LOS ANGELES: Jodi Arias, the US woman found guilty of stabbing and shooting to death her boyfriend in 2008, pleaded with a jury yesterday to spare her life after she was convicted in the high-profile murder case.
The 32-year-old, who had previously said she would prefer a death sentence to life in prison, listed the good things she could achieve behind bars, while admitting the murder was “the worst mistake of my life.”
“I’ve made many public statements that I would prefer the death penalty to life in prison .. To me life in prison was the most unappealing outcome I could possibly think of. I thought I’d rather die ...
“But as I stand here now I can’t in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death .. asking for death is tantamount to suicide,” she told the jury in Phoenix, Arizona.
Arias had been on trial since January accused of murdering Travis Alexander, 30, in June 2008 in a frenzied attack in which he was stabbed 27 times, shot in the head and had his throat slit.
She claimed she was acting in self-defence, but a jury found her guilty of premeditated murder two weeks ago, and then decided last week that she could face the death penalty because she had been “especially cruel” to the victim.
Arias yesterday appealed to the jurors, listing the good things she could achieve in prison — including donating her hair to cancer charities for chemotherapy patients, promoting recycling or starting a book club. AFP
