Travis Alexander and Jodi Arias - What do you believe?

[Chanler]

I've borrowed Wasn'tMe's brilliant timeline and added a few snippets (from the article Justine linked) in brackets:

February 2007--supposedly a couple
April 23, 2007--myspace message about her beauty from Travis
July 2007(?) -- Break up allegedly a 5 month relationship
July 9, 2007-- another hotness message from Travis on myspace

July--August 2007??--Jodi moves to AZ (myspace friends wish her luck in AZ on August 2nd)

[late 2007, Travis began dating another girl seriously. Late one night in December of that year while at his new girlfriend’s house, Travis discovered his tires had been slashed. He replaced the tires only to have them slashed again on the following night. Shortly after those incidents, Travis’ new girlfriend received a hostile email from a “John Doe.” The email, which was wrought with heavy religious undertones, refereed to her relationship with Travis.

It read in part: “If you let him stay in your bed one more time or even sleep under the same roof as him, you will be giving the appearance of evil... You are a daughter of God, and you have been a shameful example. Be thou clean, sin no more.”

The girl later told police she believed the email had been sent by Jodi.

There were several other similar incidents leading up to about a week prior to his death, when Travis caught Jodi hacking into his Facebook account, according to the police report. By this point, Travis had had enough and told her he wanted her out of his life.]

March 2008(?)—Tires slashed twice [December 2007 date above]
April 2008—Jodi moved away from AZ not sure of an exact date
May 1, 2008—myspace message from Travis, discussing her hotness
End of May (?)—Travis cancels end of May trip to see Jodi in Yreka. (according to Jodi)

June 1-10, 2008 Cancun trip for PPL. Travis plans to arrive June 10. Doubt that’s the last day of the trip, but they ever say how long the trip was. (Jodi claims to have known about the trip a year in advance and claimed to have known she wasn’t going with Travis. Strangely enough, a year earlier would be the time of the breakup, right?)

First week of June—Marie Hall cannot get in touch with Travis. Do not know if this is literally referring to June 1st, since his murder occurred on a Monday, June 4th.
June 2, 2008 Jodi sets out for L.A. (10hr drive) and then Utah to visit friends.
June 3, 2008—8:30pm call between Jodi and Travis. (according to the police report, she said this call happened as she was on the way from Yreka to a conference in Salt Lake City, 12hour drive)
June 4, 2008—4:30am Jodi claims that she arrived at his house and he let her in.
12:13pm—last call made to Travis made by who knows
1:40pm—sex pictures
4:19pm sent an email
5:22pm—5:30pm shower photos
Unstated time—death photos
7pm—misses conference call
June 5, 2008—Jodi claims to have arrived in SLC late morning for last day of conference (mesa to SLC 11 1/2 hr drive would love to see the milege on her car)
June 9, 2008 10:20pm Travis found dead.

 

[Chanler]

Thanks!

I think we'll amicably disagree about the devout thing and the virgin thing. I just seriously believe he was living a double life. In a lot of murder cases I read, it always seems that the family has a flowerly image of the victim and is usually the last to accept that it wasn't true. I just found it strange, too, on the 48 hours interview, his loved one said, "I could see him being typical Travis, and saying we can do this, but you're not my girlfriend and I'm not taking you to Cancun." (Paraphrased.) It's odd to my that he refers to Travis telling her girl she can come over for sex, but she's not his girlfriend as "typical Travis." JMO. Maybe I didn't hear that right, but I think I did.

Justine8787--I watched the 48 hours thing again with my boyfriend who hadn't seen it. They said the tire slashing happened a couple months before the murder. They were also saying that he was fearful of Jodi at the end and his friend remembers Travis telling him how Travis had told Jodi that he never wanted to see her again. If this were true, then why the myspace note? Why does he let her into his house at 430am? And why was he having sex with her and taking pictures? this is why i say I don't believe his family really knew the truth about this whole thing, the truth about his beliefs, or his sex life. I sympathize with them. I really do and I hope that I don't offend them if they read this. I do believe that Travis was a good man. He just had some secrets. But it's JMO. I could be wrong.

I heard Jodi say something that I didn't notice the first time. She said that Travis had planned to go visit her in Ureka at the end of May. It was about 20 minutes into the show. She said that he was supposed to visit her at the end of May. They were going to go to Crater lake.

This is terribly significant, if it's true, because the cancun trip was the first and/or second week in June. So I see the scenerio as he reneged on that visit and told her that it was because of the Cancun trip. THEN he had to tell her that she couldn't go on the trip. Since it was a company trip, I'm sure it was easy for her to find out that he could get two tickets, so he had to break it to her that he was taking another girl.

After all the traveling they did together, etc, I can imagine it blowing her mind that he not only canceled the trip to see her, but he did it to go to Cancun with another woman.

And, no, it makes no sense for her to go 17 hours from Ureka to Mesa, when she had almost a straight shot to get to Utah.

Hi, Wasn'tMe. Travis was essentially an orphan; both his parents were addicted to drugs and his father was mostly absent. What emotional sustenance he received was from his grandparents. He credited his Mormon conversion with essentially transforming him and saving his life.

His life was less double than just messy. Like many young men, his relationships (especially if they weren't immediately on the scene) were vulnerable. For a virgin, as he apparently was, sex can be a most powerful persuader. (I have known fundamentalists who married early and unwisely because of their sexual drive, but no one would think of them as not being devout.)

I've never had a stalker, not been one; and, by comparison to some of my friends, my relationships have been unusually sane. That said, I cannot imagine refusing to open my door at 4:30 in the morning to an ex-girlfriend. Travis and Jodi had wild fluctuations in their volatile, dysfunctional relationship, but they were clearly drawn together. In fact, I've always thought that Jodi's obsession with the Law of Attraction convinced her that, all other things notwithstanding, they were destined to be forever linked.

 

[wasnt_me]

Thanks, Chanler.

As I said we have to agree to disagree. Travis knew what she wanted to go over there at 430am for. I haven't had stalkers, but I've had "ex-men friends" who I had to tell from my window to get off my property. I had to tell men to stop calling me and I had to stop answering the phone for them--and their crazy girlfriends.

There really is no reason to let an ex-girlfriend in the house at 430am if you have insisted that you don't want her and you told all your friends you don't want her, and your friends say you fear her because she's crazy. Well, if she's hurt or there's some emergency, that's all I can see as a reason. He let her in because he wanted her there. She stayed there for hours because he wanted her to. It's that simple.

It's definitely a double life if you tell your friends you hate this girl but you're still telling her how beautiful she is on her myspace page. It's a double life to be "devout" but be sleeping with a girl you know good and well you don't want to marry. Travis had about a year after the breakup to correct himself on that according to his beliefs, but he did not. You can have a weak moment, but a weak year and a half?

We might have different interpretations of devout. But when I hear that someone eats and breathes their religion, then that means ALL of it, not just part of it. I can accept that he was a fallible human. We all are. but I can't see sex being powerful enough to topple a lifetime commitment to virginity, seriously. If it was all that, he could have gotten married before doing it, as you said people you know did.

I've seen "devout" people turn out be child molesters or unfaithful spouses. And the loved ones almost always say that the person was devout and would never do that in a million years. Hell, Jodi's loved ones might be saying the same thing. She was devout and would never stab somebody 27 times and slit their throat and shoot them in the mouth. But....

I didn't understand that he was an orphan. I understood that his parents stayed together long enough to have 7 kids, and I understand that the kids lived alone with their mother for a while after the divorce. I just don't know when the divorce was or when he moved with his grandmother. But from what I read, I didn't glean that he had no parental supervision whatsoever until his grandmother stepped in. to me, an orphan means there are no parents or family around whatsoever.

It doesn't really matter, because those things are not the heart of the case. The defense will pick Travis apart and they will bring these inconsistencies up at trial, so we might as well consider them, because the defense team will be much worse on him. I don't like to put victims on trial, and his character isn't at the heart of the case, because no matter WHAT he did (short of trying to kill her or someone else), she shouldn't have shot him or stabbed him.

I understand you've been following the case, and I respect your theories about it, but mine are just different. The jurors will also bring many different experiences and perspectives when deciding. though they will all hopefully find her guilty, I doubt they will all 12 find him to be a hapless virgin led astray by her.

 

[Justine8787]

Great posts Wasn't me & Chanler! I love the timeline. You have both made many points to think about.

When first watching 48 hrs until now I have always thought that Jodi converted to LDS because of Travis and her attraction to him, not the religion. I hate to say it but if a "not so attractive man" handed her the book of Mormon do you think she would have been so interested in it? I don't.
I had a friend who went to a wedding in Utah and met a guy who she liked very much. He would not go out with her until she converted to the Mormon religion. She read the Book of Mormon, and decided it was her path. SHe went back to Utah and was baptized by this guy a few months later. Everything was great until they broke up 4 months later. Suddenly her religion wasn't so important, it faded away real fast.
I had this thought about Jodi while watching the 48 hours segment. She claims that her religion is the most important thing to her and writes about religion all over hers and her friends myspaces but I think it's just one more mask for her to wear. And she is a Mormon and a bartender? Isn't that kind of an oxymoron?
Anyone else have any ideas on this?

 

[Chanler]

Great posts Wasn't me & Chanler! I love the timeline. You have both made many points to think about.

When first watching 48 hrs until now I have always thought that Jodi converted to LDS because of Travis and her attraction to him, not the religion. I hate to say it but if a "not so attractive man" handed her the book of Mormon do you think she would have been so interested in it? I don't.
I had a friend who went to a wedding in Utah and met a guy who she liked very much. He would not go out with her until she converted to the Mormon religion. She read the Book of Mormon, and decided it was her path. SHe went back to Utah and was baptized by this guy a few months later. Everything was great until they broke up 4 months later. Suddenly her religion wasn't so important, it faded away real fast.
I had this thought about Jodi while watching the 48 hours segment. She claims that her religion is the most important thing to her and writes about religion all over hers and her friends myspaces but I think it's just one more mask for her to wear. And she is a Mormon and a bartender? Isn't that kind of an oxymoron?
Anyone else have any ideas on this?

Hi, Justine; as usual, an interesting post. I think that you're right: Jodi's conversion was part of her full immersion in Travis. (Quite literally, by the way: I think he helped with her LDS baptism.) I think that his charismatic blend of spirituality and can-do capitalism appealed to her; in fact, she seemed to be at least as widely read as him in the self-activated self improvement that he espoused. Also, I think that her New Age beliefs would make her more open to elements of Mormonism that some adult Christians might greet with skepticism. But, like other New Age people, Jodi picked and plundered from philosophies and religion and added parts of them to her own meaning system; she probably wasn't proud of being a bartender, but she wasn't guilt-ridden enough to give up what was probably a profitable livelihood for a moderately attractive woman.

 

[Chanler]

Thanks, Chanler.

As I said we have to agree to disagree. Travis knew what she wanted to go over there at 430am for. I haven't had stalkers, but I've had "ex-men friends" who I had to tell from my window to get off my property. I had to tell men to stop calling me and I had to stop answering the phone for them--and their crazy girlfriends.

There really is no reason to let an ex-girlfriend in the house at 430am if you have insisted that you don't want her and you told all your friends you don't want her, and your friends say you fear her because she's crazy. Well, if she's hurt or there's some emergency, that's all I can see as a reason. He let her in because he wanted her there. She stayed there for hours because he wanted her to. It's that simple.

It's definitely a double life if you tell your friends you hate this girl but you're still telling her how beautiful she is on her myspace page. It's a double life to be "devout" but be sleeping with a girl you know good and well you don't want to marry. Travis had about a year after the breakup to correct himself on that according to his beliefs, but he did not. You can have a weak moment, but a weak year and a half?

We might have different interpretations of devout. But when I hear that someone eats and breathes their religion, then that means ALL of it, not just part of it. I can accept that he was a fallible human. We all are. but I can't see sex being powerful enough to topple a lifetime commitment to virginity, seriously. If it was all that, he could have gotten married before doing it, as you said people you know did.

I've seen "devout" people turn out be child molesters or unfaithful spouses. And the loved ones almost always say that the person was devout and would never do that in a million years. Hell, Jodi's loved ones might be saying the same thing. She was devout and would never stab somebody 27 times and slit their throat and shoot them in the mouth. But....

I didn't understand that he was an orphan. I understood that his parents stayed together long enough to have 7 kids, and I understand that the kids lived alone with their mother for a while after the divorce. I just don't know when the divorce was or when he moved with his grandmother. But from what I read, I didn't glean that he had no parental supervision whatsoever until his grandmother stepped in. to me, an orphan means there are no parents or family around whatsoever.

It doesn't really matter, because those things are not the heart of the case. The defense will pick Travis apart and they will bring these inconsistencies up at trial, so we might as well consider them, because the defense team will be much worse on him. I don't like to put victims on trial, and his character isn't at the heart of the case, because no matter WHAT he did (short of trying to kill her or someone else), she shouldn't have shot him or stabbed him.

I understand you've been following the case, and I respect your theories about it, but mine are just different. The jurors will also bring many different experiences and perspectives when deciding. though they will all hopefully find her guilty, I doubt they will all 12 find him to be a hapless virgin led astray by her.

Hi, Wasn'tMe. Obviously, you're not just bringing these things up because the defense will bring them up. The defense will not question whether or not Travis was a devout Mormon, a question that nobody who actually knew him seems to have any difficulty answering in the affirmative. (I haven't read that even one of Jodi's family or friends described her as devout.) And as for some virginity test, it really doesn't pass too much muster: Even in the nineties, almost sixty percent of Mormon women had premarital sex and some LDS people believe that the number now is even higher and probably higher among men. Another survey indicated that not even a majority of Mormons think that premarital sex or extramarital sex is always wrong.

Travis did not leave a double life. Tiger Woods led a double life; the Russian spies caught this summer led a double life, but Travis did not. He did not keep his stormy relationship a secret. At least some of his friends knew that she sometimes stayed at the house. That he voiced negative things about her to people who disliked her is understandable and predictable. That he remained in contact with her on publicly accessible website indicates that this was no secret. Whether he told his male friends about their explicit sexual acts or their photographing each other nude we simply don't know. I don't know about you or other posters here, but I have never shared such intimate details with my friends either. Perhaps by your standards, I lead a double life.

Travis lived with his meth addict mother and his three sisters. Both parents were physically abusive. As for the parental supervision you mention, it must have been decisively singular: "I remember my mother emptying a revolver on the car my father was driving and my father subsequently taking an axe to my mother’s belongings and destroying them." Travis was close with his sisters and they have never disputed his account.

As for jurors having to believe that Travis was a hapless, seduced virgin to convict Jodi, it simply won't come into play. Their complicated, tumultous relationship doesn't exonerate her; it makes her motive as a more culpable vengeful killer more believable. The defense case will be relatively simple: They will contend that Jodi killed Travis in an attempt to defend herself from an attack initiated by him in or near the bathroom. The attack will be presented as either sexual or an effort by him to retrieve the camera and its degrading pictures.

 

[Justine8787]

Hi, Justine; as usual, an interesting post. I think that you're right: Jodi's conversion was part of her full immersion in Travis. (Quite literally, by the way: I think he helped with her LDS baptism.) I think that his charismatic blend of spirituality and can-do capitalism appealed to her; in fact, she seemed to be at least as widely read as him in the self-activated self improvement that he espoused. Also, I think that her New Age beliefs would make her more open to elements of Mormonism that some adult Christians might greet with skepticism. But, like other New Age people, Jodi picked and plundered from philosophies and religion and added parts of them to her own meaning system; she probably wasn't proud of being a bartender, but she wasn't guilt-ridden enough to give up what was probably a profitable livelihood for a moderately attractive woman.

Hi, Chanler! Yes, you must be right about the money. That has to be why she stayed a bartender. Do you have any idea what her role at PPL was? I find it hard to believe that if she only sold legal services the position would be lucrative enough to support herself. I'm assuming her photography business didn't do much either judging by the J Fine Art Myspace (all the photos were of family and friends).
I don't know anything about PPL. Maybe it's popular on the west coast. I had never heard of it before hearing about this case. I went to the website and the company kind of seems like a scheme to me.

 

[Knox]

:wave:Hi all just checking in to see if there is anything new ... I think the links below have been posted upstream, but wanted to bring them forward.


http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=travis+alexander&o=65#!/group.php?gid=33785181856&v=wall&ref=search

and-the other side of the table ...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=109886309056958&ref=search#!/group.php?gid=109886309056958&v=wall&ref=search

 

[wasnt_me]

Hi, Wasn'tMe. Obviously, you're not just bringing these things up because the defense will bring them up...

I'd like to start by saying that nothing is obvious except that these are all your opinions as my opinions are mine. Again, I will amicably disagree, using all the opinions that I have stated above. I do have to amicably ask that you not tell me that I didn't bring up the points for the reason that I said I did though, because I don't think we can have a friendly debate if you start telling me that I'm lying about my motives. I don't think I said I brought them up because the defense will. I think I said we might as well consider them, because the defense would pick him apart in trial.

don't know about you or other posters here, but I have never shared such intimate details with my friends either. Perhaps by your standards, I lead a double life....

I hope that you can accept that I don't share your opinion and I hope that you don't make generalized assumptions about my or anyone else's "standards" because unless you are in that person's brain, you cannot know what they really are or what they really think. Unless you were in Travis' brain, you cannot know what he really was or what he really thought. You can only conjecture, which is what I'm doing, just like you are doing. this is why I can say that by my "standards," I have no idea what kind of life you lead. If you died and I evaluated your case, who knows what opinion I'd form, but I'll tell you right now I'm offended to even be told that I have "standards" for people, because i'm no better than anyone else. I guess I do have a expectation for myself and others, though, and that is to allow people to have their own opinions without personally attacking them or trying to force them to conform to my thoughts or opinions.

I just want to leave it as you believe what you believe about Travis, and I will believe what I believe--even if I'm the only person on the planet who believes it.

 

[SheStartedIt]

CAPITAL CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

8:59 a.m. This is the time set for Capital Case Management Conference.

State's Attorney: Juan Martinez
Defendant's Attorney: Kirk Nurmi (1st chair)
Defendant’s Attorney: Victoria Washington (2nd chair)
Defendant: Present
Court Reporter: Scott Kindle

Discussion is held re: disclosure of victim’s e-mail accounts.

Based on the discussions held, the Court notes that the victim’s e-mail account,
prsnlpower@yahoo.com, has been fully disclosed; the victim’s e-mail account,
Travis.Alexander@gmail.com, additional disclosure needs to be completed; and the victim’s email
account, Wrestlingwindmill@hotmail.com, the State has been unable to locate any e-mail(s)
from this account. Further, the parties have confirmed the identifying information related to the
Yahoo account related to the victim’s letters that are the subject of current litigation
With respect to the victim’s Myspace, Facebook, Photobucket and LDS linkup accounts,
the detective from the arresting agency will submit the appropriate search warrant for the
account, if it exists.

Therefore,

IT IS ORDERED that the State shall have an additional 30 days to finalize the abovementioned
discovery and file a status report identifying all e-mail accounts and the status of
compliance with disclosure.

Defense counsel makes an oral request to have the Defense’s handwriting expert inspect
the victim’s handwritten journals.

Discussion is held.

IT IS ORDERED granting the Defendant’s oral request and the State shall make the
victim’s handwritten journals available for the Defendant’s handwriting expert to inspect.

Discussion is held re: current trial date.

Based on the discussions held, the Court notes that the State may have a conflict with the
current trial date, but the Court is affirming the current trial date of August 2, 2011 at this time.

IT IS ORDERED setting the next Capital Case Management Conference on October 26,
2010 at 8:30 a.m. in this division.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no less than two working days before each Case
Management Conference, the parties shall submit a Joint Case Management Report. This report
will inform the court of:

1. The specific progress made since the last Case Management Conference in
completing activities previously established by the court and the parties;
2. Specific case preparation to be completed before the next Case Management
Conference;
3. Witnesses who have been interviewed in the preceding month;
4. Witnesses who will be interviewed in the upcoming month;
5. Pending issues to be resolved;
6. Motion(s) to be file

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED affirming prior custody orders.

LAST DAY REMAINS: 09/02/2011

9:20 a.m. Matter concludes.

http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/docs/Criminal/092010/m4391050.pdf

 

[MandyLeigh]

This is one of my favorite cases here because this is the case that started me on Websleuthes and brought me to you wonderful people.

It's been so fascinating too, even though I have just lurked I've gone along for the ride since the beginning and it never gets old. I hope we get to finally see some justice.

So I'm going to give it a little bump to see if there is anything new to discuss?

 

[nobodyzgirl]

The Court has received Defendant’s Request for Additional Discovery Relating to the Assertion that the Letters Submitted to the Court are Forged.

http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/docs/Criminal/102010/m4447654.pdf

 

[nobodyzgirl]

Not much information, though I thought I'd post it anyway:

http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/docs/Criminal/102010/m4449207.pdf

 

[Chanler]

1. Apparently, the state will argue that Jodi forged or altered letters, most likely from Travis, but perhaps from some "anonymous" source. These letters would have been concocted, I assume, to show that Travis was sexually aggressive and thus likely to have instigated an attack that ended in his death. (Proof of such forgery would, of course, be another heavy burden on Jodi's already imperiled case.)

2. It's interesting that what are probably Travis and Jodi's email accounts have been returned over to the other side only very recently. Both sides realize that establishing a narrative about the relationship is important to the case.

3. I'm hoping that all of the controversy swirling around the county sheriff won't slow or otherwise complicate this case.

 

[Chanler]

http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/docs/Criminal/112010/m4480206.pdf

These official releases are always shadowy things, concealing specifics that are certain to come up at the trial. Nevertheless, a few interesting things seem to emerge.

1. The defense wants to know what tests have been conducted on Jodi's journal. Perhaps they are concerned for some reason that the state will contend that some entries have been added, expunged, or doctored after Travis's murder.

2. Jodi's lawyers also seem concerned by a prosecution assertion that letters have been forged (!) Both these contentions, if proven to any reasonable degree, would be deeply damaging to Ms. Arias.

3. That there are 82,000 pages of emails suggests that both sides will find ample detail to embroider their cases. As one poster associated with Travis' circle previously posted, it seems as if Jodi's defense might well fall back on a claim that an unwelcome sexual attack led to the killing. This seems totally unreasonable, but there can be no doubt that Travis was strongly physically attracted to Jodi. (Paradoxically, for a true believer in the Law of Attraction like Jodi, that purely physical allure might have convinced her that they were destined to be together.)

4. The as-yet-unresolved issue of the prosecution attempt to exclude "letters purportedly written" by Travis might be related to the issue of forgery mentioned above or it might simply involve erotic missives that the prosecution simply thinks are degrading and irrelevant. The former is more likely.

Perhaps I'm overthinking or misthinking these things, but I'm fascinated by how these things are unfolding. (Obviously Jodi is too because she's been attending all the meetings. Or perhaps she will just accept any offer to leave her cell.)

 

[nobodyzgirl]

http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/docs/Criminal/112010/m4480206.pdf

These official releases are always shadowy things, concealing specifics that are certain to come up at the trial. Nevertheless, a few interesting things seem to emerge.

1. The defense wants to know what tests have been conducted on Jodi's journal. Perhaps they are concerned for some reason that the state will contend that some entries have been added, expunged, or doctored after Travis's murder.

2. Jodi's lawyers also seem concerned by a prosecution assertion that letters have been forged (!) Both these contentions, if proven to any reasonable degree, would be deeply damaging to Ms. Arias.

3. That there are 82,000 pages of emails suggests that both sides will find ample detail to embroider their cases. As one poster associated with Travis' circle previously posted, it seems as if Jodi's defense might well fall back on a claim that an unwelcome sexual attack led to the killing. This seems totally unreasonable, but there can be no doubt that Travis was strongly physically attracted to Jodi. (Paradoxically, for a true believer in the Law of Attraction like Jodi, that purely physical allure might have convinced her that they were destined to be together.)

4. The as-yet-unresolved issue of the prosecution attempt to exclude "letters purportedly written" by Travis might be related to the issue of forgery mentioned above or it might simply involve erotic missives that the prosecution simply thinks are degrading and irrelevant. The former is more likely.

Perhaps I'm overthinking or misthinking these things, but I'm fascinated by how these things are unfolding. (Obviously Jodi is too because she's been attending all the meetings. Or perhaps she will just accept any offer to leave her cell.)

Thanks for posting this Chanler. I'm fascinated with how things are unfolding now. Jodi likely just wants to get out of cell for a couple of hours, and this is a good way to do it.

Does anyone recall how long she has now been in jail awaiting her trial? It seems like it has been a long time.

 

[Indianagirl]

Thanks for posting this Chanler. I'm fascinated with how things are unfolding now. Jodi likely just wants to get out of cell for a couple of hours, and this is a good way to do it.

Does anyone recall how long she has now been in jail awaiting her trial? It seems like it has been a long time.

I believe she was arrested in July of 08. I know it was around 1 month after Travis' death. So, it's been over 2 years now.

 

[Chanler]

I believe she was arrested in July of 08. I know it was around 1 month after Travis' death. So, it's been over 2 years now.

Thanks, Indianagirl, I had forgotten that it was that long. For a strong-willed person like Jodi, the situation must be extremely frustrating. (In fact, as I remember, in one of the early interviews, she actually stated that prison was so terrible that she would prefer a death penalty.)

At the beginning of her imprisonment, she foolishly imagined that she could best conduct her own defense: She learned better only after her ill-conceived interviews destroyed any chance for a flexible defense.

By this time, ground down by prison isolation and boredom, she must be aware that her strategy from the crime's conception to her last public statement has thrown away much, if not all of her remaining adult life.

 

[Indianagirl]

Thanks, Indianagirl, I had forgotten that it was that long. For a strong-willed person like Jodi, the situation must be extremely frustrating. (In fact, as I remember, in one of the early interviews, she actually stated that prison was so terrible that she would prefer a death penalty.)

At the beginning of her imprisonment, she foolishly imagined that she could best conduct her own defense: She learned better only after her ill-conceived interviews destroyed any chance for a flexible defense.

By this time, ground down by prison isolation and boredom, she must be aware that her strategy from the crime's conception to her last public statement has thrown away much, if not all of her remaining adult life.

Yea, I think she knows she is doomed. I'm paraphrasing here, but in the 48 hrs episode, she stated she was probably going to spend the rest of her life in jail for a crime she didn't commit. She said she had good and bad days in jail. Some days thinking she is going to be found guilty and other days she thinks everything will work out how it is suppose to and she won't be found guilty (again paraphrasing).

Since her time in jail, it's obvious she has been testing out different defenses. In her many interviews she has granted, she tells her story (in every interview the story has been a bit different IIRC) and then refuses to answer certain questions b/c that could jeopardize a future defense. For example, refusing to answer if there was any physical abuse in the relationship.

One thing I am interested in seeing is those private emails between Jodi and Travis. I thought I had a pretty good dynamic on what their relationship was like after hearing what his friends and family had to say, however the court docs and/or media make it sound like Travis was more into her than I thought? Not saying it really changes matters, it would just help us better understand what was really going on between them and what caused her to snap? KWIM?

 

[Chanler]

Yea, I think she knows she is doomed. I'm paraphrasing here, but in the 48 hrs episode, she stated she was probably going to spend the rest of her life in jail for a crime she didn't commit. She said she had good and bad days in jail. Some days thinking she is going to be found guilty and other days she thinks everything will work out how it is suppose to and she won't be found guilty (again paraphrasing).

Since her time in jail, it's obvious she has been testing out different defenses. In her many interviews she has granted, she tells her story (in every interview the story has been a bit different IIRC) and then refuses to answer certain questions b/c that could jeopardize a future defense. For example, refusing to answer if there was any physical abuse in the relationship.

One thing I am interested in seeing is those private emails between Jodi and Travis. I thought I had a pretty good dynamic on what their relationship was like after hearing what his friends and family had to say, however the court docs and/or media make it sound like Travis was more into her than I thought? Not saying it really changes matters, it would just help us better understand what was really going on between them and what caused her to snap? KWIM?

Thanks, Indianagirl. You're right: Jodi's narrative changed from interview to interview. The discovery of the digital camera photos and the handprint forced her to retreat and exposed the foolishness of her attempt to mastermind her own defense. (I think that her lawyers will cobble together a "little bit of this and little bit of that defense," arguing that a terrified Jodi killed Travis after he sexually attacked her and then she went into a traumatic disorder mode. They will also pick away at the forensics.)

I think that Travis's friends, most of them Mormon and understandably sympathetic to him, viewed Jodi as a Delilah stalker and Travis as a former victim who had rejected her. (The persona that Travis projected at conferences was that of a vulnerable soul who just hadn't met the right woman.) But I think the reality is more complicated. Travis may have known that to his valued friends, Jodi wasn't presentable marriage material, but he was obviously deeply erotically attracted to the woman with whom he had his first sexual experiences. That is evidenced by their continuing correspondence, his social posting references to her "hotness" even after they broke up, and certainly the scenario of the last day. And because both Travis and Jodi were connected with Prepaid Legal, their business and social contacts continued to overlap.

To me, the dynamic of the homicide was that Travis loved having sex with Jodi and that to Jodi, that undeniable attraction was proof that they had a deeper connection; that they were destined to be together. In two of her last blog postings before the crime, Jodi wrote about the undeniable power of the Law of Attraction and urged her readers to follow out their most compelling passion.

Also I think that the crime was, in effect, an execution with a twisted religious subtext: The puzzling fact that Travis' was body was washed in the shower after the murder makes more sense if one imagines that in some weird perversion of Mormon doctrine, Jodi imagined that she was preparing Travis for their eternal marriage together. That sounds bizarre and the truth is probably more complex and vague, but there is something weirdly ritualistic about going to a lover's house with weaponry, having sex with them, killing them in what seems like a pre-planned Psycho scene, washing their bodies, driving off; then calmly attending their memorial services and paying online tribute to their good qualities.