12 Crimes of Christmas - "THE OBSESSION: JODI ARIAS AND THE MURDER OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER - PART 1"

0:03 Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Monday, December twenty ninth, twenty twenty five, continuing our twelve Crimes of Christmas series today and tomorrow. The obsessive ex girlfriend who committed one of the most brutal murders in Arizona history and then lied about it three different times. June ninth, two thousand and eight, Mesa, Arizona, Travis Alexander's friends were worried they hadn't heard from him in five days. They were supposed to be coordinating a trip to Cancun, Travis was taking a new woman. Everything was planned, but Travis wasn't answering his phone, so they went to his house.

0:48 Found the door unlocked, found his dog still inside, found blood, followed it to the master bathroom. Travis Alexander was crumpled on the shower floor, thirty years old, decomposing. He'd been dead for five days. The autopsy would reveal the horror twenty seven stab wounds, defensive wounds on his hands. He'd tried to fight back. His throat was slit so deep his head was nearly severed, and a single gunshot wound to the forehead. This wasn't just murder, This was overkill, This was rage. This was someone who wanted Travis Alexander to suffer. His friends knew immediately who to tell police about.

1:28 Jody Arius, his ex girlfriend, the one who wouldn't leave him alone, the one he'd called a sociopath, the one he'd warned them about. Don't be surprised if you find me dead one day. Travis Alexander said those exact words to his friends months before Jody Arius proved him right. I'm read Carter. This is Celebrity Trials Today, Part one. The relationship, the obsession, the murder, and the lies Jody Arius told before the truth caught up with her. Someone has to say, say his name. Travis Alexander. Travis Victor Alexander was born July twenty eighth, nineteen seventy seven in Riverside, California.

2:12 His childhood was a nightmare. His parents were drug addicts. He and his siblings were neglected, abused. They learned to fend for themselves because nobody else would. But Travis escaped, got out of that environment, found structure in the Mormon Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. His faith became his foundation. He was baptized, became devout, lived by the principles he'd learned. By his late twenties, Travis was thriving. He worked as a salesman for Prepaid Legal Services, a company that sold legal insurance plans. He was good at it, Charismatic, motivational, the kind of guy who could work a room make everyone feel special. He traveled for conferences, gave speeches, inspired others. He lived in a nice house in Mesa, Arizona, had friends who loved him, was building a career, dating, looking for a wife. Travis Alexander had survived a terrible childhood and created a good life. September two thousand and six, Las Vegas Prepaid Legal Services convention.

3:17 Travis was thirty years old, working the crowd, being Travis. That's when he met Jody Arias. She was twenty six from Selinas, California, Blonde, beautiful, aspiring photographer. She was there with a boyfriend at the time, a man named Darryl Brewer she'd been living with for four years. But Jody's attention locked onto Travis. The attraction was immediate electric His friends noticed it right away. Travis was smitten. Two within weeks, Jody had broken up with Daryl. Within months, she was being baptized into the Mormon Church, Travis's faith. By February two thousand and seven, they were officially dating. Travis's friends were thrilled. At first, he seemed happy he'd found someone.

4:05 In an email to a friend, Travis wrote about Jody, I went from intrigued by her to interested in her, to caring about her deeply, to realizing how lucky I would be to have her as part of my life forever. She is amazing. Whoever scores Jody, whether it be me or someone else, is going to win the wife Lotto. The wife Lotto. That's how Travis described Jody Arius in early two thousand and seven. But something was wrong from the beginning, and Travis's friends saw it before he did. Here's what Travis Alexander's friends noticed about Jody Erias. She was always there, always hovering. If Travis was having a conversation, Jody was listening. If he went to the bathroom, she waited outside the door. If he was texting, she was reading over his shoulder. She monitored everything. Sky Hughes, one of Travis's closest friends, tried to warn him early on.

5:06 She saw the red flags, the possessiveness, the way Jody inserted herself into every aspect of Travis's life. But Travis was in love, or thought he was, he didn't listen. By summer two thousand and seven, the relationship was falling apart. Travis wanted to date other women. He was a devout Mormon, looking for a wife, someone to marry in the temple, have children with, and something about Jody wasn't right. He could feel it, even if he couldn't articulate it. They broke up, but Jody didn't accept it. She moved from California to Mesa, Arizona, rented an apartment close to Travis's house, close enough to watch him, close enough to show up unannounced.

5:49 The stalking began. Travis told his friends what was happening. Jody slashed his tires, not once, multiple times. She hacked into his Facebook account, read his messages, forwarded conversations he was having with other women to herself. She harassed the women he tried to date. She snuck into his house through the doggy door, let herself in while he was sleeping. Travis would wake up and find her standing over his bed. Let me repeat that Jody Arius would break into Travis Alexander's house and stand over him while he slept. That's not love, that's not jealousy, that's predator behavior. Travis called her a sociopath in text messages, wrote to her, you don't know what horror you have caused me. Called her evil in another message. The relationship had become toxic, dangerous, and Travis knew it. But here's the problem. Travis didn't fully cut her off. Even after the breakup. Even after the stalking, they kept having sex. Jody would show up, they'd sleep together, and then Travis would tell his friends he was done with her. He wasn't done, and neither she.

7:01 His friends begged him to end it completely, to get a restraining order to protect himself. Sky Hughes told him directly that Jody was dangerous, that something was seriously wrong with her. Travis acknowledged it, told his friends something chilling. Don't be surprised if you find me dead one day. He knew. On some level, Travis Alexander knew exactly what Jody Arius was capable of. He just didn't believe she'd actually do it. By spring two thousand and eight, Travis was trying to move on. He'd started seeing other women, was planning a trip to Cancoon in June. Originally he was going to take Jody, but he changed his mind invited a different woman named Mimi Hall instead. When Jody found out she'd been replaced, something snapped. April two thousand and eight, a burglary at Jody's grandparents' house in Ereka, California, where she was living. Among the items stolen a point twenty five caliber he had gun, the same caliber that would later be found at Travis Alexander's murder scene. Prosecutors would later argue Jody Stage that burglary stole her own grandfather's gun, the murder weapon. May two thousand and eight, Jody borrowed two five gallon gas cans from her ex boyfriend Darryl Brewer, told him she was taking a road trip, wouldn't explain why she needed them. Then she bought a third gas can, fifteen gallons total, enough to drive through Arizona without stopping for gas, without leaving a paper trail,

8:32 without anyone knowing she was there. June second, two thousand and eight, Jody rented a car, asked for a white car specifically changed her mind at the last minute, took a red car instead, removed the front license plate so she couldn't be identified, dyed her hair brown. She was planning something, something she didn't want anyone to trace back to her. June fourth, two thousand and eight, Jody Arias drove over one thousand miles to Travis alllec Xander's house in Mesa, Arizona. What happened inside that house would shock the nation. June fourth, two thousand and eight, approximately four am, Jody arius arrived at Travis Alexander's house in Mesa, Arizona.

9:20 She'd been driving all night, over one thousand miles from California. She didn't knock, she knew the code to his garage, let herself in. Travis was surprised to see her, but not surprised enough to send her away. What happened over the next several hours is known from Jody's own testimony and the evidence recovered at the scene. They had sex again, despite everything, despite the stalking, the harassment, the warnings from friends, Travis and Jody slept together that afternoon. Around one forty pm, Jody took photographs of Travis. Nude photos then photos of him in the show. Travis posed for the camera, water running over him, his last moments captured in time stamps that would become evidence. Five twenty two pm. The last photo of Travis Alexander alive, standing in the shower looking at the camera. Five thirty pm, A photo accidentally taken the camera dropped, blurry image of the bathroom ceiling. Five thirty two pm, a photo of Travis Alexander on the bathroom floor, bleeding, wounded, still alive, being dragged. In less than two minutes, Jody Arius had begun butchering the man who just posed for her camera. The medical examiner would later document the carnage twenty seven stab wounds to his back, his chest, his head, defensive wounds on his hands. He'd grabbed at the knife tried to stop her. A stab

10:51 wound to the heart that would have been fatal on its own. His throat was slit ear to ear so deep the knife cut through his trachea, his carotid artery down to the spine, nearly decapitated him. And a single gunshot wound to the forehead. The point two five caliber bullet recovered at the scene matched the gun stolen from Jody's grandparents. Travis Alexander was thirty years old. He died in his own bathroom, attacked by someone he'd invited into his home, someone he'd been intimate with hours earlier. But Jody Arius wasn't done. She dragged his body back to the shower, positioned him, attempted to clean up the blood. There was evidence of washing wiping. She put the camera in the washing machine, tried to destroy the photos, tried to eliminate the evidence. Then she got in her car and drove to Utah. Ryan Burns, another man Jody was seeing.

11:47 She was supposed to visit him on June fourth, but showed up late on June fifth, told him her phone had died, she'd gotten lost. They made out. She acted normal, happy, like nothing had happened. Travis Alexander's body lay in his shower for five more days, decomposing in the Arizona heat. His dog was still in the house, hungry, confused, waiting for his owner to come back. June ninth, two thousand eight, Travis's friends finally went to check on him. Found what Jody Arrius had left behind, blood everywhere in the bathroom, the hallway, pulled on the floor, smeared on the walls, and Travis crumpled in the shower, five days dead, the smell of decomposition filling the house. They called nine one one, then they called the police, and when detectives asked who might have done this, Travis's friends said one name, Jody Arius.

12:43 Commercial break. We'll be right back with Jody Arrius's three different stories and the evidence that proved every one of them was a lie, the lies eight minutes, Lie number one. I wasn't there. When detectives first contacted Jody Arius, she denied everything, said she hadn't seen Travis in months, said she was nowhere near Mesa, Arizona on June fourth, said she had no idea what happened. I would never hurt Travis, she told investigators, I loved him, But the evidence told a different story. That camera in the washing machine, it survived. Detectives recovered the memory card, retrieved deleted photos, time stamped images showing Jody Arius naked in Travis's bedroom, Travis naked in his shower, and then the blurry photos of him being attacked, a bloody palm print on the wall. DNA tested mixed profile Travis Alexander and Jody arius her hair at the crime scene, her fingerprints, she'd been there. The evidence was overwhelming, so Jody changed her story line number two, two masked intruders killed him. Now Jody admitted she was there, but she wasn't the killer. Claimed. Two masked intruders broke in while she and Travis were together, a man and a woman. They attacked Travis, killed him, threatened to kill Jody too if she talked. She gave elaborate details, described the intruders, explained why she'd been too afraid to call police,

14:17 said she'd been living in fear ever since. Detectives didn't believe a word of it. There was no evidence of intruders, no forced entry, no witnesses, no motive for anyone else to kill Travis, and the physical evidence still pointed directly at Jody, her palm print in his blood, her hair at the scene, photos on the camera that could only have been taken by her. The home invasion story was a lie and everyone knew it. So Jody changed her story again, Lie number three. I killed him in self defense. This was the story Jody would tell at trial, the story her lawyers would build their defense around. According to Jody's third version, Travis was abusive, trolling, violent. He'd been physically and emotionally abusing her throughout their relationship. On June fourth, while she was taking photos of him in the shower, she accidentally dropped the camera. Travis flew into a rage, attacked her, threatened to kill her, so she defended herself.

15:19 Had no choice it was him or her. Twenty seven stab wounds, a slit throat, a gunshot to the head self defense. Here's the problem with that story. Everything about Jody's trip to Arizona showed premeditation. She stole a gun from her grandparents weeks before, borrowed gas cans to avoid stopping for gas in Arizona, rented a car, changed her hair color, removed the license plates, drove over one thousand miles in the middle of the night. That's not a woman fleeing an abuser. That's a woman planning a murder. Prosecutor Juan Martinez would later ask the jury, if Travis was so dangerous, why did she drive one thousand miles to see him. Why did she let herself into his house?

16:05 Why did she have sex with him? Why did she take photos of him in the shower. The self defense claim didn't hold up, but Jody arius would stick to it, would testify for eighteen days, trying to convince a jury she was the real victim. September twenty fourth, two thousand and eight, Jody was arrested at her grandparents' home in California. Gave an interview to Inside Edition from jail. No jury is going to convict me, she said, because I am innocent, and you can mark my words on that mark her words.

16:46 Five years later, a jury would do exactly what Jody Arias said was impossible. That's part one of our Jody Arias Special. Travis Victor Alexander, thirty years old, salesman, motivational speaker, devout Mormon who'd escaped a nightmare childhood and built a good life, murdered in his own home by the woman he'd warned his friends about. Don't be surprised if you find me dead one day. His friends weren't surprised. They were devastated, but not surprised. Jody Arias was a stalker, slashed his tires, hacked his accounts, broke into his house, and when Travis tried to move on with someone else, she drove one thousand miles to make sure he never moved on with anyone. Twenty seven stab wounds, throat, slit, ear to ear, gunshot to the head. Then she put the camera in the washing machine and drove to Utah to see another man. Three different stories. First she wasn't there, Then two intruders did it. Then it was self defense, each lie more elaborate than the last, each lie proven false by the evidence. Tomorrow, Part two. The trial that became a national obsession. Jody Aarius on the stand for eighteen days, the verdict, the sentencing, and where she is today, still claiming she's the victim. Travis Alexander would be forty eight years old today, should be married, should have kids, should be living the life he'd worked so hard to build. Instead, he's been dead for seventeen years because he trusted the

18:17 wrong person. Rest in peace, Travis. Someone has to say your name. I'm Reed Carter. See you tomorrow for part two. This is Celebrity Trials.