US Woman in Lurid 2008 Sex Case Murder Gets Life

A US woman convicted of the brutal 2008 killing of her boyfriend in a case which gripped America was told she will die in prison on Monday after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

The fate of Jodi Arias, 34, has captivated Americans ever since she was convicted of murdering Travis Alexander, 30, in a frenzied attack at his home in Arizona five years ago.

Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens, who could have given Arias a sentence allowing her to be eligible for parole after 25 years behind bars, said she was guilty of an "especially cruel" aggravated killing.

"The court finds the mitigation presented is not sufficiently substantial to call for leniency and that a natural life sentence is appropriate," Stephens said.

"It is ordered the defendant shall be incarcerated in the Department of Corrections for the rest of her natural life with no possibility of parole."

Alexander was stabbed 27 times, shot in the head and had his throat slashed before being discovered slumped in a shower at his apartment.

The case was given a lurid dimension after it emerged that sexually explicit photographs of Arias and Alexander, taken shortly before the killing, had been recovered from a digital camera found in the slain man's apartment.

An image of a badly wounded man, believed to be Alexander, was also found on the camera. The trial, broadcast live on television, also included graphic evidence about the couple's sex life.

During lengthy testimony, Arias claimed she had killed Alexander in self-defense, portraying him as violently abusive, but a jury found her guilty of premeditated murder.

A first jury failed in May 2013 to reach a verdict on whether Arias should face the death penalty, leading to a retrial on the sentencing phase which climaxed in a hung jury last month, meaning the final decision on the sentence would rest with trial judge Stephens.

Arias had said she would prefer death to life in prison, and repeated that in a television interview shortly after her 2013 conviction.

But she later begged the jury to spare her life, listing the good things she could achieve behind bars, including starting a book club and donating hair to make wigs for cancer patients.