'Jodi Arias: Cellmate Secrets': Who are Tracy Brown and Donavan Bering, are they still in touch with the killer?
In 2008, Jodi Arias made headlines when she was charged with killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. The two met in 2006 and started dating in 2007 until Arias moved away to live with her grandparents. On June 9, 2008, Alexander was found dead in his home in Mesa, Arizona, a month after he reconnected with Arias. Just days before the murder, a burglary was reported at Arias' grandparents' house where a gun was stolen.
The gun was of the same type that was used to shoot Alexander, who was also stabbed nearly 29 times. Reportedly, Arias killed Alexander after the latter changed his mind and decided to take another woman on a work trip to Mexico after he initially planned to take Arias with him. She was convicted of murder and sentenced for life in 2018.
While Arias initially denied having been in Alexander's house on the day of the murder, the police later found a camera in Alexander's washing machine, according to ABC News. They recovered images taken on the day of the murder which depicted Arias and Alexander in sexual scenarios. Alexander was in the shower moments before the murder and some photos even featured shots of Alexander's bloody body that seemed to have been taken by accident when the camera was dropped.
Arias gained more notoriety when she went to prison. There she met Tracy Brown and Donavan Bering with whom she shared her prison cell. Lifetime's latest special, 'Jodi Arias: Cellmate Secrets' features interviews of Brown and Bering as they spoke about their experiences with Arias. Both had become loyal disciples of Arias in prison and their relationship with her toppled their lives.
Brown was incarcerated on charges of kidnapping and was an inmate at the Estrella Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, where she shared a cell with Arias for around five months. In that time, she became captured by Arias' charm and even allowed the latter to tattoo her six times when they shared cells. One of the tattoos on Brown's body has Arias' signature on it. In the Lifetime documentary, Brown said she regretted allowing Arias to tattoo her and that having Arias' name on her body is "the biggest mistake" she ever made.
Bering was incarcerated on charges of being an accessory to arson and spent six months as Arias' cellmate at the Maricopa County Jail in Arizona before she left. Bering also developed a close relationship with Arias — which did not end even after Bering left. Bering remained in contact with Arias after being released and would contact people on behalf of Arias. It took Bering to get close to Arias' mother, Sandy Arias, for her to realize Arias' true nature. Bering said Arias did not have friends but rather saw people to use to get what she wanted.
Bering and Brown met at Estrella Jail and got romantically involved with each other. Both Brown and Bering admitted that Arias was manipulative and "could get anybody to do what she wanted." They also got enamored with Arias partly due to the lack of television in their prison. 'Jodi Arias: Cellmate Secrets' airs on Lifetime on August 8 at 10/9c. An encore presentation will air on August 9 at 1 am ET.
