In April 13, 2015, convicted murderer Jodi Arias was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killing of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander.
The sentence was given by Judge Sherry Stephens after the jury reached a deadlock in March about whether to give Arias the death sentence or not, resulting in the ruling out of death sentence as an option. This left the judge to decide if she would allow Arias to be eligible for release after 25 years, which she did not permit.
The sentencing of Arias ended the almost 7-year legal drama that attracted attention worldwide because of the sensational details involved in the case that spread on the Internet.
In March 2013, Arias was convicted of murdering Alexander, an insurance salesman and motivational speaker, with whom she had an intimate relationship. Alexander was found dead in 2008, his body lying in a pool of blood in his shower. Investigators say he was shot and stabbed almost 30 times, according to CBS News.
Arias and Alexander met in a conference in 2006. They entered into a relationship the following year only to separate ways after five months. However, they maintained a casual on-again, off-again relationship.
The couple eventually broke up in August 2007, after which Arias reportedly began stalking her ex-boyfriend, at one time peeping through the window of his home in Phoenix, according to ABC News.
The public was quickly drawn in to the case, particularly with the various versions of Arias' testimony. At first, she denied any involvement in the death of her former lover. When investigators found her DNA together with Alexander's blood in the crime scene, she said they were attacked by two masked men who killed Alexander and, fearing they would come back for her if she exposed them, she did not tell the authorities, according to Bio.
Finally, she changed her story a third time when she was already in trial, saying that Alexander often abused her and that on the day he died, he tried to attack her and she killed him in self-defense.
When she was convicted of murder in 2013, Arias gave an interview saying she preferred the death penalty over life sentence. She said, "I would much rather die sooner than later. Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place," according to CBS News.
Arias is now serving her time and is being held in a maximum security unit at the Arizona State Prison Complex. If she will display good behavior, she might be transferred to a lower security unit after some time.
