Jodi Arias has done a complete 180 turn from where she was just a couple of weeks ago in her pleas to the jury.
The accused murderer recently said she would rather have the death penalty for the murder of her boyfriend, Travis Alexander, than life in prison.
“I said years ago that I’d rather get death than life, and that still is true today,” she said. “I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I’d rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”
Arias has undergone a lengthy trial for the murder of Alexander, who was found dead in his home in 2008 with gunshot and stab wounds. His throat was also slit. Arias eventually admitted to killing her boyfriend, but said she did it in self defense after he attacked her. Defense attorneys painted a picture of a young woman so in love that she wrote poetry and had steamy phone conversations with him, which were admitted into courtroom testimony. But the jury remained unconvinced, finding her guilty of first degree murder, which carries a sentence of either life in prison or the death penalty. The jurors still have to decide what to do, and whether or not Alexander was killed in an “exceptionally cruel” way.
Arias says she has recently learned that life in prison doesn’t have to mean no life at all, and promises to help others if she’s spared.
“I didn’t know then that if I got life instead of death that I could become employed and self-reliant. I didn’t know that if I got life there are many things I can do to affect positive change and contribute in a meaningful way. In prison there are programs I can start and people I can help.” said Arias.
Among her goals? Donating her hair to cancer survivors, creating prison literacy programs, and donating the proceeds from her “Survivor” t-shirts to victims of domestic violence.
“Some people may not believe that I am a survivor of domestic violence. They are entitled to their opinion. I’m supporting this cause because it’s very, very important to me,” she said.