CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — NOTE: This page will be updated throughout the day.
11 A.M. - Court is in recess until after lunch at 1:30 p.m.
Before the break, Maya’s sister Maricris continued her testimony.
Maricris said she learned Maya and Larry were having problems in their marriage because Larry started reaching out to her, asking for help in the relationship.
“He started calling us, calling me, telling me what’s going on with the marriage, asking for advice for marriage,” said Maricris.
Maricris testified that she never asked Maya about her marriage problems when Larry started reaching out because she said sometimes the siblings chose not to get involved.
Maricris said Maya didn’t bring up her marriage problems to her until a family trip to Glammis for New Year’s Eve in 2020.
Before the lunch break, Maricris shared about the frequent trips she, Maya, and other siblings took together.
In June of 2020, Maricris says the Tabalanza siblings all went to Parker, Arizona, but she testified that Larry did not join the trip.
The families then took a trip to Havasu in July of 2020, and Maricris testified that Larry and Maya were fighting and on a couple of occasions would be gone for an hour or two.
Maricris said Maya looked very irritated with Larry and could tell there was tension between them.
9:51 a.m. - The prosecution called its fourth witness to the stand after Maya’s father, Maricris Drouaillet, Maya’s sister. Drouaillet has led the charge to find Maya since she went missing.
Drouaillet testified that she learned about her sister's marital issues from Larry in 2020. She was surprised to learn that Maya had temporarily moved out of their family home in May of 2020.
Drouaillet said that her sister wanted to keep their marital problems to herself. "She doesn't want to worry the family," she testified.
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After an emotional day of testimony Tuesday, court resumed in the Larry Millete murder trial with his father-in-law returning to the stand.
Larry is accused of killing his wife Maya in Jan. 2021. Her body has never been found.
Cross-examination by defense attorney Colby Ryan was short, lasting just a few minutes.
SPECIAL SECTION: Search for Maya Millete
During the defense's questioning on Wednesday morning, Pablito Talabanza testified about his daughter and Larry at a Christmas party in 2024, saying that the marriage was not looking good at the time.
Talabanza said that Larry showed him a gun about a month before Maya disappeared, and said he thought it was a joke.
It was Tuesday afternoon when Talabanza broke down in the courtroom during his testimony when recalling the gun incident. He said Larry told him that he wanted to kill someone, but he did not say who. During that line of questioning, Talabanza started sobbing and shouting at Larry, “I loved my daughter very much. Why did you do this?”
After that emotional outburst, the defense asked for a mistrial, but Judge Enrique Camarena denied it.
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