Maya Millete's Husband Pleads Not Guilty To Her Murder

Larry Millete has pleaded not guilty to killing his wife, Maya Millete.

Larry entered the not guilty plea to murder and illegal possession of an assault weapon at an in-person arraignment Thursday in San Diego Superior Court, according to local station KSWB-TV.

Larry, who wore a blue jumpsuit and mask, remained silent for most of the arraignment and waived the reading of the criminal complaint lodged against him in court.

The California father was arrested Tuesday and accused of killing his wife in January after investigators said he devolved into a “desperate, frantic, unbalanced mindset” after discovering his wife was having an affair and planned to leave him, according to court documents obtained by the local station.

Investigators have said in the weeks before Maya disappeared, he was sending increasingly “frantic” emails to “spellcasters.” The messages began with requests for spells or hexes to make his wife have a change of heart about the relationship and later devolved into more threatening requests, according to authorities.

“He was asking for May to become incapacitated, for May to be in an accident, for her to have broken bones so she could stay home, thus displaying his homicidal ideations to harm May,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said at a press conference announcing the charges earlier this week, according to local station KSWB-TV.

In one message sent about a week before the mother of three disappeared, Larry allegedly asked a spellcaster to make sure his wife got hurt during a family dirt biking vacation.

“Can you hex to have her hurt enough that she will have to depend on me and need my help,” he allegedly wrote on Dec. 31, 2020, according to the criminal complaint also obtained by local station KGTV. “She’s only nice to when she needs me or sick. Thanks again. Maybe an accident or broken bone.”

Maya, then 39 years old, was last seen on the evening of Jan. 7 at her home in Chula Vista, People reports.

Although her body has never been found, investigators believe she is no longer alive.

"Sometimes missing persons cases remain unsolved, but as the evidence unfolded in this case, meticulously and carefully, block-by-block, it pointed in one direction: May was murdered," Stephan said. "The only thing we can do in the face of this senseless violence is to bring justice."

Larry has publicly denied harming his wife and told KSWB-TV in July that he believed he was being treated unfairly by media and Maya’s family.

“I pose no threat,” he said at the time. “I am a law-abiding American citizen.”

After Larry was arrested for the murder earlier this week, Maya’s sister Maricris Drouaillet spoke out at a press conference about how difficult it has been for her family to accept that Maya’s suspected killer had once been a loving member of their family, according to KSWB-TV.

“It’s hard to go against family,” she said. “He’s been with us for 20 years. My sister did love him. She gave him three kids.”

The family is now hoping to find Maya’s body and Drouaillet said she promised Maya’s 11-year-old daughter that they would “bring her mom home.”

“This is still not the end,” she said. “We still have a long way to go. I just want to see my sister. I still want her to come home to us. Please, if you know anything at all, please help us.”