Jury finds Larry Millete guilty of murdering missing wife

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (CN) — A San Diego County jury on Thursday found Larry Millete guilty of first-degree murder in the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Maya Millete, after prosecutors argued he became consumed by jealousy, obsession and increasingly desperate attempts to stop her from leaving him.

Jurors began deliberating Wednesday afternoon following nearly two months of testimony, capping a closely watched trial that examined the tragic case of a 39-year-old mother of three who vanished from her home in Chula Vista, California, on Jan. 7, 2021.

Maya Millete’s body has never been found.

Larry Millete, 44, who did not testify during the trial, has maintained the possibility that his wife may still be alive somewhere. He was arrested in October 2021.

The jurors were given the option to convict Larry Millete of either first- or second-degree murder, or alternatively, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. The case largely hinged on circumstantial evidence.

During closing arguments on Tuesday, the prosecution described Larry Millete as a man driven by jealousy and obsession after his wife had an affair with a coworker and decided to end their marriage. However, the defendant’s attorneys described him during closing arguments on Wednesday as a man who was himself emotionally abused and gaslit by his wife, arguing that he didn’t have the criminal sophistication to pull off a murder in which his wife’s body was never recovered.

Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles argued that months of evidence pointed to a single conclusion: Larry Millete murdered his wife after she rejected his efforts to save their failing marriage.

She pointed to what she described as a mountain of evidence that Larry Millete was responsible for her disappearance. This included his repeated use of so-called “spellcasters,” online companies offering magic spells to regain his wife’s affection, which escalated into requests to injure and sicken her.

The prosecutor also pointed to internet searches involving poisons, testimony regarding the couple’s increasingly volatile relationship and evidence that Maya Millete had planned to file for divorce the day she disappeared. Bowles argued the defendant’s use of magic spells directed at his wife ended once Maya was last seen.

Surveillance footage showed that Larry Millete backed his Lexus SUV into their garage at about 6 a.m. the morning after Maya Millete went missing. At 6:45 a.m., the vehicle left the residence, located in Chula Vista’s San Miguel Ranch neighborhood, and did not return for 12 hours. Larry Millete’s phone was powered off before he left. Bowles said the vehicle had an unaccounted 444 miles on its odometer.

Bowles also said the car was suspiciously clean.

Prosecutors believe her body may have been buried somewhere around the Colorado River Reservation, near the Arizona border and about 200 miles from Chula Vista.

Larry Millete maintained that he was at the beach that day with his son.

Bowles also argued that Larry Millete was controlling, showing up at her work randomly and requiring her to take selfies of herself so he knew where she was.

Defense attorney Liann Sabatini countered that prosecutors built their case on assumptions rather than proof.

She portrayed Larry Millete as a psychologically fragile husband devastated by his wife’s affair and deteriorating mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her client may have been desperate and emotional — but never homicidal.

Sabatini told jurors that Maya emotionally abused her husband throughout the marriage and that his behavior, including paying online spellcasters, was a reflection of the emotional turmoil he was experiencing.

She reminded jurors that no body, murder weapon or direct forensic evidence linked her client to Maya Millete’s disappearance. Investigators never recovered DNA, blood or physical evidence of a murder.

Instead, Sabatini argued prosecutors stitched together suspicious behavior and invited jurors to do the work themselves.

The emotionally charged trial often drew crowds of family members, members of the press and the public into overflow courtrooms. The trial was originally scheduled in 2022 but was delayed multiple times.

Throughout the six-week trial, jurors heard testimony from family and friends of Maya Millete, investigators and forensic experts, among others.