Many of you have probably heard about or even followed the trial of Jodi Arias- the woman who is accused of stalking and killing her boyfriend of 4 months, Travis Alexander- who had ended the relationship and was dating someone else, yet continued to occasionally hook up with Arias. Their relationship began and ended in 2007, Arias is alleged to have murdered him in 2008 and is now on trial for the killing. The murder was particularly grisly as Alexander was shot twice, stabbed 30 times and his throat was cut so deeply that his head was almost detached. Talk about a crime of passion. The circumstantial evidence against Arias is strong as she said she had not seen him in months, yet pictures were found of her and Alexander that were taken minutes before his death. Apparently she threw the camera in a washing machine along with other bloody items, but the film survived. Wow.
This should be a cautionary tale for anyone out there in the dating world. Dating can be an extreme sport and with so many folks now being introduced virtually, safety concerns should become even more important. Jodi and Travis actually met at a conference and she converted to Mormonism for him a few months after they began dating- however, the jealousy issues were there and probably should have been a bigger red flag for Travis. He broke up with her but continued the hook ups, apparently thinking he could have his fun with no strings. Like most men he probably didn’t even consider that she could be a threat- after all, she was woman. Guns are the great equalizers- along with knives if the guy doesn’t see it coming.
Women are more cautious because of the accepted physical advantage that men have- however they also take risks and trust too fast and easily. Some get by unscathed, but who knows how many near misses happen all the time- interrupted by a quirk of fate, good timing or other circumstance that keeps the unthinkable from happening. We hear about all the cases where nothing came along to interrupt someone who was intent on harm- yet too often we think it only happens to someone else. It has to happen to someone, so why not you or me?
Play it safe, tune into your gut and pay close attention to any red flags- and patterns involving them. There are bad people out there who are not what they appear to be and no matter how attracted you feel or how much fun they are to be around- they could be hiding a deep disturbance or potential for evil.