The sordid soap opera of youthful passion turned ugly reached its final stage Monday when onetime Yreka resident Jodi Arias, convicted of murder in 2013, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Arias, now 34, was convicted of killing her lover, Travis Alexander. The ruling came in a penalty hearing to determine if Arias could ever qualify for release.
Alexander’s body was found in a shower in his home in Mesa, Arizona, riveted with nearly 30 stab wounds and a bullet to the head.
The court action is the capstone of a salacious murder case that captivated the public with its prurient twists and turns.
After initially telling police she was elsewhere the day Alexander died, she later told authorities that two intruders broke into Alexander’s home and attacked them both. Arias argued that Alexander was erratic and prone to violence and that she killed him in an act of self-defense.
Revelations about the pair’s intimate life transfixed cable television and social media. Evidence emerged that Alexander was cheating on Arias and had tried to end the relationship.