Jodi Arias Isn’t a “Bad B*tch”: A K!ller’s Life in Prison 15 Years Later

When Jodi Arias met Travis Alexander at a conference in Las Vegas in 2006, she presented herself as the perfect catch. She was beautiful, sexy, and sexually adventurous on the outside, although inside, hid narcissistic, egotistical, psychopathic traits that eventually cost Alexander his life.

Jodi became Inmate #281129 in the Arizona Department of Corrections on July 15, 2008, about a month after she brutally murdered her then ex-boyfriend. Jodi cut his throat from ear to ear and then shot him in the head moments after having sex with him in the shower.

She denied killing Travis, although changed her version of events several times. Jodi’s behavior was so erratic, so chaotic, even her lawyer said during her trial, “I don’t even like Jodi Arias most days.”

Jodi Behind Bars

Inside her jail cell and eventually at Perryville State Prison, Jodi used her sexuality to her advantage. She frequently flirted with guards and used her beauty to garner attention and special privileges. She tattooed inmates using mascara and other jailhouse commodities and once performed a striptease.

“There were a couple of officers — she would flirt with or play with her hair with — and they would go in find that tattoo equipment, and they would leave it alone," Tracy Brown told Inside Edition several years ago.

Fifteen years later, however, Jodi is a much different person, one the public would no longer recognize. Her once long, dark silky hair is now cut short to her shoulders and surrounds the round-lens eyeglasses on her face. The look seems appropriate for a 40-something-year-old library aide, her current job at the prison.

Jodi no longer performs strip teases or flirts with the guards. She is quiet and soft-spoken and stays to herself when she isn’t working.

“You wouldn’t know that she was a killer,” said Yesenia Alvarado, who spent three years locked up at Perryville Prison in Goodyear, AZ, with Jodi.

Looks can be deceiving. Very deceiving.

Despite standing 5’5” and weighing 115 pounds, despite her beautiful face and curvy body, and despite hiding her crazy for so long, Jodi Arias’ proved you should never judge a book by its cover.

Jodi is one of the most callous killers in the Arizona Prison system -or the U.S.

Jodi + Travis = A Match Made in Hell

She lived in Palm Desert, CA, when she met Travis, a Mesa, AZ, resident. For months, Jodi and Travis met up at his pal’s house, Lovinger Hughes, in Murietta, CA. Travis told Lovinger Jodi was the woman of his dreams, the woman he was going to marry.

Travis’s friends thought Jodi and Travis were a good couple. They liked Jodi, at least initially. The same friends quickly felt something was off about Jodi and spotted the red flags.

Jodi Turns Obsessive

After dating Travis for a couple of months, Jodi made her way across state lines to her man’s home. They had fun together but most importantly to Travis, engaged in hot, passionate sex during their meetings.

Hughes became so concerned with Jodi’s behavior, that he told Travis, “I’m afraid we’re gonna find you chopped up in her freezer.” He ignored their warnings.

“I started seeing things that were disturbing,” Hughes later recalled.

Jodi followed Travis’ every step, even standing outside the bathroom to wait for him to come out. Jodi became so jealous that she argued with Travis if he as much as spoke to a female. Content written by Criminal Matters. She hacked his cell phone and email accounts and often stood outside his home, watching.

Travis enjoyed his sessions with Jodi although, as a devout Mormon, knew his religion frowned upon pre-marital sex. He could not shake his guilt with the fact and took it out on Jodi, calling her a slut and a whore.

Soon, Travis began preaching Mormonism to Jodi and eventually baptized her into the religion.

The relationship did not last.

Travis Broke Up With Jodi

Five months into their relationship, Travis finally ended things with Jodi. He felt too guilty about having premarital sex to continue his relationship, he claimed.

Jodi’s obsession with Travis grew stronger when he ended their relationship. She relocated to Mesa to be closer to Travis, hoping she could change his mind and become the woman Travis would take home to Mama.

After relocating to Mesa, Jodi showed up at Travis’ home uninvited at least once a week, letting herself in through the garage since she knew the access code.

Why not? More often than not, Travis invited her in for a passionate lovemaking session. Jodi’s unannounced visits occasionally angered Travis, and he would ask her to leave.

Travis preached religion, preached about good girls, and spoke about how Jodi was not one of those girls. Content written by Criminal Matters. He belittled Jodi, called her names to her face and behind her back, and told her that he would have sex with her, but could never be in a relationship with her.

Travis Moved On

When Travis started dating a woman named Lisa, Jodi found out and would knock on her house door and run before she answered. This odd behavior scared Lisa, just as Jodi wanted.

The tires on Travis’ vehicle were slashed on two separate occasions. Friends suspected Jodi of slashing his tires but did not have proof and she denied it.

Eight months after moving to Palm Desert, Jodi realized she would never be Travis’ one and only. She moved to California to her parent's home.

Travis told friends he was relieved when Jodi returned to California. He hoped the move would finally stop her obsessive and odd behavior. Little did anyone know; Travis continued a sexual relationship with Jodi until May 2008.

Travis and Jodi got into a heated argument via text. In one message, Travis told Jodi, “You don't know what horror you have caused me.” She responded, “Travis, I never intended to harm you.” He texted back calling Jodi a sociopath and describing her as the “lowest of the low.”

Travis started dating a woman named Mimi In June 2008.

Travis a No Show in Cancun

Travis and his friends planned to attend a company retreat in Cancun, Mexico, in July. Excited that Travis had someone else in his life, Travis’s friends planned an exciting adventure for the couple during the retreat. Lovinger and other friends arrived in Cancun ahead of Travis and Mimi to set up their room and plan events.

In Cancun, Lovinger repeatedly phoned Travis, although never got a response. He didn’t much worry until Travis failed to attend a conference call he was heading for the retreat. Lovinger and Travis’s friends knew something was wrong.

Five days later, on June 9, 2008, friends had not heard from Travis in five days. Mimi and two other friends headed to his home to check on him. Zach Billings, Travis’s roommate, was home. They asked if he had seen Travis. He had not, stating Travis was in Mexico. Mimi knew he was not in Mexico.

Friends Found Travis' Dead Body

Zach stepped in a puddle of blood on the carpet when he opened Travis’s bedroom door. In the bathroom, he found Travis’s body lying in the shower. Blood was everywhere. They immediately dialed 911.

Travis suffered at least 27 stab wounds to his body, and his throat had been sliced from ear to ear. After the vicious stabbing, Travis had been shot in the head. The scene was one of the most gruesome Arizona police had ever seen.

Police found a palm print and long brown hairs on the walls and floor of the bathroom and a camera in the washing machine. They also found a .25 caliber gun on the floor. Police determined Travis had been dead for several days.

Jodi Arias: Suspect No. 1

Friends suspected Jodi had killed Travis. She repeatedly called the police department asking for updates on the case, arousing police suspicion. Detectives questioned Jodi, although did not get very far with her.

Jodi denied being in Arizona at the time of Travis' death.

Jodi attended Travis’s funeral services. After, she agreed to be fingerprinted by Mesa police.

Meanwhile, experts at the computer forensics lab discovered a memory card and camera in the washing machine. Content written by Criminal Matters. They later discovered the memory card contained photographs of Travis and Jodi timestamped the day of his murder.

The photos show Travis in the shower in various stages of life as Jodi killed him.

Jodi Arrested

Days later, investigators learned the palm print belonged to Jodi Arias. She was taken into custody.

They also learned that a .25-caliber gun had been stolen from Jodi’s grandparent's house days before Travis was shot with the same caliber weapon.

It took detectives less than 24 hours to get Jodi to admit that she had been at Travis’s home on the day of his murder. She initially denied killing him, saying she and Travis were having sex in the shower when two masked men entered the home and attacked him. Jodi claimed the intruders forced her to leave the home and threatened her if she ever told anyone.

Life in Prison

She was charged with first-degree murder. More than four years passed before Jodi finally went to trial in January 2013.

Jodi changed her story several times during her trial. She claimed she had once caught Travis masturbating to a photograph of a child. Police never found any evidence to support her claim.

She also claimed Travis had physically abused her. She stood before the jury telling them she hoped to help other abused women like herself.

She was found guilty in May 2013. Although eligible for the death penalty, a judge spared her life and sentenced her to life in prison without parole.

The attention pleased Jodi 15 years ago. My, how quickly things can change. Content written by Criminal Matters.

Rest in peace, Travis.