Larry Millete trial turns emotional as CBS details key testimony
CBS News says Larry Millete’s murder trial has focused on testimony about hitman texts, a freezer and a case without a body.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
2 min read
The Larry Millete trial has grown emotional as prosecutors press a murder case that CBS News says has no body and no identified crime scene.
Millete is accused of killing his wife, Maya Millete, a 39-year-old mother of three. The charge remains an allegation unless proven in court.
CBS News reported on June 5 that the trial continued this week, with its “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant and CBS News legal reporter Katrina Kaufman reviewing the most recent two weeks of testimony.
The network said cameras are not allowed inside the courtroom, leaving reporters to describe the proceedings rather than show them.
What is happening in the Larry Millete trial?
According to CBS News, testimony discussed in court has included text messages involving questions about a hitman. The network also reported that testimony has covered a freezer that was wheeled out of the Millete home two days after Maya Millete disappeared.
CBS framed the case around a central courtroom issue: whether jurors can be convinced by circumstantial evidence when investigators do not have a body or a crime scene.
Circumstantial evidence is proof that asks jurors to draw conclusions from surrounding facts, rather than direct evidence such as an eyewitness account of the act itself. CBS News said the Millete case is being tested under that kind of evidentiary pressure.
The network described the courtroom atmosphere as emotional during the continuing trial. It did not report in its summary of the segment that Millete had commented on the latest testimony discussed by Van Sant and Kaufman.
Who is Maya Millete?
Maya Millete was 39 and a mother of three, according to CBS News. She disappeared before the events now being examined in her husband’s murder trial.
The CBS News report identified Larry Millete as her accused killer, while emphasizing the unusual shape of the case: no recovered body and no crime scene presented in the network’s account.
The testimony described by CBS, including the alleged hitman-related texts and the freezer moved from the home, appears to be part of the prosecution’s effort to build a case through surrounding details.
Because cameras are barred from the courtroom, CBS News said its legal coverage is relying on reporting and analysis from inside the case rather than live courtroom video.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.