Jodi Arias testifies Travis Alexander forced her to have anal sex hours after he baptized her as a Mormon so he'd still be a 'virgin'

• Arias, 32, said sexual encounters left her feeling 'like a prostitute'
• Boyfriend Travis Alexander sent Arias t-shirt and panties emblazoned with his name for Valentine's Day 2007
  
• Claims she killed Alexander in 2008 in self defense after long-term abuse
  
• She faces the death penalty in Arizona if she is found guilty

By Lydia Warren and Louise Boyle

Published: 14:47 EDT, 6 February 2013 | Updated: 18:40 EDT, 6 February 2013

Jodi Arias testified today that her Mormon boyfriend Travis Alexander forced her to have anal sex after he baptized her into the church by saying vaginal sex was off limits but 'everything else' was allowed.

Arias returned to the stand on Wednesday to testify in her murder trial, wiping away tears as she claimed the sexual encounters with Alexander, whom she is accused of killing in 2008, left her feeling 'like a prostitute'.

Arias' defense team hopes the testimony will show that she killed Alexander in self defense after he mistreated her for months and that he was a sexual deviant who lied about his vow of chastity.

She told the court that in one incident following her baptism in November 2006 Alexander pushed her face-down onto a bed, pulled off her underwear and forced her to engage in painful anal sex.

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Emotional: Jodi Arias sobbed as she claimed ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander forced her to have anal sex

Struggle: Arias choked back tears as she recounted her sexual relationship with Alexander on Wednesday

'I can't say I wanted to, but I didn't stop him,' she said. 'It was painful.

'Eventually I did [tell him to stop]. I probably would have just let him continue but it was too painful. I knew that's what he had wanted. I trusted him. I just went with his agenda.'

After the incident and other earlier unwanted sexual encounters, she felt 'kind of stupid', 'bummed out' and 'like a prostitute, sort of'.

To her shock, he also sent her pictures of his erect penis - which were shown to the court in Phoenix - and pleaded with her to send explicit images of herself back to him, she said.

Although in the flesh Alexander was not the person she had got to know over the phone, she said she was always reassured by his kind voice messages.

Deception: Alexander baptized Arias into the Mormon church in 2006 despite their sexual relationship

But even when they became an official couple in February 2007, Alexander failed to treat her well and only acted as if they were boyfriend and girlfriend in public when they were out of town, she said.

After a brief afternoon recess, she told the jury that she had attended a legal convention with Alexander where he never introduced her as his girlfriend.

He also humiliated her by getting close with an intoxicated woman in a sexy, black dress with 'very generous cleavage'. Arias said that Alexander appeared to be 'loving every minute of it'.

She left 'because she didn't want a scene' and went to cry alone in a bathroom. 

When asked by the defense if her boyfriend's actions had hurt her feelings, she said that it had. The lawyer asked her if she told Alexander about how she felt, to which the murder suspect added: 'Eventually'.

Arias revealed to the court: 'I felt ashamed, I felt like maybe I would be perceived as someone who didn't deserve anything better.'

Poised: Arias appeared on the stand for the third day on Wednesday where she watched the jury closely, clutching her hands

Jurors also heard that Alexander had sent Arias a t-shirt with 'Travis Alexander's' written on it and pink pants emblazoned with 'Travis' for Valentine's Day 2007.

She said that she had been amused by the gifts, which were in a package along with chocolate and a pair of boy's Spiderman briefs, as it was an 'inside joke'.

The court was once again shown the t-shirt and shorts which have been entered into evidence.

Arias, 32, is accused of stabbing and slashing Travis Alexander 27 times, slitting his throat and shooting him in the head in his Mesa, Arizona home in June 2008.

She faces the death penalty if convicted in a case that has gripped viewers with lurid stories of sex, lies, religion and violence.

Possessive: Jodi Arias told the court on Wednesday that on Valentine's Day 2007, Travis Alexander had sent her this T-shirt and panties

Arias initially denied any involvement, then later blamed it on masked intruders before eventually settling on self-defense. She now claims she lied early on as she planned on killing herself.

She claims Alexander invited her to his home for a day of sex, then turned violent, forcing her to fight for her life. Prosecutors say she killed him out of jealousy in a pre-planned attack.

Arias testified on Monday about her abusive childhood at the hands of her parents, and of a high school boyfriend who once tried to strangle her.

On Tuesday, she told jurors of other boyfriends - before she met Alexander - who cheated on her, lied to her, had alcohol problems and didn't treat her well.

Pensive: Arias, 32, told jurors about her abusive boyfriends as she appeared on the stand on Tuesday

Telling her story: Jodi Arias takes the stand at the Arizona court for the second day and told the jury that she had killed Travis Alexander in self-defense

The defense claims Alexander, a successful businessman and motivational speaker, too, was abusive, both physically and mentally.

Arias said she first met Alexander at a Las Vegas convention in late 2006 after years of bad relationships, working multiple jobs and struggling to pay bills and she was enamored by him.

'The things he said to me made a big impression on me,' Arias told jurors. She said Alexander allowed her to 'step back and make me look at where I was and where I was going'.

VIDEO: Arias testifies about relationship - Warning: Graphic language

Taking it all in: Arias' mother, Sandy Arias, listens as her daughter testifies during her murder trial in Phoenix. Her daughter said that her mother beat her as a child

Questions: Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi hopes the testimony will show she was mistreated by Alexander

He also told her about his Mormon faith, she said. Arias said she soon ended her relationship with another man and within a week, she saw Alexander again and things became sexual.

While staying the night at a home of one of Alexander's friends, a day before he was to take her to church, she said the pair engaged in oral sex.

'I didn't want to tell him no so I just kept going with it,' she said. 'At that point in time, I was not really accustomed to saying no.'

Arias claims they dated for about five months, then broke up but continued to see each other for sex. Alexander's friends said she stalked him after the breakup and became possessive and jealous.

Authorities said they found her hair and bloody palm print at the scene of the killing, along with time-stamped photographs on a memory card in a camera discovered inside Alexander's washing machine that place Arias there on the day he died.

Volatile relationship: Arias had dated Travis Alexander for five months but continued a casual sexual relationship with him after the split up

The photos included one of Arias nude on his bed, one of Alexander alive in the shower, then one of his body on the bathroom floor.

Defense attorneys have yet to explain why Arias apparently attempted to clean the scene, washing Alexander's bedding and the camera, and what happened to the weapons.

On Tuesday, when asked by the defense if she had killed Alexander, Arias softly said 'Yes'.

When asked by defense attorney Kirk Nurmi why she had killed Alexander at his Mesa home in June 2008, Arias responded: 'The simple answer is that he attacked me and I defended myself.'