On Wednesday before a judge ruled there was enough evidence for Larry Millete to face a murder trial for the presumed killing of his wife Maya, bringing a 10-day preliminary hearing to a close, a short yet provocative question during cross-examination was met by gasps in the courtroom.
Wednesday's proceedings kicked off with the defense's cross-examination of Investigator James Rhoades with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. The prosecution finished its direct questioning of Rhoades at the end of the day on Tuesday.
The defense's first topic: Larry and Maya's finances.
Martinez questioned Rhoades about the family’s financial history, including several Navy Federal Credit Union Accounts. Rhoades previously testified that both Larry and Maya had their own private checking and savings accounts, in addition to jointly-held checking and savings accounts. Martinez asked if money appeared to move from the joint accounts to Maya’s personal accounts, but Rhoades said the opposite was true. He said there were several large transfers into Larry’s personal accounts and also withdrawals from those accounts.
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Rhoades testified that there wasn’t any evidence of large withdrawals from the accounts Maya had access to in the year or more leading up to her disappearance. He also told the court Maya’s credit cards also had thousands of dollars of credit available and hadn’t been actively used since she vanished. Rhoades said Larry had two cryptocurrency accounts, which Larry deposited more than $90,000 into. He said it was unclear if Maya had access to those accounts.
Martinez also asked Rhoades about an event that happened at the Millete home on May 19, 2021. In previous testimony, Rhoades said a neighbor reported feeling her windows shake in the evening. She said she saw a figure in the Millete’s backyard burning something in a large fire. She said it looked like Larry and said the fire was too big to be considered recreational. Surveillance video played in court showed the flicking of the fire. Rhoades said they recovered items from that backyard fireplace later that year in October. They found a burned credit card and some papers, but say they could not identify who it belonged to because it was so damaged.
More Coverage of the Hearing
Martinez tried to poke holes in the video, asking the witness if he thought the video showed only flicking lights and not a fire. Rhoades said he could only speak to the statements made by the witness.
Rhoades was also questioned about the spellcasting services he said Larry purchased from September 2020 through January 2021. He said Larry sent over 1,700 messages to spellcasters across a variety of websites, paying $1,154.05 on more than 70 spell purchases. Rhoades said Larry’s spells were centered on making Maya stay in the marriage, being subservient to him, causing her bodily harm so he could take care of her, causing harm to the man she was having an affair with and more.
Martinez asked Rhoades about the technical aspects of how those purchases and communications were made, but then shocked the court with her next question.
Martinez asked, “Did they [spells] come true?”
Gasps were heard in the court. Before the witness could answer, Judge Dwayne Moring interjected, “That’s a legal and factual impossibility as to whether spells work.”
Martinez rephrased the question to ask if Larry ever specifically asked for a spell to make Maya disappear.
“Well, if you’re referring to the exact word disappear, no, that wasn’t used,” Rhoades said. “There were certain instances where he [made] certain requests for services for death magic where it wasn’t explicitly described who he was referring to, requesting those services for. And I think we just showed in the exhibits just a snippet of the kind of harm that was being requested in those spells.”
Martinez also began a line of questioning about sex videos that were found of Larry and Maya. Judge Moring shut down that line of questioning, saying it was not relevant to the case, saying he did not like to hear it when it was brought up during a previous day, and didn’t want to hear about it now.
Once Martinez ended her cross-examination, Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles delivered more than 13 minutes of final arguments to Judge Moring that there was enough probable cause to move forward with a murder trial.
Bowles cited several historical cases where defendants were tried and found guilty of murder when no body was ever found.
“Production of the body is not a condition precedent to the prosecution for murder,” Bowles said. “That the fact that the victim's body was never recovered is in itself, circumstantial evidence, that supports an inference that death was caused by criminal means.”
Bowles also said it was highly unlikely that May would just walk away from the life she’d created without a word to anyone.
“The unlikelihood of such a voluntary, disappearance is circumstantial evidence entitled to weight equal to that of blood stains and concealment of evidence,” Bowles argued. “She has had no contact with her children, with her family, with her employer, with her friends, all of whom she communicated with on a daily basis. There's an absence of evidence that she was suicidal, was hurt in an accident, or died a natural death. There's no evidence that she is in jail, was located in the [Medical Examiner’s] office, hospitals, or any local hotels.”
She also reiterated the evidence presented that she said showed Larry’s declining state of mind and desperation to prevent her from leaving the marriage.
“A desperate mindset to track his wife, put the children's phones in her car, to make sure he could track her at all times,” Bowles said. “He did not want to share custody of the kids and what a divorce would mean would by sharing custody of the kids.”
She also talked about the messages he sent to spellcasters which revealed his plans for her.
“He had taken all steps to humiliate her, ruin her, and shame her, and that had failed." Bowles said. “He had no other option and that afternoon we have messages where he is saying, ‘I'm about to lose it. I'm shaking inside ready to snap.’ And then January 8th. He is nowhere to be found.”
Bowles finished her arguments by summing up the prosecution’s argument she was murdered.
“May Millete did not just fall off the face of the earth,” Bowles said. “She lived for and adored her children. She would not and did not voluntarily leave her children, she loved them. Laura, Melani, and Lazarus with all her heart. There is no evidence of anyone else having any animosity toward her. She loved her family, her children, her friends, her career, and her life. And she had every intention of living and continuing to live after January 7 of 2021. The only person who had a motive, who spoke of the desire to hurt her, is the defendant and I would submit your honor that there is more than enough evidence at this point to hold him to answer at trial for these charges.
After a brief recess, it was the defense’s turn to deliver a final argument that he should not face a trial. Martinez spoke for nearly 25 minutes. At several points both the judge and Bowles objected to her statements, saying they were factually incorrect. The bulk of her argument centered on the theory that Maya left on her own accord and that much of the evidence is circumstantial.
“Even with all the elaborate apparatus modern publicity. Media, Facebook, internet, what have you, and multiple agency efforts in locating a body, has not been successful,” Martinez said. “This could mean that they should be looking for Maya among the living, and not among the dead.”
Martinez said the real change in behavior was on Maya’s part, and said all of Larry’s reactions were natural in the face of his wife’s infidelity.
“Larry and May had a strong relationship until she started having marriage problems, until she had a relationship with another man,” Martinez said. “After 20 years of marriage, there is a change in her personality. That in fact was a problem. When Mr. Millete saw these changes he became hyperactive and wanted to know what’s going on. He was suspecting that Mrs. Millete was having some abnormal type of actions and he’s tormented by that. But he couldn’t pinpoint what was going on with her.”
Martinez told the court that her cover-up of the affair was an important thing to consider about who she had become.
“[Larry] asked her, she denied it,” Martinez said. “Even during the investigation, Mrs. Millete and Jamey lied to the authorities. Lied to Mr. Sopp, her supervisor. Lied to the NCIS. And repeatedly lied to Mr. Millete … One day, he discovered them together. He did not snap. He did not curse that man who was with his wife. He just simply asked, ‘What are you doing here with my wife?’”
Martinez explained that Larry’s alleged trip to the beach with his son on Jan. 8 was a favor to Maya, who was having trouble working with the child in the house. She theorized that Maya used this opportunity to leave in the early morning hours, getting into one of two vehicles that were briefly parked near the home overnight. She said Larry first found out Maya wasn’t home when her father arrived there looking for Maya.
“He didn’t find out Mrs. Millete wasn’t in the house until he opened the door and she wasn’t there,” Martinez said. “He can tell you, he loves his wife very much and he did not kill her.”
In his decision that followed, Judge Moring agreed with the prosecution that it was unlikely that Maya left home willingly and without contacting her family. He said there was probable cause to bind Larry over for trial.
“The court would have to be convinced that Mrs. Millete abandoned her life, which included three young children whom she adored, an ailing mother, siblings with whom she was incredibly close, ownership of a million-dollar home, a six-figure income from a thriving professional career, personal savings and wealth, in the form of stocks, expensive purses, and jewelry, extremely close relationships with friends, and her newly-purchased beloved Jeep Rubicon,” Moring said.
He also cited multiple cases where a defendant was charged with murder when the victim’s body was never found.
“The court finds that corpus delicti requirement has been met for sufficiency of the evidence,” Moring said. “Based on the evidence presented in this preliminary hearing, it appears to the court that there is probable cause to believe that the offenses charged in counts one and two have been committed and is guilty thereof.”
The defense elected for an immediate arraignment on those charges. Larry Millete pleaded not guilty and waived his right for a speedy trial to be conducted within 60 days. The trial was set for Sept. 14.
After court adjourned, Maya’s sister Maricris Drouaillet and her husband Richard Drouaillet tearfully shared their feelings about the emotional 10 days of testimony. During that time, they say much of what they heard was new and shocking.
“I couldn’t believe my brother-in-law for almost 20 years went to that extent, and that my sister suffered so much,” Maricris Drouaillet said. “I wish I had known.”
Both she and her husband believe there’s enough evidence to convict Larry but hope a trial doesn’t happen.
“Larry needs to confess,” Richard Drouaillet said. “It’s time. For the kids’ sake. For their mindset, for their happiness. Let the kids know what happened to their mom.”
Maya’s sister said the nightmare won’t end until Maya is found.
“This is still not the end,” Maricris Drouaillet said through tears. “We still, I still need to bring my sister home. So I'm still here, in front of the camera, asking the public’s help. Please still help us.”
