Story highlights Arias tells a TV station she would rather get the death penalty than a life sentence

Authorities place her on "suicide protocol" after the TV interview

After more than 15 hours of deliberations, jurors find Jodi Arias guilty

Jurors will return to court Thursday for the next phase of the trial

After months of twists and turns in a dramatic trial rife with sex, lies and digital images, an Arizona jury Wednesday found Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander.

Jurors will return to court Thursday for the aggravation phase of the trial -- an important step in the next key decision they face: determining whether Arias lives or dies.

"Now the odds, I think, shift somewhat in her favor, because it's a very different thing to sentence someone to die than to convict them," CNN senior legal analyst Jeffery Toobin said.

In a television interview minutes after the verdict was announced, Arias said she'd prefer a death sentence.

"I said years ago that I'd rather get death than life, and that still is true today," she told Phoenix television station KSAZ. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it."

Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Jodi Arias reacts on May 8, 2013, after an Arizona jury found her guilty of first-degree murder for killing Travis Alexander in June 2008. In 2015, Arias was sentenced to life in prison. Her trial took many turns and revealed a story of sex and violence. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Arias and Alexander met in 2006 at a business convention in Las Vegas. Arias became his girlfriend two months later, she testified. Alexander's bloodied body was found in his Mesa, Arizona, home in June 2008. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Faith was an integral part of Alexander's life. The professed son of methamphetamine addicts, Alexander was raised in Riverside, California, with three brothers and four sisters. His grandmother introduced him to Mormonism as a child. Soon after their first meeting, Alexander baptized Arias into the Mormon faith, a ceremony that was followed by anal sex, according to Arias' testimony. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Arias says that the pair broke up in 2007, and Alexander began seeing other women. There were claims that Arias would stalk him, peering in his windows at times. Still, he and Arias continued to hang out on several occasions until -- disenchanted Arias says -- she moved back to Northern California. They continued to communicate. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Alexander's naked body was found crammed in a stand-up shower after he missed two appointments, prompting friends to go to his house. Arias was charged with murder, at first denying the claims and later admitting she killed him in self-defense. Alexander's body was found with 27 stab wounds in the back and torso, a shot in the head, and his throat slit from ear to ear. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Arias spent 18 days on the witness stand recalling the minutiae of her allegedly abusive relationship with Alexander but claimed to have no recollection of the actual attack. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial On February 28, 2013, prosecutor Juan Martinez asks Arias about a photograph she took of Alexander in the shower moments before he was killed. Prior to Alexander's killing, Martinez said, Arias stole her grandparents' .25-caliber pistol, rented a car in Redding, California, turned off her cell phone and brought along cans of gas so there would be no record that she was in Arizona. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Arias breaks down on February 28 after being asked by Martinez if she was crying when she stabbed Alexander and slit his throat. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Arias puts her arm around defense attorney Jennifer Willmott after being asked to demonstrate how she had her arm around her sister in a photograph that had been admitted into evidence. Willmott has said Arias was the victim of a controlling, psychologically abusive relationship and that Alexander considered Arias "his dirty little secret." Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Arias talks to defense attorneys Willmott, left, and Kirk Nurmi during her trial on April 3, 2013. Arguing the prosecution's position that Arias was obsessed with Alexander and stalking him, Nurmi said it didn't add up because Arias was active on a Mormon dating site. "Jodi ... wasn't so locked in on Travis that she wasn't looking for other men," Nurmi said. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Prosecutor Juan Martinez makes closing arguments on May 2. Throughout the trial, prosecutors said Arias manipulated people as well as the evidence. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Mitigation specialist Maria DeLaRosa whispers to Arias during closing arguments. Arias' defense team denied that she went on a meticulously planned "covert mission" to Arizona to kill her ex-boyfriend and then hide her tracks. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Arias listens to defense attorney Kirk Nurmi make his closing arguments on May 3. Her case drew worldwide attention. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Alexander's family and friends react after Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: The Jodi Arias trial Judge Sherry Stephens receives the jury's decision in May. The jury had been in court since January 2. Jurors deliberated for 15 hours and five minutes before finding her guilty of first-degree murder. Hide Caption 15 of 15

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The comments prompted authorities to place Arias on suicide watch in an Arizona jail, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

"Until she is released from suicide protocol by Sheriff's officials no further media interviews of inmate Arias will be permitted," the office said in a statement.

Arias was stoic in court Wednesday. Her eyes briefly welled up with tears as a clerk announced that the jury found her guilty of first-degree murder for killing Alexander in June 2008.

Friend: "We have waited five years through the circus"

Alexander's sisters cried and consoled each other after the verdict was read in the packed courtroom.

Crowds outside the courthouse erupted in cheers as news of the jury's decision spread.

Several of Alexander's friends told HLN they were relieved.

"It just feels so good ... to finally have the truth and be vindicated," said Dave Hall, choking back tears.

But that relief isn't enough, Elisha Schabel said.

"It's not going bring Travis back. He was such a light to this world," she said. "And it's important that we forgive Jodi, so she doesn't have that power to destroy our lives."

Another friend, Clancy Talbot, said she was grateful for the verdict.

"Looking at Jodi's face, I think this is probably the first time in her life she has ever been held responsible for what she's done, ever, and I think she's in shock," she said. "We have waited five years through the circus that Jodi has created."

Trial moves into next phase

But the trial isn't over yet, and Arias -- who testified for 18 days during the trial -- could speak to jurors again in court.

In the next step of the case, known as the aggravation phase, prosecutors will have a chance to present additional evidence and jurors will decide whether Alexander's death was caused in a cruel manner.

If they decide that was the case, the trial would move to the penalty phase, where jurors would decide whether Arias should receive a death sentence.

If the jury decides on a death sentence, the judge is bound by that decision. But if the jury decides against the death penalty, the judge would have two options: sentencing Arias to life in prison without the possibility of parole, or sentencing her to life in prison with the possibility of parole after at least 25 years.

There are currently 127 people on death row in Arizona. If Arias is given a sentence of death, she would be the fourth woman on death row in the state.

As jurors prepare for the sentencing phase of the criminal trial, family members of Alexander are preparing to file a civil wrongful death lawsuit, attorney Jay Beckstead told reporters outside the courthouse. Alexander's siblings won't speak publicly about the case until Arias is sentenced, Beckstead said, adding that the family is grateful to prosecutors and detectives for their work.

Massive crowd surrounds courthouse

Since Friday, jurors had been deliberating evidence surrounding a key question: Did Arias kill ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in self-defense? Or did she commit murder?

Alexander was stabbed repeatedly, shot and nearly decapitated five years ago. Arias says she killed him in self-defense after he attacked her, but the grisly slaying caused even some anti-domestic violence advocates to doubt her case.

The jury, which has been in court since January 2, heard closing arguments on Friday. Jurors deliberated for 15 hours and five minutes.

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As they took a lunch break after revealing they had reached a verdict Wednesday, some jurors were seen smiling and breathing sighs of relief. One juror returning from lunch wiped her eyes.

A massive crowd swarmed around the Maricopa County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon. Some onlookers said they had been following the trial for months.

The case has drawn worldwide attention and followers lined up daily for courtroom seats.

"We are here every day to support Travis' family 100%," said Kathy Brown, who got a cane she uses autographed by prosecutor Juan Martinez and cried outside the courthouse after the verdict was announced Wednesday.

"I am so thankful," she said. "I knew the Lord would do the right thing."

Case marked by dramatic arguments

In the trial, both sides dramatically presented their arguments with details about Arias' love affair with Alexander.

"She rewarded that love from Travis Alexander by sticking a knife in his chest," Martinez said in his opening statement. "And you know he was a good man, according to her. And with regard to being a good man, well, she slit his throat as a reward for being a good man. And in terms of these blessings, well, she knocked the blessings out of him by putting a bullet in his head."

But defense attorney Jennifer Willmott countered: "Jodi Arias killed Travis Alexander. There is no question about it. The million-dollar question is what would have forced her to do it?"

Willmott said Arias was the victim of a controlling, psychologically abusive relationship, and Alexander considered Arias "his dirty little secret."

Martinez accused Arias of playing the victim. He alleged she staged the crime scene to make it look like self-defense.

He also accused her of actively seeking to profit from her media attention.

That's something Alexander's family hopes to stop with its civil lawsuit, Beckstead said Wednesday.

"The law in Arizona states that people should not be benefiting from their wrongdoing in a criminal case, and my law firm is going to do the best it can to make sure that she does not benefit from her wrongdoing or her notoriety," he said.

Arias: "I would much rather die sooner than later"

In her interview with KSAZ Wednesday, Arias said she was surprised by the jury's verdict.

"It was unexpected, for me, yes, because there was no premeditation on my part," she said. "I can see how things look that way."

Arias told KSAZ that longevity runs in her family, and that the worst possible outcome in the case would be a life sentence without parole.

"I would much rather die sooner than later," she said.

Several members' of the Arias family were at the jail where Arias was being held Wednesday night, waiting for a chance to meet with her.

Mother Sandra Arias said she had heard about her daughter's post-verdict TV interview, but hadn't watched it.

She appeared to be very emotional and concerned about her daughter.

While serving time, Sandra Arias said, her daughter "can do a lot of good for others."