Jodi Arias Trial Live Stream & Testimony Admitting She Killed Travis Alexander on Day 13
Jodi Arias shocked many when she testified on day 13 of her first-degree murder trial, taking the witness stand for the first time and admitting that she killed her ex-lover Travis Alexander.
Arias, 32, was asked on Monday if she killed Alexander, 30, a religious Mormon and motivational speaker.
"Yes I did," she replied.
When asked why, she answered, "the simple reason is he attacked me and I defended myself."
She was asked about the comments and lies she made during her "Inside Edition" interview where she said "no jury would convict me." Arias said she made the statement because she was suicidal at the time.
"At the time, I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me because I didn't expect any of you to be here," Arias told jurors. "I planned to be dead. Those are probably the most bitter words I'll ever eat.'
She knew that if she didn't commit suicide then she would have been "thrown into a padded cell and stripped down" for the vicious crime she committed.
Arias' defense attorney then had her discuss her childhood and how abusive her parents were. Arias testified that her parents beat her and her brother with wooden spoons and belts. In one instance, it became so violent that her father made her pass out and her mother broke her brother's hand.
"I'm very nervous today," she began. "Life was ideal up until I was aged seven. Parents would spank us and around seven-years old it started getting more intense. My dad started using a belt. My mom began to carry a wooden spoon on her purse.
"It was a wooden kitchen spoon and if we misbehaved she would use it on my brother and I, she would hit us hard with it. It left welts on my body. Dad didn't leave welts as often as my mom - she also used a belt. My dad was quite intimidating so didn't need to use strength to get his point across. My mother did.
My mother broke my brother's hand once when he tried to block one of her blows. As I got into a teenager, my dad would get rougher and rougher.
"He would shove me into furniture...piano, desk...one time I hit a door post," Arias testified. "The side of my face hit a doorpost and knocked me out. I remember waking up and [my mother] was telling him to be careful."
Arias stands accused of murdering Alexander, whose body was discovered in his Mesa, Ariz., home on June 4, 2008. When police found the victim, they saw that he had been shot in the face, stabbed 27 times and his throat was slit from ear to ear.
If Arias is convicted of murder she will likely face the death penalty, becoming the fourth woman in Arizona's history to die by lethal injection.
Watch Arias' trial continue online via live stream here.
