Morbid - Episode 270: Jodi Arias

Episode Date: October 14, 2021

Jodi Arias and Travis Alexander met in September of 2006 and from day one they were hooked on each other. Their relationship started getting toxic when Jodi became overly possessive and started listening in on Travis’s conversations when he was unaware. Travis broke things off with Jodi but the two of them never really stopped seeing each other, even when Jodi’s toxic behaviour was in full bloom. Unfortunately things escalated in June 2008 and Jodi murdered Travis in his own home. The details involved in this case are truly mind boggling.  As always, thank you to our sponsors: Pretty Litter: Do what I did and make the switch TODAY by visiting PrettyLitter.com and use promo code morbid for 20% off your first order Stamps.com: Save time and money with Stamps.com & with our promo code, MORBID, you get a special offer that includes a 4-week trial PLUS free postage and a digital scale  Daily Harvest: Go to DAILYHARVEST.com/morbid to get up to forty dollars off your first box! Curology:  You can start your Curology journey just like I did with a free 30-day trial at Curology.com/MORBID. If prescribed, just pay $5 for shipping and handling!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon music. Download the app today. You're listening to a morbid network podcast. Whether you're running errands on your daily commute, or even at home, you can enjoy all your audio entertainment in one app, the Audible app. As an Audible member, you can choose one title a month to keep from the entire catalog. This includes the latest bestsellers and new releases. Plus get full access to a growing selection of included audiobooks, audible originals,

and more. If you've been wanting to form good habits, break bad ones, and improve motivation, atomic habits written and narrated by James Clear is a great lesson. It'll reshape your mindset on progress and success by helping you develop strategies to transform your habits. New members can try audible free for 30 days. Visit audible.com slash wonderypod or text wonderypod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days.

That's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y-P-O-D. Audible.com slash wonderypod or text wonderypod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days. Angie's list is now Angie, and we've heard a lot of theories about why. I thought it was an eco-move. For your worst, guess paper. It was so you could say it faster. No way. It's to be more iconic.

Must be a tech thing. But those aren't quite right. It's because now you can compare up front prices, book a service instantly, and even get your project handled from start to finish. Sounds easy. It is. And it makes us so much more than just a list. Get started at Angie.com.

That's ANGI, or download the app today. Hey, weirdos, I am Ash. And I am Elena. And this is morbid. It's more been over here. Oh man, guys. I don't know if any of you have kids. I'm sure a couple of you do. I'm sure at least a handful of you have those little demons.

Man, I know like a lot of people told me like when they go to school, get ready, you're gonna be dealing with sicknesses every five seconds, but I think the pandemic and being home for a year, yeah, has really doubled down on the like immunity like, I thought they would get sick, like maybe like a few times throughout the year. Yeah. We're two weeks out of the last one

and everybody's sick again. Sick again. It's, I don't, you don't know what to do. And they wear masks all day in school. It's like in their, you know, it's just kids. Just kids, man. It's just kids, man. And the fact that none of us have any immunity right now.

Well, that's the problem. It's like, none of us have any immunity at the moment. Like, we've all just been inside staring at each other. Yeah, especially them, because they were just getting their immunity going, when this all happened. So yeah, it's just, it feels like we just keep getting knocked on our asses over here, especially, I think it's the weather.

It is the season. So I think it's the weather's, it is the season, so I think it's gonna be, it's gonna be interesting. Yeah, so the air, but kids are sick, Drew is sick. My throat's scratchy. My throat's been scratchy for like a week, but my cool one's this leaving.

I'm knocking on all the wood because so far I've gotten away from all of it. I've just been able to mom through it, so I'm hoping that I continue to do that. Yeah, it's wild, I've never seen anything like it. Yeah, just been able to mom through it, so I'm hoping that I continue to do that. Yeah, it's why I'll never see anything like it. Yeah, so we'll see how this goes. But you know what, anybody who has like, you know, little ones near them or in their house

or in their care, I'm with you, man. I'm with you. I'm with you. I feel it. We're all in solidarity here. Same brother. Man. That's all I can say.

I mean man. Just man. Watching some move on too. Yeah. Introduce them to double, double, toil and trouble. So I walked in tonight to come and record. And I go down into the little play room area

and I was like, is this? And she was like, yeah, it is. Yup, it is. And I was like, let me have a seat. And you know what, that one's a good one for them, because it's all, like the whole message of it is like, you should appreciate being twins. Yeah.

And how special it is. So I kept saying it to her, I was like, this is like all about being twins. And you're like, right now, you're quarantined away from your twins. So you probably miss her. Yeah. But yeah, it's been fun.

So, yeah, that's where we are right now. But that's our real life news. That's real life. It's some true crime news. That's really a bummer. That's really a bummer. You're a huge bummer. Yeah.

The coroner came out, was it this week? Yes. Yes, this week. Everything is running to each other this week. And they confirmed that Gabby Petito's cause of death was strangulation. Yeah, which is horrific. It's horrific. And I they believe she was gone three to four weeks before her body was found.

So that is just really sucky news. And I know like it, obviously the worse news they could have heard was that she was gone. But having to hear how it happened is probably tough. Yeah, I can imagine. So heart still goes out to her family and friends. but having to hear how it happened is probably tough. I can imagine. So, our heart still goes out to her family and friends. So, we'll continue to update you guys whenever we hear like confirmed things.

And until then, try again, be nice to each other. Yeah, that's all I can say. Take care of each other. Take care of each other. Take care of the people you love. Treat them nicely. It's like what the whole point of being a human is. And if somebody isn't treating you nicely, get out of there. Mm-hmm.

And I know it can be hard. It's not easy. It's not as easy as just saying leave. No, and we get that. If you listen to our last episode, you can find some great resources if you're going through any kind of domestic violent situation.

And we'll post them periodically so that they can keep being fresh in everyone's mind, like in the show notes and such, but definitely. But yeah, there's help out there. There is. So hopefully, if you were in a bad situation, you can get it. And we love you all. That's all we want to say. Love you.

We'll love you so much. All right. So for my case this week, I just found out- Oh, wait, hold on. Actually, before we start, because those were two pretty bummer news, um, I think Ash has some exciting stuff. I was like, I don't know how to like, she hoard this in there. I think just, because we just dropped a lot of bummer news on there, we might as well bring it back up.

I mean, she's holding up her hand. She's holding up her hand. I'm like you can't see it but yeah I got engaged on October 9th to my best friend in the whole entire world. Drew Sipper and Alina planned almost the entire thing with him and she lied to me and lied to me and lied to me. I said to her I had like a little bit of a feeling the day of because Drew is being so weird and I was like Do you think that I should paint my nails today? I was like with Elena all day and she was like No, I was like no I wish she didn't want to give it a way to have to and then I got home and boom it happened and then I was like

Fuck I have to paint my nails before we face time everybody. I'm sorry dead because she is ash because I am me No, but it was like the most perfect thing in the whole entire world. It's so awesome, but I know everybody's been like, Where? What is it happening? So it happened. Yeah, there's been so many times where people like thought that we got engaged. Yeah.

And they were like, that's a ring on your left finger. And I was like, no, this is my right hand. And they're like, no, it's not. And I'm like, no, no, I promise. I will literally scream from the rooftops when I'm engaged. So here I am screaming from said rooftops. Yeah, there it is. Also, figurative rooftop over here.

A figurative rooftop. Also, Alina went with Drew to pick out my ring, and I want to thank her for that because it's literally the most perfect ring on planet Earth. Yeah, it's so ass. They really is. It's like, it's got like an antique feel to it, but it's like classic.

Yeah, I love her. That's what I knew. I knew. And Drew knew more importantly. I know. He said he was like between two of them and then he just like, he said that he kept like going back and forth between them

and then going, okay, let me see your ring. Yeah. He did. He was like, let me see your ring one more time and then he made that final, like we narrowed it down and then I was like, you got it. And he was like, I know that's the one.

I love it. So he knew. I love it. We love knew. I love it. We love Drusefair. I have to get it sized, because I have fucking sausage fingers. I don't want to take it off for more than a day. I only want them to have it for an hour or two. I know, it's hard.

Yeah, but anyways. But yeah, that's the good news. That's the good news. And then I'm sandwiched between a terribleness. Yeah, a terrible episode. A terrible sandwich. That's what good news and then I am sandwiched between a terribleness. Yeah, a terrible episode. A terrible sandwich. That's what that was. A terrible sandwich with a side of fries.

Oh boy. Well, yeah, so for my case, I decided that I was not going to tell Elena what it was until we were live on the year. I really don't know. This week, we're doing Jody Areos. Oh no! That was such a grease. I was like, I laughed and then I coughed we are.

Oh yeah! I just thought you went for it. I really did. You went for it. That's why I didn't want to tell you I wanted like a full blown reaction. Wow. Yeah, on this suggested case format must have been written like a bunch of times. And I was like, okay, let's go.

Oh yeah, Jody Areas is one of the biggest requested ones, for sure. Yeah. All right, so let's get it. Let's do this. Jody Areas was raised in Selina, California. She had like a pretty normal childhood. There wasn't really anything anybody could point to

that would have given some explanation to the things that she was gonna do later in life. Yeah. Like everyone said, she was a pretty good kid growing up. She sometimes would say that her childhood was like almost later in life. Yeah. Like everyone said she was a pretty good kid growing up. She sometimes would say that her childhood was like almost ideal and beautiful. But then on the same hand, she would claim

that her parents, Bill and Sandy, were abusive during her childhood. Jody goes back and forth faster than the pirate ship at the fair. At the fair, exactly. That one that I would never go on. Oh, I love that thing. Oh, it's horrifying to me every time I go by it.

Yeah, that's how I feel about this case. Yeah. So, yeah, like she just like says one thing, and then she says another, and then she says something that's kind of in the middle. But she said that the older she got, the more intense beatings got at her house. And that when she was seven years old,

her dad started using a belt as punishment. And then she went on to say that her mom even went as far as carrying around a wooden spoon in her purse, wherever they went to serve as a reminder that she could be punished wherever they were. Geez. Yeah. So sometimes she claims that kind of stuff and then she's like, oh, I had a perfect ideal job.

She literally says like, my childhood was almost ideal, but then we'll say that. It's like, what? And her parents have obviously said that the claims of abuse are totally false. And at one point, her mom told her and she said this during like an interrogation, she was like, you've got this fantasy in your head that you've got a rotten childhood and you need help. So they did note a change in her behavior when she became a teenager pretty early on. The family had moved from Salinas to a really remote place in California called Waireka. Bill was having some health problems and Sandy decided that it would be a good move

because they'd be closer to some of the family. But Jody fucking hated it from the start because it's like a really small place. It's like, it doesn't even seem like California. It seems more like almost, I don't even like the country. Yeah, like rugged kind of. Yeah, like, and she seems like a, she just seems like somebody who needs like things

happening around her. Yeah, like excitement. She doesn't seem like a very like, let's relax all the time kind of person. Definitely not. And it was there that she started smoking pot. Her parents were really worried with the sudden change in her behavior.

And they kind of had an inkling of what was going on with her like smoking, so they searched her room. And it turned out that she was actually growing her own plant, her own marijuana plant in her room, like as a teenager. Wow, that's commitment. And it was in eighth grade. Oh, wow. And this was the early 90s,

when we was not as chill as it is now. So her parents were pissed. They could have literally gotten arrested like that for that. So they called the sheriff to scare her straight. But from that point forward, she just stopped trusting them and wouldn't tell them anything. And they said they were like, that was the point in time

where after that, she would not speak a word to us about anything in real life. That sucks. Because they're trying to do. They're just trying to parent. Exactly. You can't have a weed plant in your room. And you can't be best friends with you. You got to be a parent for a second.

Exactly. Exactly. Hey there, fellow podcast listener. It's Elena. And Ash. And we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa. You know when you would come home from high school and it was only a few hours until that TV show,

everyone was watching was about to come on. Well, in 1999, that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery, the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall. It's time to enter the Buffyverse.

Some of you avid morbid listeners already know what we've gotten store. Hey, my nose. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action, and romance. Episode by episode. Slacy. Follow the rewatcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Darn, un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un I'm Candace DeLong and on my podcast Killer Psychie Daily, which you can find exclusively on Amazon Music, I share a quick 10-minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and

behaviors of the criminal masterminds you read about in the news. I have decades of experience as a psychiatric nurse, FBI agent and a criminal profiler. On Killer Psychie Daily, I'll give you my expert perspective on cases like the mysterious New York City drugings. Breaking down Lori Vallow, a K.A. Mommy Doomstays motives, and what drove Caitlin Armstrong to murder. I'll also bring on expert guests who add even more insight into these criminal minds. I promise you won't regret adding these 10 minutes to your morning routine. Hey Prime members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast, Killer Psychie Daily,

in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today. Now by the time she was 16, she had actually moved out of their house, dropped out of high school, and was living in a trailer on the outskirts of town with her boyfriend Bobby. Now people thought that Bobby was like a really interesting character. He was incredibly dependent on Jody because she was the only one who paid for everything. When she dropped out of school she actually started working at like a local denny so that they'd be able to pay the few bills that they had. And Jody later sat at the time she was dating Bobby. She thought that she was in love,

and then he treated her nicely. But the relationship ended when she found out that he was cheating on her. And then there was like some friends that she had that were like, yeah, we never really understood what she said, Bobby. Like he just kind of like mooched off of her like a strange relationship. Yeah. Now before she had even found that, though, her friends had also become really concerned about her behavior around that time. They were actually calling her mom Sandy and telling her that Jody needed help. They were like, she's lashing out at us all the time

about little things. She just doesn't seem like herself. And so they tried to talk to her, but Jody wouldn't tell them what was going on. Hmm. So it seemed like right around the time she turned like 16 or 17 was when this really big attitude shift happened. And it's like did something happen?

Like something traumatic? Right, exactly. So when Jody left Bobby, she moved to Big Sur, California, which I literally didn't know was a place. Oh, really? I've never heard of Big Sur, and then I was like, oh my God, Sur restaurant. But it means two different things.

It does. But anyways, Jody moved there, and she started working at a spa. It was around that time that she started dating a guy named Darryl. Darryl had a young son, and by all accounts, his relationship with Jody was a really good one. She was super sweet and helpful with his son,

and everybody thought that they made a good pair together. And Darryl's family really liked Jodyody and they were impressed that she was able to kind of step into his life so easily because she was a single father and she's a young girl. Oh yeah, that's a big responsibility to take on. Absolutely. And they were like, she really just kind of rolled with whatever was already going on. Yeah. But the relationship did come to an end when Darrell told Jody that he didn't want to have

any more kids because that was like a deal breaker for her. She wanted a family and kids of her own. Which at that point, it's like, okay. Yeah, and at least both of them were honest with each other and they stayed in contact afterwards. Like it wasn't like a messy breaker. Yeah, like that's the best way to do it.

Be honest with each other. You don't lead somebody into it thinking that you want more kids. Exactly. That's one really bad thing. It's like trapping somebody if that's not what they want. And they would open to you about that. Excuse me. So right around that time, Jody decided

that the waiters saying and working at the spa really weren't the right jobs for her. She wanted to make like some real money in her opinion. And she wanted to feel like she was in charge of her own business. So that's when she discovered prepaid legal. Prepaid legal was like a multi-level marketing company. Now their name has changed to legal shield.

But the business like most MLMs relied heavily on members, recruiting more members, and the more recruiting you did, the higher up you'd be in the company. Yeah. Classic MLM. I was gonna say MLM. MLMs like a minor lesson on MLMs.

There you go. Now, so they'd put on these prepaid conventions all the time and people who worked for the company would give speeches about how great it was. There'd be group activities, like room for people who weren't in the company yet to go and see what it was all about and then room for the people in the company to recruit said people, you know,

it was like a big thing. Yeah. If you've seen the Lulero documentary, it's just like that. I was literally just gonna say, just go watch that documentary. Did you watch it? I haven't watched it yet, but I've heard all about it.

You gotta watch it. It's literally the same thing. But in September of 2006, Jody actually went to one of these conventions to see what it was all about. And it was in the lobby of the hotel that she met a man named Travis Alexander. He already worked for Prepaid Legal and he was doing really well in the lobby of the hotel that she met a man named Travis Alexander. He already worked for Prepaid Legal

and he was doing really well in the company. They started talking about that. And then they kind of got into other things and just really hit it off with each other. Travis asked Judy to be his plus one to one of the events going on because he had an extra ticket and she agreed. So the two of them pretty much spent all night talking.

They apparently stayed up in the lobby of the hotel until 4 a.m. and Travis by all accounts was really impressed with Jody, which seemed to be something not a lot of people said when they first met her. They were really impressed with her and like who she was. Like she was able to put on charm.

Yeah, and you can see it later on like in her interrogations and interviews and stuff. She has this way of like, like she can turn it on. She can turn it on and she can make you feel comfortable with her, like you can see how people could fall into that. Yeah, she seems to be like a people person. Yeah.

And she was just telling Travis how she wanted to start her own career. And he just thought that she seemed like a really bright and determined girl. And on top of that, he thought to start her own career. And he just thought that she seemed like a really bright and determined girl. And on top of that, he thought that she was really beautiful. So Travis, he was 29 at the time. And like I said, he was doing really well in the company. He was usually one of the motivational speakers

at events like these. And that was something that he was incredibly good at. Everybody who knew him was like, he gave amazing speeches. Now, he had worked his way up in the company and he had a lot of nice things to show for all the work that he'd done. He had his own place in Mesa, Arizona with a beautiful walk-in closet.

He had a luxury car. He had a group of really awesome friends. Basically, he was just like living his best life. Yeah, sounds like everything was going good. But that's not to say that his life has always been sunshine and rainbows, though. He had been born in California on July 28th, 1977, and throughout his early childhood, both of his parents were addicted to drugs. They were both really abusive toward him and his siblings, basically in every way that somebody can be abusive. Oh, that's horrible. He was beaten by

his own mom, and then he and his siblings would just be left alone, like there'd be like no food or anything. Oh, that's really sad. They were super neglecting. Oh, that kills me. And because he'd been born into such a traumatic environment, he was also really small for his age because he's literally being like neglected, and I can only imagine what was going on.

Like malnourished. Exactly. Before that. Now, it was when he turned 10 that he and his siblings ended up moving in with their grandmother and life got a lot better after that. She was the one who introduced them to Mormonism. Travis really connected with the teachings and he was thriving in his new environment. He loved the church. He was making new friends and he really felt like he belonged here and like he'd found his way.

And as he got older, he continued to practice Mormonism, and a lot of people credit his great recruitment skills and prepaid legal to the days when he was a missionary for the church, because you'd also have to recruit people. I was gonna say very much the same thing. And even his great speech-giving skills, too, they were like, yeah, probably that as well. Yeah, he had to be a salesman in a way.

Exactly. He really was. You know? Like, yeah, probably that as well. Yeah, he had to be a salesman in a way. Exactly. He really was. You know? Yeah, he literally was a salesman. Yeah. Now Travis was honestly really like I said in his prime when he met Jody that September. Now immediately they were enthralled with each other and only five months later in February they were like officially dating. Jody had been raised Christian but when she met Travis and he started to talk to her

about his faith, that was when she decided that she wanted to become Mormon too. Now Travis was thrilled with the news. He was really excited about this. And Jody actually asked him if he would be the one to baptize her in the church, and he did. Oh wow.

Which I didn't know that before. I was just gonna say I didn't know that. So he was the one that's actually pictures of it. Wow. I knew there was more menism involved in. Yeah, so he was the one there's actually pictures of it. Wow, I knew there was more menace I'm involved in the whole, like, somebody was more men in there. Yeah.

I just didn't know who I didn't know what it was about. So that's interesting. They both were basically at one point. I mean, she got baptized in there. So things, like I said, seemed to be going really good. And by all accounts, Jody and Travis were really in love. But as soon as things kind of hit their stride,

they kind of fell apart in no time at all. And things started to get wildly toxic. Uh oh, wildly toxic. They were never apart. And if they were physically, then they were in connection online or on the phone. Over the course of their relationship, they had said to each other about 82,000 emails. Damn, that's emails? 82,000 emails. Damn, that's emails.

82,000 emails. And they would connect over emails, G-Chat, which I literally don't even know what that is. G-Chat is like a local chat. Yeah, it's like a messenger thing. Yeah, like AIM or something. They would use that. They would text each other.

Like, they were never out of contact. Wow. But it was Travis' friends at first who really started getting the bad vibes from Jody. He kind of had the blinders on. Because at first they thought they were cute together, but then they started to notice some concerning behavior zone Jody's behalf. During most of their relationship, Jody was still living in California, and Travis was in Arizona.

So Travis had these friends who were a married couple, Sky and Chris Hughes, and he really looked up to them. And I think that their house was like a bit of a halfway point for the couple, because Jody and Travis spent a lot of time there. So much so that Sky and Chris let Jody have a room and gave Travis one too for when they were visiting. And it was in that house that Sky started to notice

the weird behavior on Jody's end. She was like really possessive over Travis. She didn't like when he would talk to other girls, even if it was just entirely platonic. And she always wanted to sit right by him when they were together, because she quote, didn't like the fact that there was anyone who didn't know they were together.

She wanted to make that clear. Oh yeah. So like, you know, when you feel like that's something you have to do, there's something wrong here. Yeah, exactly. It's like overcompensating. And, you know, okay, she's a little jealous. Yeah. But then things got to the point where she was listening in on every conversation. She would follow him around or like literally listen to conversations through closed doors. Talks to... Talks to Ciccity. Talks to love.

And people just really thought that she was becoming very stalker-esque. Yeah, I would be among those people. And this story always gets me, you already know exactly what I'm gonna say if you know this case. But, man, Sky was talking to Chris one night about what she was seeing. She was like, you know, I don't really think this relationship is working.

Like, I think we need to talk to our guy here. Like, that's our bud. Seems like something bad could happen. So, Chris invited Travis up to their room while Jody was in her room downstairs. Now, I think they had like separate rooms because no premarital sex. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, even think about they had a lot of premarital sex. I was just gonna say I don't think they really followed that but it's there. But like they were in the house of like their other Mormon friends, so I think they were trying to

keep up appearances that they were following the Mormon religion toity. Exactly. So anyway, so they invite Travis up to their Rammel, Jody's and her room downstairs. And basically, he was like, you know, we're just concerned friends wanting to make sure everything is okay. And then he and Sky both said Travis didn't seem to notice the weird behavior. So literally as they were having this private conversation, Sky was like, I think I hear something.

Like as they're talking to Travis about Joe Dees weird behavior, she's like, what was that? And she mouths to them, she's out there. Like she knew that she was out there. And she was like, what? She like literally laughed. She's like telling the story. Like she's like, it's not funny, but like it was so uncomfortable. But at the moment, it was like, dude, like this is literally proving our point right now. Right in front of you. And she's pointing at the door and Travis is like, no, like you're crazy, like she's not out there. So he whips open the door and sure enough,

Jody's standing right there. And he was like, oh, she is out there. There she was. You were correct. And she was like, oh, like I just wanted to make sure everything's okay, like is everything good? And he was like, we'll talk when we get downstairs. Like, cause you just showed me that you're,

because that's one of those glass shatter moments where you're like, we'll talk when we get downstairs. Like, because you just showed me that you're... Because that's one of those glass shatter moments where you're like, oh! Like, oh crap. That stuff isn't normal, right? Like, and how I met your mother. Yes, the ch-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh. Literally.

So on top of all that, weirdness going on, there was more struggles when it came to their relationship. And this is kind of what we were talking about a second ago. Jody had converted to Mormonism, thinking that it would make her relationship with Travis easier. And Travis thought that was awesome. But the two of them were having premarital sex, and that is a huge no-no in the Mormon religion. Yeah. And Travis started to worry that their relationship wasn't pure enough to evolve into a marriage. But like at the same time, buddy, it takes two to tango.

Well, I was just going to say that's not fair. That's not just, that's not her fault. That's both of your fault. That's a collective fault. You're both deciding to break that rule. That's not, you know, exactly, but things always you know, whatever. Yeah, that's whatever. So that was the main part of his faith that Travis really struggled with and his friends began to realize that. And a lot of people in his life knew that

He really just couldn't stray away from his desire if he will and you know what like do like you're human Exactly, okay, you can still believe in the things you want to believe and have the values you want to have right and consider yourself a Mormon Exactly, you know do do what you gotta do. It's like, right. As long as you're being a good person, it doesn't make you a bad person. That is the thing that I think is the most important. It's like, as long as you're a good person,

and not hurting someone else. And you're not hurting someone else then why is it anybody's flippin' business? Yeah, it's like, if you're, you know, you're, you're, you're bone and it's fine. Like, you're still like, doing all the other things you have to do, I'm sure.

Yeah, I don't know what I literally know zero about Mormonism. I don't know a lot. I've just never looked into it, but I imagine there's other things that you have to be careful about. Yeah, there's definitely a lot of things. I think I'm sure he was, you know,

as long as you're abiding by most of the stuff, I feel like you're good. Yeah, I mean, you can't abide by like every rule. Yeah, like it's, again, it's the rule that is not hurting anyone else. Exactly. So, I don't see a problem. Exactly.

But that's me. If it's important to you, then you know, go with it. Right. Like to each their own. Right, right. To each their own. Yeah, I'm not going to judge someone for having a premarital sex.

No, live your best fucking life. Is that being a good person? No. Live your best fucking life. Was that being a good person? Well, and I think that's the really huge issue was too. It was that Jody and Travis' sex life was a very intense one. I was like, it was like Kinky. Oh, yeah, like Kinky is an understeer. Like at one point, he said that he wanted to tie her to a tree and like, you know.

Yeah, okay. And she was into it. Yeah, she seemed to point he said that he wanted to like tie her to a tree and like, you know, yeah, okay I mean and she was into it. Yeah She needs to be very into it So you're both consensual and having a good time and get it live So I but I think that made it harder to stop because it was so exciting for the two of them and it's I'm sure It's you don't run across Everybody in a like in various relationships. That's gonna be into the same thing She went to if you're into that and I don't really think he was gonna be

meeting a sweet girl at the Mormon church. She wanted to be tried to try to a church. Yeah, I don't think that's a dime a dozen here. No. So in June of 2007 though, Travis did decide that it was time to break up with Jody. All of his friends were like, dude, this is getting really weird.

Like it's too much. This is not a healthy relationship. It's like the struggle of what's that they're not pure. And then also the fact that she is stalking. Exactly. And she's got a lot of anxiety and even more. But Jody would say that they broke up because of trust issues, but she was far from over it.

And it was during the breakup that she got this wild idea to up and move to Travis' hometown. Like the entire time you were dating, you were cool in California, and now that you're broken up, you're moving closer to him. Yeah. Make it make sense. And it's like, if there was clearly discussions, and you know that there was like some, hey, boundary issues, like you're kind of stalking me.

And now you're, you're not gonna move. Moving prove that you're not by moving to his town when he breaks up with you. Like not only just the greater state of Arizona, but his literal town. Yeah. Like yikes. That's a problem. And then at that point when she was living there

in Arizona, she, when she was living there, in Arizona, she would just show up at his house unexpectedly, and she had the code to his garage. So she would come into the middle of the night and crawl into bed with him. Which sounds creepy as fuck, but it seemed like Travis didn't really mind because of that intense sexual relationship they had.

It was like, he didn't really wanna date her, but he, by all the accounts, wanted to sleep with her like very clearly. Well, it's one of those things because from an outside perspective, you're like that is scary behavior. Right. That is a step to believe in my bed after I broke up with them. I would hit my simply safe panic button. Yeah. Faster than the cool eight man jumps through your house. Oh yeah. Oh my god. But from us, it's like from an outside perspective,

we're like, hey, how'd it be? Like that is objectively scary. Like that is objectively not okay. Right. And it's like, but their relationship seems so spontaneous. I'm like, I don't know what to, like, from me, I think it's terrifying and not okay at all. And it's like, but then they're both like acting,

like it's totally fine. It's so strange. Right. And then I think I will say, I do think Jody was getting mixed messages because it was like, for sure. He would allow her to sleep in his bed, but then was like, I don't wanna date you.

This has been a thing with men and women, both sides, where somebody breaks up with somebody, but then they continue to want to sleep with them. And when the other person has not let go yet, or the other person wasn't wanting to break up. They take that as a sign. Men do it, women do it, like anybody does it in a relationship.

Absolutely. You see it all the time and you're always like, don't do that. Like that's, you gotta let somebody like, you have to get over it. You have to let somebody move forward away from it. Because if you keep sleeping with someone, that no matter how many times you tell them, we're not getting back together, but we're gonna sleep together, that's, it's there.

But the limer of hope is there. Right, I've seen it a million times. If they want to sleep with me, eventually I'm going to be able to keep them like eventually. And I think especially for women that's such, it's so much more of an intimate act. Yeah. And for men a lot of the times I'm not saying all the time, it's not as intimate. Yeah, it can be like, like, my rocks are soft. Exactly.

But then it can be like flipped around totally. That, you know, a man just wants to. A woman's like, well I'm going to keep sleeping with it. It happens both ways. It totally does. And it's like, every time you see it, sleeping with it. It happens both ways. It totally does. And it's like, every time you see it, you're like, this is just, it never ends well. It doesn't always end like this,

but it doesn't, it rarely ends well. Yeah. And I think that in this case, it was one of those things where this was way more intimate to Jody and for Travis, it was like, oh, you're just like good to have around. And by no means is that the catalyst for what happened? No. But it's like in the context of their relationship, you're just like, oh, you're just like good to have around. And by no means is that the catalyst for what happened?

No. But it's like in the context of their relationship, you're just like, exactly. That was definitely a problem for them. It was a fact on the relationship is what I'm saying. I'm like, definitely not a catalyst for murder, but a factor for the relationship being so toxic. Exactly.

We're not even at the murder yet, I know. Just to be clear. Well. So while all of that was going on, Travis had met a new girl and he'd started dating her. Pretty early on in that relationship, though, someone started calling this girl anonymously and just leaving her threatening messages.

Soon enough, that same person was stalking the girl's home, knocking on the doors and windows to freak her out. And Travis assumed that whoever was responsible for the late night stalking was also the one who had slashed his tires on multiple occasions. Pretty good, but. And all of his friends were like, oh my goodness, Travis, I wonder who that could be.

Who could it be? And he was like, yeah, I know it's Jody. I know it is, but what am I supposed to say about this? Jody was like, me? Slash your tires? What? Stuck? A gal? No. No. So he was like, me? Slash your tires? What stuck? A gal?

No. She was like, there's no way. And when you're in that position, where someone is just like haunting you, like an ex, like an ex. Like actually haunting you. Like an ex of your like current partner. There's nothing you can do.

No, because it gets dangerous. It gets dangerous, but please don't give shit. Because they're like, well, unless they hurt you, I don No, because it gets dangerous. It gets dangerous, but cool. Can't do anything. It gets shit because they're like, well, unless they hurt you, I don't know what to tell you. And you're like, oh, cool. Yeah, like fun. Awesome.

So I just have to wait for her to be over me at night. Okay, cool, cool. Cool, cool. Thank you for that. What do I do in that position? Yeah. Exactly. Now, Jody was like, no, no, no, that's not me.

And then finally in April of 2008, she was like, you know what, I'm going to prove it to you. It wasn't me and I'm going back to California 2008, she was like, you know what, I'm gonna prove it to you. It wasn't me and I'm going back to California. So she was gonna move back to California and she didn't. And Travis' friend, Sky, said that when he, excuse me, when she and Travis talked about Jody finally moving out of Arizona, Travis said, I'm getting, I'm getting my life back.

Life is a whole new start. She's gone. And I would assume by that point, he was like really getting stressed out with this. And was like, okay, I'm moving on now. Like I do think he wanted to move on. Like I think they were keeping each other tied into this really toxic relationship in one way or another.

And I think distance was the only thing that was going to stop that. And it didn't, unfortunately. Because as we know, that was not the case. Jody and Travis were still communicating even after she left Arizona. And on May 26, 2008, they appeared to be in a pretty big fight when it came to like looking back at emails and text messages and g chats. And g chats. G chats.

They were arguing on pretty much every platform available. And Travis seemed to be mad that Jody had been flirting with someone. Like, that's what this fight was about. See, this is what always happens. Right. Everybody gets tangled. Exactly.

And he was saying some pretty mean things. And she was going back at him saying also mean things. Now, around this time, Jody had been planning a road trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. There was going to be another prepaid legal convention out there that she wanted to go to, and she was also seeing a guy named Ryan Burns who lived out there. So she planned to go to the convention and stay with him. Now sure enough, she arrived on June 5th at 11am, and Ryan noticed two weird things when

she got there. One was that her hair was a.m. And Ryan noticed two weird things when she got there. One was that her hair was a different color. He had met her when she was blonde and she'd always been blonde, but now she was brunette. And number two, she had a lot of cuts on her hands when she showed up and he was like, whoa, dude, like what happened? And she was like, oh, they're from bar tending, like, look how crazy this is. Yeah. Like, I was a bar prodigy for like three years and I opened plenty of beers. Never in my life did I have the cuts that showed you?

No, it doesn't make anything. No, and especially not in the places where she had them now. Now Travis right around this time was planning his own trip. He was going to Cancun and he was going to be going with this girl called Mimi from church that he was interested in. He and Mimi had gone out on a couple of dates, but she really only looked at Travis as a friend, and she was honest and straight up with him about that. And he was like, you know what, that's totally

cool, but I invited you to Cancun. Let's go together and see what happens. And she was like, cool, let's go. Now leading up to the trip though, Travis just went radio silent. And Mimi was starting to get really worried. And the night before they were supposed to leave the trip, she stood, yeah, I said that right. The night where they were supposed to leave on the trip, she still hadn't heard from him. So she decided enough was enough, and she needed to reach out to his friends to see if they had heard from him at all. So she reached out, and of course they had not heard from him.

Now that night, it was the 9th of June. Mimi went over to Travis' place with a couple of his friends to see if they could get not heard from him. Now that night it was the ninth of June. Mimi went over to Travis's place with a couple of his friends to see if they could get a hold of him. Who was this scene? This scene. They were ringing the doorbell and calling him. They saw his dog inside.

There were some lights on, but they were getting no answer. So finally one of them remembered his garage code and they were able to get in that way. I also was like Travis, why does so many people have your garage code? Okay, thank you. I was like, Travis, why does so many people have your garage code? Okay, thank you. I was like, this many people should never have your garage code. That's why there's a garage code.

That's why it's a code. I'm not blaming anything on Travis whatsoever. I'm just saying as a learning lesson for everybody else, don't give people your garage code. Yeah, I think it goes without saying, we're not gonna blame any victims here for anything. No, obviously not. But yeah, don't give out your garage code to Yeah, I think it goes without saying, we're not going to blame any victims here for anything they've done. Obviously not.

But yeah, don't give out your garage code to a bunch of people. Maybe just give it to the closest people to you that in an absolute emerge, like your mom. And actually, this is not an ad, but if you have a simply safe, you can have a specific code that you know, and then you can give a different code to friends if they're coming over. Oh yeah. Like if like they need to feed your animal or something. That's true.

And then you can have another one for when you're panicking and somebody broken to your house and you need the authorities, you can have a false one that you put in there that calls the authorities. Actually, that's my favorite thing is that yeah, it's cool. Yeah, it's awesome. It's really safe, not in that. No, it's really not, but they're the red. So they were like, yeah, we have this code.

Let's go in that way. So once they got in, they realized that Travis' car was still parked inside. It's always a bad sign, always a bad sign. Then they walked into his office and they saw that his phone and his keys were sitting right on his desk. Something was clearly wrong here.

So then they realized that one of his roommates was home and they knock on his door and they're like, dude, where's Travis? Like also we've been ringing the doorbell for like 45 minutes. What the hell is up? Now the roommate was like, I thought Travis was in Cancun. The whole time he thought that he was in Cancun.

And his friends were like, no, he wasn't. And the reason why the roommate hadn't heard them was he was like watching a movie in his room really loud. But that particular roommate had a key to Travis' room in case of emergencies, so he grabbed it and had it done the hallway. As soon as he opened the door and started walking around, he saw blood. And that was in the hallway leading to the bathroom and Travis' side of the house. And when he opened up Travis' bathroom door, there was blood absolutely everywhere.

The scene was like grisly to say the least. Every surface was covered. And that's when his roommate turned to look into the shower, and he discovered Travis' body slumped over very clearly dead. Man. So sad. He had been stabbed at least 27 times. His throat was slit from ear to ear nearly decapitating him, and he had suffered a single gunshot wound to his head, and the

gunshot wound was over his right eyebrow. Wow, yeah. My goodness. Yeah. He also had suffered countless defense wounds during the entire attack. So the police were called immediately, and they arrived and got to work finding out what could have happened here, but all of Travis' friends already had an answer to that. Because clearly a frenzied, a angry attack. Absolutely frenzied.

Like, there was shit everywhere. And like that much stabbing, a slit throat to the point of almost decapitation and a gunshot wound, that's overkill to the extreme. I've never even heard of anything like that. That's wild. So they all had the answer to what happened here.

Jody Areas had happened and they were sure of it, like not a doubt in any of their minds. When your friends immediately, when they come across your brutally murdered body and their first thought is the girl that you have been like seeing on and off, I mean, things were rough for them to immediately think that Jody had to be the person. You would never think it's somebody's girlfriend or boyfriend. I can't think of one friend or another. That I would be like, oh yeah, their boyfriend

or girlfriend is that. That's the thing. Like I don't have one friend in that situation. The most toxic relationships that I've seen in my friends. If I came across them dead, the first thing I would think wouldn't be that. So it had to be bad. Absolutely. It had to be really superiorly.

I mean, it was. She had slashed his tires. She was stalking other girls that he was dating. She was crawling through his doggy door at night and sleeping on his couch they found out during the trial. Like, she was, there's not even a word for what she was doing. So I get why they immediately were like, yep, absolutely.

So in searching the house, investigators found a bloody pomperant on the wall, dark hair in the sink, and eventually a camera in the washing machine. Somebody, he's the most wild part of this. The camera in the washing machine. I... That's the most wild part of this. The camera in the washing machine. I can't get over that. I'll never get over that.

Me either. Clearly. Clearly somebody was trying to destroy this camera. It was not like a disposable camera. It was a professional, nice camera. Like, why would it be in the washing machine? None of that makes sense to me. Why did you leave it?

Why wouldn't you just take the camera with you? Exactly. And to like, what, what, what? But that's the thing, that's what leads me to believe that this was so frenzy. But that is such a choice. Like it wasn't like she just left the camera and was like, oh shit, I love the camera.

Put it in the washing machine and turned it on. In the washing machine and turned it on instead of just taking it with her. And the weird thing is, is that we can all assume that she took the gun with her, because the gun and that Travis was shot with was never found. So that, you're, I don't understand that.

Like you made a choice to put it in the washing machine, turn on the washer and leave. No matter what, even if it does erase everything off of that camera, which it never does. But even if it did, that's still weird that there's a camera in the washing machine. So they're immediately gonna be like, okay, what's that about?

Right, I mean, that doesn't make things more super glad that she did that. Super glad. Yeah, brother, because the shit they found on this camera. I just need to, I'm like, I can't get my brain into like how, what, why she didn't just bring it with her. It's probably a good thing that I can't get my brain into like how what her foot why she didn't just bring it with her It's probably a good thing that you can't get your brain into your ear. It's free but mine

Yeah, part of me is like she was like kind of she wanted those photos to be seen Well, I think she wanted them to be seen. I do have a theory that she's a bit of a narcissist Well, that's exactly so the only thing I can think of is she wanted people to see that. And she wanted people to see Travis like that. But then she didn't want to get caught. I think she didn't want it to be like trace back to her, but she wanted those pictures of him in his last moments and him helpless and in fear. She wanted those scenes.

Because she wanted, I think that was her final attack on him. Yeah, that was her final stab, was, I'm gonna make you look helpless and in fear and everyone's gonna see you. I absolutely agree with you. I absolutely agree with you. That's the only thing I can think of for leaving that camera and not taking it. But then there was pictures of her on the camera. Yeah, that's the, which is like, I guess that's where the narcissist thing

becomes involved, but it's like, we'll get into it. Yeah. Yeah. So, yes, the camera was found in the wash machine and people were like, what the fuck? Like that, why? So weird. So they were able to get the memory card out of it as well.

Of course. And they sent it off to whoever the hell recovers the pictures. Forensic memory card people. Obviously, all of them. Yeah. And it took some time. But when those pictures were finally ready, they quite literally told the story of the day

that Travis haven't killed. It's horrific. It's beyond. I can't imagine his family. No. No. People who care about him and his friends and stuff like having to see his last moments. Those are literally his last moments and like we'll get into it

But some like the way that they're marked. It's like one thing was going on and then a minute and 45 seconds later Done it's almost like it was just like snap snap snap snap snap literally. I told like it's like a storyboard It is mm-hmm now all of these photos were marked June 4th, 2008. And I am so sure that you guys are gonna be so shocked to hear who was in some of these photos. Jody! Jody. Yeah.

Jody was arrested on July 15th, 2008. And at the time, she was living with her grandparents. Oh jeez. She had told her parents before this that she had to get out of town because she might be blamed for something. But she wouldn't tell them anything more than that. I mean, come on.

She looked like they were like, what are you gonna get blamed for, Jody? And she was like, I can't tell, I got a dip. I got a dip. I just might be blamed for something weird. But still, they were shocked when she was arrested for Travis's murder. Her mother, Sandy, in particular, was so disturbed because she said that she remembered

Jody hearing the news about Travis and like literally breaking down. And she was like, it was so mind-boggling to me that somebody could have done something like this and then acted as surprised as she was to hear about it. Like, she was scared. Yeah. Now, and her mom was scared, is what I'm saying.

Yeah. Now, the detectives were also shocked when Jody was arrested, but for a completely different reason. She asked them if she could clean herself up before her mug shot. I remember seeing that clip. She literally said to the detective, quote,

this is a really trivial question, and it's gonna show, excuse me, and it's gonna reveal how shallow I am, but before they book me, can I at least clean myself up a little bit? My God. And he literally was like, no, no, that's a no.

You think that you're just like, and that's the thing, I think she literally thought that she could charm this man into it and like, here's some Revlon lipstick, baby. 100%. What the fuck? 100%. Now, they left her in the interrogation room for like a minute

as I'm sure they were probably getting everything together and they started watching her because she just started singing oh holy night and then she did a headstand in the middle of the interrogation room she just got up and did a headstand for no apparent reason. And she also just started talking to herself and she was like saying things like, but you're sorry now, brat. It's like, it's like the jinx. What?

It's like the jinx, it's like Robert Durst when he's like, yep, just talking to himself, like just being like, man. And I'm like, girl, have you ever seen a crime show? Like, that is always what boggles about a mind in these interrogation rooms when these people do things like this. And like, you know you're on camera.

Like, obviously, like, how do you not understand that? That's why it's like, it feels like they just like go out of themselves for a minute and just like, yeah. I don't know. Watching that. Watching that. Yeah, because watching that clip of her,

you're like, what the fuck is going through her head? Yeah. Which I'm glad that I don't know. Yeah, it's, I don't, the whole thing, especially like you brat, like what you do. I'm like, what? And I'm like, are you talking to yourself? Or like...

100% she is. Yeah, like... But it's like, do you think you're like someone else talking to yourself? Like what you do? Or like, but it's like do you think you're like someone else talking to your self? Like look at what? Or like were you sitting there trying to make it seem like thank you, because that was the next thing I was gonna say was, and then I think maybe these people do this

because they know they're on camera. And they can make it look, because then people are gonna go, why would they ever talk like this? Right, they could get another on camera. Well, because they must be, you know, they must be insane. Right, we're going to be able to get that like, right? Because if she's sitting there talking to herself, she can make it seem like she has voices. Exactly. Yeah.

It was just really bizarre. Now, before they took her mug shot, she asked the person taking it, how her hair looked, and then she fixed her hair and smiled in her mug shot while she was being booked for murder. Murder. I can't with that. There's no excuse for that. No. There's no excuse for that. No.

Because you can say a lot of things about behavior after stuff. I remember with the Amanda Knox thing, people really harped on her cartwheel or whatever she was doing yoga or something like that. And it's like, yeah, that's weird. Like that's weird behavior for sure, but it's like, it's such a different situation than any of us could ever put ourselves in. I don't know what I would be doing.

Exactly, but the mugshot stuff. Right. That shows one, you're not scared. Like she's cheesein'. You're not scared. You don't think you're whatever, fuck it. Right, like make me look good in the spot out. Like that's, no. There're not scared. You don't think you're whatever. Fuck it. Right. Like make me look good in this photo.

Like that's, no. There's nothing that can be said about like, well I was stressed. And no you were. You cared about what you looked like. And during like interviews and stuff, like she was holding like her own press conferences. Yeah.

And the fucking prison. And she's sitting there with a beauty blender half the time, like fixing her makeup. Like I remember Nancy Grass being, Nancy Grass. Nancyas being like, you're fixing your makeup while your lover is dead. I knew you were going to go with Nancy Gras. Crazy. So when she was first arrested, Jody said she had no idea what happened to Travis.

In fact, even before she'd been arrested, she called the police and offered her help. She said she wanted to help them in any way that she could. Let me help in the investigation. Yep. Which, how often does that happen? Yep. Now, she told them that the last time she saw Travis was in April, but that she had talked to him while she was on her road trip because, remember, she wasn't even near Arizona.

She even told a story about getting lost on the trip and sleeping in her car, and she was getting lost on the trip and sleeping in her car and she was like, I'm not above sleeping in my car. She literally said, Oh, okay, okay, you're good for you. I suppose like, but you're okay. Sure. Cool, cool, cool. Sure. But when that still didn't make sense with the time frame of her arriving in Salt Lake City at 11am on June 5th, and when they presented her with naked pictures of her in Travis, and the fact that they had her hair and her pulm print in blood at the scene, she finally admitted to them that she had seen Travis. Oh yeah. Not before saying to the naked photos of herself that

were presented to her, those pictures really do look like me. Because they are you, girlfriend. I mean, yeah, like that really does look like me. She's like, for sure. That is you, like you know what you look like. I literally can't. Wow. And she was sitting there being like, well, I know that like time stamps on photos

can be manipulated. So I don't, I'm not saying you did that, but I'm just saying I do know that that's a thing that could have happened. I love that she's like, I'm on to you. Like, why? I know what you did. I know what you did last summer. No, I think she's girl by.

Oh, you. So she said that she called Travis and said, hey, guess what? And he said, what? And she said, I'm coming to visit you because she was in Arizona and she wanted to see him. And he said that he wanted to see her too. And she said that she got to his house

around 3 a.m. on June 4th and that they talked and fell asleep together. They woke up in the afternoon, they spent some time together, they had some sex while they took naked photos of each other. And then around 520, they moved the photo shoot to the bathroom. She said that they really wanted to use the water for the shoot. That's why they moved into the bathroom. Okay. So while she was taking the photos,

she said all of a sudden Travis slumped over and clearly he had been shot. Okay, yep. When she turned around, she saw a man and a woman in ski masks holding guns and knives, and the woman brought her into Travis' closet and they had a struggle with each other, which is how she got those cuts on her hands. And the man came into the closet and he took her registration out of her wallet and he said, you're that bitch from California. And he and the woman sat there and they talked to each other and the hushed in these hushed tones and they said, da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da if she ever said anything, they were here for Travis, not for her. So she ran out of the house

and then just casually drove to Salt Lake City and arrived the next morning to her friend's house like nothing had ever happened. That seems legit. Yeah, I think that's what happened. That's right, yeah, no, not at all. Everything about that sounds what, how do you do it?

Bought and up, perfect. Bought and up, I see. The detective on the case literally paused and stared at her for like, the fun effect I'm assuming. Can't imagine why. And he was like, I have worked on this force for a very long time, years in fact.

And that is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard and it's not gonna get you anywhere. Yeah, the amount of holes in that story. And I love that she's like, the man wanted to keep me alive. The woman was gonna kill me, but the man spared my life. He's spared my life. Okay, Jody, we got it, you think you're hot.

It's like, okay. So eventually she said, you know, you're right, that's not gonna work for me. I'm gonna tell you the real story. Oh, thank you. It's a story of self-defense. Oh, of course it is. She claimed that her and Travis' relationship

was toxic the whole time they were together. True, but she said that he had almost killed her on plenty of occasions. claimed that her and Travis' relationship was toxic the whole time they were together, true. But she said that he had almost killed her on plenty of occasions. She said that. Now all we have to go on. That's all I have to go on. No, in this particular day, June 4th, she told the same story of them having sex and taking the pictures, making their way to the bathroom so they could use the water for the vibes, and

then she dropped the camera while they were taking the pictures. And that Travis lost it on her because that was his camera. And he was like, you're an idiot, like started flipping out on her. And then she said that he'd body slammed her to the floor and that this wasn't the first time. And she spoke of previous instances where he'd kicked her and beaten her. She said that at one point he kicked her so badly that it broke her finger and she didn't get help, so her finger was permanently bent.

But this time, she said there was a different look in his eyes than all those other times. So she ran into his closet, which was right off of the bathroom, by the way, and she grabbed his gun, and she shot him. And that's all she remembered. He was stabbed 27 times, at least, and she shot him, and that's all she remembered. He was stabbed 27 times at least, and his throat had been slit open from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and she only remembered shooting him.

See, that's where my problems lie is, if he was just shot, then that is a plausible story. Sure. But the 27 stab wounds, and I just, you can see autopsy photos, which are horrific. And some of the stab wounds were to the back. Most of them were to the back. It looks like.

Yeah, most of them are clustered on his back. Literally, as he's clearly trying to get away. That kind of just negates your whole self defense thing right there. And when you said his throat was slit ear to ear almost to capitated, that's not his hyperbolic exaggeration on any level. No. Yeah. He doesn't make any sense.

He was so close to being decapitated. Very close. The depth of that wound is outrageous. And she was trying to say that after she shot him, he was still going after her. Yeah. And that's why she had to stab him. If he had been shot where he was, which was I believe over his right eyebrow,

yeah, he would have basically died instantly. There would have been hemorrhaging in the brain. Yeah, he wouldn't be able to keep coming after her. Like there would be no reason to continue to stab him. And there is at least one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13 stab wounds on his back. To the back from what I can see. Exactly.

Which like, if you're going to claim self-defense, you can't stab somebody 13 times in the back. You probably shouldn't do that. No. And again, she didn't remember stabbing him. Now, she said the next thing that she remembered after that was waking up in the desert. But then, on the same token, she said that she remembered hearing the sound of dropping

the knife on the floor and how it clandered. And I'm like, but you said you didn't remember any of that. You said the next thing you remembered was waking up in the desert. So what's the story? Which one is true? So this trial was one of the biggest in media history. People were literally buying seats inside of the courtroom

for $200. They were flying from places all over America to get a chance to see everything play out themselves. And Jody herself was on the stand testifying for 18 days, which is something that really doesn't happen a lot in cases like this. It was very rarely. Very rare. There was a lot of back and forth with the defense attacking Travis's character because that's just how these things go. Yeah, of course. So fucked, but that's the way they do it. Of course. And they said that he was an abuser. They also went

as far as saying that he was a pedophile. Oh, I remember when that was a part of the whole thing. Yeah. Now, they did play a tape of Travis and Jody having phone sex, and he did claim that she sounded like a 12-year-old girl having her first orgasm. That's horrific. Yeah, that's horrific. And there's more. She also, Jody testified that she had walked in on Travis

before masturbating to child pornography. If that is true, then that is disgusting. That is absolutely disgusting. And terrific and criminal. And also, you probably shouldn't have stayed with him. Or excuse me, definitely shouldn't have stayed with him if that was the case. Exactly.

Now, they also noted how messy the crime scene was. And they thought that this showed that there was no premeditation involved in the crime, that this was a crime of passion, because that was one of the big things on the table. Was this premeditated or did this happen in the heat of the moment? Yeah, because that's going to change the charge. Exactly. So the defense was like, no, there was no premeditation involved. The prosecution, however, brought in Jody Zoldboyfriend Darryl, who I mentioned the one with the kid. And he testified that right before her road trip, he had given her two cans of gas.

Now, the prosecution believed that Jody had used that gas while she was traveling through Arizona so there wouldn't be any record of her being there. In addition to that, they had found a shoe box filled with receipts from that road trip and not one of them accounted for her being in Arizona. So she clearly didn't stop in Arizona and had to have used that gas while she was there. Wow, that's crazy. And full-blown premeditation. I mean, the most.

Like, the most premeditated. Yeah. More premeditated than most would ever even kind of think about. Oh, 100. Who would you like with that? Who would you like with that? So finally, in April of 2015, Jody Arias was sentenced to life and prison

without any possibility that she would ever get parole. Now she had been found guilty in May of 2013, but the jury couldn't reach a decision when it came to whether or not she should be sentenced to death because that was also on the table. Oh, I forgot about that. So in May 2013, that jury couldn't decide. So then a new jury was brought in to deliberate

on that fact and they couldn't agree on that either. That's a wild. Two juries were like, we don't know whether or not she should be sentenced to death. So that final decision was made by the judge, and she wasn't. So she showed some remorse once she had finally come clean,

and she said, to this day, I can't believe that I was capable of doing something not terrible. I'm truly disgusted and repulsed with myself. I'm horrified because of what I did, and I wish there was some way I could take it back. And she was so sorry and regretful that she decided to file an appeal accusing the prosecutor of a hostility.

Oh, okay, cool. It's like, yeah, you're really sorry. You don't, like, you're really prepared to serve your time. You know where you belong. Yeah. You killed your man. She cited the publicity of the case and how overwhelming it was,

but Arizona's Court of Appeals came back in 2020 and was like, wah, wah, wah, wah, denied. It doesn't change what you did. No. And you admitted it. Exactly. So it's like, you're not even denying it anymore. So why does it change that it was, yeah, no.

It literally doesn't. No, sorry. No. Now Travis' house was actually sold in 2009 for $44,000 less than what he'd bought it for in 2004. Yeah, imagine. Yeah. The owners are aware of what he'd bought it for in 2004. Yeah, imagine. Yeah, the owners are aware of what happened there. They were a family.

The wife said, I was a little nervous about it. My husband though, it didn't bother him. He said, this is a good deal. It's a beautiful home and it's in a great school district. And went on to say, the husband said, the evil is not in the house. It's with the person who committed this crime. I mean, what a great way to look at it, I suppose.

Yeah, that's the thing. It works for you. Yeah. I could not. But if it works for you, you would not want to live there. I just, I have to say it, I can't imagine using that bathroom. Oh, no, I can't imagine showering on a show. I was just going to say I can't imagine taking a shower there. No, that would be the most haunting thing on the face of the planet. Wow. Yeah, so that's the face of the planet. Wow.

Yeah, so that's the story of Jody Areas. That is intense. And I think some people are still divided on whether or not they think that it was like self-defense or if they think that she really did this. I think most people, I mean, she really did this. I think most people are on the side of like, she planned this.

Yeah, because it seems like it was. As soon as we got that gas, I was like, yeah, once you get to that gas, it's like, and then the camera, aspects of it all. The camera aspect of it all is so wild. Because those photos, the photos on the camera are, there's one that is literally his, him looking at the camera and he's like, what the fuck?

He's confused. And then there's one of is literally his, him looking at the camera and he's like, what the fuck? He's confused. And then there's one of him lying on the floor clearly, like there's blood dripping from his shoulder. And there's a foot with like pants. And they were like, Jody, those are your pants we know they are. Yeah.

So it's like, she was literally taking photos of him afterwards. Yeah. That's not self-defense. No. That's like, I'm enjoying this. Exactly. And it's the overkill involved.

And the 13 plus, however many are actually on the back, stab wounds on the back. And then the whole thing of her changing her story and saying that there was people in schemas, and it's just like, and it's like, if you really shot him in self-defense because he was threatening you and attacking you, call the police and say I did this,

but I was in self-defense. Right, you don't go to a soldier hair. You don't change your hair. You change your hair. Yeah, it's like no, none of that makes sense. None of it, it just doesn't. None of it whatsoever. She is guilty as fuck and I think she plans this.

Yeah, I definitely think she's guilty as fuck. What do you think? What do you think? Well, as always, we hope you're gay plus than I am. And we hope you keep it weird. But I'm somewhere that you pull a jodiarious because literally don't ever do that. Yeah, don't do that. Just don't.

No. Don't even think about it. Don't do it. Don't. Bye. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.

Tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.