Jodi Arias Delivered A 'Direct Strike' To Travis' Throat, Revealed Prosecutor In Slam Dunk Closing Argument
May 2 2013, Published 10:35 p.m. ET
Prosecutor Juan Martinez's final day leading the court was his best yet as he delivered hours of closing arguments to a transfixed – and often weeping – audience in the Jodi Arias alleged murder trial.
With a performance that has been described as "a slam dunk," "brilliant," and a "total success," by legal experts, Martinez artfully argued that the defendant was a manipulative cold-blooded murderer who meticulously planned Travis Alexander's death for weeks before carrying out the grisly crime on June 4, 2008.
After four months of scandalous testimony filled with erotic sex, dirty text messages, X-rated phone calls and religious conflicts, the prosecuting attorney refocused the jury's attention to the root of the issue – that Arias, 32, went to Alexander's home in Mesa, Ariz. with a knife, a gun, and intent to kill her ex-boyfriend.
"It was a very well orchestrated kill," he told the court, while holding up an extremely graphic photo of Travis with a slit throat that prompted an outburst of sobs from his family and friends. "She killed him three times over."
After having sex with him and taking nude photos of each other, Arias stabbed Alexander in the shower and again on the bathroom floor, Martinez said. He was stabbed yet again as he stood, trying to gain his balance, and another knife blow to the back of his head came as he stood over the sink, the prosecutor said.
"He is trying to get away from her,"revealed the skilled lawyer as he flashed a series of crime scene photos, revealing the bloody trail, including a rainbow shaped smear of blood on the hallway wall where Alexander collapsed.
As the femme fatale killer collapsed into floods of tears, her nemesis had no mercy, instructing the jury, "She may cry now, but sympathy is not to be considered.
"He goes down, he collapses, and she catches up to him and goes for the throat," he reminded them with the aim of crushing her self defense claim. "If it was crime of passion she wouldn't have directed a hit to where it would kill, but when he goes down there is a direct strike to his neck, where it will kill him."
Often working without the aid of notes, at some times pacing and yelling, and at others calm and even-toned, Martinez captivated the Maricopa County Court with his hard-hitting words, telling the jury that Jodi "looked at each and every one of you in the eye and lied" about her relationship with Alexander, whom she claimed abused her, menaced her and pressured her into sex.
“Why stand there with the gun if you know it’s unloaded? None of it. Absolutely none of it is true. You could even be charitable and say it doesn’t make sense. I’m not asking you to be charitable. It’s an absolute lie, this issue about the gun. She said it, and she is wedded to it," said Martinez in regards to one of the murder weapons.
"This person here is the epitome of a liar… She has an incredible memory when it comes to lying. She has committed murder in the first degree under both theories."
Once Martinez was finished with his one-man show, even Donald Trump was convinced of Arias' guilt, tweeting, "Jodi, if you're listening. MAKE A DEAL."
The defense will begin its closing argument on Friday, after which Martinez will get one last chance to speak to the jury with his rebuttal argument.