PHOENIX — Jodi Arias, one of Arizona's more notorious criminals, won't be getting company in prison anytime soon.
The convicted murderer has lost the privilege of contact visits for six months after calling a state correctional officer a vulgar name, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Arias was convicted in 2013 of the murder of her secret lover, Travis Alexander, who was found dead in the shower of his Mesa home in 2008.
He had been stabbed nearly 30 times, shot once in the head, and his throat was slit. Arias was quickly identified when police extracted photos from a camera found at the crime scene showing the two lovers and a photo of Alexander lying bleeding on the floor.
Arias was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 after a salacious, circus-like trial that made celebrities of Arias and the attorneys on both sides of the aisle. But the original jury was not able to agree on whether to sentence her to life or death.
A second jury was seated in October 2014 to decide the sentence. It also reached an impasse, with a single juror refusing to sentence Arias to death. Under state statute, the judge then had no choice but to sentence Arias to life in prison. She opted for natural life rather than life with possibility of release after 25 years.
Arias is now housed in a maximum-security unit in Goodyear, Ariz.
Arias had become upset Feb. 3 because she wanted a haircut. She was told no by a correctional officer, and Arias used the derogatory term in response, the Corrections Department said.
Contact visits allow an inmate to be in a room with visitors instead of having to speak through telephones on opposite sides of a glass wall.
Contributing: Michael Kiefer, The Arizona Republic. Follow Craig Harris on Twitter: @charrisazrep
