Jodi Arias 'Blacked Out' While Stabbing Alexander, Admits to Shooting Him
Jodi Arias took the stand for the eighth day and testified about the moment she killed Travis Alexander. While she admitted to shooting Alexander, Arias said she "blacked out" during the stabbing portion of the murder.
"There are a lot of gaps. I have no memory of stabbing him," Arias testified yesterday. "I have a few memories … I have a vague memory of putting the knife in the dishwasher but I've put the knife in the dishwasher before. I just remember screaming. And I don't remember anything after that – not immediately."
Arias also testified that a verbal argument quickly turned physically violent and described her feeling of terror during the argument.
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"He kept running, like a linebacker. I didn't mean to shoot him or anything. I didn't even think I was holding the trigger. I didn't even know I shot him. It just went off. He lunged at me and we fell really hard. We were struggling and wrestling and he was getting on top of me," Arias said.
She has maintained that Alexander was verbally and sexually abusive during their relationship. It's the third motive Arias has spoken of since Alexander died; she first said that she was not present when he died, then said two men killed Alexander but she was unable to help.
After killing Alexander, Arias left to visit with a new romantic interest, Ryan Burns. She described driving to his house and falling asleep with Burns but maintained that they were never intimate.
In order to protect herself, Arias said she called his voicemail numerous times and left a message to "throw off" the police.
"I figured that eventually his voicemails are going to be listened to and this would throw the scent off," Arias said. She also worked to "appear as normal as possible" while with Burns and others until she was officially notified of Alexander's death.
"I tried to act like nothing had happened and waited for the clock to tick down. I was very ashamed of what happened. I didn't want my family to know that I had done that. I just couldn't bring myself to say that I'd done that," Arias admitted.
The trial resumes today.
