Maya Millete's family warns there were 'a lot of red flags' after husband arrested for her alleged murder
The California mom's sister and brother-in-law joined 'Fox & Friends First,' explaining Maya was 'scared' of her husband Larry after she vanished in January.
Larry Millete displayed increasingly erratic behavior before allegedly murdering his wife in January 2021, Googling the date-rape drug "Rohypnol" and inquiring about finding someone to hurt a man he believed Maya Millete was having an affair with, according to an arrest warrant.
Law enforcement stormed the Milletes' Chula Vista home Tuesday shortly before noon and took Larry into custody on charges of murder and illegal possession of an assault weapon. He was originally named a person of interest in his wife's disappearance in July.
Maya disappeared from their home Jan. 7, the same day she made an appointment with a divorce attorney for the following week after at least a year of marriage troubles.
"There is no evidence to suggest that [Maya] left and disappeared of her own accord or that she had the financial means to do so," Jesse Vicente, a detective with the Chula Vista Police Department, wrote in the warrant, obtained by CBS8. "Rather, the investigation has revealed that Larry had an overwhelming motive to prevent his wife from divorcing him."
After searching Larry's phone, law enforcement concluded that he had "a frantic, desperate, unbalanced mindset coupled with violent and sometimes homicidal ideation."
Maya once confided in a friend that Larry choked her until she passed out.
During a New Year’s trip to Glamis, California, in January 2021, Larry asked about finding someone to hurt the man that he thought Maya was having an affair with.
"Larry asked a family member if he knew someone to ‘get’ the other guy. This was interpreted as finding someone to hurt the man with whom [Maya] was having an affair," the warrant states.
Fox News exclusively reported in April that Larry frequently discussed paying someone $20,000 to kill the man he believed Maya was having an affair with, according to a witness who heard the conversations firsthand.
Larry first allegedly started planning the murder-for-hire in the summer of 2020 but mentioned it as recently as Jan. 4 of this year, just a few days before Maya went missing, the witness said.
MISSING MAYA MILLETE: HUSBAND LARRY ARRESTED FOR MURDER 9 MONTHS AFTER CALIFORNIA MOM VANISHED
Larry Googled "plant you take to never wake up" in March 2020 and the poisonous plant "water hemlock" in November 2020, according to the warrant. In December 2020, he Googled "my wife doesn’t want me to touch her" and searched "Flunitrazepam, Rohypnol, and diphenhydramine," which are "central nervous system sedatives and depressants that could be used to incapacitate a person."
A SWAT team raided Larry Millete's Chula Vista home on Tuesday, setting off a flash bang before taking him into custody. (KSWB)
Family and friends described Larry's behavior as "controlling" and "stalker-like" as he "became obsessed with [Maya’s] activities and communications with other people" in late 2020 and early 2021.
Larry started showing up to Maya’s workplace unannounced to see if she was meeting with another man and sent her a link to an article on Nov. 24, 2020 entitled, "What men want from their wives."
Maya responded by saying Larry should "focus on also what women want from their husbands."
"As long as I go back to the ‘wife’ you liked, the one who didn’t rock the boat, who didn’t assert her feelings, who didn’t care about how much she was hurting so long as there’s peace and harmony[,] then things will be OK. Because really, I’m the problem, right?" Maya responded.
MISSING CALIFORNIA MOM MAYA MILLETE'S FAMILY SPARS WITH HUSBAND OVER VISITATION RIGHTS FOR CHILDREN
In September 2020, Larry created a shrine to his marriage that included a picture of him and his wife surrounded by candles with red wax or blood, according to Billy Little, an attorney who has been working with Maya's family.
Around this time, Larry also started purchasing "spells" on a daily basis to try to make Maya obey him or incapacitate her.
Larry allegedly created this shrine to his marriage in September 2020. (Billy Litte)
"Please Punish [Maya] and incapacitate her enough so she can’t leave the house. It’s time to take the gloves off," he wrote to a spell caster on Dec. 27, 2020.
"Can you hex to have her hurt enough that she will have to depend on me and need my help. She’s only nice to me when she needs me or sick. Thanks again. Maybe an accident or broken bone," he wrote to a spell caster Dec. 31.
Larry Millete is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday. He is being held without bond.
Authorities are still trying to locate Maya's remains, focusing now on the black Lexus SUV that Larry took out for more than 11 hours with the couple's youngest son the day after Maya went missing.
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Larry told authorities that he went to Solana Beach for the day, but he left his phone at home. Authorities are now asking anyone who may have seen that black Lexus on Jan. 8 to contact them.
"We do not have a vicinity where the body may be," San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said at a press conference Tuesday. "It may be out two and a half hours, or even further, or closer, and that’s why we need the public’s help."
Anyone with information about the case should call San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477, or CVPD at 619-691-5151
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