A prosecutor in the Jodi Arias murder trial showed a jury on Thursday a striking text message sent by the man she killed.
"I want you to understand how evil I think you are," Travis Alexander texted Arias.
Prosecutor Juan Martinez gave closing arguments Thursday in the death-penalty case accusing Arias, 32, of maliciously plotting to kill Alexander in his Arizona home back in 2008.
Arias admits she killed Alexander — who was stabbed nearly 30 times, shot in the head, and nearly decapitated — but claims he attacked her first.
In order for her to be convicted of first-degree murder, Martinez needs to show she planned out her attack. (A jury could convict her of the lesser crimes of second-degree murder or manslaughter, neither of which carry the death penalty.)
During closing arguments on Thursday, Martinez showed jurors the text message from Alexander calling Arias "evil" to try to show premeditation, according to an Associated Press report. Two days after Arias got this text, a .25 caliber gun was stolen from her grandparents' house where she was staying, according to the AP. Martinez says she took the gun after she realized Alexander didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore.
“This is a meticulous approach to premeditation,” Martinez reportedly told the jurors.
Alexander was killed with a .25 gun, which Arias says she grabbed from his closet after he threatened her. While there's no evidence Alexander owned a gun, prosecutors can't prove for sure the weapon used to kill him was Arias' grandparents' since she dumped the gun after her attack.
If a jury finds that Arias killed Alexander impulsively, it could convict her of second-degree murder and put her away for up to 25 years. The defense will give its own closing arguments on Friday.
SEE ALSO: It's Looking Like Jodi Arias Will Be Convicted Of Murder
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