Jodi Arias, 32, who was charged with killing her boyfriend faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder of her then-boyfriend Travis Alexander in 2008.
Arias said testified that her boyfriend was abusive and emotionally detached. "Prosecutors claim Arias killed Alexander in a jealous rage, stabbing and slashing him 27 times, slitting his throat and shooting him in the head," reported The Associated Press.
She testified on Monday to jurors that she once woke up and found Alexander having sex with her. She initially claimed self-defense after telling authorities that she wasn't there when the murder occurred, blaming it on intruders. The AP reported that she is now claiming that Alexander attacked her and it was self defense.
She also spoke about her troubled childhood last week and how she was abused by her parents and had a number of bad relationships. She also said that Alexander tried to convert her into the Mormon faith and made repeated sexual advances at her.
The NY Daily News reported that Arias said in court that her parents beat her with wooden spoons and belts and then they later shoved her into furniture and slapped her across the face.
On Monday she spoke to jurors about Alexander having sex with her while she slept. "I felt like I was partially responsible because I went to sleep next to him. I was wearing a T-shirt, cute shorts," Arias said according to the AP.
"I was kind of a door mat," she added saying she finally ended the relationship in 2007,
A friend of Alexander, Julie Haslem said that Arias' testimony about Alexander being abusive was not true.
"It's bad enough that she took his life. Now she's trying to take his reputation, too," Haslem said outside courtroom to the AP.
Arias said she went to Alexander's home the day of the murder on June 4, 2008 because he had hired her to clean his house twice a week and wanted her to wear a French maid's outfit.
"Authorities said they found Arias' hair and bloody palm print at the scene, along with time-stamped photographs in a camera discovered inside Alexander's washing machine," reported the AP.
Authorities say that Alexander was shot with a .25 caliber gun which was the same caliber that was stolen from Arias' grandparents home.
Arias said that she had plans to commit suicide.
She said according to the NY Daily News, "At the time, I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me because I didn't expect any of you to be here," Arias said. "I planned to be dead."
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