The Jodi Arias murder trial has rocked the Mormon world. She is accused of murdering her lover, successful, handsome 30-year-old elder Mormon Travis Alexander. This was no ordinary murder -- Travis was found stabbed 29 times in his own shower, his throat slit, and he was shot in the head. After changing her story several times, Arias has finally admitted she killed Travis -- but said it was in self-defense. Part of her defense all along is that Travis, who was supposed to be a chaste Mormon, wasn't at all what he'd seemed. That, in fact, he was a "sexual deviant" with a dirty secret.

According to the defense, Travis was a "sexual deviant" who sent Jodi "lewd nude pictures" of himself while presenting to the rest of the world the image of an upstanding Mormon. He also apparently kept his relationship with Jodi a "dirty secret" from his pals. Travis also baptized Jodi into the Mormon faith -- while he was sleeping with her. Another big no-no.

Call me crazy, but Travis sounds like a liar and a jerk, but not a sexual deviant. Yeah, he was a Mormon who was supposed to be chaste, and he clearly was not. But does that make someone an abuser? Does this mean he deserved to be killed? Sounds like his character is now on trial.

Jodi is going to have a tough time convincing a jury of the self-defense claim given some of the evidence: She had sex with Travis in the hours leading up to his murder; they took naked photos of each other; and she even appears to have taken a photo of him as he lay bleeding on the shower floor. She then allegedly took the camera, deleted the photos, and put it in the washing machine. But the photos were recovered.

Jodi then allegedly broke into Travis's voicemail and began listening to his messages and deleting the ones she'd previously left. Jodi also had a history of stalking and jealousy with Travis -- allegedly breaking into his Facebook account. The relationship was fraught with issues from the get-go, with Travis repeatedly cheating on her with other women. In fact, at the time of the murder, Jodi and Travis were supposedly broken up and Jodi was telling her pals she and Travis were "just friends." But in reality she was obsessed with her on-off again boyfriend.

Folks, relationships like this one are just bad news. If you're in one, get out. They may not always lead to murder, but they rarely lead anywhere good. Jerks like Travis may deserve to be dumped -- but not killed. I don't believe Jodi was a born murderer -- but the toxic relationship between her and Travis ended up being deadly. If Jodi gets the death penalty, this is two lives snuffed out for essentially nothing.

Have you been following the Jodi Arias case?


Image via ABC News