Jury foreman in the Jodi Arias case is getting death threats as he explained that the group was torn about whether to give her life in prison or to execute her

PUBLISHED: 09:35 EST, 27 May 2013 | UPDATED: 10:12 EST, 27 May 2013

View
comments

New target: William 'Bill' Zervakos has received death threats in the wake of the Jodi Arias trail where he and the other jury members failed to punish her with the death penalty

The jury foreman who in the Jodi Arias case is now being threatened with hate mail, as strangers say that they will kill him for failing to sentence Arias to death.

'Today I read hate mail my dad had gotten,' the son of foreman William Zervakos wrote on his blog.

'Some person had sent him a threatening message complete with his email address, full name, and phone number (which at the very least means that this guy should retake Hate Mail 101).'

This revelation came the same weekend that Mr Zervakos explained that the jury- made up of 12 ordinary citizens and not trained professionals- aced a decision that was wrenching and real, with implications that could haunt them forever.

He explained that the jury struggled with one specific question in their private deliberations: How heinous of a killing deserves a similar fate?

'The system we think is flawed in that sense because this was not a case of a Jeffrey Dahmer or Charles Manson,' Zervakos told The Associated Press.

'It was a brutal no-win situation. ... I think that's kind of unfair,' the 69-year-old added.

'We're not lawyers. We can't interpret the law. We're mere mortals. And I will tell you I've never felt more mere as a mortal than I felt for the last five months.'

Zervakos said the most difficult time of the entire trial was hearing directly from victim Travis Alexander's family as his brother and sister tearfully explained how his killing has shattered their lives.

Jodi Arias looked frightened before the jury's non-decision was handed down, but her composure did not change dramatically after she realized that she was not being sentenced to death

Jury foreman: Jodi's time on stand hurt her

'There was no sound in that jury room for a long time after that because you hurt so bad for these people,' he said.

'But that wasn't evidence. That's what made it so hard.... This wasn't about them. This was a decision whether we're going to tell somebody they were going to be put to death or spend the rest of their life in prison.'

Zervakos described a deliberations room full of tears and spinning moral compasses as each juror struggled to come to grips with their own beliefs about what factors - including Arias' young age at the time of the killing and her lack of criminal history - should cause them to show mercy and spare her life.

More...

Jodi Arias jury foreman speaks out to say he is sure she was abused by Travis but that it's no excuse for murder

'You've got Travis Alexander's family devastated, that he was killed, that he was brutally killed. You've got Jodi Arias' family sitting in there, both families sitting and seeing these humiliating images and listening to unbelievably lurid private details of their lives, and you've got a woman whose life is over, too,' Zervakos said.

'I mean, who's winning in this situation? And we were stuck in the middle.'

Zervakos declined to discuss his thoughts or those of other jurors on whether Arias should have been sentenced to death or life. But he said he was torn between her two personas: a killer and an average young woman struggling through life.

Heartbroken: Travis Alexander's relatives, including his sister Tanisha (right) were a constant presence at the trial and they were moved to tears when they heard that it would drag on for more months

'You heard (prosecutor Juan) Martinez say she was only 27.... She's old enough that she should have known better,' Zervakos said.

'I didn't look at it that way. I'm looking at 27 years of an absolutely normal everyday young woman that was living a life that was perfectly normal.

'Then something changed the trajectory of her life after meeting Travis Alexander, and it spiraled downhill from there.'

A new jury will be called in to resume the penalty phase of the trial since Judge Sherry Stephens was forced to declare a mistrial when the original group failed to reache a decision.

Jodi Arias Jury Foreman Receiving Threats, Defended By His Son

Add your comments

Comments (9)

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

I think this murder was a long time coming. How the jury did not recognize how horrible and heinous that was is unbelievable. She could've moved away, stop talking or seeing him when it became obvious he want interested in her any more. That's the normal reaction of young girls that age. But she decided to kill him instead in less than 2 minutes!

- mokokos , Farmington Hills Mi, 27/5/2013 20:35

Click to rate Rating 13

Now this is the very definition of ironic

- BadPostie , Devon, 27/5/2013 20:32

Click to rate Rating 6

I don't understand the blood lust for this young woman. She committed a despicable crime, but a crime of passion. Crimes of passion are generally punished by 20 years to life in US. She and the boyfriend had a twisted relationship, and she just couldn't let go. I think a life sentence is fair.

- Jean , Dallas, 27/5/2013 19:07

Click to rate Rating 13

I agree that the jurors would have been wise to keep quiet publicly. However, the real loosers are the people who send death threats to those who did a hideously difficult job and weren't able to come up with the result that the loosers wanted. :/ Disagree with the jury? Sure. Threaten to *kill* them because of it? You belong in jail, jut like any other scumbag who thinks that they've got the right to kill people who do things that they don't like.

- sakeneko , Reno, 27/5/2013 18:49

Click to rate Rating 3

In Arizona, the death penalty is usually applied to serial and professional killers, and child murderers. She was none of those. The manner of the murder was more in line with a passion killing than a well-planned first degree murder, thus she really doesn't fall under the death penalty standard in Arizona. In other words, its not altogether credible to believe that she planned to kill him by stabbing him multiple times, a necessary element for a first degree murder.

- Edward , Scottsdale, 27/5/2013 18:02

Click to rate Rating 8

Anyone who feels an ounce of sympathy or feels compelled to spare this woman's life...well, there are no words! She's not like Dahmer?!?! Are u kidding me?! This trial was more than likely the first time in years she had even seen her family much less had anything to do with them. The jury got it WRONG. Truly pathetic & disgusting.

- Loki , NRH, TX / United States, 27/5/2013 17:18

Click to rate Rating 14

Who didn't see this coming. The smart thing to do would have been not to give any interviews and keep their faces off TV. This is a no win situation for the jury members damn if you do and damn if you don't.

- Biker , SooFoo, United States, 27/5/2013 16:30

Click to rate Rating 44

No, No, No No! No excuses! When these people were selected for jury duty they filled out a questionnaire regarding the "death penalty". They, each and ENERY one of them, indicated that, should the ultimate punishment be the appropriate one, that they would not shirk their duty as jurors. I have no sympathy for a wuss who sits through this farce and then cannot do what was promised in the first place; the correct sentencing . My personal feelings are that they got caught-up in this killer's net of manipulation.

- Onmiyogi , Los Angeles CA, United States, 27/5/2013 16:16

Click to rate Rating 49

Jurors in high profile cases like this should not go public, especially in this case when another jury will be chosen soon to decide the penalty portion of the trial. Their remarks could influence the new jury pool. The judge should have kept them under the gag rule until this trial is completely finished. But no one who serves on a jury should ever be threatened: before, during, or after the trial is finished. This is one reason people do not want to be on a jury these days.

- Kelly , PA, 27/5/2013 16:15

Click to rate Rating 64

Share this comment

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.