A Chula Vista husband who turned to spellcasters in a desperate bid to prevent his wife from leaving him was convicted of first-degree murder Monday, even though her body has never been found. Larry Millettee, 44, was found guilty by a San Diego jury after only five hours of deliberation in a case that captivated the nation for five years. His wife, 39-year-old Maya Millettee, vanished from their home on Jan.
7, 2021, and has not been seen since. The conviction marks a rare victory for prosecutors in a murder trial without a corpse, but for Maya’s family, justice remains incomplete until they can lay her to rest.
The case hinged on a mountain of circumstantial evidence, including a chilling trail of digital messages in which Larry sought supernatural help to keep his wife under his control. Prosecutors revealed that in the weeks before Maya’s disappearance, Larry communicated with multiple online spellcasters, spending more than $1,000 on rituals intended to “make her realize we are meant to be with each other” and “make her miserable without me.” One message, sent just minutes before Maya returned home on Jan.
7, asked the spellcaster to “make her want to sleep on the same bed for all eternity.” The last spell request was sent at 2:36 a. m.
on Jan. 8—hours after Maya vanished.
Security cameras captured Maya arriving at her home at 4:42 p. m. on Jan.
7. She never walked out. Larry told family members that Maya was “locked in her room,” but his story shifted over time.
At one point, he claimed she had gone to the beach with their children—an alibi that unraveled when investigators found his SUV driven 445 miles that day, far beyond the 20-mile round trip to the coast. His phone was switched off for 12 hours, and he failed to report to work for three days. When family and police pressed for answers, Larry became evasive, eventually refusing to cooperate with search efforts.
The trial, which began in May 2026 after years of delays, heard testimony from Maya’s coworkers, family members, and her lover, Jamie Leair. Maya had told friends she was planning to leave Larry, and on the day she disappeared, she had called a divorce attorney to schedule an appointment. Text messages she sent three days prior read: “I’m filing for divorce whether you like it or not.”
Prosecutors argued that Larry, consumed by jealousy and control, could not accept losing her. “He tried spells. When those failed, he made her disappear,” said Deputy District Attorney Sarah Chen during closing arguments.
Defense attorneys argued that the spells and hexes proved Larry was desperate to save his marriage, not a killer. They suggested Maya might have staged her own disappearance or been harmed by someone else, including her lover. But Leair produced an airtight alibi: he was at the hospital with his wife, who was delivering their first child, on the night Maya went missing.
Security footage from the hospital and phone records confirmed his location. The jury rejected the defense’s theories and returned a swift guilty verdict.
The conviction came despite the absence of a murder weapon, a clear cause of death, or a body. Investigators believe Maya was killed inside the home while her three children—ages 4, 9, and 11 at the time—were present. Neighbors reported hearing a loud pop and seeing the children playing in the backyard late on a cold January night.
Prosecutors presented evidence of hemlock poison searches on Larry’s computer, as well as a vial of the toxic plant found at the home, but they could not prove how Maya died. What they could prove was Larry’s pattern of control and his lies.
Throughout the investigation, Larry maintained his innocence, even giving two jailhouse interviews to a local TV station. During one, he insisted, “I think Maya is alive. She’s coming back.”
He refused to show his full face on camera, fearing prosecutors would read his expressions. When pressed on the mileage discrepancy, he answered, “I’ll answer that at trial.” He never testified.
His competency to stand trial was questioned early on, but a judge ruled him fit. The trial was not televised at the judge’s discretion, though a preliminary hearing earlier provided many of the key details.
The jury foreperson, who spoke to reporters after the verdict, said the panel was struck by Larry’s failure to participate in any search for his wife. “He didn’t go to a single search party. He didn’t post flyers.
He didn’t beg for her return,” she said. “That spoke volumes.” Another juror added, “I believe her body is out in the desert.
That’s where he drove that day.” The location remains unknown. Maya’s family has pleaded publicly for Larry to disclose where he disposed of her remains, but he has refused.
Sentencing is scheduled for later this year; he faces 25 years to life in prison.
Maya’s sister, Mary Chris Doule, spoke outside the courthouse with tears streaming. “This verdict says he is guilty, but it doesn’t bring Maya back. It doesn’t tell us where she is.
We cannot truly grieve until we find her. We beg anyone who knows anything to come forward.” The family has maintained a tireless public campaign since Maya’s disappearance, holding press conferences and coordinating searches.
They have also been embroiled in a custody battle for Maya’s children, who now live with their maternal relatives after Larry’s parents initially took them in.
The case has drawn national attention not only for the spellcaster angle but also for its implications in “no-body” murder trials. Legal analysts note that such convictions are rare but possible when circumstantial evidence is overwhelming. “Juries are willing to convict without a body if the conduct of the suspect is damning enough,” said Nema Romani, a former federal prosecutor and legal analyst who followed the case closely.
“Larry’s messages, his lies, his lack of concern for finding his wife—all of that painted a picture of guilt.”
The investigation involved 66 search warrants, 87 witness interviews, and 128 credible tips. Police seized firearms from the home and found that Larry had access to multiple weapons, though no ballistic evidence linked them to Maya’s death. The children, now older, have not spoken publicly about what they witnessed that night.
Their grandmother on Maya’s side said the kids have struggled with the loss and the knowledge of their father’s conviction. “They miss their mom. They love their dad, but they know he did something terrible.
That’s a weight no child should carry.”
Larry’s defense team has indicated they will appeal, citing the judge’s decision to exclude a third-party culpability defense that would have pointed to Maya’s lover. The prosecution countered that the lover had a solid alibi and no motive. The appellate process could take years, but for now, Larry remains in custody at the George Bailey Detention Facility in San Diego.
The search for Maya’s body continues, with cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar deployed in the Anza-Borrego Desert area around Glamis, near the Imperial Valley, where Larry’s phone pinged on Jan. 8.
The family has launched a website and a tip hotline, hoping that the conviction will prompt someone who knows the location of Maya’s remains to come forward. “We believe she is out there, waiting to be found,” said her brother-in-law. “We will not stop until we bring her home.”
The Chula Vista Police Department has declined to disclose further search details, but said the case remains open.
The spellcaster evidence became a focal point of the trial, with expert witnesses testifying about the online industry of love spells and hexes. One spellcaster, who communicated with Larry via email, testified that he requested increasingly extreme interventions: first to make Maya stay, then to incapacitate her so she “can’t leave the house,” and finally to “make her forget the other man.” The spellcaster said she refused to perform the incapacitation spell because it was unethical.
“I told him I couldn’t help him. He seemed angry,” she testified.
Jurors appeared particularly troubled by Larry’s state of mind. One said, “He was trying to control her with magic. When that didn’t work, he used violence.
It’s that simple.” Another noted that Larry’s own words betrayed him: “He said he wanted her to need him. That’s not love.
That’s possession.”
As the community of Chula Vista grapples with the outcome, support groups for victims of domestic violence have highlighted the case as a cautionary tale. “Maya had taken steps to leave. She reached out for help.
But she was killed before she could get out,” said a representative from the San Diego Domestic Violence Council. “We urge anyone in an abusive relationship to seek help immediately. Leaving is the most dangerous time.”
The sentencing will take place before Judge Michael Rodriguez, who presided over the trial. The prosecution has indicated they will seek the maximum sentence, while the defense will likely argue for a lower term based on Larry’s lack of prior criminal record and his perceived mental instability. The judge will also consider victim impact statements from Maya’s family.
For now, Maya’s mother, who has been the family’s public face, says she will not rest. “I want Larry to look me in the eye and tell me where my daughter is. I want to bury her properly.
That is all I ask.” She held up a photo of Maya, smiling in a garden with her children. “She was a light.
And we will find her.”
The case has also sparked broader conversations about the use of non-traditional evidence in court. While the spellcaster messages were deemed admissible under California law as evidence of motive and intent, defense attorneys argued they were irrelevant and prejudicial. The appellate challenge is expected to focus on this issue.
In the meantime, the search for Maya Millettee continues. Volunteers, law enforcement, and private search teams have combed the desert, but no trace has been found. The family has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of her remains.
They hope the conviction will encourage someone to speak.
The impact of the case has reverberated beyond California. True crime communities online have followed every twist, and many have donated to the family’s search fund. The podcast that brought the story to a wider audience has pledged to continue covering the search.
“This case isn’t over until Maya is home,” said host Anna Garcia.
As the legal machinery moves toward sentencing, the family holds onto faith. “Maya always believed in justice,” her sister said. “We have to believe too, even when it’s hard.
We won’t stop until she’s found.”
For now, Larry Millettee sits in a cell, convicted of murder, while his wife’s final resting place remains a mystery. The spellcasters he hired could not make her stay. The legal system has now made him vanish behind bars.
But the question that haunts her loved ones remains: Where is Maya?