CHULA VISTA (CNS) - A toxin that was allegedly detected inside a glass vial in the Millete household is a fast-acting poison comparable in the toxicology field to cyanide, ricin, and strychnine, the director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System testified today.
The testimony came in the trial of Larry Millete, who is charged with
killing his wife, May ``Maya'' Millete, who has not been seen or heard from
since Jan. 7, 2021.
Prosecutors have stopped short of explicitly stating how they believe May Millete died, but testimony throughout the trial has touched on the subject of coniine, a poisonous compound found in the plant poison hemlock.
On Tuesday, Jennifer Mitchell, a chemist forensic examiner with the FBI, testified that following testing of two vials at the District Attorney's Office's request, coniine was found in one of the vials. Investigators testified earlier in the trial that those vials were discovered following a search of the Millete home shortly after Larry Millete was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife.
D.A.'s Investigator James Rhoades testified last week that Larry
Millete's internet search history in 2020 included a perusal of websites on poison and water hemlock and their effects.
Dr. Lee Cantrell, a professor of clinical pharmacy at UC San Diego and UC San Francisco, and the director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System since 2001, was asked to consult the San Diego County District Attorney's Office regarding coniine, he testified Wednesday.
Cantrell testified that coniine is a "very potent'' toxin that cannot be purchased in the United States and is contained only in three plants, one of which is poison hemlock.
Cantrell said coniine is considered "super toxic," a categorization of toxins that also includes cyanide, ricin, and strychnine.
If ingested, the effects could be fatal, with a person experiencing
what's known as ``flaccid paralysis,'' in which the muscles stop working, he said. Cantrell testified that this paralysis also affects the respiratory muscles, which would lead to a person dying by asphyxiation.
The onset of symptoms could begin within about 20 minutes and death as soon as three hours, he testified.
Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles at one point asked Cantrell for the hypothetical effects on a person who is 5-foot-2 and weighs around 110
pounds. Though the prosecutor did not name Maya Millete in her direct examination of Cantrell, the measurements match those that appeared on missing posters circulated by Maya's family members.
The prosecutor also asked Cantrell if coniine could be used to make someone sick or incapacitate them, and Cantrell said, ``It could.'' Earlier testimony regarding ``spells'' Larry Millete allegedly bought in order to make his wife give up her plans for divorce included requests for ``spell casters'' to make May sick or incapacitated so she would be dependent on her husband.
On cross-examination, one of Millete's defense attorneys, Colby Ryan,
asked Cantrell if he had personally dealt with a case of coniine poisoning in his career, to which Cantrell said he hadn't.
Much of the information Cantrell obtained regarding coniine came from
scientific journals and because coniine's effects on humans cannot be ethically studied due to its dangerousness, most observations of its effects were from people who ended up in hospitals due to accidentally ingesting poison hemlock, he testified. In addition to eating the plant, Cantrell testified that pure coniine could be extracted from poison hemlock by boiling the plant in various liquids.
However, per questions from the defense attorney, Cantrell said he did not know how long that process would take or whether anyone had ever extracted coniine from the plant outside of a laboratory setting. Police have said there is no evidence of May leaving the family's
Chula Vista home after the afternoon of Jan. 7, nor any evidence to suggest she was alive after that date.
Bowles told jurors in her opening statement that Larry displayed obsessive and controlling behavior toward his wife prior to her disappearance, but afterwards ``seemed unconcerned'' about where his wife was, didn't take part in the numerous searches for May in the months that followed and ceased his months of requests for magic spells to be cast on her.
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