The lead defense attorney in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial pleaded with jurors to spare the convicted boyfriend killer's life during his closing statement on Tuesday.

Defense lawyer Kirk Nurmi also presented the Phoenix jury responsible for deciding whether Arias will be sentenced to life in prison or death row with a photo of Arias and Travis Alexander, her on- and off-again boyfriend whom she brutally murdered in 2008, reports The Associated Press.

The prosecution claims she killed Alexander during a jealous rage after he planned to leave her and go on a vacation with another woman. However, Arias argues she killed him in self-defense after he attacked her.

According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and she shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower and took pictures of him.

Although she was found guilty of first-degree murder in May 2013, jurors in her first trial failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing.

On Monday, the 34-year-old former waitress relinquished her right to plead for her life directly before the jury.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens asked the defendant several times if she wanted to address the jury during the allocution phase of the trial. However, Arias stated she would only make comments if the courtroom was closed off to the public and media, reports ABC 15.

In response, Judge Stephens explained the Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled the proceedings cannot be conducted in secret. She also gave Arias the option of speaking while the media and public watched the trial outside of the courtroom in another room, Reuters reports. However, Arias maintained she did not want to speak in an open proceeding. As a result, she declined her last opportunity to ask for mercy without being under oath or facing questions from prosecutors.

Back in October, Judge Stephens allowed Arias to testify in a closed-courtroom after Arias argued she was in fear for her life and that court watchers were sending her threats and hate mail.

Officials at the Maricopa County Superior Court released a transcript of a closed-door hearing last week where Arias' lawyers discussed their request to have the public and media barred from the courtroom. The defense argued Arias needed to testify in secret because she thought her safety was at risk.

"A lot of crazy people come to the jail and try to visit me," Arias told the court, according to a transcript of bench-conference conversations and a hearing that was unsealed on Thursday, reports USA Today.

Nurmi argued Arias had received hate mail, threatening her over what she might say in her testimony.

"We know the people here today currently in the courtroom include some of the people who send her that mail," Nurmi said, referring to unidentified spectators in the court.

They also discussed a person who had tried to visit the convicted killer by impersonating her attorney and demanding to see her.

As a result, Nurmi claimed Arias would be too nervous to think clearly if spectators were present during her testimony.

Related