CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — NOTE: This page will be updated throughout the day.
5:00 p.m. — The prosecution concluded its closing argument Tuesday by arguing that the evidence shows Larry Millete spent months trying to control his wife, Maya Millete, before ultimately killing her when she made it clear she was leaving and planned to file for divorce.
Prosecutor Christy Bowles pointed to Maya’s journal entries, messages to friends, divorce planning, and financial searches as evidence she was preparing for a new life, while arguing Larry escalated his efforts to stop her and keep her in the marriage.
Bowles highlighted Larry's online searches about poisons, communications with spellcasters, attempts to monitor and control May, and messages prosecutors say demonstrated planning and intent to kill.
The deputy district attorney argued that Maya would have never missed her children's birthdays for the last five and a half years, saying Maya spent the last year of her life worrying about the children and how to keep them safe.
She told the jurors that Maya is dead and it is Larry who killed her, saying the evidence is "overwhelming."
The prosecution also argued Larry's actions after May disappeared, including alleged phone and data deletions, inconsistencies in his statements, surveillance footage, and a period when his phone was powered off, point to his guilt and an effort to conceal the crime.
Bowles acknowledged May's body has never been found, but she told jurors the law does not require one to prove murder, urging them to find Larry Millete guilty of first-degree murder.
The defense is scheduled to begin its closing argument Wednesday morning, and then the case will be turned over to the jurors.
11:30 a.m. — Bowles continues laying out her case that Larry murdered Maya.
She reminds the jury that on Jan. 7, 2021, Maya was contacting divorce lawyers. She tells her “work besties” text group that she is getting a divorce and that Larry is “relentless” and threatening to take away the kids.
“May had plans for the future,” Bowles said, emphasizing that all signs of life ended for her on Jan. 7, 2021.
Despite the defense’s argument that Maya left willingly, Bowles said she had no money to live or be on her own. “The only reasonable conclusion is that May Millete is dead and that the defendant killed her,” she said.
On Jan. 8, 2021, she said Larry was gone for 12 hours in the family’s Lexus.
“They can’t find him. No one can find him,” Bowles said.
She said that he changed his story, first telling Maya's brother he just came home from work and then saying he was out with his son all day.
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10:45 a.m. — The prosecutor made her closing argument clear—Larry Millete killed his wife.
“May Millete could not, would not and did not leave her children on January 7th, 2021,” said Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles, as she began her final statements.
The prosecution said Larry murdered his wife and disposed of her body after she sought a divorce. Her body has never been found.
After nearly seven weeks of testimony, the case is almost in the hands of the jury. Bowles is asking the jury to find him guilty of first-degree murder, telling the jury it is unreasonable to believe that May—also known as Maya—is still alive.
“All evidence points to the fact that she was murdered,” Bowles said.
During jury instructions, Judge Enrique Camarena told the jury that they can consider not only first-degree murder, but also second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter.
