The twisty trial of Jody Arias, the woman who was found guilty of viciously murdering her boyfriend in the shower, is reaching its own grisly conclusion, as the jury determined that Arias should be eligible for the death penalty. Arizona law indicates that, in order for the death penalty to be applied, the victim must have been murdered in an especially cruel way. Travis Alexander, who was killed in 2008, was stabbed thirty times, shot in the head, and then had his throat cut, and the twelve jurors determined that his death was indeed “especially cruel.”
After three hours of deliberation, the Phoenix jury that convicted Arias determined on Wednesday that she was eligible for the death penalty. Now that the mortal sentence is in play, both the prosecution and the defense will have the opportunity to present more evidence to the juror, who must determine whether she will be sentenced to die.
As part of a presentation to the jury before they deliberated about the eligibility of Arias for the death penalty, the Huffington Post reports that prosecutor Juan Martinez said, “The last thing he saw before he lapsed into unconsciousness was that blade coming to his throat. And the last thing he felt before he left this earth was pain. She made sure she killed him by stabbing him over and over and over again.”
In an attempt to illustrate the cruelty of Arias’ actions, Martinez explained that, based on his injuries, it would have taken Alexander two minutes to die from the wounds. He then asked the jury and those in the court room to sit in silence for two minutes. At the conclusion of those two minutes, he said, “Does that feel like a short period of time? No.”
The jury sitting on the trial will have to unanimously determine that Arias is deserving of the death penalty. If they do not sentence her to death, she will be given a life sentence in prison.
Prior to her conviction, Arias told the press that, were she convicted, she would prefer to receive a death penalty so that she would not have to suffer in prison.