Traci Rhode Gets 180 Days

Traci Rhode was formally sentence today to 180 days in jail. From The Brownsville Herald:

Rhode had initially been given a 10-year probated sentenced, but because she had appealed her murder conviction she had not been formally sentenced. She withdrew her appeal earlier this month.

Thanks, Anonymous.

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My Thoughts About Jodi Arias

Jodi Arias, in many ways, is an unremarkable woman. She is a soft-spoken woman with a gentle demeanor. Her words ebb and flow almost effortlessly, and she is quite confident in the story she tells. If you just watched her speak, without listening to the words, you’d think she was just having a casual conversation with someone about something inane, or something even slightly pleasing to her. Her story doesn’t get remarkable until you hear what it is she is talking about, and then suddenly, everything becomes remarkable.

Read moreHere is a quick synopsis of a few my thoughts:

  1. Arias’ story clearly has one-in-a-million odds. What are the odds…
    • That two people would break into an apartment in the middle of the day, or late afternoon dressed in all black?

    • That they would kill one person, yet let the other go as a witness?

    • That you would leave a loved one mortally injured, and escape death yourself, but that you would never tell a soul nor ever call for help?
    • That as a victim, you wouldn’t want justice?
    • That as a victim of violence, when approached by the police, you would deny everything, and then change your story, if you were truly almost killed at gunpoint by masked gunmen?
    • What are the odds that you’d forget about those masked gunmen after that night, never worry that they might know your identity or that they might come back to finish you off?
    • That an intruder would decide to use a victim’s camera and take the time to shoot photos?
    • And then that they would take photos of the dying or dead body?
    • But strangely leave that camera behind in a washing machine (which shows the gunmen hoped to destroy the images)? What would be the point?
    • What intruder would even take the time to use a washing machine to remove the images, instead of taking the camera or the memory card with them?
    • What are the odds that a photographer might do this? Or that Arias might do this?
    • What are the odds the intruders or killers would pull the gun on Travis Alexander and it goes off, but when they pull it on Arias, it miraculously does not?
    • Arias also says at one point that the man walked her to Travis’ bedroom and just left her there (without tying her up, etc). What killer or intruder would do that? Anyone know?

    Almost every aspect of this case there are one-in-a-million odds, and each one by itself is incredible, but put them together, and it clearly supports that Arias is, statistically speaking, likely not being honest with us.

  2. Arias’ emotions are completely absent. When people experience trauma, their memory and emotions become deeply intertwined, and when they recount their story, their emotions always come flooding back. Yet Arias is an exception here. She faced a gun pointed at her forehead, and the trigger was even pulled, but no bullet came out. Yet amazingly, she has no emotional memories to match it. Mind you, Travis Alexander, her boyfriend, was not killed until June of 2008, so he hasn’t even been dead a year yet when this interview took place. Arias doesn’t show any true emotions outside of flickers of joy. Is it duper’s delight? Or joy that she succeeded in putting Travis where she thought he belonged? What other joy could she be feeling after a man she loved was murdered?
  3. Arias’ details of the event are very sketchy and full of hedge words. Both of these raise alarm bells for me as well.

    Arias: I heard… ah…. really loud, pop, and the next thing I remember, I was lying next to the bathtub and Travis was, um… screaming.

    Arias: At that point, I…um…I sort of was just trying to come around and kind of orientate myself to what was going on,” Jodi explains. “And I looked up and I just — I saw two other individuals in the bathroom. And they were coming towards us.

    Two other individuals? Is that how you would recall two people who attacked you? And the use of the word “other” is unusual as well. Also, if the intruders knocked Arias and Alexander down, or at least knocked her down and shot him, how come she recalls them both coming towards them again? It’s unlikely two people will hit two others by hand or with a gun, move away and then come back again. It doesn’t make sense.

    “Jodi says Travis was alive when she fled his house.” (48 Hours)

    Arias: He was still sort of on his hands and knees, the whole time, until I ran from the room. That’s the last that I saw him.

    Notice the words “sort of” and how she finishes the sentence with “until”? Both of these words are unusual to me.

    Arias: He pulled the trigger, and nothing happened with the gun, and so, I just grabbed my purse, which was on the floor at that point, and I ran down the stairs and out of there and I left [Travis] there. …I pushed past him and – and his gun, and I just didn’t look back.

    I find the words, “so”, and “I just” here interesting, as well as her lack of emotional involvement in a supposedly horrific situation. I also find it interesting how she talks about her purse and qualifies its location, which was conveniently right at her feet at that point. How amazing is that? And if you notice, her story is not in the order of how things would naturally happen. She tells us she first ran down the stairs and out of there. Then she says she pushed past him and his gun. When people are deceptive, they often get their facts out of order like this.

    When Arias says during the interview that the man led her to Travis’ bedroom while the woman kept an eye on Travis, and just left her alone in Travis’ bedroom, once he left, she says charged “her and she fell over him”. Does this make any sense at all? It doesn’t make sense on multiple levels. Try to envision it.

  4. Arias’ story shows indications that she is thinking as she speaks in these instances as well:

    Arias : They were both taller than me, um…they were covered — their hands, their gloves — they had long-sleeved shirt on. They were in all black. He was wearing jeans. But they all — they had ski masks on and I believe they were there to kill him, um…because they didn’t take anything…to my knowledge, there was nothing missing from the house.

    I find it strange how she says “their hands, their gloves”, how they had long-sleeve “shirt” on, and how she says “But they all–they had ski masks on.” It’s not a natural speech pattern for recollection.

    Then Arias says, “They were in all black”, but she then says the guy was wearing jeans. Jeans are typically blue. If they weren’t blue, I would be surprised that she noticed, in this horrific event, that they were black denim. It’s rather an odd clue for her to pick up on, unless, of course, she is creating this story.

    I find it rather odd when she says, “I think they were there to kill him, because they didn’t take anything.” She immediately adds on an afterthought, which is common when people don’t tell the truth…”to my knowledge, there was nothing missing from the house.” How did she know that, if she ran out of the house and left Travis? Did the police tell her this? Either way, her speech pattern here is unusual.

    Arias says, “He had some blood all over the floor.” Isn’t this somewhat of a contradiction? Some blood, yet it is all over the floor? Doesn’t it usually take a lot of blood to be all over the floor?

  5. I find it interesting when Arias says, ““I drove forever and ever, until I was in the middle of the desert.” At which time, she tells us she called Travis twice and left him voice mail messages. Was she trying to create a record of her whereabouts so she could claim she was far away from Alexander that night? It makes absolutely no sense otherwise that she would call him at this point, and not call for help instead.
  6. Arias shows several times that she is a master manipulator and liar. My response to that? When people show you who they are, trust them. Believe them.

    Talking about her situation in the intro to 48 Hours, Arias says, “Sometimes life requires you to step out of your comfort zone a little bit….and that’s kind of the reason why I am here right now.” Arias is clearly manipulating why she is where she is–in jail right now.

    Arias is not in jail right now awaiting a murder trial because “life required her to step out of her comfort zone”. Give me a break. She is trying to paint a sweet portrait of herself. Notice the words “kind of”? That she doesn’t talk about “murder”? How she uses other words instead of the word “sex” many times until later in the story? All of these behaviors are indicative that she is a manipulator.

    When asked by 48 Hours if she confessed what she knew to police when they first interviewed her, Arias said, “No. I think I was wise enough to know that coming to him with that story at this point would be like implicating myself.”

    Clearly, we can see Arias lied. She admits to it. She has no problem lying to people, if she feels it will suit her. An innocent person knows that lying will only cause problems to get worse. A liar? Well, lies are their only hope, aren’t they?

    Interestingly enough, she can’t keep her facts straight, which is another indication of deception. When Arias is talking about the photographs police found, she says “I’m assuming it’s the woman, because the pants were black. And the guy was wearing blue jeans.”

    Obviously, Arias cannot keep her facts straight. This is total contradiction to her story above about how the intruders were dressed in “all black”. (I found this after going back to get quotes in this case).

  7. Jodi said she had to “try and remember that day” when the police found her. Don’t you find that interesting? Most people would struggle to forget about it, because it would be so haunting. Why is it not haunting to Jodi?

Do I trust Jodi Arias? I do not. Not at all.

To me, though I am not an expert in psychology, Arias has the classic behaviors of a psychopath. I don’t think it will take a jury very long to convict her and put her behind bars for life, or perhaps even give her the death penalty, to which Arias said, ““I know that I won’t be the first person to be wrongly convicted, and possibly wrongly sentenced for either life in prison or the death penalty. Personally, if I had my choice, I would take the death penalty because I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in prison.”

Have you ever seen an innocent person say, “You know what? If I am convicted, just give me the death penalty”. It’s totally absurd, as is Arias’ story, if you want my opinion.

48 Hours: Picture Perfect

48 Hours Mystery this week profiled the case of Travis Alexander, and Jodi Arias. You can read the story here.

Check back later this week for my opinion.

Diane Downs Re-enacts Crime

Here is a video of Diane Downs recollecting the crime (in 1983), she says occurred at the hands of a stranger, when her daughter was killed, and her other two children were shot.

Be warned, it’s as chilling as chilling can be. Downs lacks any normal emotions, and actually laughs as she does the re-enactment.

Diane Downs is someone who I could classify as a “negative” person (or as an easy read).

Diane Downs

I was sent this video over the weekend, and I must say it is exceptionally chilling (be warned). It’s a video of Diane Downs talking about the day, back in 1983, a “bushy-haired stranger” supposedly carjacked her and shot her three children. I don’t know when the video was taken, but I suspect it was before she was incarcerated.

I had to walk away from the video after the first minute or so because I found it so disturbing, and I didn’t return to watch it in complete until yesterday. Downs is a very scary woman, if you want my opinion.

You can read more about Diane Downs story here.