The last few moments of Travis Alexander's life — before he was shot in the head and stabbed to death — were captured on the memory card of his own digital camera.
Although it had been run through the wash and nearly destroyed, the memory card's eight snapshots told the story for Mesa police investigators of the final hours of the 30-year-old motivational speaker's life.
There were pictures of his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias, lying nude on Alexander's bed. Then there were naked pictures of him posing in the shower. Finally, there were two pictures of a person on the floor of the bathroom, bleeding heavily.
Those images, combined with a bloody palm print found on a wall, have been key factors in the arrest of Arias, 29, on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to a statement released Monday by Mesa police.
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Alexander was found dead sitting in his shower on June 9 at his Mesa apartment. He was stabbed 27 or 28 times.
Investigators noticed that his throat had been slashed from ear to ear. His body had also been rinsed off in the shower.
Alexander's body was found about five days after the photos were taken. His two roommates told police they believed he had gone on a vacation to Mexico. They had been living in the apartment, unaware his body was there, they said.
After interviewing Alexander's relatives and friends, investigators learned that Arias had moved to Arizona from California to be with Alexander.
"Once they broke off their relationship, Jodi would continue to hang around the house and even enter Travis' home without his permission," the report says.
When police examined Alexander's body, they found that his injuries showed that he tried to put up a fight, the report says. Investigators also noticed a shell casing in the bathroom, but no gun. Detectives discovered that Alexander's bedding was missing from the bedroom.
The blankets were later discovered downstairs in the laundry room, along with clothing and the camera. The bedding had been washed and was found in the dryer, the report shows.
Alexander's cell phone was found in the downstairs office, with the last call made at 12:13 p.m. June 4. All calls after that went unanswered, including an important conference call he was scheduled to take part in.
Police called Arias June 10 for an interview. She said she hadn't seen Alexander since April, but admitted that they had been in a relationship and broke up due to jealousy issues they both had. She said that after the breakup, the pair continued a sexual relationship but kept it quiet from the people they knew, and that they had last spoken on the phone June 3.
On June 17, Arias came to the Mesa Police Department and voluntarily gave fingerprints and saliva for DNA testing, the report shows. Two days later, police uncovered the nude pictures and said they were able to prove that Arias was the last person to see Alexander before he died.
Finally, detectives examined the bloody palm print found on Alexander's wall and said that it was shown to be Arias' left palm and contained her DNA.
"This was conclusive evidence that Jodi was present at the time of Travis' death, or at least at the time of his initial injury," the report says.
Arias was extradited from California, and she is in a Maricopa County jail.