Arias Jury In Tears As Victim Travis Alexander's Family Breaks Down In Court; Arias Cries Too

There was not a dry eye in the Phoenix, Ariz. courtroom Thursday, as the family of murder victim Travis Alexander testified against convicted murderer Jodi Arias, 32, in a proceeding that will eventually decide if Arias will receive the death penalty.

Samantha and Steven Alexander, the siblings of Travis Alexander, choked up as they spoke of their "bulletproof" brother.

"He was unbreakable: Who would want to do this to him?" Steven Alexander said, pausing to compose himself throughout his testimony.

Steven Alexander told the jury that he has reportedly separated from his wife, and has ulcers and nightmares since the day Samantha told him that Travis was dead.

"Travis was our beacon of hope," Samantha testified, "We would give anything to have him back."

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Travis Alexander's siblings were not allowed to request a desired sentence for Arias when they took the stand, but were allowed to describe, as they did, how their lives have changed since losing their brother.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez, however, was allowed to do so: "The only appropriate sentence [for Jodi Arias] is death," he said. Martinez dismissed the notion that any negative attributes to Arias' upbringing and life events should spare her the death penalty and instead have the term of life in prison awarded to her.

Jodi Arias, in addition to many of the jurors deciding her fate, cried as the Alexander siblings described the loss of their brother. Arias' defense attorneys, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott, recently petitioned the judge to allow them to withdraw from representing the convicted murderer at her sentencing. Arias herself has said that she would rather be put on death row than live out the rest of her life in prison.

In light of that, Nurmi and Willmott are subject to what California attorney Mark Geragos called a "conflict of interest." The duty of a defense attorney in a case like Arias' is to spare the life of the convict. When the convict begins working against their attorneys, it inhibits them from performing their job.

"That puts a lawyer in a conflicted position," Geragos said.

The sentencing of Arias is set to happen any day now, so stay tuned to Latin Times for the latest news on the trial.