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Hello and welcome to Case by Case. I'm 48 hours correspondent Peter Vans and this [music] week we're continuing our
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coverage of the riveting Larry Millettee murder trial. He is accused of murdering
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his wife and mother to [music] their three children, Maya Millettee. Maya was last seen at their Chula Vista home in
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January of 2021. Her body has never been found. This week, big news out of the trial with claims that Larry made
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reference to hiring a hitman to kill not his wife, but the man Maya was having an
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affair with, Jaime Leard. This was after testimony about Larry emailing spellcasters about Maya and then Jaime.
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Now that's a first for me. Mailing people who could cast spells. In these initial few weeks of trial, we have
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heard from a wide range of witnesses from family to law enforcement. The prosecution has painted a portrait of an
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unraveling marriage, a controlling husband, a wife desperate to leave, and a trail of digital evidence that they
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say points to Larry's guilt. However, the defense claims this is a case of tunnel vision. They argue that police
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zeroed in on Larry from the start of their criminal investigation, making key oversightes. They also have questioned
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why there hasn't been more of a focus on Jaime Leairard. And with me to break down all of this testimony is CBS News
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legal reporter Katrina Kaufman. Katrina, welcome. >> Thanks for having me. >> Now, I just wanted to start off by
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saying that we did cover the first week of this trial. So, if you want to revisit that coverage, check out our
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casebycase podcast feed and 48 hours YouTube channel. This case has generated a lot of
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attention so far without even cameras being allowed in the courtroom. >> This is such a compelling story. It's
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about this young woman, a mother with a bright future who just disappeared and it has all of these intriguing elements.
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We have casting spells. There's an affair. There's this allegation of attempted murder for hire and the fact
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that no body was ever found here. So on a human level, it's such a tragic story and legally speaking, it's quite
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complicated. >> This is one of those cases, uh, Katrina, where we at 48 hours often say it's like
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a screenwriter put this together. >> It really is like a movie, this case. >> And Katrina, could you give us just a
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brief recap before we get into what has been unfolding over these past two weeks?
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>> Maya and Larry Millettee, they both worked for the US Navy. Maya or she was known as May by her friends. She was 39
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years old when she disappeared in January of 2021. In July, her husband Larry, that's when he became a person of
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interest in this case. And in October of that same year, he was arrested. But the
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reason it's taken so long to actually get to trial is that a lot happened. There were multiple attorneys. There was
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a mental competency evaluation for Larry. and and that's something that they do to make sure that a defendant is
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actually mentally fit to stand trial. The defense they also tried to remove the prosecutor from the case.
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>> And now 5 years later, we are in court. Prosecution is arguing Larry killed her
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because of an obsession that grew during this deteriorating relationship. >> Exactly. And from opening statements,
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what the defense is trying to argue is that actually there's no evidence that Maya is dead. And even if she is dead,
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maybe someone else is responsible for that. >> So now let's get into new updates from
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the courtroom. So last week we heard from Chula Vista PD detectives who investigated this case. First up was
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police officer Ryan Culver. Culver was among the officers who responded to the Millettee home in January 2021, right
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after Maya's sister, Mary Chris, called 911 to report her missing. What are the biggest takeaways from his testimony?
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>> Well, Culver was asked by the prosecution to recount his first search of the home, according to reports from
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local news outlets who were inside the courtroom that day. What he said he was looking for is any evidence that
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indicated Maya might have left on her own. So like a plane ticket, something that indicated that she departed on her
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own valition. >> How does the defense in their cross-examination challenged the prosecution's narrative?
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>> So what the defense attorneys highlighted is that Larry Millettee when they wanted to do the search, he was
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fully cooperative. He didn't argue with the officers. He let them search throughout the house. Um, and they
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really emphasized what the officers did not find during that search. They pointed out that the officers looked for
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a couple of hours. They went through every room, including the garage, and there were no signs of foul play. So,
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nothing was broken, the curtains weren't torn down, and there weren't any signs of a struggle. This all goes towards
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casting doubt on the idea that Larry could have committed this crime. And we have to remember the burden is always on
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the prosecution here. They're the ones who have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Larry killed Maya.
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>> Next, the prosecution called to the stand forensic specialist David Garber. He talked about what he found in Larry's
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car. Tell us about that, Katrina. >> So, this is a black Lexus, and it's the same car that Larry actually took for a
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long drive. This was on the day following Maya's disappearance. But what Garper talked about in court was they
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found spots of fluid in the car. Some were on a cargo mat. And when investigators tested those, they test
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with this formula. It's called Blue Star. And it can reveal if there have any blood stains that have been cleaned
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up. What they determined is that there was a spot on the mat that could potentially be blood. But importantly,
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the defense argued that there needed to be further testing in order to confirm what the fluids were.
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>> Garber also talked about streaking he found on the side walls of the car. He said it appeared a liquid had been used
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to wipe the cargo area of the SUV. Later in the trial, a former Chula Vista police officer called the car
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exceptionally clean, leading her to believe the vehicle was cleaned recently. Is that significant, Katrina?
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>> I mean, it does raise questions. Why was this car so clean? But Garber noted that
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it wasn't enough to constitute a crime scene, but what he did say that I found so striking was he talked about a search
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history that officers found on one of the devices that was in the Millettees house. and Peter. The searches included
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quote how to mentally torture someone and quote psychological torture. >> And digital evidence in this case has
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been significant from texts to search history. And Larry's emails to these spellcasters.
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>> Absolutely. And those emails to spellcasters were so notable. But what investigators talked about is that Larry
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was closely tracking Maya's whereabouts. He tracked when she went to Walmart. He
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tracked when she had lunch with friends. And he was especially always trying to keep track of where she was when he was
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not able to reach her. >> So, while Larry was writing these emails about his wife's comingings and goings
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and keeping this log, it appears that Maya was also writing something for Larry. A physical letter that according
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to local news reports was found in a notebook in the master bedroom. And Katrina, I have a copy of this emotional
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letter. I just wanted to read a portion of it and get your thoughts. It says, "I've been gone mentally and emotionally
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for a very long time." Which you failed to notice until I found the strength to initiate physically leaving. I read this
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and I thought maybe you'd consider it. The ego says once everything falls into place, I'll find peace. The spirit says,
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"Find peace and everything will fall into place. Let me find my peace. I cannot find it with you." Maya, what do
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you think, Katrina? >> It's so moving to hear these words that she left behind. And you know, legally
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speaking, it gives us a window into her state of mind in the months before she disappeared. We hear her in that letter
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talking about how she wasn't happy in her marriage, how she knew she had to leave. And also, if Larry actually saw
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this letter, it could point towards motive for him. We know that he went as far as commissioning people to cast
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spells to try to keep their relationship together. Now, we have heard from law enforcement
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and forensic experts, but we also heard from two more of Maya's family members. When 48 Hours talked to one of Mia's
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sisters a few years ago, she described her family as very close and loving, and this was a big family. Mia had five
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brothers and sisters. Earlier in the trial, Sister Mary Chris testified along with Ma's father. More recently, brother
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JP took the stand and another sister did as well named Jane. >> Hearing from Maya's family is so
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powerful for the jury. These are the people who loved Maya. They're the ones who also watched this marriage fall
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apart. So, it gives real insight into Maya, Larry, who they were, and what might have happened here.
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>> Let's start with Maya's older brother, JP. >> This testimony stood out to me more than
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anything. It goes back to Christmas of 2020 and a timeline that's 2 weeks before Maya disappeared. According to
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JP's testimony, Larry reached out to him. He was upset about Maya's affair. And what Larry asked him is if he knew
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anyone who could quote, "get the other guy." And at a preliminary hearing for this case, JP said that Larry was asking
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him if he knew someone who could kill the man that Mia was having an affair with. So, he wasn't going after Maya,
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but this man she was having an affair with. And he offered to pay JP $4,000 and then another 20,000 to the person
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that did this. JP says that he told Larry he didn't want to get involved. >> And this wasn't a one-time conversation
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either. Right. >> Exactly. And that is what makes this so significant for the prosecution.
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According to JP, Larry brought it up again on New Year's Day in 2021. Now, that's one week before Maya disappeared.
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>> What happened during cross-examination? >> JP told the defense that he never thought Larry would hurt his sister. He
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said that he trusted Larry, according to reports from inside that courtroom. >> In addition to JP, Ma's sister, Jane,
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also testified. Now, what did she say about the final weeks before Mia's disappearance?
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Jane said that Maya had confided in her siblings back in November of 2020. So, this is about two months before she was
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last seen. What Mia said is that she wanted to divorce Larry and to co-parent their children. Jane testified that the
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family though at first they encouraged her to try to work out the marriage. They said family is important. You
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should keep your marriage together. However, as the weeks went on, they started to change their minds. they
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began to see this situation differently. Jane also said that just 3 days before Maya was last seen, Maya actually
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reached out to both of her sisters and she was asking to borrow money to hire a divorce attorney. She also talked about
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pawning some of her purses. These were Louis Vuitton purses to raise money so that she could bring that divorce
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attorney on. >> She was taking concrete steps to end the marriage. And then there was Mia's last
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text message to her family. Tell us about that one. >> So, this is the last message that Maya's
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family ever received from her, and it came on January 7th, 2021 around 8:00 p.m. What she sent them was a picture of
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a trailer that was for sale. And her sister Jane explained that the reason they would have wanted that trailer is
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they had been planning this family road trip. They all wanted to travel across the country together. And on the stand,
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Jane got really emotional. This was according to CBS8 reporters in the courtroom. Jane was asked, "Would Mia
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ever leave her children?" Jane said, "Never." >> It's really haunting. >> It is. And we also learned more about
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what Maya was like from Jane. She described her as this proud mother. She always thought about her kids. She was
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someone who liked to dress in matching outfits with them. So, you know, these are all little details, but for the
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jury, they make her more of a human in a way that all of these police evidence and forensic tests, they they just
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can't. Um, and according to reporters in the courtroom, people were in tears when
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Jane was testifying. >> A very powerful moment. So, this is what's called a nobody case, which could
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make it more difficult to prosecute. The defense has leaned on that from the very
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beginning, arguing that there's no evidence a murder even occurred. >> That's exactly right. And that's what
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makes those cases so complicated. You don't have the body and all of the forensic evidence that goes with that.
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So, this family testimony, it's crucial. Each text message, this plan that we learned about to borrow money for a
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divorce attorney, the photo of a trailer for this dream road trip, it all points
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to someone who was looking forward in their life. So, the circumstantial evidence in a case where the body was
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never found, it's extremely relevant and so important for the prosecution's case.
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And the thing about nobody cases is sometimes even without a body, there can be a clear indication of a killing. I
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covered the case of a famous dog trainer named Mark Stove in the Pacific Northwest. He was missing, but there was
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evidence he must have been shot in his home. There was blood and bullet shell casings and a wounded dog. There was
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little doubt someone had been shot there. There doesn't seem to be that level of evidence here, though, and that
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could be a problem for the prosecution. [music] Katrina, let's get into what happened
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during the trial this week. What were some of the major moments? >> So, this week, we heard from more law
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enforcement, including Jesse Vicente. He was the lead detective on the case until
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about two years ago when he took a new job with the San Diego County DA's office. What he did is he walked the
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jury through several pieces of surveillance footage. These came from around the Millete's home and they're
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from the day Maya was last seen and the days following. What Vicente said was the most significant finding though was
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a video. So Peter, you can see Maya entering the house, but there's no evidence that she ever went out. This is
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so crucial to the prosecution's case. And while the defense has repeatedly told jurors that we don't know if Maya
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is dead, the prosecution they keep trying to lead them back to the evidence. And then the court also heard
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audio which came from one of the neighbors surveillance systems. And on it you can hear multiple loud bangs.
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This is from the evening of Maya's disappearance. >> This actually came up in the original 48
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hours episode that aired in 2022. Attorney and former criminal defense investigator for the US Navy, Billy
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Little took it upon himself to investigate the case after finding out about Ma's disappearance. Here is
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correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti from that 48 hours episode. >> The neighbors, do they say, "Oh yeah, we
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heard gunshots." >> Yeah. Not only did they tell me that they've got gunshots, but [music]
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they've got the audio. A home surveillance system from the neighbor captured these loud bangs around 1000
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[music] p.m. that night. Little also believes they are gunshots. >> It's coming from Larry and Maya's
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[music] house. >> So, this went through an FBI analysis. They were trying to figure out were
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those bangs actually gunshots, but it was inconclusive ultimately. And we also heard some testimony from that same
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neighbor that was interesting. It was about a video where you can hear the sound of what could be kids playing
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outside and it's late at night and it raises all of these questions. Why were they out there?
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And that was something that Billy Little talked about as well to 48 hours in the
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same episode, saying it was 10:30 p.m. the night Maya was last heard from. According to Little, it was a cooler
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night and pretty late for kids to be outside. The sights and sounds of this evidence must have intrigued those
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jurors. How does the defense attempt to minimize its impact? What the defense did to try to poke some holes in this is
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they pointed to a gap in the surveillance footage. And you have to remember this was collected from
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multiple neighbors. It's not just one continuous video stream. The defense pointed out that there were no cameras
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that caught the back of the house. They seem to suggest that it's possible someone could have entered the home from
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the rear or that maybe Maya went out the back herself. In addition, they tried to
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question some of the accuracy of the timestamps and they pointed to the fact that it was this detective's first
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homicide investigation. So, they questioned him about his training. Did he really know how to preserve a crime
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scene? All of this is a strategy to create doubt for the jury. >> Was there anything else from the Vicente
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testimony that stood out to you? >> There was. There was some new information we learned about which was
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intriguing. Vicente said that in some of the surveillance footage, he saw that a
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freezer was wheeled out on a dolly from the house to a car that belonged to Larry's aunt. This happened on January
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9th, 2021. >> And do we know at what time this occurred or what may have been in that
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freezer or why it was even being moved? Well, according to reporting from the trial, it happened on January 9th around
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4:45 p.m. We didn't hear any more details about what was in the freezer, what might have happened to it. But
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another thing that Vende noted is that you see Larry on this footage and he keeps moving Maya's car around. He moves
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her Jeep multiple times in the days after she disappeared. >> So, moving forward in this dramatic
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trial, what should we be expecting? So, some of the most anticipated testimony could come from Jaime Leair. This is the
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man that Maya was having an affair with, and we are also expecting to hear from Jaime Leairard's wife at that time. We
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don't know yet when that's going to be. The prosecution, they're keeping this witness list close, so they haven't
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shared a complete list of witnesses or when they'll take the stand. You also have to remember this trial, it's
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expected to last over two more months. So, we're going to hear from many more people. There is much more to come in
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this really wild and intriguing case. And of course, there's always that big question of whether the defendant,
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whether Larry will decide to take the stand himself. >> Well, we will continue to track this
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case as the trial unfolds. Katrina, thanks so [music] much for joining me. >> Thank you for having me.
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>> I'm Peter Vans. This is Case by Case from 48 hours. We will be back next week
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and make [music] sure to let us know which cases you are following in your podcast reviews and comments. [music]