PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias has acknowledged shooting, stabbing and slitting the throat of her lover. She says it was self-defense: Kill or be killed.

Her lawyers began making their self-defense case on Tuesday — a daunting task after Arias, now 32, initially denied any involvement in the 2008 death of Travis Alexander then blamed it on intruders.

They also must explain to jurors why she brought a gun to a sex tryst, took pictures after Alexander was dead, tried to destroy the camera in a washing machine, and fled.

Legal experts say the primary goal for Arias' attorneys might simply be to spare her the death penalty.

The first defense witness testified mostly about his business mentoring relationship with Arias and was asked about how provocatively she dressed and whether she acted sexually inappropriate

Witness Gus Searcy once worked with Arias at a company that designs, underwrites and markets legal expense plans.

"She was always dressed very feminine, but very conservatively," Searcy testified, noting that he never witnessed Arias acting sexually inappropriate.

Friction erupted between Searcy and prosecutor Juan Martinez when Martinez likened the company's structure to a pyramid where top company officials get a cut of profits earned by people at the bottom.

"It's not a pyramid, so to say it is is wrong," Searcy said, noting that he never earned a dime from his mentorship of Arias.

Searcy was followed to the witness stand by Daryl Brewer, who dated Arias for four years until 2006. He said Arias had become more involved in the Mormon church.

"She was taking religion more seriously," he said.

Brewer, who remained friends with Arias for several more years, said he never saw her become violent or jealous toward other women.

Brewer described Arias as sexually aggressive and said she once took a nude picture of him in the shower.

Arias could become the fourth woman on Arizona's death row if she's convicted of killing Alexander. Continued...