Jodi Arias’ jailhouse pen pal and friend broke his silence for the first time in an exclusive interview Tuesday night with HLN’s Nancy Grace.  “Jake”, who agreed to speak only under the condition of anonymity, told Grace he believes the accused killers’ claims she killed her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in self-defense.

“I believe that she is innocent.  We've been writing for four years and I think that they had a toxic relationship and something went wrong that day and it caused her to unfortunately murder him,” he said.

“Jake” says he started writing to Arias in 2009 after seeing her in a TV interview.  He told Nancy Grace producers, “I found her to be interesting, warm, down to earth, just not somebody you’d see in that situation.” The two struck up a friendship, exchanging letters every 1-2 weeks, and even speaking by phone.

When Grace asked Jake to explain the nine stab wounds to Travis Alexander’s back he said, “I never talked to her about the actual murder itself but I'm thinking that maybe that first she stabbed him in the front and then afterwards she started stabbing him in the back and that's why there are stab wounds in the back…Initially it's possible that he was coming at her and then she did some overkill.”

“Jake” told Nancy Grace producers he’s speaking out now because he wants the world to know that “Jodi is not the monster she’s been portrayed to be, she did a monstrous act but she has a heart, she has feelings and emotions like everybody else.”

In fact, “Jake” says in a mid-January phone call with Arias, she told him she was embarrassed by the racy photos shown in court. “She said she feels like going under the table when they’re showing close-ups of her private parts.  I told her to just put your hair down in front of your face and pretend it’s not happening.”

“Jake” also told Nancy Grace producers, that Arias is such a good friend, he and his mother told her that if she is acquitted, she is welcome to come and live with them when the trial is over.