Travis Alexander

On June 4, 2008, salesman Travis Alexander was killed by his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias, in Alexander's house in Mesa, Arizona. Arias was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8, 2013 and sentenced to natural life in state prison on April 13, 2015. At the time of the killing, Alexander sustained multiple knife wounds and a gunshot to the head. Arias testified that she killed Alexander in self-defense. The murder and trial received widespread media attention. Background: Travis Victor Alexander was born on July 28, 1977, in Riverside, California. After his father's death in July 1997, Alexander and his seven siblings were taken in by their paternal grandmother, Norma Jean Preston Alexander Sarvey (1932–2012), who eventually introduced them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Alexander was a salesman for PPL - Prepaid Legal Services (later renamed LegalShield), a legal services company. He also worked as a motivational speaker for PPL. Jodi Ann Arias was born on July 9, 1980, in Salinas, California. She and Alexander met in September 2006 at a Prepaid Legal Services conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. On November 26, 2006, Arias was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Alexander. Alexander and Arias began dating in February 2007.Arias moved to Mesa, Arizona. In April 2008, she moved to Yreka, California, and lived with her grandparents. Death: The killing of Travis Alexander occurred on June 4, 2008. On June 9, 2008, Alexander's body was discovered by his friends in a shower at his home in Mesa, Arizona. Alexander had sustained 27 to 29 stab wounds, his throat had been slit, and he had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Medical Examiner Kevin Horn testified that Alexander's jugular vein, common carotid artery, and trachea had been slashed and that Alexander had defensive wounds on his hands. Horn further testified that Alexander "may have" been dead at the time the gunshot was inflicted, and that the back wounds were shallow. Alexander's death was ruled a homicide. He was buried at the Olivewood Cemetery in Riverside, California. Discovery and investigation: On May 28, 2008, a burglary occurred at the residence of Arias' grandparents, with whom she was living. Among the missing objects was a .25-caliber gun, which was never recovered. This later became significant as a spent .25 caliber round was found near Travis Alexander's body at the murder scene. On June 2, Arias rented a car in Redding, California, approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of her home. Arias told the rental company staff that she would only drive the car locally, but when Arias returned the car on June 7, it had been driven about 2,800 miles (4,500 km). The car was missing its floor mats and had red stains on its front and rear seats. The car was cleaned before police could examine it. On June 5, Arias called Alexander several times and left several voicemail messages for him. She also accessed Alexander's voice mail system. Alexander missed an important conference call on the evening of June 4. On June 9, having been unable to reach Alexander, a concerned group of his friends went to his home. His roommates initially said he was out of town. After finding a key to Alexander's master bedroom, his friends entered the room and found large pools of blood in the hallway to the master bathroom, where his body was discovered in the shower. In the 9-1-1 call made to authorities (not heard by the jury), Alexander's friends mentioned an ex-girlfriend, Arias, who Alexander had said was stalking him, accessing his Facebook account, and slashing his tires. Alexander was scheduled to leave on June 10, 2008, for a work-related trip to Cancún, Mexico. In early 2008, Alexander told his company that Arias would join him. In April, Alexander asked to change his travel companion to another female friend. While searching Alexander's home, police found Alexander's recently purchased digital camera damaged in the washing machine. Police were able to recover deleted images showing Arias and Alexander in sexually suggestive poses, taken at approximately 1:40 p.m. on June 4. The final photo of Alexander alive was taken at 5:29 p.m. that day. Alexander was in the shower when the photo was taken. Photos taken moments later show an individual believed to be Alexander "profusely bleeding" on the bathroom floor. A bloody palm print was discovered along the wall in the bathroom hallway; it contained DNA from both Arias and Alexander. On July 9, 2008, Arias was indicted by a grand jury for the first-degree murder of Alexander. She was arrested at her home on July 15 and extradited to Arizona on September 5. Arias pleaded not guilty on September 11. Arias gave several different accounts about her involvement in Alexander's death. She originally told police that she had not been in Mesa on the day of the murder and claimed that she last saw Alexander in April 2008. Arias later told police that two intruders had broken into Alexander's home, murdering him and attacking her. Two years after her arrest, Arias told police that she killed Alexander in self-defense, claiming that she had been a victim of domestic violence.