Jodi Arias Taken Off Suicide Watch, Returned to Prison on 'Closed Custody'
Jodi Arias is back in prison after being placed on suicide watch following the reading of a guilty verdict last week. Arias was returned to Phoenix's Estrella Jail on Monday morning, reports state.
Arias was put on suicide watch after being found guilty of the first-degree murder of Travis Alexander. While she did not show much emotion while the verdict was being read, sources say she later broke down after the cameras were turned off. In an interview with Fox News, she admitted that she hoped for the death penalty because death was "the ultimate freedom."
She was subsequently put on suicide watch and denied any and all visitors, including her mother. Now that she is back in prison, she will be able to see friends and family for one hour each day. Arias is being held in a cell of her own and is on "closed custody status," which means that she only has one hour of freedom every day.
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Arias is due back in court on Wednesday, May 15, for the penalty phase of the trial. Jurors will listen to arguments by the defense and prosecution and then decide whether Arias should be sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole, life behind bars with the possibility of parole after 25 years, or death by lethal injection.
"The worst outcome for me would be natural life [in prison]. I would much rather die sooner than later. Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. You know, I'm pretty healthy. I don't smoke. And I probably would live a long time, so that's not something I'm looking forward to," Arias told Fox News.
"I said years ago that I'd rather get death than life, and that still is true today. I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it," she added.
