May Millete's Friend Testifies Larry Monitored His Wife's Conversations

CHULA VISTA, CA — A missing woman's friend testified Wednesday that the woman's husband -- who's being tried for her murder -- would impersonate his wife in text communications with her friends and block certain people his wife interacted with over social media, prompting the friend group to switch to alternative means of communication or speak in code.

Courtney Nixon, who was among a group of friends who met May Millete through her job at Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, testified that for a period of time during 2020, some messages she was receiving from May were uncharacteristically brief or used slang or emojis May would never use.

Communications between herself and May dwindled during that time because she felt "it was Larry reading the texts," she said.

Nixon's testimony came in the trial of Larry Millete, who is accused of murdering his wife because she sought to divorce him. May Millete has not been seen or heard from since Jan. 7, 2021.

Prosecutors have alleged Larry Millete was controlling and possessive of his wife and went to extreme lengths to monitor her whereabouts and communications, and prior trial testimony from May's friends touched on Larry's alleged intrusions into May's social media activity, including his insistence on having May's passwords to various accounts.

Nixon testified that starting in 2020, May began opening up about potentially leaving her marriage. Among the issues she raised regarding her husband was a lack of privacy, according to Nixon.

In early 2020, Nixon found herself suddenly blocked by May's account in their Facebook messenger communications, though there was no quarrel or argument with May to prompt this.

Nixon switched to Instagram to restart communications with May, who confirmed to Nixon that Larry had blocked her, as well as other people in her life.

"There's no such thing as privacy in Larry's mind," May wrote to Nixon.

Nixon testified that later on, Larry interjected in a conversation with Nixon through May's account and told Nixon to stop discussing their marital problems.

"It doesn't affect you. It does affect our family," Larry wrote Nixon, who responded, "Just like I'm trying to respect the confines of your marriage, please respect the confines of our friendship."

Nixon said reaching out to May became more difficult without feeling like she and May's other friends weren't being monitored by Larry.

Nixon said when they spoke with May over FaceTime, they would "speak in code" so Larry would not grasp the full meaning of their conversations. In their group chat, Nixon said she and the other women no longer felt comfortable sharing their own personal information "because Larry had been looking at (the chat.)"

Earlier in the trial, another of May's friends, Kristeen Timmers, similarly testified that communications with May became strained in 2020 because of the uncertainty over whether Larry was keeping tabs on his wife's conversations.

Timmers testified about a March 2020 Facebook Messenger conversation she had with May, in which Larry interjected with a message of his own and thanked Timmers for being a good friend to his wife.

"I know I haven't been the best husband but I'm trying. Please help us keep our family together rather than apart," he wrote.

After that, Timmers said she and May's circle of friends kept their social media chats restricted to "surface" conversations, rather than delving into personal issues.

By JASON KUROSU / City News Service