Written by :
Published on :
Online bookmakers over the years have stayed clear of offering odds on murder trials and the current Jodi Arias murder trial is no exception it seems.
“None of the books are offering odds,” noted Gambling911.com head Payton O’Brien.
The trial, which is being covered heavily by HLN, has helped boost ratings for that cable network.
Arias, an attractive young woman who reportedly practiced witchcraft, has admitted to killing former boyfriend Travis Alexander. She initially denied murdering Alexander. Arias has since claimed she killed him in self-defense.
The defendant has taken the stand over the past two weeks offering salacious details of the couple’s apparent sex life.
“I was in my church clothes, he was in his church clothes, then he spun me around and bent me over the bed and began to have anal sex with me,” Arias testified in regard to the day she was baptized into Alexander’s Mormon church.
“He wanted me to put Pop Rocks in my mouth while I gave him oral sex.”
The couple’s phone sex tapes and photos of the two naked were shown in court.
Arias has won a singing contest in prison called “Inmate Idol” while serving behind bars for slashing Alexander 21 times, nearly decapitating him.
“This is really not about whether Arias will be acquitted but rather if she gets death,” notes O’Brien. “If the books were to offerodds they’d probably get some decent action.”
Bookmakers tend to back away from offering odds on high profile trials as this is akin to placing wagers on murder. With some trials, not necessarily this one, there will be compasion for the individual being tried. This is likely to be the case with South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius, who is accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend. He claims to have mistook her for an intruder.
O’Brien believes the books will have a tough time resisting should an event the likes of the 90’s OJ Simpson trial occur again.
“The Arias trial is receiving only limited coverage. OJ Simpson’s was everywhere. We lived and breathed that trial. It was the only thing on television. The online bookmakers offer odds on nearly every major event and the OJ trial was a major event.
“This one probably won’t reach that level,” suggests O’Brien.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
