagine. I wanted to talk briefly about
(26:17):
the interview that Jodi did with the television show 48 Hours. In 2013, while Jodi was on
trial for Travis's murder, she agreed to be interviewed on the news show 48 Hours, which
I've added to our show notes. So you guys can go look at that when you're done here.
It's actually quite interesting. During this interview, Jodi said that the home intrusion
(26:40):
she endured with Travis was the scariest moment of her life. And it played out just like a
horror movie. Now she's telling this to millions of people on a highly publicized news crime
show. Jodi went on to describe how she ran out of the house as quickly as she could and
drove and drove and drove until she reached the desert. Everything else was a blur after
(27:06):
that. Really? Everything was a blur. I'm sure it probably was. How was Utah? Right? Okay.
So Jodi had this great big smile on her face for her mugshot. I had mentioned she had a
great explanation as to why she was smiling or at least a really good imagination here
(27:26):
because Shelby, she imagined what Travis would be doing if he were the one getting the mugshot
and she believed that he would be smiling. So she wanted to smile like he would. Plus
she knew the mugshot would be all over the internet. So why not? You've got to make sure
you look your best when you have a mugshot, right? I think there's a little more to this.
(27:48):
What is that where you see certain things? Oh, schizophrenia. Yes. Maybe. That's what
I'm getting. That's the vibe I'm getting. I don't know. I really haven't seen anything
about her in the news since this happened, but that's interesting. If any of our listeners
know, please DM us. Well, last but not least, Shelby, Jodi maintained her innocence and told
(28:13):
48 hours that there was no reason to be sad. She just knew the truth was going to come
out during her trial because she had not gone to trial yet. She was behind bars waiting
trial, but it had not happened yet. And she just knew that she was going to come out innocent
here. So she might as well smile and say cheese to the camera. Did this happen after Casey
(28:34):
Anthony's case? I almost feel like it did because I think that that's what she was kind of hoping
would happen. Okay. August 9th, 2005 through June 2008. So it was 100% the same time. You
might be right. You know, she sees these other things on the news and yeah, you might be
(28:54):
right. That's a good point. Four and a half years later, after Jodi was arrested on December
10th, 2012, Jodi's trial began. And due to the degree of violence in Travis's death,
prosecutors fully intended to seek the death penalty here. Before Jodi's trial began, her
defense lawyers petitioned for a sequestered jury and no media coverage. I would probably
(29:20):
do the same thing if I were her lawyer, but you remember this case being all over the
news. So obviously those petitions were denied. They were, I was sitting at the restaurant
that I worked at behind, it was just a beer bar, so no liquor or anything. And I would
work a lot of lunch shifts, you know, wasn't always extremely busy. So that's what I would
(29:41):
do was talk to my local customers at that time and watch the broadcast of this case.
Well, jury members were simply ordered not to watch the news. Yeah, you can be here,
but we're not going to sequester you. You can go home and live your life, but by all
means, don't watch the news. Someone tells me not to do something. I'm probably going
to do it. 100%. I'm going to do the opposite of what you ask me not to do. By the way,
(30:05):
I know that about you because you probably did the same thing. Anytime I said not to
do something while you were growing up. And you also can't use reverse psychology on me
either. Oh, wow. One juror was removed because she was overheard making statements that clearly
showed she did the exact opposite of what she was told. So I wonder, Shelby, how many
(30:26):
other jurors did the same thing? They were told not to watch the news. They were just
too smart and kept their mouth shut. What do you think? I think there might've been
one juror that listened. Possibly. The trial lasted 64 days, 18 of which Jodie got on the
stand and testified in her own defense. That's a lot of days, 18 days, eight hours. That's
(30:51):
a lot of testimony. And I think that this case at the time, Shelby, was compared to
the OJ Simpson trial as far as sensationalism. I mean, that makes sense to me. But the thing
here is OJ's trial lasted 134 days. So of course that was big in the news. I 100% remember
that being in the news. And 64 days to me is still a lot. That's a lot. And during those
(31:17):
18 days of testimony, Jodie told a very different story of Travis's murder. No, she was not
on her way to Utah. No, intruders did not break into Travis's house. Jodie testified
that yes, she did indeed kill Travis. Only Shelby, she testified that it was in self-defense.
(31:39):
All right. So Jodie testified that she killed her ex-boyfriend. And let me emphasize ex
here. She killed her ex-boyfriend because they were in an abusive relationship. In fact,
Travis had been the one to attack her. And that's how he ended up dead because he was
the one that had the gun, right? The one that was in her grandparents' house. Right. And
(32:02):
I feel like, I don't think we talked about this, but I feel like I remember that Travis
was a very tall and not large, but I mean, you know, like maybe not built, but like a,
you know, a decent sized man. He had a big physique, but it was like muscle and it wasn't
like he was overweight. If he was, he still had a lot of muscle. He was healthy. While
(32:23):
she was, I can't remember how tall she was, but I want to say she was a tiny little petite.
Yeah. Maybe petite. I don't, I don't remember exactly her height, but just thinking of,
you know, you can be very determined to ward off an attacker, but you're not going to get
away from that attacker with the size variance. So true. With nothing to show on her body.
(32:44):
You are right. I don't think she had any defensive wounds, did she? Not that I remember, at least
not what I found while I was researching this. Yeah. She testifies that she killed her ex-boyfriend
because they were in an abusive relationship. So five years after everything, after their
whole relationship starts five years later, when she is in court, she's still in denial
(33:06):
and will not own up to anything. So this trial goes on for 64 days, but it only took the
jury three days to find Jodie guilty. I'm surprised it took that long. Yeah, for sure.
It was that one juror that did not go home and watch the news. Yes. You're probably right.
Somebody holding out. That's good. Yeah. Good thought process there. On May 9th, 2013, Jodie
(33:32):
Arias was convicted of premeditated first degree murder in an aggravated manner. However,
during the penalty phase of sentencing, the jury was hung between giving Jodie the death
penalty or letting her live the rest of her life in prison, either with parole after 25
years or life without parole. The judge declared a retrial of the penalty phase. And on October
(34:00):
21st, 2014, six years after Travis's death, Jodie was given a life sentence without the
possibility of parole. She's housed in the Perryville State Women's Prison in Arizona,
where she sits amongst 4,000 inmates. And interestingly enough, Shelby, when I went and looked up Jodie
(34:20):
in prison, there's a lot of information out there. Her inmate number is 281129. And she's
currently listed as a moderate risk to the public and staff. So I want to just kind of
tell you about the natural progression here based on her offense. When she first comes
into the prison, she's going to be a high risk, right? Right. Jodie's profile is assessed
(34:44):
almost annually. And when she did first arrive at Perryville, she was classified as maximum
risk for the first couple of years that she was there. And she has only had one disciplinary
action while in prison. And that's just basically being listed as disrespect to staff back in
2016. I mean, she's laying low here. So she only has one little blemish. Otherwise, as
(35:10):
far as progression goes, she's been downgraded to close or close, I think it's close for
several years, which is in between maximum and moderate. But now she's a moderate risk
and is living her life as a library aide. How about that? I just tell you the other
day that I would love to work in a library. We did. We talked about that yesterday. So
(35:32):
I wonder if they're letting her take any pictures since she's a photographer in prison. I don't
know if she's a photographer in prison. I wonder if they let her take pictures in prison,
but they probably don't. She probably doesn't have that camera anymore. Probably not that
one. I doubt it. I don't know. You know, in today's age, I know for a fact inmates can
(35:54):
pretty readily get a hold of cell phones. Yeah. So Shelbs, that's the story of Travis
Alexander and his psycho girlfriend, Jodi Arias. I am so glad that we did this one.
Yeah, I was waiting for this. I figured if we were going to be phasing this wonderful
podcast out and moving over to Insinuation Podcasts, then this was going to be the one
(36:20):
finale that I was going to have for you. Yes. Oh yes. And I still, my heart goes out to
Travis's family. Yeah, 100%. And before we end, I do want to direct your attention to
Travis specifically. So I'm glad you brought that up. And I really wanted to give you more
of the type of person he was, but unfortunately Jodi's name came up. Anytime I did a search
(36:42):
on him, I did find a Facebook page entitled Remembering Travis Alexander, a voice for
victims of crime. It currently has 5,000 members. And I've also added this to our show notes
because he's the one worth remembering here. 100%. Yeah. So there you have it. Well, thank
(37:03):
you. This was, I think a very, very good season ender. Yeah. We don't do a ton of the big
name stories here, but you personally have said, I really want to do this over the years.
So I thought it was kind of appropriate to kind of end things here. It's kind of bittersweet.
Do you have a teachable moment for us today? I do. I say pick up the phone. And by this,
(37:27):
I mean, domestic violence doesn't simply happen to females. Travis clearly picked up on the
signs that something was off with Jodi and maybe he listened to his gut or maybe he listened
to his friends that were outsiders looking in. Regardless, he just got those vibes and
(37:48):
maybe Jodi was just a little bit nuts and never crossed the line when Travis felt that
he needed to make any police reports or get a restraining order. I didn't see anything
in the research that he had to try to do any of that. So I'm here to say, if you feel like
you could be in danger because of the relationship that you are in, regardless on if you're male
(38:11):
or female, pick up the phone, file a police report and get the paper trail started. Hopefully
this will never be the case for any of our listeners, but your life is more important
than ignoring signs of domestic violence or simply your gut instincts. Pick up the phone.
(38:31):
Nothing may ever come of it, but it's better to have that paper trail than nothing at all.
So my teachable moment here, Shelby, short and sweet to the point. And you are exactly
right. Well, there we have it. As always, we would love to receive feedback from our
listeners on this storyline or any other episodes and be sure to DM us on Instagram or TikTok.
(38:55):
We'll talk to you soon. I didn't know if I needed to say that or not. It's so bittersweet.
I might put something out probably once a month. You know, it's hard to let things go.
It is. It is. All right. There we go. As Aunt Beth says, that's a wrap. That is a wrap. Thanks
(39:16):
for listening to Dying to be Found. Before we go, we would love for you to leave a review
on your favorite podcast platform. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. You can access our website, email, social media and
storyline request form by clicking on our Linktree account found in our show notes.
(39:38):
If you like our episodes, consider buying us a coffee at BuyMeACoffee.com slash Dying
to be Found, spelled just like you see it on our logo. Feel free to message us on Instagram
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