Jodi Arias Trial: Woman Denies Killing Lover In Arizona

A woman accused of killing her lover in Arizona denied it during a videotaped interrogation. The woman, Jodi Arias, adds in the video that, if she had killed her lover, she would have killed him quickly and humanely.

Arias is charged with murdering her on-again-off-again boyfriend Travis Alexander in June 2008. If she is convicted, she faces the death penalty.

Yahoo! News reports that Arias is accused of stabbing and slashing Alexander almost 30 times. She also allegedly slit his throat from ear to ear and shot him in the head around June 4, 2008. His body was discovered five days later in his shower.

At first, the woman denied knowing anything about her lover’s killing. She later changed her story to say that two intruders burst into her lover’s home. They killed him, but she was able to escape. Her latest story is a confession to the murder. She claims, however, that she had to defend herself against Alexander, who was enraged and abusive.

On Wednesday, jurors were able to watch the videotaped interrogation, which was made shortly after Arias was arrested. A detective spoke with her, explaining that all the evidence pointed to her as the murderer.

The San Francisco Chronicle notes that the woman denied killing her lover, saying, “I did not kill Travis.” She added, however:

“I don’t think I could stab him. I think I would have to shoot him until he was dead if that were my intentions. But I would have to wear gloves. If I had it in me to kill him, the least I could have done was make it as humane as possible.”

Prosecutors claim that Arias went to Alexander’s house with the intention of killing him. They add that the woman allegedly left behind a crime scene that investigators called one of the most gruesome they’d ever seen. They believe that Arias attacked her lover after he broke up with her.

Arias claims, however, that she broke up with him five months after they began dating. She adds that she was forced to defend herself after Alexander “lunged at Jodi in anger” on the day he was killed.

The trial against Jodi Arias continues on Thursday and is expected to last until April.