Trial Date Set for Jodi Arias: Accused of Stabbing Boyfriend 27 Times, Shot in Face
The jury selection for the Jodi Arias trial will start on October 17, Judge Sherry Stephens has announced on Tuesday.
Jodi Arias is accused of brutally murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander in 2008. Arizona police said Alexander had 27 stab wounds, a gun-shot wound in the face and his throat had been slit from ear when his roommates found his body in the shower at his home in Mesa, Ariz.
Arias’ trial, which was initially set to begin in February, was delayed until October because Arias' death penalty-qualified public defender withdrew from the case in December. A death penalty-qualified defense attorney is essential to Arias’ case during jury selection, especially if she is convicted of first-degree murder in Arizona, a death penalty state.
Arias, a 32-year-old photographer from California, has given police various explanations for her boyfriend’s death. Arias initially said she wasn’t with Alexander when he was killed, but later said Alexander was killed by two intruders.Arias is now claiming that she killed Alexander in self-defense after he became violent with her.
“There was something very off about her. She was extremely obsessed with him,” Sky Hughes, a close friend of Alexander told The Huffington Post. “She liked him an abundance more than he liked her.”
“She would break into his email - multiple times - and when he started dating another girl, she snuck into the house and watched them sleeping - they had fallen asleep on an oversized bean bag watching a movie,” Hughes added. "To affirm Jodi was creepy and obsessed with Travis would be a huge understatement.”
Another hearing is scheduled for February 9.
