Travis Alexander’s Last Photograph
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When I first saw the photo of Travis Alexander in his last photographs in the shower, I felt a strong feeling that he had a sense of what was going on when this photo was taken — that he knew he was in serious trouble. I sensed terror and fear and a sense of disbelief, like what they hell am I going to do? I wondered when she took this photo, if she had a gun or a knife aimed or pointed at him at this point, and we see his initial reaction. Or I wonder if she was acting so deranged at this point, he knew it was a sticky situation.
Today an Eyes for Lies reader shared with me a photograph that she put into a face mirror software which splits the image of a face in half, and then mirrors it back. She did both the left and right sides.
What it reveals is absolutely fascinating! In the photo on the left you see sadness. And the photo on the right you see an intensity that is gut-wrenching. It’s like a mix of a fear and anger that one would feel if they have their back against the wall and they are cornered. As another Eyes for Lies reader said its a “fight or flight” response. I can’t agree more.
This reader further conjectured, when we split a face in half, are we getting windows into the right and left brain? You sure do wonder.
Thanks Eyes for Lies readers for sharing your thoughts with me and others!
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/blog/article/chilling-final-photos-of-murder-victims-taken-by-their-killers/index.html I thought Regina Walter’s facial expression was quite like Travis’ in his final photograph, too.
This is so disturbing…go with a warning…but thanks for sharing. So so so sad…
She wouldn’t be able to take a picture with a gun, or knife in her hand; I do see the fear in his eyes though. He does not look as though he is having fun.
I could do it. Why don’t you think you could? It’s not that hard.
OMG. I just had a horrible vision of her coming around the corner while he’s showering, with the camera up to her face and the gun in her hand saying, ‘Travis….” (as in, look what I have for you..)… ug.. this creature has captivated my attention these last few weeks and I really dislike her!
One of Travis’ friends said much the same on one of the news shows, that he thought she probably had the gun on him during the whole photo session, then ordered him to sit down in a submissive position where she could attack.
I hate her too. I can’t even listen to her testimony … and looking at pictures of her is like trying to look away from road kill. But I just can’t imagine her having those weapons and using them threateningly during the photo shoot–unless it was a continuation of such ‘threatening’ play in the bedroom.
I had always looked at that photo as him trying to be intensely GQ sexy.
Most likely.
I’ve heard that theory. I’m of the belief she needed total shock so that he wouldn’t even know he had a chance to fight back. That last pic has always freaked me out. Also, isnt this pic the only one with flash. She wanted to blind b4 stabbing. She is so manipulative anything is possible.
Chills. I just saw that too
I can and have taken photographs with one hand. I think that if the resolution and pixels where just right we’d be able to see her in his eyes.
Oh man, that would be incredible. Let’s get the FBI to blow that photo up … if it were there, I would pay to see THAT that reflection. Wow. What a statement you made.
I may be wrong but have read that the camera was a rt-handed camera. Was JA left or right-handed? Whatever. If the knife wasn’t actually in her hand in this shot, it was not far away.
How is your software, Eyes for Lies??? Can you enlarge/enhance Travis’s right eye and see the expected reflection of jodi looking at him, wearing a smile and holding a knife? many have tried, including myself, but insufficient software….thank you for any attempt you may make doing this. Photo is this one above here on your page,,,,time stamped 5:29:20 ….. HIS right eye; thank you
Unless Jodi holding a knife could fit into a continuation of the “S&M” that went on in the bedroom–I had always believed she didn’t reach for the knife until after he started to turn his back–I don’t see it in her hand at this point. Though you are giving me a lot to think about.
I’d love to have someone hire some professional actors to play out the scene in accordance with the forensic evidence and video tape it.
I cannot enlarge the photo. I have an artist friend who tried and said there isn’t much hope. It’s too pixeled and I believe her : )
Hi,
Interesting question from Darlene. I do have software that can do this, so I enlarged his right eye many many times, while keeping very high resolution of 1600 dpi. (computer geek alert – this is called upsampling, and can be done in many software packages, I used Adobe Photoshop Elements). Here’s the result: (you may have to click on it to see it full size, but this is not pixellated, whereas the normal method would be too pixellated to make out details, as Eye’s artist friend correctly concluded).
Upsampling explained: http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/004loy
Edit – it was actually easier for me to see stuff when I looked at this image full size from several feet back (like 5-10+ feet back). Does that help anyone discern anything?
Comments?
Russ Conte
Just for comparison, here is the same photo, but done the usual way – just enlnarged without any upsampling, and it’s way too pixellated to tell anything (at least to me, maybe one of you can tell something)
You can’t extrapolate what he is looking at, unfortunately.
It’s like you can see a person to the left of the white spot in his eye.
It looks even more like a person if you alter the gamma of the image up to about 2-2.5. That reflection is a bit of an optical illusion though. The eye is spherical, and the cornea is aspherical and is an even more pronounced curve, so any reflection that you can recognize is not a reflection of what it appears to be. A true reflection would need to have the aspherical distortion counteracted in order to visually identify what it is.
Doing that effectively would be very hard, because you’d need to have precise measurements of his eye (you could probably use a generic human eye measurement for that), and the precise angle relative to the camera, which can’t be extrapolated from an image this size, so any attempt to remove the distortion would likely wind up distorting the reflection even further.
Compounding the problem is that the photo was from a relatively cheap digital camera, so it already contains a fair bit of sensor noise and compression artifacting in the lower brightness areas like his eye. You might be able to get *SOMETHING* from it with quite a lot of work, but it’s not likely to be admissible in court.
I, Wah, expanded that image and was immediately gripped by the icy claw of fear. Whether by dint of my own imagination, or by virtue of a deft manipulation by Mr. Conte– an image emerged at the center of the pupil, which I cannot deny and which, I fear, I will not soon forget: a figure, running toward the viewer , flowing smock-like shirt and baggy pants, right hand poised above the head as if wielding the knife. I doubt, for sure, that this is indeed a reflected image of the killer– how could it be? — but nonetheless the momentary impression in Wah’s eye has brought to vivid life a sense of sheer terror and horror that had to have accompanied the awful moment.
I don’t think he was posing for her willingly in any of the pics. I can just imagine her questioning him the whole time, do you love me, why would you take Mimi and not me after all that I’ve done for you blah blah, telling him, I want pics to remember you by. This picture has bothered me since I first saw it. Thanks for this great article, it’s fascinating and terribly sad to know how he felt so many intense emotions as she was taking these pics and the fear of knowing he was going to die. 🙂
I agree.
From the beginning, I thought there was sadness and fear in his eyes in this photo. I feel he must have known what was going to happen at the moment this was shot.
I found this while surfing for info about Arias and Alexander. I think that whoever put this together might be on to something. Arias testified that the poses were like Calvin Klein, but I think it’s more like this movie. What do you think, Eyes?
http://www.chathousenews.com/2013/02/the-shower-scene-jodi-arias-chat-house.html
This picture disturbed me also but the state claims the gun was drawn after he was already dead but there is no way she would of killed him with just a knife
I see horror and disbelief in the right composite.
I’m mixed about this theory, mainly because it challenges my belief about what happened: that Travis followed Jodi’s instructions to turn his back to her for yet another photo … at which point he instead got stabbed.
However, I am willing to concede the fight or flight, anger and sadness on his face if it is contended that it is unconscious–that he’s not listening to it and is taking no action.
Further, I never thought about the possibility that Jodi was starting to act strange or getting a little crazy, though as I read these ideas, they do make sense. I had always imagined her as hiding perfectly in plain site as an innocent photographer, covertly getting off on the idea that she was totally snowing him and luring “this sucker” to his death.
Maybe that’s what Travis picked up on un or semi-consciously and expressed on his face, but couldn’t bring it up to his conscious level to act on it … until it was too late.
Chilling.
I think Jodi had fun with Travis and then changed the game on him and started to dominate him. She used it as a sexual guise and then kept going further and further. She could have said to Travis that playing with a knife or gun were her sexual fantasy and he may have fallen for it. I think she loved controlling him and manipulated him to the very last minute.
Yes, YES and yes!
Somebody along the line pointed out the ligature marks on his neck. Wonder if that’s an illusion or that was part of their “games”
Wow! Thanks Eyes! As usual, love the post. Keep em coming 😉
This is AMAZING! Thank you! The two mirrored photos reveal facial expressions that are immediately categorizable : we can instantly put a “label” on each expression. The blended face is not easy to label. We might each put a different word on that expression. And most likely, would describe it by imagining a narrative, writing a little story, as it were — “what was going on”: “He felt backed into a corner”, etc.
It is fascinating also in the sense that you, Madam Eyes, did accurately perceive a ‘mixed message’, here, when you first saw the picture. I wonder: were you conscious as to why you perceived the blended emotion of fear and disbelief? Or was your mind doing that interpretation intuitively?
Upon reading that back, a great sadness descended upon Wah. This is a man in a terrible moment of anguish. It is somehow easy– perhaps as a way of coping– to engage enthusiastically in the “whodunit” puzzle… But, there is nothing, ultimately “fascinating” or “amazing” about this tragic picture. I, Wah, can not imagine the terrible feelings that this innocent man confronted in this moment. I pray that he did not suffer much, and I pray that justice in this case will help to relieve some of the anguish of his family and friends, who will always carry Travis– and the pain of his loss– in their heavy hearts.
It is with great sadness, Wah. I agree…so tragic. If only we could learn from this and prevent another unfortunate situation like this…
i am with the rest of you. This picture has bothered me, a lot, also. I think she may have encouraged a night of kinkiness with pain, and he may have thought it was all a game, but this picture shows an dawning of the fact that she really intended to kill him. This is really haunting. I, also, felt stronger feelings about the whole case after we saw the video of Travis talking about his near death experience.
I think he’s holding his breath
Also, in the photo, the right and left side of his lips are completely non congruent. One side is puffy and the other is flat. What does this mean? He also seems to be cornered, trapped in a corner literally and he is turning his neck so far to the right that his tendon is sticking out and his neck folds are red…I think he was holding his breath as she was inching forward towards him.
I agree totally, it looks more to me like fear in his eyes.
Oh my God. My stomach just dropped looking at these. Oh my God.
What I want to know is why, oh why, did he keep having sex with her?? If he hadCan anyone answer me this? Why would you continue having ANYTHING to do with this lunatic? Can anyone tell me? Just because she was a *hottie* and he was horny? Okay, I get that he might have had a somewhat repressed sexual background from his church, but seriously, 30 years old is too old to be acting like that! Was there no one good looking enough at his church to marry? No one was good looking enough so he carried on this bizarre relationship with this creature from the black lagoon?
BTW, thank the Lord he DIDNT get married. I dont want to think about what Jodi would have done if he had been married….God in Heaven!
Anon — No one would entertain Travis’ fantasies like Jodi did. That’s what kept accepting her advances. He tried to break it off, she came back. He told her he was seeing others, she came back. She was offering the milk without the cow and he took it. He didn’t think he’d die over it. Who would? And then she supposedly threatened suicide when he’d try to break it off with her. That would scare any guy and cause him to comfort her, and well, you know hormones…
It has occurred to me that if Travis had survived a physical attack from her, he probably would have still tried to comfort her which would lead to the sex, and so on. Its amazing she didnt *accidentally* get pregnant. Ive seen manipulators go that route trying to bag a man who doesnt want them.
Incredibly sad. Often with that technique, one aspect will look happy or upbeat, the other more serious. Nothing like happiness here.
I am interested in your take on women who *accidentally* get pregnant to trap a guy. Is this a psychopathic behavior? I have known of a few cases of attractive women, obviously very sexual types, who suddenly *accidentally* got pregnant when it looked like the guy was getting ready to move on or seemed *better* than the girl. So then the guy is stuck with her in some way either by marrying her or having to co-parent with her, either way the girl has Control over him. Can you delve into this topic?
The picture of Travis standing with his hands catching the water and his back to the camera looks strained to me. He doesn’t look at ease in this picture. I think at that point Travis was getting scared or nervous. I, also, wonder what that mark around his neck is. It looks like a knife had made a bow tie around his neck . I wonder if she had already began to torture him, then, I wonder if she was holding the knife or gun on him when this picture was taken.
Jodi is back to being snorky and leading the prosecutor around and around in circles, again. Her need to control everything over-rode her need to look good in front of the jury. Her lawyer was looking tense and worried, yesterday. The prosecutor is going in detail the events that led to Travis’
death.
Eyes,
Wondering if you have any thoughts on Jodi laughing, singing, doing handstands in the interrogation room after Flores leaves the room–it was deemed too prejudicial for court:
http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/03/15/jodi-arias-humming-singing-handstand-police-custody?clusterId=1303#videoplayer
You can bet he knew he was in trouble and l just wish it hadn't ended the way it did. This man deserved his life. His eyes are haunting……
Ok….she got the gun…check, she covered
her tracks…check…everything is setup! Oh
no…he got out of the shower. She thought
she could just rinse all the evidence
away…now what? I know someone else did it!
No wait….he threaten me (after I stabbed
him in the chest and he chased me down the
hall, on his hands and knees, so I stabbed
him in the back and cut his throat) And
about the camera…she misplaced that when
she was doing the laundry.
I’m coming in late on this but thought I’d share my thought. I studied the original photo with intensity and then before looking at the mirror images, skimmed what Eyes wrote. She said she saw sadness and fear which surprised me. I looked at the photo again and verified what I originally saw: a slightly aggressive glare. Only after reading the description fully did I see a hint of fear, and only when looking at the mirror images did I then see fear. This is an amazing set of images and it’s completely fascinating.
Also note that yes, there are at least two ligature marks on his right side of the neck and the front as well. I also think I see a string on his face. Is that right? I originally thought it was water streaming on his face but looking closer it appears to be a string. Might she have already tied him up at this point? The string could be from a rope.
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I dont know but to me in the original pic it looks to me like the right side (his right) of his neck is bleeding. I wonder if she might have cut him then because then comes the pic on the floor of the shower stall shortly after..maybe the cut wasnt so deep in this pic and she made it deeper when he tried to flee down the hall
Sad 🙁
My opinion and I can’t believe I don’t hear more of this is that she definitely had the gun drawn there because his look is very intense and I don’t think a knife drawn on him would of worked because he was a in shape strong young man but the prosecution stuck with the knife first theory but I say no way