A chilling mix of alleged “hex” emails, a deadly plant poison, and a wife who vanished without a trace has gripped a San Diego courtroom as Larry Millete stands trial for the murder of his missing spouse, May “Maya” Millete.
After opening statements wrapped Monday in Chula Vista Superior Court, prosecutors began calling their first witnesses Tuesday as the closely watched murder trial entered its first full day of testimony.
Prosecutors opened the case with a blunt claim: Millete killed his wife because he would not accept the end of their 20-year marriage.
“Divorce was not an option” for Larry Millete, San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles told jurors, painting a picture of a man determined to stop his wife from leaving at any cost.
Maya disappeared in January 2021, just days before a planned family trip to Big Bear Lake for their daughter’s 11th birthday.
She was never seen again.
Her car remained parked outside the family’s five-bedroom home.
Her phone went silent.
Calls went straight to voicemail.
Within days, her sister, Maricris Drouaillet, reported her missing.
Now prosecutors say the case is not about a disappearance, but a murder.
One of the most explosive allegations involves a vial found inside the Millete home.
Investigators say it contained a liquid that testing later identified as hemlock, a highly toxic plant.
Hemlock is not subtle.
It attacks the nervous system and can trigger nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, paralysis, and respiratory failure as the lungs shut down.
Prosecutors also told jurors that Millete allegedly searched for information about hemlock online and looked up poisons that could kill quickly, suggesting a growing fixation on lethal methods.
But it is the alleged “spell” communications that have added an unusual and disturbing layer to the case.
According to investigators and statements discussed in court, Millete allegedly exchanged hundreds of emails with online “spellcasters” before his wife disappeared, seeking ways to influence or harm her through supernatural means.
In one message, he allegedly asked, “Can you hex to have her hurt enough that she will have to depend on me or need my help?”
He allegedly followed with more disturbing language, writing, “She’s only nice to me when she needs me or [is] sick. Thanks again. Maybe [an] accident or broken bone.”
Prosecutors say the messages show a man escalating from emotional manipulation into darker fantasies of control and harm as his marriage collapsed.
As testimony began Tuesday, jurors also heard emotional testimony from Maya’s father, Pablito Tabalanza.
While being questioned by prosecutors, Tabalanza broke down crying on the witness stand and shouted directly at Millete: “I loved my daughter very much. Why did you do this? Why did you do this?”
Maya’s sister previously told investigators that Maya had met with two divorce attorneys shortly before her disappearance and warned the split would be “messy.”
She also said Maya confided a haunting fear, telling her, “if anything happened to her, it’s going to be Larry.”
Larry Millete was arrested on Oct. 19, 2021, and charged with first-degree murder.
He has pleaded not guilty and maintains that Maya left on her own.
Defense attorney Colby Ryan rejected the prosecution’s theory, arguing investigators locked onto Millete too early and ignored other potential suspects, including a co-worker Maya allegedly had an affair with and the man’s pregnant wife, a county sheriff’s deputy.
Ryan also challenged the poison evidence, telling jurors that most tests showed no sign of hemlock and suggesting the lone positive result could be a false reading caused by a similar plant.
He called the prosecution’s case “tragic, emotional (and) provocative,” but said it only works if jurors believe Millete pulled off what he described as “the perfect murder.”
The trial is expected to last about three months and is already drawing intense attention, even as Superior Court Judge Enrique Camarena barred cameras and live streaming from the courtroom, forcing observers to follow the case through a closed video feed.
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