What Jodi Arias' Life Is Like Today
Convicted first-degree murderer Jodi Arias first garnered public interest back in 2008 when she was charged with the brutal murder of her on-again off-again boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Following the release of a new documentary If I Can't Have You: The Jodi Arias Story on Discovery+, however, the former interest surrounding the infamous boyfriend killer is gaining momentum once again, with many people clamoring to learn her story.
According to Discovery+, the documentary aims to lift the veil and give the audience "access to Arias' personal diaries, unseen police interviews and exclusive testimony, and interviews with the defense, prosecution, and friends and family of those connected to the case." But perhaps the biggest question on many of the viewers' minds is whatever happened to Arias after she received her lifetime prison sentence.
Keep reading to learn what day-to-day life looks like for Arias and how she's acclimated to a new life behind prison walls since her conviction.
Jodi Arias didn't go down without a fight
Though Jodi Arias expressed deep remorse and regret for the killing of her former flame, Travis Alexander, even stating that she was "truly disgusted and repulsed" with herself (per CNN), the convicted murderer did not simply fade into the prison system never to be heard from again. Instead she waged war against the United States legal system and her own attorneys, filing various appeals and grievances along the way, per Parade.
In 2017, Arias' appeal was put on hold due to "systematical errors," but in 2019 Arias finally had her shot at an appeal hearing. On the basis of the appeal, Arias accused former prosecutor Juan Martinez of "cumulative misconduct." Alas, that appeal was denied. "Arias was convicted based upon the overwhelming evidence of her guilt, not as a result of prosecutorial misconduct," Judge Jennifer Campbell declared at the appeal hearing.
She also set her sights on her former attorney, Kirk Nurmi, accusing him of violating a code of conduct after he wrote a juicy tell-all about his time defending her, aptly titled Trapped With Ms. Arias. In the end, Nurmi relinquished his ability to practice law but not before he wrote a statement in which he described the lawsuit against him as a "continuation of Ms. Arias' pattern of attacking men whom she feel have wronged her."
Jodi Arias is serving out her prison sentence in Arizona
Eventually, however, Jodi Arias did settle into her life behind bars.
During a phone interview in 2016 with rapper Kareem "Lefty" Williams (via Daily Mail), Arias gushed about the amount of supportive mail she receives in prison. "Oh yeah, haters are gonna hate," she said about being known as one of the most hated people in the country. "It's all good. If this is what it is like to be hated, then keep hating! I've had so much love coming in my direction I can't even respond to it now," she boasted.
She also discussed the prison food and admitted that it wasn't all bad. "We had chicken fajitas tonight," she told Williams. "Really good: A big old pile of caramelized onions, some bell peppers, all the works," she recalled. She also attributed being on her feet all day for the ability to maintain her figure while in prison. "I stand up all day," she said. "I think that helps."
According to The Cinemaholic, as of January of 2020, Arias is serving her lifetime prison sentence in Goodyear, Ariz., at the Perryville Prison.