Jodi Arias Trial: In Her Own Words.. How I Killed Travis Alexander With HIS Gun and HIS Knife
Photo Courtesy AP Pool
Phoenix, Arizona- In today’s highly anticipated morning testimony, Jodi Arias finally “gets there”.
After weeks of what can only be described as the dog ate my defense testimony led by Kirk Nurmi, Jodi Arias explains the events leading up to and during the murder of Travis Alexander.
Arias describes an irate and menacing Travis who bounds from the shower, causing her to drop his new camera and pouncing on her, knocking her to the wet tile floor.
“ A five year old can hold a camera better than you.” Arias stated Alexander screamed at her among other threatening expletives while she struggled to break free.
She then ran to the master bedroom closet and apparently using the Spiderman techniques she absorbed via osmosis from the alleged Valentines gift, retrieved a gun she claimed Travis owned over two feet out of her reach while he was sprinting behind her.
She pointed the gun at him, did not realize it went off and then Travis, still coming at her, stumbles to his knees on the now bloody tile beneath him. ( Editors Note: As I have always said, I believe the order of this injury is true and is important to the charges against her)
Enter gratuitous memory gap.
“I have no memory of stabbing him.” – Jodi Arias
Although Arias admits to having flash backs, she states she cannot remember any other details with the exception of her crouched in the bathroom covered in blood and drops a knife she believes was upstairs used by Travis to cut ropes he used to tie her up to the bed.
She did however, have the presence of mind to grab the ropes, the gun, apparently removes and loses her shoes and has no idea what happened to the knife she used to stab Alexander 29 times and slit his neck from ear to ear.
Next memory she is driving in the desert with the gun she alleges was Travis’s when she pitches it out the window at a random location, then puts the ropes in a dumpster behind a gas station and washes blood off her hands.
Pause for Arias innocuous driving babble and road scenery.
“Why didn’t you call 911 and tell them what happened?” Kirk Nurmi asks his sniffling but tearless client.
” …He attacked you, why did you feel You messed up pretty badly?”
“This time it was different, he had done it before and nothing happened, it was heightened.” Responded Arias.
While approaching a check point in Utah, she feels like she will be apprehended there.
Arias decided to do a “whole bunch of things” to cover up she was ever there.
So .. “I called his phone to leave a voice mail”. For nearly 16 minutes she says she tried numerous times to leave a cheery voice mail to ask as if she was not present in Alexander’s home.
“I just thought they would be listening to his voice mail, so I just thought it would throw the scent off for a while.”
– Jodi Arias
Yes, she actually said that on the stand. Defense Attorney Kirk Nurmi was observed writing a note to co-counsel Jennifer Wilmott to send an assistant out to Sam’s for an industrial size supply of Tums.
I made that part up. Testimony continues following jury lunch break.
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My hippocampus is overwhelmed!!!!
The preferred stance for a pistol shooter is feet apart and if inexperienced, use both hands arms extended so that both wrists take the shock of the recoil. The arms extended position does not prevent one from pointing the gun up or down or left of center or right of center. Jodi could have followed Travis with the gun with no problem. The one shot she did get off was IMO pure luck. We have to understand that Jodi cannot tell the truth about anything. Sometimes there is a bit of truth included in a story.
There are hollow point shells made by Hornady and Speer for the 25 cal. The grain size is 35 and 50 with expansion to 1 1/2 times the diameter of the bullet. The bullet diameter is .257″. These are not your everyday shells. Their muzzle velocity is faster than for an std.round nosed bullet. The muzzle energy is around 65 ft/lbs.
Penetration in the human body is low. Normal clothing and a little higher than normal body fat will often stop the bullet from penetrating muscle and organs. This is why I do not believe that the skull was actually penetrated. Getting hit by a fist or a thrown baseball would produce more energy than delivered by this little bullet.
My Psychologist recommended (did not give it to me) “The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook” which I purchased when I was having some depression. It explains PTSD amongst other disorders. Also has a Self-Diagnosis questionnaire. I believe this is the book he gave Jodi.
lyla- thank you for sharing.
B
Amys Sister says:
March 21, 2013 at 12:16 pm
Amys, According to Chris Hughes, Arias began delving into Mormon teachings about one week after meeting Travis. Previous to that, and according to her MySpace page, Arias was interested in remote viewing, Buddha, Wicca and astrology to name a few.
She has a switch that goes between A and B.
A is the charming seductress that lures unsuspecting people into her web with her sensuality, sweet voice, unorthodox sexual proclivities and by basically attaching herself to the person both literally and figureatively. Note that even when she’s whispering to JW’s assistant, she does it in a seductive way. When she nods thank you to the guard… reminiscent of CA in her polo tee, nodding to the guard as she leaves a free woman. Arias has JW sitting very close to her. She has molded her looks and persona to closely resemble JW, although she does not have the means to look as polished.
When distance is an issue, Arias uses a stare, wetting the lips, naughty inuendos and text messages.
B is the the evil, cold blooded murderer without a heart or soul. How many people have said that her eyes are empty.
This is my observation only, but I’ve noticed something about people who seem to “go crazy” such as the school shooters, bombers, family killers, etc. If you look at their eyes, you can almost trace to when they lost reality. In the end, you can see white around the whole eye. In other words, the eyelids do not hide the sclera. This is not true for Arias nor CA. Their eyes are dark and hollow, empty. See what a friend of Travis has to say about Arias’ eyes. “She had a demeanor about her that was off. If you looked into her eyes, she was soulless. But she seemed to have this control, or this power over the single men.”
http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/01/29/jodis-eyes-were-soulless
TwitterChris Williams @chriswnews
Some #TravisAlexander fam & friends now removing blue ribbons & pics from clothes. Appears what Juan Martinez met w/them about. #JodiArias
So the defense must have finally complained about the Ribbons to the Judge.
I do not remember seeing open displays on the family members, but it is inappropriate in a court of law. Frankly, JM should have prepped the family about that in advance. They should proudly display it at sentencing.
B
Really multiple personality disorder. It is so clear to me by his answers that he is not giving an unbiased testimony. I probably should not say this but…I will. Some people graduate at the top of the class and then some people graduate at the bottom. I will leave it at that.
LOL. Sometimes less is more Pam- nailed that.
B
Dr Fog just described an “aggressive” person behaviorally.
get the transcript. fits him to a T. esp the ” parenting ” part.
It does seem like having all night and this morning to think about the jurists questions has helped Dr Samuels.
Blink, when were the attornies given the questions? Was it yesterday or today?
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary! Wilmot’s stammering, ponderous questioning, combined with Samuels’ vapid, self-important speculations is sending me into a viscerally apoplectic fit. No way the jury is listening to this. Excuse me while I go step in front of a moving bus.
Hot Poker In the eye aisle everyone. Repeat. Hot Poker In the eye aisle everyone.
She is not a criminal defense litigator, imo. I say this respectfully because I do believe she is strong in basic case law and knowledge in general. If the potential for a lawyers idiosyncrasies alienates the desired audience (jury) it just does not work, imo.
I would be defending her if I saw a shred of due process savant- save delivery. There is no excuse for forming witness questions like we can read her thought bubble.
Her thought bubble garble. Not personal to Ms. Wilmott but she lost me at boots in court in AZ. Keep in mind I am a boot collector.
B
I believe I mentioned previously Nurmi is off grid to the PD Office experts.
B
Dr Samuels’ answer that 25-30 hours is the maximum a doc can spend with a patient evaluating before the relationship becomes ‘too familiar’ is interesting.
In therapy a patient normally has one hour visits 1-2 times per week depending on the treatment and severity of mental issues needing to be addressed. According to this blog the two tests given to Arias by Dr Samuels take a combined total of 45 minutes to complete.
http://kristinarandle.com/blog/jodi-arias-trial-how-expert-was-dr-samuels-expert-testimony/
That means the good doctor spent 24-29 hours with Jodi (why can’t he be more specific given that he is charging by the hour?) not including the time she spent taking the tests.
Using this line of thinking the psychologist has spent the time with Jodi equivalent to 12-29 weeks of therapy. I don’t care who you are… a therapist has most definitely established a ‘familiar’ relationship with a patient after that many hours.
I know someone who was evaluated by a psychiatrist on a court ruling in trying to determine which adult (neither of whom were bio parents) would be best suited to raise two children. The time spent with the psych was one day 5 hours for testing and a couple of one hour visits for interview.
Dr. Samuels and Arias became acquaintances and ‘too familiar’ during their time together, in spite of what he is saying on the stand, IMO.
Blink
“Gotta be honest I am surprised that a prosecution witness and professional with medical records on their laptop does not have remote lock or lojack.”
Im shocked that a professional doesnt have information like this backed up to a Cloud application for instant retrieval. Its unprofessional and inexcuseable with the available technology today.
At the very least it should be backed up on another server.
Agreed, but we don’t know that she does not. In the forensics world, we rely on chain of custody. Ergo- our concern is the physical lap top. If that is the origin of upload or download storage- a theft is compromising to data.
Has anyone heard there is a data breach allegation?
B
According to Dr Samuels Jodi told him that she viewed Travis as “a better class of guy… someone who was going to help her rise above the level she was currently living”.
Basically, IMO, she saw Travis as a meal ticket and so she became obsessed with him… seeing him as the thing that would give her a better life than she had had before and when he refused to be that for her, when he saw what he was to her, he became dead.
Here’s the thing about psychopaths: They are very sexual and they use sex and their sexuality to get what they want if they can. Just because JA used men on the outside of prison walls to manipulate, does not mean that she won’t use women behind prison walls to do the same. If there are NO men that she can use in jail, she can make use of unsuspecting women – either other female inmates or female officers. It just depends on what she wants. There may be the occasional male officer that she comes in contact with and she may try to use her sexuality on the occasional male officer, but if women hold more weight in her jail situation, then they will do nicely too. Male – female – it’s all the same to them. The bottom line is getting what they want and if it takes sex OR their sexuality to get it then that’s what they do best. They really don’t have many options in a jail setting. I’ve seen many an officer succumb to the charms of a psychopath in their charge and many have gotten burnt in the process. If you’re wise to them, they don’t bother much with you. If you don’t have a good ‘hinky meter’ you’re doomed.
Sue- I agree with you on your partial assessment on psychopaths. I do not believe Jodi is a psychopath. She does not hit at all on the psycopathy checklist. That said, she is skilled enough in the areas I think you are getting at to still qualify for your concern.
It occurs to me- is the fact that she is an insult to psychopaths worthy of instructive conversation?
B
Blink or A Texas Grandfather or anyone familiar with guns, if a gun normally shoots a hollow point bullet would it cause that gun to jam if a different type of bullet was put in it? How sensitive would a gun be to it’s ammunitions?
Mom of 3,
You didn’t like seeing Baez in the video I posted? I always think that anything can be educational. That’s why Blink says to “Scroll and Roll”–I usually do.
Rose, and anyone with MH experience/knowledge:
I’m curious about the Borderline analysis, in light of the printer paper, waste basket, headstand, as well as the overkilling rage;
Also, do you suspect a Thought disorder? I don’t really see that in JA.
What is your view of Dr.Fog’s dissociative identity disorder conclusion/theory–do you think that would account for JA’s ability to murder and lie about it?
Thanks for all the work you do for the victims.
Also, I’m not sure of the changes in DSM 5 affecting discussion of sociopaths like JA…Especially cuz I just called her a S-path and I doubt that’s a clinical diagnosis.
Is she a psychopath with antisocial behavior?
susanm-
Hi good points
The phone I think it was frustration that made Travis throw the phone away from him not anger- spurred to violence.
it is a far cry from throwing a phone down in frustration to throwing a person down- in anger
and remember according to Travis he feared the bathroom getting wet- I do not see him charging from the shower stall to body slam Jodi standing over her dripping wet-
IF the camera story is true which i doubt also- i he may have yelled at her- took the time to wrap a towel around himself and then picked up his camera to inspect it-at the sink-
I dont believe the body slam story &
I truly do not think Travis ever chased her from the bathroom down that hall and thru the closet.
AJMO
I’ve been cooped up in a car driving to PA again so the best I could get was listening to HLN’s commercial filled coverage. HLN irks me that they pretend they are showing court live, when they are taping it and showing it around their commercial breaks. NG is saying right now she will take us back into the courtroom live and it’s 8:20 ET. The court recessed nearly an hour ago.
I did, however, catch the good doctor’s assessment of Travis’ IMs telling Jodi how wrung out he was with her drama and wanted her to leave him alone. Wilmott and Samuels were tsk-tsking that Travis was mean and threatening to her. Does it not occur to either of them that Travis was trying to pry her claws off him so he could move on with his life? That he was thoroughly exhausted with a sneaky, prying, underhanded stalker who crept into his house, hid in his closet, crawled in through the dog door, and peeped in his window while he was with another woman? Jeez, Jodi, HE WAS JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU. That’s why she killed him; she’d branded him as hers and wasn’t letting him go. It’s why she killed him and I think the jury is getting this as well. I do like jury questions!
On a lighter note, Jodi isn’t looking much like a bombshell these days. Maybe it’s because she’s gotten so skinny, but she looks like she dropped off an Old Maid card. Her defense team has tried, bless their hearts, but they don’t have much to work with. Dr. Samuels is making a lame attempt to serve the defense’s purposes and appears to be sloppy with his professional practices. A nice enough fellow who likely had NO idea he’d be going up against Martinez. LOL I have to laugh when I watch Martinez lay into witnesses. While it would be your worst nightmare to be cross examined by him, he really is so good at cutting to the core.
Maybe Jodi “just wasn’t assertive enough”, but damn, I’d say she didn’t have a problem on June 4, 2008! She didn’t need to be more assertive with Travis, she needed to leave him alone! Fatal Attraction is the closest I can come to characterizing their relationship and it had to be a horror for Travis. When I ponder what would send a person over the line into frenzied murder, it brings me back to how dangerous Jodi is and I think she would do it again given similar circumstances. Fathers should teach their sons that God gave them a brain and a penis, but only enough blood to power one of them at a time. When in doubt, use your brain, boys.
Rose I agree with your comment-
The Doctor is trying to find an excuse for Jodis behavior
he entertained the thought of multiple personality disorder?
you becha ya
So when that excuse seemed too farfetched and “Primal Fear” like..not to mention I would assume those tests arent multiple choice…he thought:
well we must come up with a diagnosis that can fit into there was some kind of a break and she cant remember….she did it but she didnt really do it
lets go with dissociative amnesia instead of dissociative personality
with a side order of acute stress leading to PTSD
Poof just like magic-Ala peanut butter sandwiches -
AJMO
Word Girl- – you didnt put a disclaimer on the vid that it was the one with Baez- you didnt say heres the reenactment moms been talking about, which Blink shared her thoughts on also:
I thought it was a new vid featuring just the closet and a 215 lb man-
so I inadvertently clicked on it-
but thanks because it proved to me that the whole “reenactment” was anything but and the rooms definitely were not to scale-
-Scroll and roll why would I scroll and roll past a comment
And why would you scroll and roll-as you said anything can be educational right?
A simple oops sorry Mom3.0 but thanks for sharing what you learned from my link wold have sufficed-
But instead its you didnt like seeing Baez, then scroll and roll …alrighty then-
AJMO
Peace
@word girl. No Way she’s a dissociative identity disorder which imo he’s not competant to dx anyway. Would need a psychiatrist well-versed. like frank putnam as an expert who when I knew him was big on yoga & chief of alcoholism unit. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder
my point was Dr Fog seems to selects tests to fit hypotheses.
imo Borderline can fit overkilling rage, but less likely the tape stuff.
But if it’s pre- med it’s not a rage issue.
Late to this, weak on facts, but imo if she pre-med shot him with the pea- shooter, of course he wasn’t disabled, came at her back, & she fought in return with the knife (that piece being unexpected but necessary in the throes).
A psychiatist & treatment team imo would need her at least 30 days inpatient if not 6 mos – year to determine if she was primarily thought or personality disordered. And response to medication would be part of the eval. I personally lean to thought disordered, like Hinckley, or there was a drug issue with some pcp laced into the mj due to the nature of the slaughter. A BPD could kill without the uber craziness imo. I have only lay person opinions.
PS what I got today briefly on phone from Fog was substantially better with yes / no responses.
he is only as good as his questioner. i began to think better of his judgement today.
Dissociative Identity Disorder my eye
The reason he’s mentioning that disorder is because of the memory issues that were made up.
Here’s a blurb I pulled off the web that talks about memory (how the Dr is trying to use this diagnosis because it mentions the memory issue during stress
):
Dissociative disorders including DID have been attributed to disruptions in memory caused by trauma and other forms of stress, but research on this hypothesis has been characterized by poor methodology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder
I think Juan Martinez is going to wear a hold in the carpet. He’s driving me insane! I cant stand the pacing back and forth…ok, I confess, I did it! lol
Seriously though, watching him pace back and forth while rapidly firing off questions and acusations made me nervous (in a frustrated type of way). It would be hard to focus with that going on and him raising his voice ‘demanding’ answers.
Ode
To answer your question about ammo in the little 25 cal. auto pistol. These little guns have a history of being a little flaky if they are not well taken care of by their owner. As long as proper ammunition for that cal. pistol is used, the type of point does not matter.
The ammunition consists of a brass casing (the part where the powder goes)the powder in the casing, the primer at the rear of the casing and a bullet that is crimped into the casing at the front.
These bullets have different shapes, but are all measured to fit the chamber properly so that the firearm will operate. There are three types of bullets available; 1. round or blunt nose with metal jacket over the lead, 2. hollow point that is shaped like the round or blunt nose with the center removed and often grooved into segments, and 3. a hollow point filled with a polymer which will separate from the bullet on or before impact. The polymer is there to prevent drag in the air allowing faster bullet speed.
The destructive power of a bullet is based on the size of the wound cavity, and the amount of force that is delivered. All bullets will flatten and spread to some extent. The purpose of the hollow point design is to allow the bullet to expand to at least 1 1/2 times its diameter at impact.
Now you have about half of the general information about ammunition.
@ Rose says:
March 21, 2013 at 9:13 pm
Thank you! This is something I’ve been focused on for some time. I thought maybe the practices were different in the US than in Canada.
I’ve NEVER been diagnosed by a psychiatrist. I’ve been taught cognitive therapy and particular life skills.
I have a psychiatrist who’s evaluated me quite extensively (very thorough tests) and provided the Rx. I’ve seen my psychologist more than 3 times a year. I can’t understand how the Dr. could possibly get to know Jodi, who’s only seen her 12 times or 3 times/year. That made zero sense to me.
I appreciate your knowledge in this matter. It needs to be addressed in that court room, imho! There is a different between the 2 practices (psychology vs. psychiatry).
Peace~~~
I only watched little bits and pieces of the early portion of the trial today. Am now catching up on tivo.. watching Juan Martinez and Dr Samuels, “You do know the definition of compassion don’t you?!”
It’s a blood bath. Ugh.
That Sameuls digging threw his papers drove me nuts I hope their next witness comes with his notes in order
I think Samuels is probably a nice guy and has years of knowledge but when it comes to Judi
He got fooled
Nothing against him She is something else
Even I get a moment of soft toward her but seeing Travis family snaps me out of that fast
Those people deserve the best for their son
I mean their brother
What is up with the Jodi shakes that no one sees? Well I will not say no one can only speak for myself. Jury question to Jodi asked if she had been shaking during the proceedings. Dr. Fog talks about her shaking but said it was pointed out to him and then he noticed it. He probably asked her Oh Jodi honey are you shaking. Why yes Dr. get me outta here I am see (holds up shaking hands from behind the partition). Well here honey read this book and I will send you a pretty little card and that should help.
I was reminded it 5am today that I know someone with a personality disorder quite like Arias. I have successfully, for the most part, removed her from my life now but the correlation is worth comparing. I’ll call her D.
D was employed by a friend of mine at her hair salon. When life is good, D seems happy and caring and, like Arias she is very sensual woman in nature. She uses her sensuality for acceptance as normal people rely on their personalities. Not in things said, and never inappropriate… it’s more in behavior and feelings. She uses sex appeal and body language, blurring the line physically… ever so slightly, as to what feels comfortable. D, like Arias, is very much involved in various realms of spirituality and extraordinary cults, if you will, without binding to any one.
Eventually, D was fired from my friend’s salon for irrational behavior. At the time I did not understand as I didn’t see the whole of her. I had come to know the nice D, who seemed a bit broken and admitted she had come from hard knocks but for the most part seemed normal. I blamed my salon owner friend for the parting.
D started doing hair in her home. That is when I started seeing a spiraling down. Strange behavior like the one below came often with her; this is just one example… but importantly it is the one that set my intuition/fear meter off. Once when she was very busy with clients, she asked if I could come in at 5am. I could not believe someone would be up that early doing hair and I am not a morning person but I was desperate for an appointment. I hardly slept the previous night thinking I might not wake up to the alarm. When I arrived at her home I knocked softly as she does have family members. I saw the other D that morning and it was frightening. She had slept in and my knock awoke her. What I saw frightened me to my core. How can a pretty blonde hairdresser “frighten” me? I don’t know how to sum it up other than it was in the eyes. Pure, seething rage. She invited me in and that is when the abuse began. She ordered me to sit in her chair and wait for her while she showered. She screamed (yes, screamed) at me for knocking on the door, that I woke her up and that her husband is sleeping. At that, I backed toward the door and said I would come another time. She was in full rage and I just wanted out. Note! I ran for the door and not the closet.
The reason I am mentioning this is because this woman, probably like Arias, has a switch from normal to psychotic over which she has no control. Whereas most of us feel anger gradually welling and are able to exercise self-control, her anger comes on in milliseconds, and Im sure Samuels is correct when he said things happened very quickly on June 4.
I drove home and throughout the morning received numerous lengthy and very disturbing text messages from her. She started off sounding excessively over-accommodating, pleading but also obsessive. She didn’t understand why I didn’t stay, and offered to do my hair at no cost if I would just come back that morning. I didn’t respond because by that time I had gotten back home and was asleep. The text messages scrolled numerous pages and the last one said ,”okay this is the 3d attempt at reconciliation on your behalf and asking for forgiveness, apparently offending you with my half asleep greeting, I wish you well.” The lengthy text messages continued for days. I replied thank you but my schedule would not permit an appointment for quite a while. Intuition told me after that experience to stay far away from her. I understood then why my friend had fired her, why she has no friends although she has lived in the area most of her life, and her tumultuous relationship with her fiancé. I still get text messages from her from time to time, always at odds hours of the night – 3 or 5am, one at 5am today. I ignore them unless there is a question that I feel I should answer such as a business referral. I have always felt it’s better to back down slowly from people like this than to confront them. I am so saddened that Travis either waited too long to back away or was simply unable to do so. His confrontation to her in written word, I believe was his end.
As we have seen strange behaviors from Arias’ mother and aunt… and father might I add, D’s two daughters exhibit very strange behavior as well.
God rest your soul, a Travis. I pray for peace in your family’s hearts.
The ole if you want to know about a person let them show you.
In every way, we have GOT to listen to our satellites. Years ago, when I was green and much more trusting lass, I had a researcher that was a very talented at same, but she wore a three-ply tin hat. I really thought that I could get her to the place I wanted which to develop the skill to NOT form a theory until all evidence is in, and to not let theory drive the work. I was unsuccessful to say the least.
It was like she worked to have the most outlandish theory imaginable- and once she did- forget about trying to talk her out of that tree.
Well, I did, and was upfront and more than willing to mentor. Er, then I started getting weird questions about my personal practice cases, etc, and what is definitely proprietary information requiring a level of clearance reserved for me and in that instance a few licensed folks for same.
So the contact fades off until one day I get this war and peace email that flat out accused me of every sort of thing short of Christ’s nails to the cross and I was like.. waa? I was broken hearted that someone I trusted and felt was on my team- quite literally approached me because she wanted to take all kinds of case sensitive intel and publish. How did i respond, lol? Like an utter assclown. I spent a whole day gathering my airplane tickets, hotel bills, excerpts from emails from LE, atty’s, and whatever else flatly and unoquivically refuted every claim she made like it made a flipping difference. Scanned and sent, blah blah.
1. She was a moonbat and I should have seen it coming. I had to have my atty send a friendly-gram about copyright and intellectual property. I had to give her name and address to a LEO investigating a mp case because there was a chance she would leak case sensitive intel or contact the girl’s parents under the guise she was associated with BOC.
2. When someone is not open to the concepts of others, and responds to critique by repeating why they are right, I should have known.
3. When you thought someone was a gifted researcher and has every piece of research about me wrong, and same was easily verifiable without my response to it- I should have known.
4. When BOC editors and colleagues of mine laughed openly at me for attempting to respond with correct information instead of saying “Nice knowing you moonbat, we both know who the FOS person is around here- best of luck”, I should have known.
My point- lets be sure we take our lessons seriously. One really never knows when one of these people have the JA switch.
B
lyla says:
March 21, 2013 at 3:46 pm
My Psychologist recommended (did not give it to me) “The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook” which I purchased when I was having some depression. It explains PTSD amongst other disorders. Also has a Self-Diagnosis questionnaire. I believe this is the book he gave Jodi.
******************************
The book gifted to JA by Dr Samuels was …
“Your Erroneous Zones” – is the first self-help book written by Wayne Dyer and first issued on August 1, 1976.
My favorite jury/Samuels question from yesterday was when Sam the Sham gave this answer …
“PTSD is not a get out if jail free card”
The look on Willmots face when he said that was priceless.
She has absolutely zero poker-face.
http://www.willmottlaw.com/attorneys.html
She is a seasoned criminal trial attorney, and there is no better training than the Public Defenders Office.
Two deficits: 1) She’s never tried a murder case. 2) This defendant has no defenses.
The expert isn’t a winner either; she lacked control of him, but who could?
Both Nurmi and Wilmott would be precluded from this case in many states.
B
Dr. Samuels snuck in what he had been hired to do in the first place- comment on how the crime scene itself does not indicate premediated murder.
Samuels was addressing a line of questions from the jury about the “acute stress” level. he was saying that it didn’t really matter if there had been ninjas or just Arias, the stress would have been acute, and that was his focus. He was asked if the stress level would be the same if she had planned the murder.. and he said … NO. He said ( and I am paraphrasing here, but accurastely capturing what he wanted to say)that if she planned the murder, she would have known what she was doing and this would have lessened stress, made the stress level lower than what he noted in her. He said that “just looking at the crime scene”, the photos themselves would indicate that it hadn’t been planned at all. The imlication being it was not neat and tidily done, so therefore it wasn’t premeditated. He even went so far as to say that if she HAD planned it, she would have done a better job cleaning up to avoid being caught….!!!
Obviously Samuels is totally unqualified to speak in any way about how/if the crime scene photos reflect the actions or intentions of the defendant.And I believe that was the basis of one of Martinez objections to the power point presentation the defense had originally tried to present.
I think what we are seeing are all the results of of a poorly executed ( no pun intended) premeditated
murder. Arias got the main points- get gun, get gas, get off the radar, shoot Travis, fortify alibi,- she got all that in order, but in trying to pull it off, botched it. So yea it is a mess. She doesn’t want to throw herself at the mercy of the court, despite having said ” if I killed Travis i would beg for the death penalty”.
Her defense is a meld of all the ideas she has cooked up over the years- she wasn’t there ( which is the same as amnesia, right?) Intruders did it ( that is, it is someone else’s fault- as in, Travis tormented her, ” made her’ do it, prosecutors tone of voice affecting her, Ryan Burns being “full of crap” etc etc.) and her latest defense which has religious undertones- “I was lost but now I am found “, as in the ” come to jesus” moment”- that is, she WAS lying but she is telling the truth NOW.
Just wondering when it will all be over!
and BTW, if Arias had wanted to have a working cell phone in Arizona, as she drove through the desert that was so isolated that she had to take extra gas cans… ahem… anyway if she wanted to charge her cell phone, she could have purchased a car cellphone charger at a gas station. Would have cost her the same as a couple of strawberrry frappucinos.
She had one, it was under her seat.
B
NaNa
I think Mr. JM is just into his job. He knows JA killed this man and he is the voice for TA. Mr. JM is naturally a hyper-type person and does not like to drag thigs along. He is trying to hammer it home that she killed TA in a cold, premedated murder.
Blink just delete my post thatis in moderation. I misspelled some words. Thanks
Did anyone notice toward the end of court yesterday JA’s family and those who sat behind them? They were laughing!!! Maybe they were trying to relieve their stress, but to me it seemed inappropriate.
Hi Blink
re: phone charger:
Martinez is proposing that she turned off her cell phone in order to be undetected in Arizona.
Arias claims that she could not find the phone charger in her car, and THAT was the reason she turned her phone off
Arias claims she then fOUND the phone charger when she got to Utah.
My point is this:
I know she says the phone charger was ultimatley found in her car.
BUT
Arias claims, and Daryll B claims that she used the gas cans because ” it was a habit to do so for long drives through the desert” And this need arose because of the vast stretches of isolation from support systems of gas stations- reason being that she needed the gas cans to be SAFE and not end up stranded. She called Ryan from CALIFORNIA to say she was low on batteries, could not find charger, and so was turning the phone off. She called him again when she got to Utah.
IF her concern was to be SAFE while driving through vast stretches of desert, she could have easily and very cheaply bought a charger at a gas station upon preparing to make the journey through Arizona that she says required the gas cans for safety.
She also referred at one point to the charger being her brothers, and as she didn’t have one of her own, and she was going through an isolated area intentionally, it does, to me at least, support prosecution position that turning off the cell phone, intentionally did NOTHING to enable contact or pinging to occur while driving, and that it was an intentional action in order to go undetected.
Blink, will you be setting up a web site when this is all over so we can recover from this trial- a support network, so to speak? Kidding, but then again…
xxx whodunnit
Sammy says:
March 22, 2013 at 9:48 am
The book gifted to JA by Dr Samuels was …
“Your Erroneous Zones” – is the first self-help book written by Wayne Dyer and first issued on August 1, 1976.
—Why would a Psychologist after the first meeting give Jodi Arias this book:
Your Erroneous Zones: Step-by-Step Advice for Escaping the Trap of Negative Thinking and Taking Control of Your Life
Negative thinking? heck we all know Jodi had no time for negative thinking she HAD to be positive
This book seems like nothing more than a precursor to the Laws of Attraction…
which says this about death:
“We promise you, the timing of your death is always chosen by you.”
Chicago, 2002
“Because we know that life is eternal, and we know that there is no ending to that which you are about, if one of you is killed in an earthquake or crashes your plane, or any number of other very creative ways you have found to make your exit into the Non-Physical, because we know the whole picture, we grieve not a moment for any of you.”
El Paso, 2001
“The death experience is always suicide. Always. Every time. Because every death experience is created by Self, no matter how it plays out. Every single one of them is created by Self.”
The Teachings of Abraham.
“‘…death’ is a matter of closing one’s eyes in this dimension and literally opening one’s eyes in the other dimension. And that, truly, is how all death is, no matter how it looks, up to that point.. The re-emergence into Source Energy is always a delightful thing.”
Back to Samuels gift to Arias:
we have some reviews which again having me asking WTH was a shrink thinking by giving this book to Jodi Arias
snippets taken from Amazon:
In YOUR ERRONEOUS ZONES, Wayne Dyer encourages his readers to ask themselves this question: “How long am I going to be dead?” Dyer suggests that taking such an “eternal perspective” will aid one in gaining a more “take charge” stance in life. Life is a risk, and we are all going to die anyway, so why not do what we want with our lives?
and
This book is one of the best books, perhaps even the best book I’ve ever read in terms of gaining control over one’s life. It is truly empowering in the best sense of the idea. It comes down to the fact that you are a “choice making individual”. No matter what the situation is that comes up you can still choose how to react to it.
and
Wayne really helps one realize that they don’t have to “buy into” feeling like they are helpless victims of their cultural background, family dynamics and, Genetic tendencies etc. While these may all seem to be the same thing there are in fact subtle differences between them.
I have recommended this book and it’s audio version for countless people who have felt “out of control” of their emotions.
The ideas in this book really work if you are willing to finally let go of the mental crap in your life that is holding you back from being happier and healthier in every way. This is not to put on Rose Colored glasses, but to be able to “catch yourself” before you go into reacting the way you “always do” and really asking yourself if it is necessary.
and
It takes the fundamental insights of cognitive therapy and makes them accessible to a large and diverse audience. The chapters of this book each pertain to important domains of human experience such as approval seeking, guilt and worry and self esteem. However, this book also goes beyond cognitive therapy concepts and adds the inspirational insights of humanistic psychology. The book concludes with a chapter on what it looks like to overcome your erroneous zones (maladaptive beliefs) and achieve self-actualization.
and
This book was extremely helpful in understanding GUILT and WORRY as unnecessary “erroneous” emotions
I liked this book a lot because one will go from having a victim mentality to an empowering mentality. I just felt a little too harsh when applying everything in “Your Erroneous Zones” to my life. In 90 percent of the instances, yes, this book should be followed. Just make up your own mind on how to be a strong-minded person with a little bit of civility in tough life situations. Enjoy the book!
and
I read this book in the 1970′s when it first came out, and revisited it again recently. To me the over-arching themes are: do whatever you want, compassion is for saps, you can create everything you want in your life, think only of yourself.
I have some real problems with the way he presents this self-help advice. While I agree that all too often we allow our attitudes, opinions and beliefs to be dictated by significant others rather than deciding these things for ourselves, do we really need to shove this in everyone’s face and declare that what they think is of no significance to me? Dyer replaces the cult of the other with the cult of the self. He uses many stories to illustrate his point, but many of them left me thinking “You’ve gotta be kidding!”. One was about people who are passed over for promotions at work. Dyer said that people you work for will appreciate someone who is extremely forthright and opinionated and will reward them accordingly. Can you say unemployment line? In a section on guilt and worry he mentions not worrying or planning for the future….live in the moment!!….. because even if something does go wrong it is rarely as bad as you think it will be i.e. you’ll always be able to find another job if you lose yours, and a better one at that. Reality teaches us that it just ain’t so! To top it all off his representation of the perfect “self-actualized” person at the end of the book exists nowhere in human nature! In fact, Dyer himself does not seem to even meet this criteria, especially now that he has drifted into the New Thought arena.
Most of the book has some ideas that are basic common sense, but the majority is self-indulgent in a world in which you have very little control of circumstances.
and this:
First things first: there are some very fundamental principles to learn in this book if you were not aware of them already. These include trusting in yourself and not having to rely on others, present-moment thinking, the rejection of negative emotions, separating your self image from other-oriented criticism and failure, etc. Indeed, there is a lot of good content here. Dyer can get repetitive, sometimes filling out a chapter with the same information said over and over in different ways, but I guess that’s okay.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way…
I was very confused with the numerous sexual references in the book. Sometimes it seems mildly inappropriate, and other times it just outright catches you off guard. This occurs mostly toward the beginning of the book. One incident in particular occurs in chapter 2. In regards to leaning how to love yourself, Dyer suggests standing nude in front of a mirror, exploring yourself sensually, with the aim of achieving “goose-bumps of shivery pleasure.” I haven’t read other self-help books. Maybe this is a common theme? I sure didn’t see it coming.
Another complaint I had was in Dyer’s perception of ideal relationships with others. He argues that holding any person above yourself is a grave mistake. No one is better than you. It’s a bad idea to have idols or heroes, says Dyer. He brings forth obscurities as refusing to call your dentist “doctor,” for that gives him prestige for his title that he doesn’t deserve. Really? Wow. There are numerous nit-picks like this throughout the book–strange rituals between the lines.
Furthermore, one should never, according to Dyer, aid someone who needs you. He says it is better to refuse to help them, with the goal of teaching them to help themselves. The last time I checked, the phrase “need” means their request was not an optional favor–they are in trouble. I guess that’s not how Dyer sees it.
The overlying theme that I could not overlook is essentially this: your personal happiness and fulfillment are paramount to everything else. Never feel bad. Even at a funeral, show no negative emotion. Compassion is a waste of present moment time where you could be feeling happy. If you don’t like something, don’t do it. It does not matter what anyone else thinks, or who it affects for the worse.
It’s just an inflated, egotistical world view, and Dyer even acknowledges to disregard people who call you selfish for it.
So yes.. I’m not sure how to feel about this one. There is definitely some content to make it worth the read, but at the same time the peculiarities mentioned leave you feeling uncomfortable at times and offended at others.
more:
It starts talking about death. Yes, that thing that has been with us since we were born and will never go away and will one day tell us it’s time. So why worry so much about it? We can be afraid or use the constant reminder to make sure we live today.
Then the book goes on about how we can learn to do just that. Live today. Forget about that past, because history cannot be changed today so never mind what happened. And don’t stop living today and postpone it for the future, because if that is your way, you will never live since the future will be the present when it comes, and it will have a future to worry about.
We are the masters of our thoughts, if only we try and learn how to do it. And once you control your thoughts, you control your feelings.
End snippets
Gee it seems weird that this book according to readers reviews sortof ends up being a blueprint of the defenses case….
Self help indeed
AJMO
During the interview with Detective Flores when he tells JA that there are pictures inadvertently taken during the murder, JA’s tone of voice when she says “really, is totally creepy, almost like a true response as opposed to all her rehearsed responses which are lies. What was really, really creepy after that is when Detective Flores starts showing her pictures and he comes to the one with JA’s foot and Travis covered and laying in blood. She reaches out and touches that picture several times. Would you automatically touch a bloody crime screen photo? Well Blink might but the average population would probably not.
Oh Ode, such is my life, true. In the last month I had to analyze/profile about 6 blind cases that were particularly gruesome. Sharing a personal observation here- I have noticed that my tolerance is less when I am working on something that is not my case, or one I am analyzing for BOC. I have learned some viewing techniques that help with that.
To that end, I have to say, again, this scene tells the story for me, 100%. What is lacking, and I can say this without betraying a confidence, is that I have discussed the details of this case blindly and I did get complete concurrence on one of my points-
Why slit his throat? That wound in particular in incongruent for me. For Jodi, it has meaning. For anyone preforming that act on another human being there is always a meaning.
B
Thank you so much A Texas Grandfather for the information about bullets. It is a bit concerning that the stolen gun would have had one type of bullets and the bullet that shot Travis was different. She could of practiced using the gun with hollow point bullets and then purchased new ones I suppose.
Ode
.25 bullets were recovered from the parents house and perhaps the gun had a bullet or two in it?
from my understanding the grandpa could not remember the make of the gun or it didnt read on it IIRC he said it was handed down to him …or something it was old
here is a youtube vid of a baby browning- not sure if it has been posted-
this vid shows the gun the ammo new and old -the magazine- the safety the breakdown thats needed to cock it—and it shows it shooting and jamming-etc-
Interesting video.
AJMO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e18fFjj3c5g
Erroneous is too close to errogenous for my comfort, combined with the Samuels creep factor and a seemingly obvious attraction of sorts. Yup, he drank the koolaid.
Mom3.0 says:
March 22, 2013 at 7:37 pm
Thanks Mom3.0. I wondered about the content of that book. It seems to me there is something off about this expert that I cannot put my finger on. Someone said he seems creepy but I also thought kinda pervy. Just something about the way he talked about reading her journals and listening to the sex tape. I also noticed that his testimony re the number of hours he spent with her is about double of what he said is needed for an evauluation. Six to 10 hours needed for an evaluation before it gets outside of the scope and becomes something other than an evaluation (not his exact words). He spent 25 to 30 hours. Do not want to say anything bad but I am just not feeling the expert.
Why slit his throat? That wound in particular in incongruent for me. For Jodi, it has meaning. For anyone preforming that act on another human being there is always a meaning.
B
Blink you have me wondering firstly about the picture of Travis and Arias in the water with her grasping onto his neck. Quite disturbing.
By what ritual would Arias be moved to slit Travis’ throat?
Mormon Penalty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penalty_(Mormonism)
Not that i think it is provable, because I don’t, but it supports my original theory about T in the shower and the duct tape removal.
I absolutely believe she felt he was preforming some sort of self-exorcism wrt her and she was going to help him atone in the end, or she was stupid enough to think she could stage it to look like that and realized there was no way, and friend was on the way home.
B
More here:
http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/religion/lds/ldsrituals.shtml
“The temple ceremony includes oaths and you’re told several ways in which ‘god’ may “take your life” if you reveal the secrets of the temple. Each member at these ceremonies repeats the hand gestures of god’s potential wrath. These include having your throat cut and disembowelment.”
Brigham Young explained this in a sermon given on September 21, 1856:
“There are sins that men commit for which they cannot receive forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking incense would atone for their sins, whereas, if such is not the case, they will stick to them and remain upon them in the spirit world.”
So, Blink, is it your thought that Travis had the duct tape on his arm when she arrived and removed it in the shower once she left? Wouldn’t that theory preclude pre-meditation? Or, did she go there with the thought that either Travis commit to her or she would kill him. When she noticed the duct tape, she became enraged. She sneaked back in and took pictures during his exorcism of sorts… because those do not appear to be staged photo-quality shots with appropriate lighting… he felt her presence, opened his eyes and there she stood, camera around neck, gun in hand and knife at her side. Haunting photo is shot. She shoots him with the gun which stuns him. They struggle and he slams his body against hers, knocking her down. He runs to the sink. She rolls, gets up, follows him to the sink, stabs him in the back and they struggle as he is weakening, yet fighting for his life. He falls in the hall where she slits his throat. Drags him back to shower using rope and bed sheets. Removes camera from neck to delete photos. Drops onto sheet which she later forgets about. The rest is superfluous.
Jden says:
March 22, 2013 at 9:19 pm
Why slit his throat? That wound in particular in incongruent for me. For Jodi, it has meaning. For anyone preforming that act on another human being there is always a meaning.
B
Blink you have me wondering firstly about the picture of Travis and Arias in the water with her grasping onto his neck. Quite disturbing.
By what ritual would Arias be moved to slit Travis’ throat?
Mormon Penalty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penalty_(Mormonism)
Not that i think it is provable, because I don’t, but it supports my original theory about T in the shower and the duct tape removal.
I absolutely believe she felt he was preforming some sort of self-exorcism wrt her and she was going to help him atone in the end, or she was stupid enough to think she could stage it to look like that and realized there was no way, and friend was on the way home.
B
————————————————————–
totally agree. Arias slit the throat as an act of vengence not only against Travis but as the ultimate f- you to Mormonism, manipulating a symbolic rite, using it against Travis.
Arias believed that if she followed travis into Mormonism, he would belong to her, It didn’t work. So she has anger toward Mormonism too- it didn’t save her from anything.
thus the whack-a doodle blood atonement style , ritualized killing- as if to say ” here’s your religion, Travis”