Jodi Arias Could Become Third Woman on Arizona’s Death Row
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ABC News(PHOENIX) — Jodi Arias could become the third woman on Arizona’s death row if she is sentenced to death on Wednesday for murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.
If condemned to death row, she would likely face a long sentence, since Arizona has not executed a woman since 1930. But that long sentence would be marked by extreme isolation.
The jury that convicted Arias earlier this month is set to continue their deliberations on Wednesday over whether to give Arias life in prison or the death penalty. They began deliberating at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Arias and her attorneys begged the jury to spare her life on Tuesday during Arias’ allocution statement and the closing arguments, telling the jury that Arias would spend her life behind bars helping others and contributing to society.
But prosecutor Juan Martinez told the jury death is the only just punishment for the June 4, 2008 murder, in which Arias killed Alexander with 27 stab wounds, a slashed throat and a gunshot to the head.
Life on Arizona’s death row would mean no contact with other inmates — including her death row neighbors. Her chance to talk to others would be few. She would be allowed only two 10-minute phone calls per week.
Arias would be permitted visits, but there would be no physical contact with those visitors. And her family is in California, which could make frequent visits difficult.
Her life at Arizona’s state prison complex at Perryville, outside of Phoenix, would be largely confined to a 12 feet by 7 feet cell which is outfitted with a toilet, sink, bed and mattress, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections. How she could furnish her cell is strictly limited: just two appliances, hygiene items, two books and writing materials.
Arias, 32, would be allowed outside of her cell to exercise for only two hours on three days a week, plus three showers per week, according to the department. For the rest of her life, Arias would eat all her meals in that cell.
If the jury condemns her, Arias will join on death row Wendi Andriano, 43, who murdered her husband, and Shawna Forde, 46, who was convicted of killing a man and his daughter in an act of vigilante crime with a group of protesters angry over immigration.
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