The claws were out in the Jodi Arias murder trial Thursday with lawyers on both sides openly attacking each other in the Maricopa County Courtroom.

The drama kicked off with a request from the defense team to have the jury sequestered because, they claimed, it would be a "fairy tale" to believe that jurors wouldn't see any news reports on the bombshell trial.

"This case must be tried in the courtroom, not in the media," defense attorney Kirk Nurmi told Judge Sherry Stephens.

"It is a fairytale to assume that this jury is not hearing any of this. It is all over the news, be it local or national," he argued, adding: "It is a fiction that is beyond belief."

However, the judge disagreed, and once she had rejected the defense's motion, it was back to the controversial testimony of domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette as she relayed graphic details of Jodi and Travis Alexander's volatile relationship before it escalated to breaking point on June 4, 2008 - including an occasion when Alexander allegedly choked Arias during an argument over her seeing other men.

Another woman in the couple's bizarre love triangle was named as the defense revealed details about the Mormon elder's relationship with Lisa Andrews, whom he was dating from July 2007 to March 2008, according to Arias' attorney Jennifer Willmott.

"Bitter feelings for you are brewing in me," Travis allegedly told Jodi, threatening revenge after she deliberately left a photo at his Mesa, Arizona house, reported Michael Kiefer of the Arizona Republic.