The first degree murder trial of Jodi Arias has been postponed until next Tuesday According to a courthouse spokesman, Arizona trial judge Sherry Stephens is recouperating from an illness, reported by The Huffington Post.
Arias was expected to return to the stand on Thursday, for what would been her seventh day on the witness stand. The 32-year-old is accused of shooting her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, stabbing him 27 times and slitting his throat in the shower of his Mesa, Arizona apartment on June 4, 2008.
Arias admitted to killing Alexander in her testimony, in self-defense. Since she has taken the witness stand for over the past six days, she also alleged he was a "secret pedophile."
A raunchy 40-minute phone call between Arias and Alexander was filled with references to rape, porn, and Alexander's crude fantasies showed the twisted relationship the pair had before Arias killed him.
She read text messages aloud that Alexander had sent her calling her his "sex slave" and describing aggressive sexual fantasies he had. The pair was no longer dating, but continued to sleep together as they seen other people. She gave explicit details about their doomed relationship, but her testimony did not include any description of her murder, a point not lost on some commentators.
ABC News Field Producer Colleen Curry wrote on Friday:
"Jurors have spent five days listening to Jodi Arias detail the ups and downs, the erotic sex and religious secrets and alleged violence in her relationship with ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. But they have yet to hear her version of the crime she's accused of committing: murdering Alexander...Experts say that Arias' drawn-out testimony about the events leading up to the June 4, 2008 death of Alexander, 27, could backfire on Arias and her defense team, who are hoping to paint a sympathetic portrayal of the self-admitted killer by keeping her on the stand...Arias will likely have to begin discussing the confrontation with Alexander that led to her killing him when court resumes on Tuesday."
Prosecutors have alleged that she vengefully killed Alexander. If convicted, Arias faces the death penalty.
