Sit down.
Guess what?
Jodi lied about the details involving the Helio phone call!
You knew that already?
.......... Damn.
THE DEFENSE TEAM'S EVIDENCE OF SEXUAL ABUSE
In her 2013 trial, Jodi Ann Arias alleged she was the victim of domestic violence. Jodi claimed she was sexually, mentally, emotionally, and physically abused. She implied the alleged abuse is what elicited feelings of mortal fear and forced her to use extreme lethal force when she killed Travis Alexander on June 4th, 2008. Per Jodi's story, in an act of self-defense she shot Travis, knifed him 29 times, and slit his throat nearly ear to ear. The brutality of the attack expressed rage, but Jodi said it was fear. She claimed she had to hurt him so badly because Travis Alexander kept attacking her and was trying to kill her. However, she escaped with barely an injury.
Juror Question number 57: You say Travis' had attacked you before June 2008, but would apologize to you after he did it, so why was the June 4, 2008 incident so different?
Jodi's answer: "............. it wasn't until that incident (the alleged choking) when I reflected back on it, I realized I could have died"."
After the alleged choking incident, Jodi implied her fear increased. She realized she could have died. Despite her fear and her desire to be with another man, Jodi drove 100's of miles to see Travis instead.
"I'm just not physically attracted to him (Travis) anymore........... I can't wait to finally hang out w/ Ryan." Jodi's journal, May 18th, 2008
When she arrived at Travis' house, Jodi's seemed to forget about her fear. According to Jodi, Travis wanted to tie her to his bed and preform oral sex on her. Tying her to the bed would have made her vulnerable, but Jodi agreed. However, Travis' bed was a sleigh bed, and it was pushed up against the wall. It would have been difficult to tie her to the bed. According to Jodi, it took two of them to make it possible. Measurements needed to be made, so the rope needed to be cut in the bedroom. Cutting the rope required a knife to be present. The bed would have had to be pulled back from the wall to get the rope behind it...... it would have been so much easier to cut the rope into two pieces and tie it to the feet of the bed.
Instead of going the easy route, Jodi claimed the rope was looped behind the headboard. She told Alyce Laviolette that the knife was left on the nightstand next to the bed. Despite her fear, Jodi was willing to allow Travis to put her in a helpless position with a knife nearby. And, to top that, she refused to go through with the oral sex. Travis hadn't shaved, and it was irritating to her skin. She was willing to invoke his rage and demanded he stop. The risk of being stabbed while tied up was favorable to the irritation on her skin. According to Jodi, Travis stopped as she commanded.
It was acts similar to the "abusive" bondage incident on June 4th that the defense used as a basis of the sexual abuse portion of their claim of domestic violence. They claimed Travis sexually abused Jodi on multiple occasions and said he forced her into having graphic phone sex from a 1000 miles away. An hour long phone sex recording (actual time 66 minutes) was presented to corroborate her claim. According to the defense, the recording was made up from five recordings stored in Jodi's Helio phone.
At the time, the only Helio phone capable of recording phone calls was the Helio Ocean. It had a feature called "record call." All the Helio phones had a voice memo recording feature, but it couldn't be used to record calls. To access the voice memo recording feature, the main menu of the phone had to be open. Opening the main menu sent the phone into standby mode. Calls could not be made in standby mode; the same keys to dial a number were used to navigate the menu.
During her testimony under oath, Jodi Arias explained how she recorded the phone call. To some, her story seemed to make sense. To others, it didn't. The instructions in the Helio Ocean manual proved part of Jodi's story was a lie. However, the manual couldn't be used to disprove all aspects of her story. For example, it didn't address if a recording would be lost if the user hung up the phone before pressing save. To know that, a Helio Ocean phone had to be examined.
I did just that.
The Helio company no longer exists. However, their phones still can be found. Calls still can be made on the phone, but they will not connect to the number dialed. The call will be redirected to a pre-recorded message to "chastise" the user for trying to make a call without paying the bill.
"Your account could not be validated. Please contact customer service..... let me say it in Spanish too..... message 5 switch 3-7-2..... eeennnnn eeennnnn ennnnn."
The pre-recorded message allowed enough time to experiment with the phone. The results of the experiment showed Jodi lied. Go figure. A further inspection of the phone could be made if it were able to be connected to service. However, I have no idea how to do that. If you do, please share your ideas in the comment section. Also, if you have a question about a function of the phone, please ask.
THE HELIO OCEAN PHONE
The hour long recording from the Helio Ocean was played in court while Jodi hid her face on the stand. Jodi wiped her nose several times to give the impression she was crying. She hardly ever wiped her eyes. She left her glasses on for the first 25 minutes of recording. Anyone who has ever wore glasses knows that when the tears flow, the glasses come off. If they don't, the salt from the tears cloud the lenses. After the tape had ended, Jodi didn't wipe her nose once. If she were wiping it because she had a cold, she should have. Jodi was wiping her nose to make the jury believe hearing Travis voice was painful. However, not one tear was shed.
After the tape had ended, Jodi was questioned about it. She started to lie almost immediately. Jodi was asked to explain how the call occurred. She started by explaining how the Helio phone came into her possession. By the end of the trial, the testimony would have contradicted another story she told.
"I got my Helio phone on the day I moved out of Arizona. The phone I had was a Motorola Razor and I put it in the drink cup holder in the Uhaul truck and I went to sleep inside the truck and when I woke up in the morning I realized that I set it .... in the bottom of the drink holder was a whole bunch of hot chocolate that spilled the day before and it basically soaked in hot chocolate all night so my phone didn't work anymore. I met up with Gus Searcy somewhere in Southern California. He has a free phone deal and he let me have the Helio."
1:23:14
The trip from Travis' house to California only took two and a half hours. It would have been completed the same day she left. Jodi implied she slept in the truck the day before she took that 2.5-hour trip. Later, Jodi told a different story.
JA: Oh yeah, I did, the last 4 days, it was somewhere between a week or almost that.
JA: In his bed.
Which story is true? Did she stay in Travis' bed the last four days before she left? Did she sleep in her truck the night before she left Arizona while her phone soaked in hot chocolate? Or, did they put Travis' bed in her truck for the last night she was there so both of her statements could be true? Jodi either lied about details of how she got the phone or she lied about staying in Travis' bed until the day she moved. It's possible she may have even lied about both.
RECORDING WITH THE HELIO PHONE
"So, as I had this phone and was figuring out the features, I realized I could record on it. And I told Travis and we joked about recording it. We tried that and a few times I failed at it because you have to hit a record button on the phone......" Jodi Arias testimony, day 17.
Jodi could have easily discovered the recording capabilities of the "voice memo" feature just from examining and playing around with the phone. Finding out the "record call" function existed would not have been so easily uncovered.
To uncover the 'voice memo' feature, Jodi only needed to scroll around inside the main menu. She would have pressed the menu key, and the phone would have gone into standby mode and opened the menu. After accessing the menu, she only needed to scroll to "7. plan" and then to "8 voice memo." Once she was more familiar with the phone, she could have used the short-cut feature and pressed "menu + 7 + 8" instead.
Helio Ocean Menu and Sub-menus
- Customize
- rings
- download rings
- screens
- download screens
- settings
- Surf
- Snap
- Camera
- Video Camera
- Photo Album
- Video Album
- Helio Album
- Settings
- Print Photos
- Memory Info
- video and music
- Video
- Download Video
- Music
- Download Music
- Memory
- contact
- games
- Plan
- Calendar
- Wake-up call
- Alarm
- Calculator
- World Time
- Unit Converter
- Note-pad
- Voice Memo voice memo (page 108)
- Stop Watch
- Message
- Apps
The voice memo feature was easy to find. On the other hand, the 'record call' feature was not so easily uncovered. Unless they read the manual, a person had to be on an active call to learn it existed. When a call connected, a prompt for "menu" appeared in the lower left-hand corner of the phone. Pressing the menu key opened up an 'in-call' menu that could only be accessed during a call. Opening the menu displayed six features that could be accessed during a call:
- contacts
- call history
- speaker-phone
- three-way calling
- send message
- my number
However, there was a seventh. In order to reach the seventh, the user had to scroll down to find it.
7. record call
Finding the record call function wasn't something the user came casually across, such as they might when playing with the phone to 'figure out the features.'
VOICE MEMO RECORDING
The voice memo feature was designed to provide the user the ability to record a personal memo. It was not designed for recording calls and could not be used to do so. When the voice memo feature was initiated, the recording immediately began. A user could record up to sixty minutes at a time. After the sixty-minute limit was reached, the recording would automatically stop and save. The user didn't need to instruct the phone to save, it just did. The automatic save was a design feature to compensate for user absent mindedness.
It was possible for the user to record a memo shorter than sixty minutes. To to this, she had two choices to choose from:
- "Hanging up" the phone by sliding it shut.
- Closing, or "hanging up" the phone immediately stopped the recording and the message was automatically saved
- The "save" button did not need to be pressed.
- Pressing the "save" button (Helio Insignia) when the recorded words were captured.
- keeps phone open and ready to use other features.
The user may have been under the impression the red "end key" would have stopped and saved the voice memo recording as well. She would have quickly learned she was wrong. When it was pressed at the end of a voice memo, the end key served as a "start-over" button. It told the phone "Stop, forget this, go back and start again." The voice memo was never saved because it was like it never happened.
The end key was also used to end a call. Someone who learned a voice memo was lost when the end key was pressed may have had the same impression when it came to the record call function. However, their assumption would have been wrong.
A voice memo could not exceed sixty minutes on the Helio phone. If a longer message was desired, another voice memo needed to be started. When the first memo ended and saved, it was stored as an audio file in the voice memo menu. The memo was identified by a ten digit code made up of the date it was created and the order in which it was recorded. For example, if it was the first recording on the phone and it occurred on May 5, 2008 the code would be 0505080001. This memo would be stored in slot one on the voice memo menu screen. When the user opened the voice memo menu, she would see:
- 0505080001
The second memo recorded on the phone would have a "2" as the last character of the code. However, the newest recorded memos were always stored in the number one slot. For example, if the user saved her second memo on May 8th, 2008, the voice memo screen would show:
- 0508080002
- 0505080001
A third memo recorded on May 10th would do the same:
- 0510080003
- 0508080002
- 0505080001
And so on. If the user deleted one of the memos in between, it would show because the last digits would no longer be consecutive. For example, if the May 8th memo were deleted, the screen would show:
- 0510080003
- 0505080001
RECORD CALL FEATURE
Recorded calls were saved the same way as voice memos. For example, if two minutes of a recorded call were saved on May 11th, 2008, the voice memo menu would have shown:
- 0511080004
- 0510080003
- 0505080001
The features were stored the same way, but they did not have the same characteristics. For example, a voice memo could be saved up to sixty minutes; a recorded call could not. According to the Helio Ocean user manual, the recording of a call was limited to up to three minutes at a time.
When we recorded things like that, he liked to play it back. The first few times I forgot to save it because it went all one long recording......" Jodi Arias testimony, day 17.
It was impossible for the user to have recorded "one long recording" of a phone call on the Helio phone. The Helio's call recording was limited to three minutes at a time. The recording would have had to be "several short recordings." In order to get "one long recording" on the Helio phone, Jodi would have had to use the voice memo feature. A phone call and the use of the voice memo could not have occurred simultaneously.
At the end of the three-minute limit, the recording would have ended and automatically saved. There was no user input needed to tell the phone to save the recording; it just did it. If "one long recording" was desired, the user had to command the phone to start recording again. She only needed to press "menu + 7" to do it. The prior recording would have been saved in its own slot, and the new one would begin. Even though the recordings came from one call, they would not be saved as "one long recording." Instead, they would have been saved as "several short recordings." For example, if the user made a second call on May 11th and saved nine minutes of it, the voice memo menu screen would have shown:
- 0511080007 --- (the last three minutes of the call)
- 0511080006 --- (the middle three minutes of the call)
- 0511080005 ---(the first three minutes of the call)
- 0511080004 ---(the two recorded call made earlier)
- 0510080003 ---(the third recording on the phone via voice memo)
- 0505080001 ---(The first recording on the phone - the second was deleted)
The phone recording heard in court was not created from "one long recording." It was created from five long recordings.
"...... I received from Mr. Nurmi's office was a recording, uh, actually 7 recordings from the telephone, and I was asked to clean them up." Bryan Neumeister, testimony, day 13.
"I just want to clarify. On Thursday, I did bring in a DVD that had seven clips on it. And it was agreed by all parties to redact two clips, so this is a modified DVD that has five of the seven original clips that I received." Bryan Neumeister, testimony, day 13.
The Helio phone could only record three minutes of a phone call at a time. There should have been at least twenty-two recordings to create the sixty-six-minute long phone call. The defense only used five.
The recording of the call could not have occurred the way Jodi Arias claimed it did. She lied on the stand.
SAVING A RECORDED CALL
The record call feature recorded calls for up to three minutes during the call. Due to the limited time allotted, most of the time the user didn't have to intervene to save her call. At the end of the three minutes, the call was automatically saved. It would have continued to be saved for each time the user pressed "menu + 7" and let the three minutes run its course.
"So throughout the conversation I began to hit save, save, save so I didn't forget. So at least even if I forgot at the last moment at least a portion of it was saved." Jodi Arias, testimony, day 17.
The phone recording was sixty six minutes long. She didn't need to press "save-save-save." She needed to press "record-record-record."
The record call feature would record until the three minutes were up. However, as with the voice memo feature, there may have been circumstances in which the user didn't need the entire allotted time. If not, she could have chosen three ways to save the recording. The first two ways were the same method used to save a memo. The third was not.
- "Hanging up" the phone by sliding it shut.
- The recording stops and the portion of the call is automatically saved.
- The save button does not need to be pressed to save the message.
- The phone call ends
- Pressing the "save" button (Helio insignia) when the desired portion of the call has been captured.
- The recording ends.
- The call can continue.
- If desired, recording can continue in a later portion of the call
- Saved as separate recordings.
- Pushing the red "end key" button.
- Unlike the voice memo, it does not erase the phone call.
- What happens when the end key is pressed:
- The "recording" sign on the screen disappears
- A big "SAVED" flashes on the screen
- The call is saved and it ends.
"We tried that and a few times I failed at it because you have to hit a record button on the phone. And if you hang up the phone at the end of the conversation before hitting save then it doesn't save the conversation."Jodi Arias, testimony, day 17.
"The first few times I forgot to save it, because it went all one long recording, and I would hang up, not thinking and lost the recording and he would get upset." Jodi Arias, testimony, day 17.
Hanging up the phone before pushing 'save' does not result in the recording being lost. Jodi Arias lied.
The record call feature of the Helio phone was specifically designed to record phone calls. The purpose was to capture the words of the speaker on the other end. It would have been an obsolete feature if the words of the speaker on the other end were not clear. Voices recorded during a phone call on the Helio phone come out clear no matter if it was the caller or the person on the other end.
" September 15 of 2010 I was asked to enhance an audio recording that was made from a telephone where the person speaking on the phone had recorded the audio and the person on the other side could not be heard really well. So I was asked to clean it up." Bryan Neumeister, testimony, day 13.
When a phone call is recorded, it is usually with a microphone located outside of the call. The microphone captures the voices of the participants in two different manners. The voice of the person who is doing the recording is captured directly. Their voice is recorded more clearly than the person on the other end. The voice of the person on the other end has to pass through a speaker, either the earphone or speakerphone before it is captured. The speaker causes the voice to be lower, distorted, and harder to understand on tape. The result is the voices are not 'equal' when the recording is played back.
"Because very often if it's a telephone recording, the person speaking is very loud and the person on the other end is very hard to hear." Bryan Neumeister, testimony, day 13
The Helio 'record call' feature was designed for excellent clarity. The participants are recorded from within the call. The result is both voices are captured as clearly as the time the words were first spoken. The voices are equal when the recording is played back.
If Jodi used the Helio record call function to record Travis, his voice would have been able to be heard just as well as hers. Jodi Arias lied
"I also had 1 or 2 recorded conversations that were equally as scandalous. I never did figure out how to play those back for him." Jodi Arias, journal entry, May 22.
Playing back a recording saved in the voice memo menu was fairly easy.
- Press Menu + 7 + 8 to open the 'voice memo' menu (the place a person would check to see if a message saved)
- Once opened, the voice memo menu displayed any saved recordings
- The user could have either pressed the number of the desired recording or use the scroll button to select it and then press the save/select button.
- the recording would automatically play over and over until the user interacted and instructed the message to stop.
Jodi Arias had 5 long recordings saved on the phone. She knew how to play them back. Jodi Arias' journal entry was faked.
DELETING A RECORDING
Steps:
- Press "Menu + 7 + 8"
- Scroll to the voice memo to be deleted.
- Press the "menu" button again (the word "menu" will be noted on the lower left corner of the screen)
- Use the scroll key to pick the choice desired
- Delete
- Delete all
- Rename
- File Info
- Send Message
- Press Delete/ or delete all
- A second verification window will open. Press yes to confirm if the file is to be deleted.
HOW?
Jodi Arias did not use the Helio Ocean phone to record Travis. She had to use another device. When she was arrested, it appeared that Jodi was in the middle of making preparations to flee. Part of those preparations was to get rid of the evidence before she ran. A digital recorder was discovered in a trash can at her home.
The discovery of the digital recorder in Arias' trash is a very telling sign. It supports what many people believe: The fact she recorded Travis was somehow related to the murder. If the recording were harmless, she wouldn't have felt the need to lie about it. The presence of a digital recorder also showed that Jodi had the means to edit the recording heard in court. She could have taped multiple conversations with the digital and used the voice memo function of the Helio to help her get things "just right."
If Jodi used a digital recorder, she would have had to use the speakerphone function on her Helio phone. There were clues on the phone recording that the speakerphone was used. The Helio record call function was not accessible in speakerphone mode. And, the Helio recorded calls from within the call; outside noises were not usually captured that well. During the infamous sex tape, the sounds of Jodi opening and closing her door can be heard. It shouldn't have been if she were using the Helio Ocean to record. However, if she were using a digital recorder, it would have been noticeable.
Trial Day 17, sex tape, 39:30 mark
- JA: Hang on... I thought I heard somebody. Let me double check. I think it was my purger.
- The door can be heard opening and closing.
- JA: Ok, we're good. The coast is clear. Let me get back into the groove. hang on a minute.
The quality and characteristics of the recording show that it was the digital recorder, not the Helio recorder, which Jodi used to record Travis. The fact the recordings were taken from the Helio phone and not the digital recorder meant they could have been edited in the process of transferring the audio to the phone. If you listen close to the phone sex recording, you will notice there are parts where words were cut off, parts where pieces of conversation seem to be missing, and parts where the subject suddenly changed. There are further signs of editing in the areas such as clicks or combined digital words.
Sex tape for reference
The conversation heard in court could have been from different days, and it likely was. Per Jodi, the entire conversation occurred on May 10th, 2008. She claimed it was Travis who was eager to have phone sex again, and they had already on multiple occasions. However, Travis' first words do not sound like those of a man who had lots of experience with the phone sex. They sound like a man who didn't know how to go about it.
TA: Why don't we talk about happy things for a bit, and get normalized for a moment, and we'll see where it takes us.
And, midway through, Jodi's comment sounded like a woman who knew she was saying something she shouldn't have been. If the purpose of the call was for phone sex, there was no reason to cover up her intent with "just joking."
TA: your at the top of the list.
JA: In more ways than one....hahahaha...Just joking. That was funny.
TA: I laughed.
According to Jodi, the recording was made after a minor argument followed by a discussion online that turned sexual:
The offensive comment couldn't have been on the evening of May 10th. Travis wasn't home between 7p and 11:30 pm. He wasn't by a computer until 11:50 PM. At 12:05 am, Jodi asked him if he would check out her profile picture. Travis asked her where, and she told him MySpace. Travis looked at it and gave her feedback on the photo. He told it wasn't her best, but still good. They continued to text every few minutes until 1:03 when both went t to sleep.
It possibly could have occurred during the late hours of May 9th, but the conversation in the sex tape makes it unlikely. During the sex tape, Jodi asked Travis if he saw her new profile picture. He didn't, and didn't even ask her where. Instead, he said, "Sorry, I forgot. I will go check it now." In the sex tape, Travis already knew where the profile picture was located. The context implied he went to go look at it at that point. If so, why would she have asked him again the following night and why would he had said "where?"
The fight on May 9th didn't fit the one Jodi described. They were neither talking or chatting at the time. Jodi was upset that day because she discovered, after all the work she did to help him, Travis didn't show his gratitude by mentioning her in his blog. However, he mentioned another woman who was a friend. A bit later, he didn't listen to her poem. In return, Jodi "accidentally" sent him a text that she claimed was meant for another man. In the text she implied Travis was invading her privacy. The text insulted Travis because it was Jodi who violated his countless of times. Jodi refused to acknowledge why he was mad, so he pretended to be done with her. Communication stopped until Jodi "accidentally" sent him another text an hour and a half later. It was an obvious attempt to goad him on.
The text made Travis angrier and the fight started again. Travis was the one offended, not Jodi. In fact, Jodi took responsibility and apologized to him first. It wasn't until an hour after both had apologized that they went online and started to chat.
The May 10th, 2008 chat has not been posted in it's full context yet. The people at Beth Karas' site have asked a couple of times and are hoping to get it. However, parts of the chat were shared in court by the defense. And, from what was shared, it didn't seem like Jodi told Travis she needed time and would have phone sex with him later.
It was never shared in testimony if Jodi Arias told Travis during the G-chat that she needed time to psych herself up for the phone sex. It's possible she did, but if so, why wouldn't either the state or the defense point it out?
During G-chat, Jodi also discussed her concerns about not being able to find a husband who could satisfy her sexually. During the sex tape, she said it again. However, this time she thought it was 'awkward' to bring up. How could it be awkward if they just discussed it an hour earlier?
No, but if someone found this conversation that I would like to have it would get us in trouble."
Sex tape for reference
- Portions removed
- Listen 9:08 - 9:23
- What was the "Hey hey not true lets not go there" referring to?
- Two conversations combined together? Or portions removed?
- Listen 11:06 - 11:14
- The context indicates there was more said or it wasa different conversation.
- Two different conversations?
- Listen 13:35 - 14:10
- Despite the claim the call was for sexual purposes, the conversation abruptly changed from sex to his itinerary. However, there was a "click" in between
- More cut out or two different conversations?
- Listen 26:00 -26:33
The conversation heard in court could have been from different days, and it likely was. Per Jodi, the entire conversation occurred on May 10th, 2008. She claimed it was Travis who was eager to have phone sex again, and they had already on multiple occasions. However, Travis' first words do not sound like those of a man who had lots of experience with the phone sex. They sound like a man who didn't know how to go about it.
TA: Why don't we talk about happy things for a bit, and get normalized for a moment, and we'll see where it takes us.
And, midway through, Jodi's comment sounded like a woman who knew she was saying something she shouldn't have been. If the purpose of the call was for phone sex, there was no reason to cover up her intent with "just joking."
TA: your at the top of the list.
JA: In more ways than one....hahahaha...Just joking. That was funny.
TA: I laughed.
According to Jodi, the recording was made after a minor argument followed by a discussion online that turned sexual:
" that day I can't remember if we were talking or chatting but he said something kind of mean and I got offended and then we got online and started chatting about it. And, the conversation turned sexual again, he wanted to get off the phone so that we could further the conversation. I told him I needed a little bit of time to psych myself out of the bad mood..... the sad mood I was in because I didn't want to talk to him in that kind of mood. At least that wasn't the mood he wanted me to be in. After that..... we logged off and I think I called him a little while later."
The offensive comment couldn't have been on the evening of May 10th. Travis wasn't home between 7p and 11:30 pm. He wasn't by a computer until 11:50 PM. At 12:05 am, Jodi asked him if he would check out her profile picture. Travis asked her where, and she told him MySpace. Travis looked at it and gave her feedback on the photo. He told it wasn't her best, but still good. They continued to text every few minutes until 1:03 when both went t to sleep.
It possibly could have occurred during the late hours of May 9th, but the conversation in the sex tape makes it unlikely. During the sex tape, Jodi asked Travis if he saw her new profile picture. He didn't, and didn't even ask her where. Instead, he said, "Sorry, I forgot. I will go check it now." In the sex tape, Travis already knew where the profile picture was located. The context implied he went to go look at it at that point. If so, why would she have asked him again the following night and why would he had said "where?"
The fight on May 9th didn't fit the one Jodi described. They were neither talking or chatting at the time. Jodi was upset that day because she discovered, after all the work she did to help him, Travis didn't show his gratitude by mentioning her in his blog. However, he mentioned another woman who was a friend. A bit later, he didn't listen to her poem. In return, Jodi "accidentally" sent him a text that she claimed was meant for another man. In the text she implied Travis was invading her privacy. The text insulted Travis because it was Jodi who violated his countless of times. Jodi refused to acknowledge why he was mad, so he pretended to be done with her. Communication stopped until Jodi "accidentally" sent him another text an hour and a half later. It was an obvious attempt to goad him on.
"Oh, not that U would, but don't tell him"
The text made Travis angrier and the fight started again. Travis was the one offended, not Jodi. In fact, Jodi took responsibility and apologized to him first. It wasn't until an hour after both had apologized that they went online and started to chat.
The May 10th, 2008 chat has not been posted in it's full context yet. The people at Beth Karas' site have asked a couple of times and are hoping to get it. However, parts of the chat were shared in court by the defense. And, from what was shared, it didn't seem like Jodi told Travis she needed time and would have phone sex with him later.
- 11:57 JA: I'm still feeling icky emotionally. Probably better if we didn't right now. I don't wanna bring you down were I am right now. Believe me, you don't wanna be here. Sorry, that's just me. This conversation has cheered me up a bit tho. Thank you. I know your not the only one who's had a bad day. I'm just slow to get cheery some times.
- 11:58 TA: Well, if you erupted it might help
- JA: Well I'm as dormant as Mt. Shasta right now. Beautiful, majestic, and nowhere near erupting.
- 12:06 JA: Well, I want you to get scandalous with me. I am tired of the phone. I miss feeling you touching you smelling you.
The content that was released from the May 10th G-chat gave the appearance that Jodi wasn't in the mood for phone sex. The defense's psychologist, Dr. Fonseca, seemed to have a similar impression. Per her words, Jodi wasn't giving in this time to Travis' request for phone sex.
""She is just flat, she can't mobilize the energy. Very different from the past. In the past there has never been a rejection. It wasn't call me tomorrow, I'm too tired... Here, it's I'm too icky."
It was never shared in testimony if Jodi Arias told Travis during the G-chat that she needed time to psych herself up for the phone sex. It's possible she did, but if so, why wouldn't either the state or the defense point it out?
During G-chat, Jodi also discussed her concerns about not being able to find a husband who could satisfy her sexually. During the sex tape, she said it again. However, this time she thought it was 'awkward' to bring up. How could it be awkward if they just discussed it an hour earlier?
this is kind of an awkward subject to bring up but eventually we are both going to remarry.. (remarry???) people but I just get the feeling that there are not a lot of Mormon guys like that...... I want to marry a return missionary, but like you, someone who could be freaky. I just worry about that. There are plenty of nice people out there. I worry that I might feel like a wilting flower is all
CONSENT?
Jodi Arias alleged Travis Alexander agreed to be recorded. However, his words said something different. In the May 10th G-chat, the one Jodi claimed occurred just prior to the phone sex, Travis expressed his fear as to what would happen if the conversation got 'out.'
No, but if someone found this conversation that I would like to have it would get us in trouble."
Travis had concerns about the sexual content getting them in 'trouble.' It was because he was already on Mormon "probation." He lost his Temple Recommend and would not get it back unless he stayed on the straight and narrow. He had too much to risk just to be able to listen to a "repeat" of a conversation.
Travis would have been risking his future as well. He only had until his 31st birthday to find a girlfriend who had a potential to marry. The deadline was three months away, and he was freaking out about it. If the contents of the sex tape were released, it would have ruined his chances of finding such a woman. And, there would not have been enough time left to allow the scandal to blow over. Additionally, Travis wanted to reconcile with Lisa Andrews, even if only in friendship. Any romantic association with Jodi would have ruined his chances. Lisa was a lot more important to Travis than Jodi was.
It wasn't only his personal life the phone recording could have caused difficulties in; his professional life would have been affected too. Travis worked in a profession where it was important to keep positive relationships with associates. His advancement depended on people liking him and his ability to influence others. He was working towards qualifying for Cancun at the time, and he needed the help of others to make the cut. Additionally, he had his eyes set on becoming the regional manager. If it got out that he called his co-workers evil, soulless, and a waste of potential it could have been very damaging to his reputation.
Travis had too much to loose to allow such damaging content to remain in the hands of Jodi Arias 1000 miles away. Jodi had violated his privacy countless of times. She had lied to him over and over again. He knew she had taken a ring from his house. He believed she had slashed his tires, sent the "John Smith" email to Lisa, and stole his journals. He was too suspicious of her to give her that kind of control when he had very little to gain.
If Travis wanted to record the call, he could have done it himself. Travis had a smartphone. Jodi testified about it. Even way back in 2008, Smartphones had apps.
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If he wanted to tape the sex, Travis could have downloaded a call recording app. That way, he wouldn't have had to worry about Jodi's alleged multiple failures to save the recording. He wouldn't have had to worry about it getting in the wrong hands. And, he wouldn't have had to wait for Jodi before he could hear it.
WHY LIE?
WHY TAPE HIM?
Jodi had to make up the elaborate story about the "save-save-save" because she knew the tape was edited, and she knew people would notice. There should not have been any reason for the signs of editing if she admitted to using the digital recorder to record the session. It would have been, like Jodi stated, one long recording. And, there should not have been any 'clicks' if Jodi used the Helio record call to record him. The "menu + 7" did not produce any sounds when 'resetting' the in-call recording. The phone recording contained multiple signs of editing that Jodi had to cover up.
The presence of editing in the tape suggested many things. The context could have been changed. Jodi could have removed statements involving her prior bad acts. The tape could have been from many different days. And, if it was it meant she taped him on several different days but never played it back. Most of all, the presence of editing meant Jodi's intentions for the tape were nefarious in nature.
The presence of editing in the tape suggested many things. The context could have been changed. Jodi could have removed statements involving her prior bad acts. The tape could have been from many different days. And, if it was it meant she taped him on several different days but never played it back. Most of all, the presence of editing meant Jodi's intentions for the tape were nefarious in nature.
WHY TAPE HIM?
When Jodi was minutes away from Travis, she had the benefit of controlling him with the promise of sex. She admitted she used sex to get his attention.
"The sexual part of me was an unevolved way of trying to be more loved. I knew you weren't in love with me. I knew you cared, but it wasn't that kind of love. So when we made love, I was able to convince myself, yes lie to myself...........It's like you nearly worshiped me. I left soooooo loved when we did that. It became absolutely addicting.................... The better I was, the more you wanted me, the more you wanted me, the more we got to be together."
Travis' attention gave her a 'high'. She was addicted to the way it made her feel and wasn't ready to let it go. Attention from other men didn't give her the same kind of high. She tried, but it wasn't the same.When Jodi moved, she had a hard time leaving. She wasn't ready to let go and hoped Travis would ask her to stay. The defense attempted to say it was Travis who didn't want to let Jodi go, but the evidence shows otherwise.
I know I'll miss her but I am certain it will be the best for both of us. Plus, I need to get married and she (Jodi) and get in the way of that and does in fact." 3/27/08
"Jodi keeps leaving but hasn't left..... I know she is having a hard time, but I think I'd be better off and so would she if she got out of here."4/3/08
"I want a girlfriend that has the potential to marry. Now that Jodi is gone and DeAnna is moving, space is created, less drama can ensue."4/08/08
"I didn't speak to Jodi for the entire day. Wow. I thought that would never happen. I loved it. No negativity." 4/10/08
Jodi discovered she could get attention from Travis through the use of phone sex. But it was short-lived. According to his texts, Travis was getting the real thing from Chaitanya Lay. There was not much Jodi could offer him over the phone that Chaitanya couldn't offer him in person. "Fun time with Jodi" had become obsolete. And Jodi didn't like it. Jodi could no longer control Travis, so she decided to eliminate the competition. The phone sex call would have been sure to chase away any"proper" Mormon woman. And, if other opportunities were gone, Travis would have had no choice but to turn back to Jodi to fulfill his sexual needs.