Murderer Jodi Arias to get the spotlight all to herself

The trial of Jodi Arias seemed to go on and on and on. The TV networks -- all of us in the media -- couldn't get enough of it. Finally, last May, Arias was convicted of the brutal murder of Travis Alexander.

That should have been the end of it. She should have gotten a life sentence and then sent off to rot in prison.

But no. The Maricopa County Prosecutor's office make this a death penalty case. Unfortunately, the jury in the trial could not decide between life in prison or the death penalty. And so there will be a new trial just for sentencing. A new jury will be selected. All of the evidence will be presented, again.

Who knows how long it will last?

It will be awful for the family of Travis Alexander. Dragging them through repeated traumas like this new trial only adds to the horrors they've already had to endure.

But for Arias, who otherwise would be sitting in a stark, lonely cell, it's show time. A Maricopa County judge Monday approved Arias's request to represent herself in the sentencing trial.

And why wouldn't she?

If there was one thing that came across loud and clear in the first trial it is that Arias loved the spotlight. And she hates to share it with anyone. And now she won't have to do so.

It's sad.

It's grotesque.

And yet the most sad, most grotesque aspect of this is that too many of us won't be able to resist paying attention, and in the process give a convicted killer exactly what she wants.