Jodi Arias On Trial For Stabbing Travis Alexander 27 Times, Murder

Jodi Arias is on trial after being charged with the murder of boyfriend Travis Alexander after she stabbed him 27 times and shot him in the head in 2008. The trial, which is being held in Phoenix, is being nationally televised.

Arias, 32, and Alexander, 30, met in 2006 in Las Vegas and began dating shortly thereafter. Alexander, a marketing company executive and a Mormon, dated other women, which caused erratic behavior in Arias, who apparently stalked him and slashed his tires, but still slept with him, People reports.

^{Photo: Jodi Arias / Myspace.com}

It’s possible that matters boiled over when Alexander invited Marie Hall, whom he met at church, to Cancun for a trip instead of Arias. On June 9, 2008, Hall and Alexander’s roommate, after not having heard from Alexander for a number of days, went to his room and uncovered the crime scene.

Arias has changed her story often, first saying she hadn’t been around him in months and then saying that Alexander was attacked by other people. When the prosecution found a camera with photographs of the two having sex on the day of the crime, as well as photos of her pulling his body across the floor, Arias argued that she retaliated in self-defense when Alexander attacked her for dropping the camera.

While Arias is bearing the “jealous ex-girlfriend” burden, the defense is arguing that Alexander was manipulative and verbally abusive to Arias, even forcing her to wear a T-shirt that said “Travis Alexander’s.”

"That T-shirt is the perfect example of how Travis treated her," defense Jennifer Willmott said, the New York Daily News reports.

Ultimately, Arias could be the fourth woman on death row in Arizona if she is convicted of murder.