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PHOENIX (AP) - The defense is set to present its case in the death penalty trial of woman accused in the gruesome slaying of her lover in Arizona.

Defendant Jodi Arias was adamant at first. She said she knew nothing about her lover's death, didn't slit his throat, stab him nearly 30 times or put a bullet in his forehead.

Then she offered a different story: Masked intruders killed Travis Alexander and she escaped.

Arias finally settled on a third version: She had slain her abusive, on-again, off-again boyfriend in self-defense.

Her different stories will pose a formidable obstacle as her attorneys present their case beginning Tuesday in a Phoenix courtroom in the trial that has become a cable TV news sensation.

A number of legal experts agree the primary goal for the defense will be to spare Arias the death penalty.