Who Is Benjamin Ernst? New Details On Convicted Murderer Jodi Arias' Boyfriend
There's hope for all of us, ladies.
youtube If Jodi Arias can get a boyfriend — and she's a convicted murderer who will spend the rest of her life behind bars — there's literally no reason on Earth why the rest of us, who have a lot more to offer (not the least of which is our freedom), can't find that special someone.
Just this weekend, Lifetime aired a special called Jodi Arias: Cellmate Secrets. In this exclusive, there are interviews with two of Arias' cellmates as they recount their stories of how Arias manipulated them into doing what she wanted, both in and out of prison.
But who is Benjamin Ernst, Jodi Arias' boyfriend?
Let's look at what we know about him, and what his role is in her life.
Benjamin Ernst has spent countless weekends visiting Jodi Arias.
Prison records show that Benjamin Ernst visited Jodi Arias every weekend in June 2019. In fact, they spent so much time together, they spent up to eight hours together at a time with each visit.
"When Arias was trying to obtain leniency in her sentencing, she concocted a devious scheme to allow him to visit her. 'So, here’s what he needs to do. If we marry, then he can petition a court to grant us visitation,' she wrote in a letter to Maria De La Rosa, her mitigation specialist during her trials," a report said.
Jodi Arias allegedly wanted to get pregnant by Benjamin Ernst.
Back in 2016, Jodi Arias did not only want to get married to Benjamin Ernst, but she also wanted to get pregnant by him.
"The grisly details of the murder played out for the nation during the televised trial. It was during this trial that Ben Ernst began his twisted obsession with Jodi and now he is becoming even more entangled in her violent cat-and-mouse game.
The only upside for the groom-to-be in this sadistic nightmare of a marriage is that his future bride is ineligible for parole, protecting him to a certain extent from suffering a fate similar to that of Travis Alexander. The prospect of the two having a child, however, is truly horrifying, as is the thought of Ben Ernst living with two children while he had an ongoing relationship with a convicted killer," wrote one publication.
Benjamin Ernst was involved with someone else when he began dating Arias.
As if getting involved with a convicted murderer wasn't bad enough, it was recently revealed that Benjamin Ernst began having an affair with Jodi Arias while he was involved with someone else!
One of Ernst's friends said, "They quickly became buddies and eventually were talking on the phone about three times a week. The two began dating, and Jodi was even caught penning love letters to him in the courtroom. But then Ben was dating — and living with — a single mom of two. Though the woman knew Ben had once been linked to Jodi, he lied about the current status of their relationship."
When Ernst's former girlfriend found all the love letters between her now-ex and the convicted murderer, she was not only furious, but she realized she'd been lied to. And that caused her to end the relationship.
Even though he's a 'wealthy art dealer,' Ernst has a shady past.
In what should come as a surprise to no one, Benjamin Ernst has a shady past.
Back in 2015, he'd been arrested and charged with four misdemeanors, including driving under the influence. The local news report also reported that it was his second drunk driving arrest in just as many years.
The 2015 incident — which involved Ernst using his black BMW to smash up other cars before driving away — was so awful, a Davenport, Iowa, police officer had to get involved and discharged his weapon.
Ernst was one of the only people who have come to visit Jodi Arias in prison.
Ernst was one of the only people who ever came to visit Jodi Arias while she remains in prison.
Arias compiled a 20-person list last year, months before her own father passed away under mysterious circumstances. William Arias, as well as her mother Sandra, sister Angela, and brother Joseph are all on the list, but the top name on the handwritten submission was Benjamin Ernst, whom she once plotted to marry while locked up.
The murderer’s list also included the journalist who did the bombshell interview with Arias’ mother where she admitted, “I do not feel responsible for Jodi’s actions," who added that Jodi lost visitation privileges back in 2016 for getting into a fight with a prison guard.
Jodi Arias hoped to get famous off her crime.
In what is, perhaps, the most despicable part of all, Arias thought she would become famous after she'd penned her "murder memoirs," which detailed why she killed ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander.
“Jodi thought she was going to be famous,” her former cellmate and confidante, Donavan Bering, said. “She wanted to write the memoir to explain her story — thinking it was going to be a number one bestseller. But once you start reading it, you find out how warped she really is! Arias, 37, jotted down her thoughts inside her prison cell, and mailed the pages to Bering to pitch to publishers."
But Arias' dreams are now coming true with a new Lifetime special.
A series of interviews were presented on Lifetime in a special called Jodi Arias: Cellmate Secrets. It will appear after the showing of the movie Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret, which came out in 2013.
The 2013 movie is about the trial of Jodi Arias. Arias is played by Tania Raymonde, and her boyfriend, Travis Alexander, is played by Jesse Lee Soffer. She was convicted of murdering him, and the movie recounts the story.
The Lifetime special will include exclusive interviews with two of Jodi's cellmates, Donavan Bering and Tracy Brown. They were loyal to Arias, which destroyed their own lives as they fell into her trap.
In these interviews, both women tell the stories about how Arias used her sexuality and manipulation techniques as a way of coercion to get them to do what she wanted. They also bring to light never before seen letters and disturbing works of art as they recount their interactions with Arias.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted in July 2019 and was updated with the latest information.