Emotional courtroom after Larry Millete found guilty of first degree murder

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Emiliette found guilty of first-degree murder five and a half years after his wife's disappearance. Good Thursday evening. Thanks for joining us. I'm Andrew Luria. And I'm Maria Arcega-Dunn. That trial has been taking place for the last eight weeks. Our Zara Barker has been following the trial from the very beginning, and she joins us live with more on today's verdict. Zara. [00:00:20] Zara Barker: Andrew, Maria, just an extremely emotional courtroom as soon as that verdict was read. Maya's family waiting more than five years to find some sort of justice, as they said in this case. But they say that justice is not quite served because they still do not know where Maya's body is. It has been seven weeks of testimony, eight weeks in total of this trial that this jury has sat through, listening to circumstantial evidence from more than 60 witnesses in this case. All of that leading up to this moment today, when around 2.30, the jury had decided on a verdict. We all got notified that a verdict was read. And then just about an hour later, after family came in, friends came in, the courtroom was full. We had an overflow room as well. And around 3.30 is the moment that that verdict was read. All 12 jurors agreeing and finding Larry Miliete guilty of first-degree murder in his wife's disappearance and subsequent death as well. So not only was Maya's family extremely emotional, even walking into the courtroom before that verdict was read, but as it was read, some of them just had their hands over their heads and just crying. Many of them, I saw them praying in the courtroom, waiting for that verdict, waiting for this decision that they've been waiting for for years. And it all came down to this moment today. When that verdict was read as well, Larry's defense team looked at him. His attorney, Leanne Sabatini, who just got on this case a couple of years ago now. He had a different attorney for the preliminary hearing several years ago. But his attorney today, Leanne Sabatini, looked at him and said, I'm so sorry. And she gave him a hug. And he ended up giving his other defense team a hug. He turned around and looked at his family. He appeared to be emotional as well. The judge also reminding people to keep decorum in the courtroom because he didn't want anyone bursting out or lashing out. Or, you know, I've heard people laugh in courtrooms before. Everyone was very respectful, even trying to just hold back their tears as that verdict was read. And then we were all kind of ushered out of the courtroom. And as soon as those courtroom doors opened, there was a group of people waiting to greet Maya's family. Many of them hysterically crying, hugging all of them. At one point, they were even chanting the deputy district attorney's name, saying Christy Bowles. She's the one that's been prosecuting this case. After that, we had a chance to talk with a juror, the deputy district attorney, and also Maya's sister, Mary Chris Droulet. We want to play some of her sound with you here. She has just been extremely emotional, but also grateful to everyone for their support. [00:02:55] Mary Chris Droulet: Justice probably has been served today, but we still have my sister out there. We still have a second step to go through. We still have to bring my sister home to bring her to her three children that's been waiting for her for five years. And we still ask the public for help. Maybe, you know, one of these days, we can bring her home. Thank you, everybody. [00:03:28] Zara Barker: And that was Mary Chris Droulet. That is Maya's oldest sister. Her and her husband, Richard, have custody of Larry and Maya's three kids. They were not present in any of the court proceedings during this entire time. But we have seen them at some of the events as they were searching for Maya more in recent years. They weren't really present in the first couple of years because the kids were actually under the custody of Larry's parents as they had helped raise them. But now they're under the custody of Mary Chris and Richard. So they're growing up with their cousins. Mary Chris tells me they are in therapy at this point. It's been a long road for them. You know, the youngest was four at the time. The oldest was 11. And so the oldest is now at the age of 17. They were not, again, in any of the court proceedings. But we did find out that all three children were on that witness list. The witness list had 152 people on it. But only 62 were called in this case. So the jury had to listen to 62 people testify over the last seven weeks. We had a chance to talk with a juror just moments after that verdict was read. And she gave us a little more insight onto how they came to that decision and how they came to it so quickly. [00:04:38] Speaker 4: We listened to every single word in court. People didn't daydream. People didn't do it. We listened to every word spoken. And it's been draining for eight weeks. We were in our, completed our ninth week. So what we were able to pull together, this person said this and this and this and this and this. It all came together. And like our court person said, he's never seen a jury that had listened to every word and was able to come to this discussion. We did look at evidence. We went back. It was put into the jury room. There was questions. And the ones that the jurors had, we looked and we pulled out. We had a little bit of trouble getting on the computer with the little jump drive. But we worked with the court on that. But once we were able to go back and review video and answer every juror's question, and we did that. [00:05:31] Zara Barker: And so you just heard from one of the 12 jurors in this case who unanimously found Larry Miliete guilty of first-degree murder in his wife's disappearance. She also told me briefly that, you know, they looked at all of the evidence together. And one of the main points that stuck out was that Maya wouldn't have left her kids on her own. They really believed that all of her communication stopped, and she had died after January 7, 2021. And then Larry still kept his communication going, but Maya going missing, Maya disappearing, and Larry being the last one to seemingly be with her inside of that house. They said all of that circumstantial evidence pointed to him, and without a doubt, they were able to convict him on this first-degree murder charge. We also chatted briefly with attorney and true crime writer Alayda K. Vaughn this afternoon. She has been providing valuable insight into the legal cases, you know, the legality of all of this, as there's so much in a circumstantial evidence case. And she's been able to provide us with so much insight into this. But she has also been there for the family as well. So she talked briefly just about how this family, the Miliate family, the Maya's side of this, has been staying so strong. [00:06:43] Speaker 5: Over the past five years, I have gotten to know Maya's family well. I have gone on some of the searches, and I've even been invited to some of the family events. And they are wonderful people with a deep faith in God. They have never gotten bitter through this entire five years. But even though they got this verdict today, the verdict that they wanted, the project that remains, that Maya is still missing. And they want to bring her home. They need to bring her home. [00:07:16] Zara Barker: And that continues to be the family's message at this point. And we don't know, you know, after this verdict comes down, could Larry be talking about this? Could Larry disclose what he knows about this since this verdict has already come down? That's something we've been wondering as well and something that only time will tell. Now, usually after a verdict is read, we get a sentencing date, but that was not the case today. And that's because Larry has a separate gun-related charge related to this case. But it's not something that a jury will find him guilty or not guilty of. Instead, it is up to the judge. So Larry has a hearing on July 20th in relation to that gun charge. And at that time is when we could likely set a sentencing date. My best guess, just based on the time, would either be late August or potentially early September. So definitely still more to come here from Chula Vista. But that's the very latest here, and I will send it back to both of you in the studio. [00:08:12] Speaker 1: You know, you've done such a great job covering this entire trial. Thank you for that. But also, you know, the trial provided some sort of closure, but really, again, without her body, I don't think everybody is going to feel quite complete. So thank you for following it. And, of course, we know you'll stay on top of it.