I’ve been getting this question a lot this week. So appropriately, I’ll use the words of Jodi when I say… the simple answer is Mendacity. They’re not who we think they are.
Is there any connection whatsoever to the lying, manipulating deviant that is Jodi Arias, and the once beloved athlete, Oscar Pistorius? Jodi was found guilty of First Degree Murder. Oscar was found guilty of Culpable Homicide, even though he was charged with Murder. There is a world of difference between the two. The state in Oscar’s case has been granted leave to appeal based on an error in law committed by the Judge. The state will continue their pursuit of the original Murder charge. Jodi remains on trial in a penalty phase, waiting to see if she’ll get life or death.
Is it possible these two crimes, these two criminals, one male, one female, separated by more than 16 000 km are made of the same stuff?
Can we find any similarity between the relationships of these two couples? Is there a match between the modus operandi of both crimes and both criminals? What comparisons can we draw, and what insights do we gain from drawing them?
The Jodi Arias case provides a dark mirror for the Oscar trial, and by implication, for ourselves. The sex, and religion, the borderline personality disorder and the mendacity underlying this case are several orders of magnitude greater than in the Oscar trial. But if Oscar manipulated us with his tears, if he came with several versions of his defense; Jodi made Oscar’s performance seem like a kindergarten dress rehearsal for her own.
If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re a true crime junkie, and if you’re a true crime junkie then there’s surely been a time when you looked at a criminal and thought – how did they end up like this? How does somebody kill? Doesn’t it make sense then, we should be aware of the commonalities that exist in their minds as well as their motives. They’re not cultivated and motivated on their own. There’s a driving force behind their actions and the more we understand them, the more we understand ourselves.
To read more about the connection between the killers… check out Audacity
And if Oscar piques your interest… try one of these.
Juror13 
some similarities – both crimes took place in a bathroom, both defendants blamed intruders, both couldn’t remember pulling a trigger, both claimed they killed in self defense, both dragged/moved the victim after fatally wounding them and both did a certain amount of mopping up of blood afterward. Besides these there are a lot more, we identified 50 in total… can you think of any?