Arias was born in 1980 in California.  According to her, starting at age seven she was abused by her parents and beaten with a spoon. Her parents denied the claims and said that she had mental health issues. Her friends would contact her parents and say that she needed help.She dropped out of high school at 11th grade and earned her GED. She had an interest in photography and would pick up jobs as a freelance photographer. She was working as a server while dating a previous boyfriend and met Travis Alexander while working for a company called “Pre Paid Legal services” at one of the companies conferences. They met in 2006 while he was working as a salesman and motivational speaker.  According to Arias, they began a sexual relationship within a week of meeting. During this time she also began drifting towards the Mormon Church, which Travis was a part of, and also defaulting on payments that she owed her current boyfriend. They broke up in December 2006. Aris and Alexander were very intense together and moved quickly. The pair began travelling together and were constantly in contact. In November 2006 she was baptized into the Mormon Church. In February 2007 Arias moved back to Mesa and in June of 2007 their relationship ended. Alexander started to date another girl but continued to sexual relations with Arias. He accused her of stalking him and sending him, and the girls he was dating, threatening emails. During a Christmas party at his house - one he told her not to attend- she was found the next morning sleeping under the Christmas tree. Their texts and emails ranged from merely lewd to incredibly nasty. In one, Alexander referred to her as a "slut" and a "three-hole wonder." Twice, the tires on his car were slashed and she stole his journals. He tried to break it off with her but seemed to also continue to go back to her. He was quoted as saying, “She's crazy, but she's harmless." The two continued meeting and travelling together through March 2008. In April of that year she moved to California to live with her grandparents. On June 2nd, 2008,  Arias attempted to call Alexander four times but it appears she never got through to him as the longest of the calls was seventeen seconds. On June 9th, Alexander was found by his friends, murdered and lying in a pool of his own blood in the shower. They called 911 and mentioned suspecting Arias on the call. Alexander had been stabbed 27 times and had been decomposing for 5 days. His throat was slashed from ear to ear and there was a bullet in his head. He also had several defensive wounds on his palms and fingers.  Police found a bloody palm print with his blood and Arias’ in the hallway. Police also found a digital camera in the washing machine with time stamped images of Alexander and Arias in sexually suggestive poses and one of the reflection of her in his eyes moments before she killed him. She was brought in for question and the police saw several cuts on her hands, which she claimed were from  making margaritas at Margaritaville (there was not a margaritaville in the area). On June 13th, Arias posted a photo gallery on her MySpace page titled "In Loving Memory of Travis." On her 29th birthday, July 9th, she was indicted on first-degree murder charges and she plead not guilty. Arias lied to the cops several times, first saying she wasn’t in the city during the murder then saying that 2 masked men attacked them but eventually settled on a self defense plea, saying that he abused her and that she killed him after he came after her in a fit of rage when she dropped his camera. Her trial, which began in 2011, was described as a circus by several media outlets. The judge agreed to let her represent herself but revoked that after it turned out that several letters she had submitted to evidence were forgeries. She would also argue with the prosecutor and the two would exchange insults. In 2013 she took the stand and testified for 18 days, claiming it was