The man that had an affair with missing Chula Vista mother Maya Millete testifies in the murder trial of Maya's husband Larry.
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The man Maya Millete had an affair with testifies: “…it became a deeper love.”
Day 20 in the murder trial of Larry Millete saw some of the most anticipated testimony yet, as his missing wife Maya’s paramour testified inside a packed Chula Vista courtroom.
Jurors have heard previous testimony detailing Maya’s affair with a subordinate co-worker named Jamey Laird. The pair met in late 2019, when Laird was hired to work as a Navy contract specialist at the Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC).
Laird testified that their relationship blossomed quickly from a work relationship into a romantic one.
“It became physical in early January,” Laird said. “Kind of like a newlywed feeling…but over time it became a deeper love.”
Like Maya, Jamey was also married. During their relationship in 2020, Laird testified that both Maya and his wife became pregnant.
Laird’s wife went into labor the same day Maya was last seen alive on January 7, 2021. Other evidence, including paperwork at the Millete home, indicated that Maya chose to terminate her pregnancy. Laird also confirmed that during questioning, saying he feared knowledge of her abortion would become public.
Due to the hidden nature of their relationship, Laird said he and Maya coordinated the denials they told their spouses, family, friends, and co-workers. Much of that communication was online, via Maya’s secret Instagram account.
“Nothing was off limits,” Laird said. “ We were always working together to cover up the affair…there was no topic off limits…even things to repair my relationship.”
Laird said they even used nicknames for their significant others. He said he referred to his wife as “E,” as in
esposa, the Spanish word for wife. He said Maya referred to Larry as “V,” in relation to the villainous wizard
Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.
Laird said Maya confided in him about Larry’s controlling behaviors, which included refusing to let her drive herself to work. He said that took place in late 2020, which was after previous testimony revealed that Larry caught the two of them together in the SWRMC parking lot.
Laird said Maya also told him that Larry planted a tracking device in her car and hid a subliminal message device under her bed.
“I’d not seen that level of desperation to save a marriage, and I told her to be careful,” Laird said.
Laird testified that the first time he believes he met Larry was after allegations of the affair were reported to their superiors at work, by his own mother-in-law. He said he, Maya, and Larry were called for a meeting with Maya’s supervisor.
Before that meeting, Laird said he and Maya coordinated their stories. He said they denied the affair and called the entire thing a misunderstanding. Laird even said he signed a statement under penalty of perjury denying the affair.
Laird testified that he communicated with Maya in the week leading up to her disappearance and the birth of his child. He described her mood as defeated as Larry fought her attempts to leave him, which included threatening to bring up affair allegations again at work.
However, he said Maya was determined to leave Larry, and said she would be filing for divorce after celebrating her daughter’s birthday in Big Bear. That trip never happened due to her disappearance.
Laird also testified that Maya even finally confided in her eldest daughter about the divorce. She said her daughter was receptive.
Laird said he was at the hospital for his wife’s labor and delivery on January 7 and stayed at the hospital until January 10. He said he didn’t even know Maya was missing until Maya’s sister-in-law, Genesis Tabalanza, and her friend Jasmin Rooker reached out with concerns that she was missing.
Laird also acknowledged that he was less than truthful on several occasions when he spoke to police about Maya’s disappearance.
“No, I spun it…That I hadn’t heard from her in a work sense,” Laird said. “I was scared and didn’t want the affair coming out. I was also fearful that something happened to her, and I was trying to save my marriage.”
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