Phoenix TV anchor briefly speaks with Jodi Arias following mistrial declaration
Mar 5, 2015, 9:45 PM
Like many media members in the Valley, Fox 10’s Troy Hayden has been covering the Jodi Arias murder trial for years.
On Thursday, following a second mistrial declaration due to a hung jury, the reporter may have had his final conversation with Arias, as she was escorted from the courthouse to the 4th Avenue jail in Phoenix.
“I spoke to her very briefly before our camera was in view,” Hayden recalled while a guest on KTAR’s Mac and Gaydos show. “She had no idea we were coming, so I walked around to her and I said to her, ‘Are you happy with this verdict?’ And again, the camera was still around the corner.
“And she said, ‘Well, I’m kind of sad that some people didn’t get the verdict they wanted.'”
Hayden replied to Arias’ statement by asking for a clarification.
“I said, ‘What do you mean? The Alexanders?’ And she said, ‘Yes, the Alexanders.'”
According to Hayden, Arias had shed her notorious emotionless-looking face for the brief interview and actually greeted him with a smile.
“Whenever I talk with her, she never has that stone face,” he explained.
“It’s almost like there’s a disconnect from reality with her. She greeted me with a big smile. ‘Hello!’ you know. She comes across as very pleasant, like nothing bothers her at all.”
Hayden went on to say that he wouldn’t be surprised if Arias was already at work in prison, manipulating and outsmarting other jailmates. In fact, he continued, a source told him that they heard Arias had already been in contact with women at the Perryville prison in Goodyear.
“I don’t doubt that when Jodi Arias gets to the Lumley unit out there — the max security unit — she’ll be the smartest woman in there, or one of them,” Hayden said. “She’s very intelligent.”
As for his future with Arias, the reporter was frank.
“I am so done with Jodi Arias.”
