Arias: Senseless Defense

During his closing argument in the Jodi Arias murder trial, attorney Kirk Nurmi presented three separate themes:

• Jodi was not on a covert mission.
• Jodi left a paper trail.
• Jodi didn't need to wait until Travis was in the shower to kill him.

The above arguments are nothing more than a desperate smokescreen to confuse dull-witted jurors.  Nurmi wants us to focus on the simple fact that her road trip wasn't covert.  That's a No Duh fact.  But the argument ignores the fact that the only portion of the road trip that was covert was the leg into Mesa, Arizona.  Below, I address a few of the more ridiculous arguments:

• It makes no sense that Jodi staged a burglary to get a gun.  I say it makes perfect sense.  That was a great way to (a) get a gun and (b) avoid any evidence that she had it.  A "smart" girl certainly wouldn't have asked to borrow one from family or friends!
• It makes no sense that Jodi was on a covert mission to kill Travis.  I say it makes perfect sense.  She needed to get to Arizona to kill him but she couldn't just disappear from 6/2 to 6/9.  There would be too many questions asked.  It was much easier to advertise a road trip to Utah, a road trip during which a jog into Arizona, theoretically, could go undetected.
• It makes no sense that Jodi rented a car.  I say it makes perfect sense.  There was no reason to hide the rental car since she was taking a well-advertized road trip and everyone already knew her own car wasn't in the best shape to take such a trip.
• It makes no sense that Jodi saved the trip receipts.  I say it makes perfect sense.  She needed documentation of her road trip to "prove" she was nowhere near Arizona and to bolster her alibi.  And remember, we don't know what receipts she actually did destroy, if any.
• It makes no sense for Jodi to borrow gas cans.  I say it makes perfect sense.  She knew Darryl wouldn't be suspicious because the two of them had taken gas cans on road trips in the past. Why buy three gas cans when she could borrow two?  Money was tight, right?  [Nurmi thinks it would have been smart to borrow a gun and a car but not a couple of gas cans?]
• It makes no sense for Jodi to save the cash receipt for the third gas can.  Here, I'd have to agree.  But so what?  Criminals do make stupid mistakes that trip them up.  Equally stupid is Jodi making three separate purchases for gas at the same station in rapid sequence -- and doing it twice (once in Pasadena and once in Salt Lake City).
• It makes no sense that Jodi turned off her cell phone.  I say that makes perfect sense.  You can argue the phone just went dead all you want, Mr. Nurmi, but it's too convenient to be a mere coincidence.  Besides, if it just went dead, why would she call Gus Searcy in a frantic fit saying she'd lost her phone and convince him to give her a new one?
• It makes no sense that Jodi didn't kill Travis at the first opportunity.  Since Jodi Arias is a pathological liar, we will never know exactly what happened once she arrived at the home of Travis Alexander on June 4th, 2008.  What we do know is that Jodi craved the attention of Travis and that she is known for a "light switch" pattern of mood swings.  While she may have made the trip with the intent to kill, she may have had a cooling off period after she arrived if Travis acted particularly attentive (which it seems he did).  Most of us believe her purpose for being there that day was simple:  either Travis would take her to Cancun or he would die.  I can imagine her snapping the photos of him in the shower and making a manipulative remark such as, "You're going to look so amazing in Cancun.  I wish I could be there to see it."  He may have replied, "No, Jodi, we've talked about this.  You're not going."  Lights out.