The Jodi Arias Verdict: GUILTY Murder One

It took five years for the trial of Jodi Arias to take place. Five years from the time she slaughter Travis Alexander, her boyfriend, in his own home. There is no other way to describe the crime. There were approximately 30 stab wounds, mostly to his back. She slit his throat from ear to ear. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, she shot him in the face two times. She tried to clean up the crime scene, but that was impossible. So she deleted some incriminating pictures from her camera and threw it in the washing machine, thinking she had destroyed them…wrong. The pictures were retrieved and used at trial. Then she took a little trip, turning her cell phone off, so she couldn’t be tracked to any particular location. She had a tryst with an old boyfriend to establish an alibi. When she was brought in for questioning, she lied and lied and lied, swearing she had nothing to do with the murder. She came around to admitting her guilt, but claimed it was self defense. However the jury, and any one in their right mind, would not believe the “self-defense” theory. On top of that, Jodi has “amnesia” for the time of the murder and a couple of hours after. It was selective memory loss and the defense provided two “expert” witnesses to back her up. One expert said she suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome and the other said she was a battered woman. Neither expert was believable at $250 an hour, a huge waste of taxpayer money.

I’ve read a lot about the case. This despicable excuse for a human being not only killed Travis, but made an attempt to assassinate his character. She portrayed him as an abuser and that she was afraid of him. Yet she killed him right after a session of “love making” while Travis was in the shower. She just happened to have a loaded gun and knife handy. The gun, which she disposed of, just happened to be the same type that was stolen from her grandparent’s home a few days earlier. She also forged a letter and testified that Travis was attracted to young boys. The jury was not allowed to hear about the forged letter, but she did testify in court that he looked at photos online and in magazines. People who knew Travis painted a very different picture of him. No one had a bad word to say about him. His family and friends have been waiting five years for justice. They have had to endure looking at the gruesome crime scene photos used at trial. They have shed countless tears while Jodi spun her web of lies and sat in her seat, with no expression of emotion, “drawing” artwork to sell, throughout the trial. By the way, they have recently reported that her “artwork” is of copyrighted material, print ads from magazines, so it’s a rip off.

Jodi’s “story” of what took place that day on 2008 was shot full of holes by the prosecution and the medical examiner. The trial has been going on since January. Jodi took the stand and was questioned for several days. Apparently, she didn’t convince anyone of her innocence or that the crime was an act “self-defense.” She killed Travis in the shower. Why would Travis attack her from the shower? Who in the world is going to attack someone from the shower. How many stab wounds are necessary for self defense? If you don’t know you are going to be attacked, how do you happened to have two weapons on hand? Why don’t you call the police instead of messing with the crime scene and evidence, and then running off for a rendezvous with an ex-boyfriend? So many unanswered questions. The jury deliberated for roughly 15 hours and came to the conclusion she was guilty of murder one, premeditated murder. Five of the jurors voted it was premeditated, seven voted it was both premeditated and a felony murder. Jodi could get the death penalty depending on the outcome of the next two phases of the trial.

Today the second phase begins. It’s the “aggravation” phase in which the prosecutor has to show that the crime was unusually cruel. I don’t see how the prosecution will have a problem with proving that. From the crime scene investigators can tell that Travis, already bleeding from stab wounds, had gotten up and was standing in front of the bathroom mirror and watched while Jodi continued stabbing him in the back. He tried to get away from her, looking to get to the exit, but collapsed on his way to the door. It was then that they say Jodi cut his throat from ear to ear and dragged his body back to the bathroom. And, as if that all wasn’t enough, she then shot him in the face two times. How long did Travis suffer during the attack? How terrified was he? It will all come out today at trial. Of course, her defense attorney’s have the impossible task of trying to say it wasn’t unusually cruel…good luck to them…even Perry Mason and Matlock together couldn’t pull that off.

The third phase is the “mitigation” phase. That is the phase when family and friends will be allowed to speak. The defense attorney’s will have to make some kind of argument that Jodi doesn’t deserve the death penalty and state some reasons. I have no idea what kind of reasons they will come up with. One lawyer suggested they say this was her first criminal act. Another thought Jodi should make a statement about being very remorseful. No one believes that Jodi is capable of making that kind of statement, and it may not make a difference if she did. She lied so much, no one is going to believe anything she says. Travis’ family will be allowed to express their feelings and tell the judge and jury what punishment they feel Jodi deserves. Oddly enough, after the verdict was read, Jodi was already talking to the media, as calm as can be, saying she would prefer the death penalty to life in prison because longevity runs in her family. I wonder if that is a “ploy” or a manipulative tactic on her part, to get life in prison. Maybe she feels she is so hated by everyone that they will do the opposite of what she requests? In my opinion, no one wants to die. Survival is a strong human instinct. I don’t put it past her to try and “play” the system, the jurors and Travis’ family.  I say make her happy and give her the death penalty, it’s cheaper than 60 years in prison.

Thank God the jury saw through all her lies. After the OJ and Casey Anthony verdicts, I have to say I was a little nervous she would get away with murder one. It’s good to know that Travis will get justice and hopefully, his family will have some closure knowing Jodi will be punished.

Cannibal Cop

This story is just too bizarre for me not to have something to say about it. Frankly, I can hardly believe it and you can bet Hollywood is already writing a screen play for a movie inspired by this true story.

The trial of Gilberto Valle is now underway and he has, of course, a female attorney to defend him. The facts of the case are that Valle, a member of the NYPD, was involved in an online subculture with people who plan and plot to kidnap, rape, cook and eat women. He also managed to use a government data base to collect information on specific women he wanted to target. It is reported that he had a list of at least 100 women and was involved with two online predators, one in Great Britain and a butcher in India, with the same sick minds and into cannibalism. Valle discussed taking his then girlfriend (now wife and mother of his child) to India, where the men could gag her, take her to the basement and take turns sexually assaulting her. Then they would slit her throat and cook her. Valle said he loved the thought of stringing her upside down, watch her suffer and slowly cook her till she dies. He actually wanted to cook women alive.

The defense? Yes, he has a defense. Valle pleads not guilty and his lawyer says he never actually committed any crimes or harmed any women, it was all fantasy. Role-playing with like minded individuals, she called it. If it was fantasy, why did he need real information on these specific women? Why was he trying to get information about their jobs and daily routines? To me that shows intent to do harm and carry out his plans. And who is going to decide what was the real operation of his mind? Who do we believe?  His lawyer? Do we just take him at his word that this was all a “game,” and let him back into society? Or do we trust the mounting and irrefutable evidence that he himself created due to his obsession?

His wife took the stand on Monday to testify. She learned she and her friends were at the top of her husband’s list of planned victims. His wife said she found Valle to be acting strange and her concern led her to install spyware into the computer to see what was going on. What she found was shocking and unimaginable. Once she read and saw the horrible pictures of what he had been obsessed with, she took their baby daughter and left the home. She took her laptop with her, back to her parents home in Nevada, and handed over keys to FBI for them to search her apartment. That is when authorities found websites and incriminating Google searches for rope, chloroform, and recipes for “human flesh.”

Valle, if convicted, faces life in prison. Thank God he has never actually harmed anyone, that that know of yet. Who knows how close he was to actually executing his sick plans? I can’t for the life of me imagine what kind of mind would/could conceive of ideas like these. I am just glad his wife and daughter are safe and that spyware exists so she was able to discover his intentions before she was his first victim.

Yesterday, the jury returned a verdict. Guilty on all counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. His lawyers were upset saying he was charged with a crime because of internet searches and fantasies he wasn’t going to act on. They say we don’t know the operation of his mind and can’t prove intent to harm anyone. They also say we all need to be worried about our online searches. I say they can’t prove he didn’t have intent to harm. I say his actions all point to his intent to do harm. I saw the charts of the 100 women he had selected with their pictures and information of where they lived, worked and more. I saw the searches on how to make chloroform. He detailed how he was going to place the body so it fit in an oven. He searched for torture devices and other tools. He agreed to kidnap a woman for $5,000 for a guy who wanted to rape and kill her and then showed up on her block. The other man has been arrested. And there were plenty of pictures of women being tortured that upset the jury. The prosecution states that Valle went beyond just thoughts, he took actual steps to carry out his conspiracy. That he was plotting to commit crimes. The jury made its decision based on all the evidence presented.

Valle’s mother was shocked. She was there every day of the trial and cannot understand how her poor, innocent son could be convicted when he didn’t do anything. Sorry, but I find it hard to come up with any sympathy for her. And to his defense attorneys, and anyone else who feels Valle got a raw deal and was wrongfully convicted, I say what if your daughter or wife was on his list of planned victims? Would you feel the same way? Should law enforcement have waited around until one of the victims actually disappeared? Is that what his defense attorneys are suggesting? Let’s wait and see how far he is willing to go to carry out these crimes? Thank God we will never have to “wait and see.” Hopefully, he will get life in prison and this menacing man will never be a threat to anyone again.