After an almost two-week hiatus, the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial continued on Wednesday as the lawyers representing the convicted killer argued that the murder victim was a sexual deviant who lived a secret life.

Arias, 34, brutally murdered her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, 30, inside of his Phoenix, Arizona home on June 4, 2008. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed him 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart. She also slit his throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and shot him in the face.

Prosecutors argue that Arias killed her lover in a jealous rage because he wanted to end their affair. However, the defense claims that Arias acted in self-defense after Alexander attacked her.

Although Arias was convicted of first-degree murder in May 2013, the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, she is currently undergoing a retrial that will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison, or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years.

Once the trial reconvened, Arias' defense team portrayed her as a naive woman in love, and Alexander as a Mormon who struggled with secret sexual urges and religious conviction. The defense also said that the victim used Arias for sex while pretending to live a life of chastity.

"There's a mastery here of deception," said defense witness and psychologist L.C. Miccio-Fonseca, according to The Associated Press. "He was a committed Mormon. He was a spiritual man. I think he really genuinely struggled with this."

She also said that Arias had fallen in love with him.

"Love is pretty powerful and so it makes us do crazy things," she said.

Arias' attorneys are also accusing local police of destroying evidence that Alexander visited multiple pornographic websites by deleting files from his computer. According to the defense, the files would have helped prove that he was a sexual deviant. As a result, they asked the judge to dismiss all charges or at least remove the death penalty as a sentencing option.

"Among the files that were deleted are several that are easily recognizable as pornographic websites," reads the motion, according to CBS 5.

However, the judge denied their request to delay the trial based on these allegations. Instead, she stated that she would take up the matter at a later time.

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