The eighth day of the preliminary hearing for Larry Millete kicked off Monday morning with the testimony of Chula Vista Police Detective Jesse Vicente, who said he uncovered a "secret" Instagram account Maya Millete used to communicate with an extra-marital lover.
The hearing was held to determine whether Larry would face trial for Maya's alleged murder. On January 25, a judge ruled there is enough evidence for Larry Millete to be tried on one count of murder.
Maya has been missing since January 2021. Prosecutors say Larry murdered her after she moved forward with plans for a divorce.
Vicente was on the stand Friday, but time ran out to continue the defense’s cross-examination. Defense Attorney Bonita Martinez kept him on the stand for about two hours, asking him questions to try and find problems with how detectives investigated Maya's disappearance. That included whether they properly followed up on tips from people claiming they saw Maya alive. Vincente testified about the lengths investigators went to prove those theories, but said no evidence came to light to confirm that she was alive after Jan. 7, 2021.
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The defense asked Vincente about two online attempts to collect ransom money for Maya, but both of those didn’t hold water. One was a fake social media account that was used to try to collect money from the families of missing people.
It was also revealed in court that police collected a neighbor’s surveillance camera video, which contained audio of what sounded like gunshots coming from the Millete home on the evening of Jan. 7.
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“There was audio provided by a neighbor of loud bangs which we collected and forwarded and analyzed by the FBI,” Vicente said. Those sounds were analyzed, but those were not definitely identified as gunshots.”
This cross-examination also featured more than two dozen sustained objections from both Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles and Judge Dwayne Moring. At one point, it got tense in the courtroom when Judge Moring had to repeatedly ask Martinez to respond to a particular objection. Later on, the judge also admonished Martinez for not being familiar with the investigative files enough to direct witnesses to where information was located, telling her, “You’ve had a year to prepare for this hearing.”
Judge Moring also asked her to limit her questions to those that were relevant and only applied to what a particular witness personally knew.
“I’m not going to spend another hour listening to you question this witness about every question under the sun,” Moring said.
Vicente’s testimony also centered on Larry’s alibi on Jan. 8, 2021. Investigators say he told them he went to Solana Beach with his young son. However, they say he admitted that’s what he refers to Torrey Pines Beach as. Vincente said they found no evidence or witnesses that could confirm he was at either beach. Vicente said Larry also made differing statements about what kind of food he packed for his son.
Perhaps the biggest revelation of the day, or even the entire preliminary hearing came after the lunch recess when Mathew Grindley, an investigator for the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, took the stand. He described his work requesting multiple search warrants to get access to digital information for both Larry and Maya. That included text messages, emails and social media accounts.
Grindley testified that Maya had a second secret Instagram account that she used almost exclusively to talk to a man she was having an affair with. That man was identified as Jamey. Grindley testified the pair exchanged sexual, romantic, and caring messages between September 2020 and January 2021. It was revealed that Larry became aware of the affair and made contact with Jamey’s wife. Grindley said messages show Jamey and Maya had a confrontation over how it played out but eventually reconciled. He said messages show the pair’s relationship changed to be more platonic, with each expressing desire to move on with their lives separately. For Maya, that was divorce. Grindley says Jamey was preparing to have a baby but didn’t make it clear if his wife was carrying the child.
He said none of the messages indicated that Jamey and Maya wanted to run away together. Many of the messages Grindley shared show that Jamey repeatedly asked Maya to be careful, worrying about her safety. Grindley didn’t testify about Jamey’s whereabouts around the time Maya disappeared, which could come up Tuesday during cross-examination.
Grindley talked about other types of digital information his investigation uncovered, including email and search history for Larry. Some of the terms he searched included, “What are the symptoms of a nervous breakdown,” “subliminal wife training," “my wife doesn’t want me to touch her,” “Common over the counter meds to incapacitate adults,” and “rohypnol.” Grindley said Rohypnol is commonly referred to as a roofie, or date-rape drug.
Grindley also said Larry’s cell phone didn’t receive any calls, texts, or have any data interactions during the period of time he said he was at the beach with his son. In addition, Maya’s phone stopped getting calls, texts, and getting data the evening of Jan. 7. Her phone has never been found.
Bowles wasn’t able to complete direct questioning of Grindley before court ended for the day at 4:30 p.m. Grindley will be back on the stand Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Bowles said she has two more witnesses to call, both of whom are in law enforcement. After that, Judge Moring will decide if there’s enough probable cause to move forward with a murder trial.
The Maya Millete Case: This is an entry in NBC 7's live blog coverage of the Larry Millete Hearing. To read past entries, CLICK HERE
