Jodi Arias' sentencing delayed because the convicted murderer is put on suicide watch after she says she would prefer a death sentence over life in prison

• Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday in the death of her ex-boyfriend, who was found stabbed and shot in 2008
  
• Jury will now decide whether she will receive life sentence or death
• Arias: 'I would much rather die as death is the ultimate freedom'
  

By Meghan Keneally and Lydia Warren

PUBLISHED: 10:17 EST, 9 May 2013 | UPDATED: 17:24 EST, 9 May 2013

Jodi Arias’ sentencing was postponed Thursday and will continue next week as she is believed to be on suicide watch in the prison psychiatric ward after being found guilty of first degree murder.

Court officials did not formally announce that their concerns over her mental state were the reason for the delay, but it was revealed that they felt it was necessary because of her comments in an interview immediately after her guilty verdict was handed down.

Speaking to the local Fox affiliate KSAZ, Arias said that she would 'prefer to die sooner than later.'

Psych ward: Jodi Arias is reportedly on suicide watch after talking about how she wants to die

‘Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. I'm pretty healthy, I don't smoke and I'll probably live for a long time so that's not something that I am looking forward to.

'I believe death is the ultimate freedom and I'd rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.'

The jury was originally scheduled to return to the courtroom on Thursday afternoon to decide whether Arias will receive the death penalty or if she will be sentenced to upwards of 25 years behind bars for the murder of her on-again off-again boyfriend Travis Alexander on June 4, 2008. 

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said it put Arias on suicide watch following her statements to MyFoxPhoenix, which came just minutes after she was found guilty of first-degree murder.

Taking precautions: The Maricopa County Sheriff's office are trying to keep the murderer from harming herself as she awaits the next portion of her sentencing process

'At the conclusion of this interview and in light of some of her statements during the interview, Arias was brought to jail and... was placed on suicide protocol,' a statement from the sheriff's office read.

'Until she is released from suicide protocol by Sheriff’s officials, no further media interviews of inmate Arias will be permitted.'

Arias’ public decree that she prefers a death sentence will not necessarily influence the final verdict.

She can decide whether or not she wants to testify and plead for her life, and from there, they have to also have to consider the severity and aggressive nature of the crime.

If the jury finds that it was sufficiently heinous- which in legal terms is called the discovery that aggravation exists- they will move on to the penalty phase and suggest that she either spends life behind bars or death.

Speaking out: Jodi Arias gave an interview to a local news station just minutes after the verdict and she said that she hopes she gets the death penalty because she doesn't want to 'spend the rest of my natural life in one place'

The jury agreed with prosecutors that she had plotted to kill Travis Alexander, a Mormon motivational speaker and salesman, who was found stabbed, shot and nearly decapitated in his shower in 2008.

In the interview, she said that she was shocked by the outcome and hoped to get the death penalty.

'The worst outcome would be natural life because longevity runs in my family,' she said. 'The worst outcome would be natural life.

'I would much rather die sooner rather than later because longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. I'm pretty healthy, I don't smoke and I'll probably live for a long time so that's not something that I am looking forward to.

Guilty! Jody Arias, 32, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her ex, Travis Alexander

Insistence: Arias, 32, had claimed that she killed Alexander in self defense after she attacked him

The interview took place in a holding room inside the courthouse just 20 minutes after the guilty verdict was rendered, sparking cheers among the crowd swarming the outside of the court.

Since she admitted that she killed Alexander, there was no chance that she would have been found innocent, but the question of whether or not she planned the murder or whether it was committed as an act of self defense.

On Wednesday, five members of the 12-person jury found it was premeditated and the seven others found that it was both premeditated and a felony murder.

'It was unexpected for me yes because there was no premeditation on my part,' she said. 'The whole time I was fairly confident that I wouldn't get premeditation because there was no premeditation.'

Killed: Alexander's body was found repeatedly stabbed and shot in his shower in June 2008

She said that she would have understood if they simply found her guilty of felony murder 'because of the way that the law is written' but also attributes some of her own actions that caused the jury not to believe her.

'I can understand that because of the lies I told in the beginning, to try to cover this and hide that,' Arias said calmly.

She took shots at prosecutor Juan Martinez, who she sparred with for weeks during her questioning.

'Prior to trial, I respected Juan as a capable attorney even though he's done some very shady things in my case as far as hiding evidence,' she said. 'In the end, what does it matter - it doesn’t help my case.'

Spectacle: Court officials told the public that the verdict was going to be read three hours before it actually happened, giving followers time to gather outside of the Maricopa Courthouse

Victory: Crowds cheer when they heard Jodi Arias was convicted of first degree murder Wednesday afternoon

Invested: Three women break down outside the court following the guilty verdict on Wednesday

Arias said that she was 'overwhelmed' and 'went blank' following the verdict, even though she showed little emotion and simply looked back at the spectators.

Some of the hundreds of Alexander supporters who gathered outside of the courtroom awaiting the verdict held posters praising Martinez, one even suggesting he runs for governor of Arizona.

In the interview, she did not apologize to the Alexander family, saying only that 'now that a verdict has been rendered that they can find peace, or some semblance of peace.'

When asked what she would do if she were to go back to the moment when she was standing by her car in the desert with her hands covered in Alexander's blood, she said that she would drive directly to the Mesa, Arizona police department.

Blame: Arias accused prosecutor Juan Martinez of lying in the case, while others praised him for his approach

In the courtroom, she repeatedly said that she did not know what she would have done.

Though she has been separated from her original pod of cellmates, Arias said that she got a sense of how big the trial was getting when new inmates would enter the prison and seek her out.

'They want to shake my hand, they want to give me a hug. They want my autograph - I'm not going to sign anything,' she said.

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE