Jodi Arias has testified for 17 days in a murder trial that's devolved into a cable TV soap opera.
The 32-year-old mutilated her Mormon motivational speaker ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander back in 2008. Prosecutors say Arias plotted his demise, and they're seeking the death penalty.
Arias admits killing Alexander but says he was an abusive pedophile who attacked her first. (The jury hasn't seen any evidence to back up either of those two allegations).
During her seemingly endless testimony, Arias has revealed raunchy details about her sex life with Alexander. The woman herself is something of an enigma, though some details about her life and psyche are emerging.
An 'Almost Ideal' Childhood
She was born in Salinas, Calif. and went to Yreka Union High School, where she was a "good girl" who didn't seem the slight bit off, her close high school friend Tina Ross told HLN TV.
She grew up with both of her parents, four siblings and grandparents close by. She told the TV show "48 Hours" that her childhood was "almost ideal," ABC reported.
Arias, an aspiring photographer, dropped out of high school in the 11th grade, though.
Aimless In Her 20s
During her 20s, she worked a series of dead-end jobs and cycled through relationships with cheating boyfriends, she told jurors in the Arizona court where she's being tried, according to the AP.
She eventually got a job with a company now known as LegalShield, which pays its "work from home" sales force on commission.
It was through this work that she met the man she'd kill. They got together at a conference in 2006 at Las Vegas for Prepaid Legal Services, as it was then known.
Her Obsession Begins
At the time, Arias was living in Palm Beach, Calif., and Alexander was in Mesa, Calif., but the two struck up a long-distance relationship. They exchanged 82,000 emails, according to court records cited by "The Huffington Post."
After just two months of dating, Arias converted to the Mormon faith, according to ABC. She seemed to focus her entire life around Alexander. Alexander's friend Dave Hall told HLN TV that she never spoke about her past and didn't seem to have any friends.
Alexander told his friends that Arias hacked into his Facebook account and slashed his tires after they broke up, according to multiple news sources.
"She (Arias) was, like, totally obsessed with Travis," Alexander's friend Julie Christopher told CBS 5.
"A Walking Embodiment Of Sociopathy"
Crime expert Scott Bonn told HuffPost's Dave Lohr that Arias is a textbook sociopath.
This assessment makes sense. Sociopaths have something "severely wrong" with their consciences, according to "Psychology Today," and Arias has been completely composed during her televised murder trial.
"She is really a walking embodiment of sociopathy in many ways," Bonn told HuffPost. "The ironic thing about that, I believe, is that is part of the intrigue. There's a disconnect: How can this pretty young woman be responsible for this reprehensible, incomprehensible act?"
Arias' belief that she can convince a jury that she stabbed Alexander nearly 30 times to defend herself also reflects a classic sociopathic trait: narcissism.
Arias initially told investigators she knew nothing about Alexander's murder, and then blamed it on masked intruders before finally claiming self-defense.
"This self-defense position that she is taking is the third in a series of realities that she's created, none of which is consistent with the other," Bonn told HuffPost. "It's consistent with a sociopath personality. She's so narcissistic and enamored with herself that she thinks she can make it believable."
SEE ALSO: Jodi Arias Had A 'Complicated' Relationship With The Ex She Mutilated
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