The jury who found Jodie Arias guilty of premeditated murder one week ago in the death of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, has also found that the killing was done with extreme cruelty.
The jury, composed of eight men and four women, reached their unanimous verdict after deliberating for about 90 minutes during the aggravation phase of the Arias trial Wednesday.
Prosecutor Juan Martinez in his opening and closing statements painted a very vivid picture of the pain and anguish Alexander suffered from the nearly thirty stab wounds Arias inflicted on him, in his suburban Phoenix home in 2008.
“She [Jodie Arias] made sure that she stabbed him over, and over and over again,” Martinez told the hushed and emotional court room. “It is also true Mr. Alexander suffered pain every time the knife went into him.”
Martinez added that Alexander was alive throughout the brutal attack saying, “We know he was alive, able to see, to breath, to smell and to feel, as he was being stabbed.” It was only death that could relieve this pain, he said.
As Martinez made his case that Alexander was murdered with extreme cruelty, he again showed the jury graphic autopsy photographs of the killing.
In what could only be described as one of the most poignant moments, Martinez brought the courtroom to a halt when he asked everyone to sit in silence for two minutes, the length of time that it took for Alexander to die.
“That seems like a short time?” Martinez asked rhetorically, following the two minutes of silence. “No, it was an incredibly long time to be stabbed, to be followed… It was a painful death. There is no doubt Travis Alexander suffered immensely.”
Dr. Kevin Horn, the Medical Examiner, the only witness, was called to the testify. He confirmed that Alexander would have been alive when he was being stabbed nearly 30 times by Arias.
Arias’ defense attorney Kirk Nurmi attempted to sway the jury by suggesting that all first degree murders are inherently cruel, but that Alexander’s killing was not unusually great or significant. Nurmi also suggested that Arias might not have been aware of the pain that Alexander endured when he was being stabbed.
Now that Arias has been found guilty of murdering Alexander with ‘extreme cruelty,’ the door is now open for the death penalty and the trial moves into the penalty phase.
Tomorrow, prosecutors are expected to call witnesses, including Alexander’s family to convince the jury that Arias should be put to death. Arias’ attorneys will likely call her family members to put forward mitigating factors as to why her life should be spared.
