Lori Vallow asked to be excused from day of gruesome testimony for "mental health" break, but the judge made her stay

• Lori Vallow is accused of murdering her two youngest kids, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow.
• On Tuesday, a detective took the stand and described unearthing the children's bodies.

BOISE, Idaho — Moments before prosecutors in the trial of Lori Vallow would display photos of the remains of her two children for the jury, she made a request.

Vallow, who is accused — along with her fifth husband, Chad Daybell — of killing the kids, wanted to be excused from court for the rest of the day to protect her "mental health."

"It was emotional for her this morning," Vallow's lawyer, John Thomas, told Judge Steven Boyce.

Boyce declined to grant Vallow's motion to be recused. He cited Idaho law which grants courts the power to "bind and gag the defendant" to keep them present.

Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell, have both been charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, murder, and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Vallow's two youngest children: 7-year-old Joshua "J.J." Vallow and big sister Tylee Ryan, last seen in 2019. They are also charged in the murder of Daybell's then-wife Tammy Daybell.

Boyce said Vallow needed to stay in the courtroom "to ensure her due process rights and the right to a fair trial by the state."

Prosecutors proceeded to show gory photos from Daybell's property where police on June 9, 2020 found Tylee and J.J.

In one set was a partially-melted green bucket filled with Tylee's snapped bones, eviscerated organs, and singed flesh.

"Another glob of — sorry that's the best way I can describe it — burnt flesh and bone," Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo testified from the stand. "Teeth and different parts."

The other set shown to the jury was J.J.'s remains, laid on a medical examiner's table, Hermosillo said. His ankles, wrists, and mouth were wrapped in duct tape. The face looked enough like J.J. in life to still be recognizable.

As the photos were shown, J.J.'s grandfather, Larry Woodcock, doubled over on a courtroom bench and buried his face in his hands, sobbing silently, and shaking.

One woman on the jury dabbed her eyes. A male juror looked away. Audience members passed boxes of tissue up and down the courtroom's wooden benches.

Vallow — who began the day grinning, perky, and wearing a pink blouse — put on a black shawl in the afternoon and sat slumped and still. At one point she shook her head, and her lawyer Jim Archibald patted her back.

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges, but are being tried separately. Chad Daybell's trial is still months away. Vallow faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Vallow is also awaiting trial in Arizona for her alleged role in the July 2019 killing of her late husband, Charles Vallow.