Episodes
After investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell wrapped up last week’s episode — in which Mandy wondered when we’d ever see Myrtle Beach pastor JP Miller in handcuffs — they got their wish. JP spent one glorious night in jail after a physical confrontation between him and a female protester. And the drama didn’t end there...  On today’s episode we look at what went down between JP and the protester as well as everything that was revealed in a May 2 recording of JP talking to his...
Published 11/14/24
Published 11/14/24
UPDATE: JP Miller was arrested for third degree assault. Justice for Mica Miller is percolating six months and more than 20 episodes after investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell began reporting her the death and what her life looked like in the leadup to it.  On Friday, the FBI finally moved in on Mica’s husband... Myrtle Beach Pastor JP Miller, who stands accused of harassing, stalking and coercively controlling her during their marriage. For more than five hours, around two...
Published 11/07/24
Thrice accused rapist Bowen Turner is getting out of prison on Halloween, and in this episode, journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell warn the women of South Carolina while explaining who is responsible for the systemic failure that led to Turner’s swift release.  Did Assistant Solicitor Kevin Hope fail when he agreed to the plea sentence for Turner’s resisting arrest charge? Did Bowen change? How is Bowen Turner getting out of prison?  This wildly important episode focuses on the Bowen...
Published 10/31/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell begin their look into the Oct. 7 death of 38-year-old Christa Bauer Gilley in Texas and the arrest of her husband, Lee Gilley, who initially told investigators that Christa died by suicide after an argument they had. Christa, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time of her death, was strangled to death according to investigators. It’s yet another instance in which a woman’s cause of death is presented to law enforcement as a suicide when...
Published 10/24/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell return to the Mica Francis case and to March 23, 2018 … the day of Mica’s alleged first attempt at suicide.... Medical records from that day say her husband — pastor JP Miller — called one of Mica’s mental health providers at 10 a.m. to say that Mica had stolen JP’s credit card, snuck out of the house while he was sleeping, gone ot Dick’s Pawn Shop that morning, purchased a gun, received a lesson on how to use it and then tried shooting...
Published 10/17/24
As you likely know, we are taking off from COJ and True Sunlight this week to focus on educating students around the Midwest so thank you for understanding and we hope you enjoy this bonus content! In today’s Premium Dive Bonus episode, Attorney Rebecca Lindahl and reporter Sam Berlin discuss the implications of Buster's media interviews and public appearances, which could make him a public figure, complicating his defamation case. They highlight the legal protections for press, such as the...
Published 10/10/24
Investigative reporters Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell celebrate Alex Murdaugh’s biggest loss yet … one that will effectively keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. Also on the show, Buster Murdaugh triples down on his defamation claims against Netflix and Hampton County reporter Michael Dewitt. In a federal filing this week, Buster argues that — though he left out the context of Dewitt’s words in his original filing in South Carolina — including all of Dewitt’s interview on “Murdaugh...
Published 10/03/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell take on the Good Ole Boys once again, starting with lawyers who knowingly file frivolous lawsuits. Last week Myrtle Beach pastor JP Miller and his attorney Russell B. Long filed a defamation complaint against a paralegal who said he called her law office in search of a divorce attorney who could “destroy” his wife, Mica Francis, whose body was found in a North Carolina swamp last April. Not only is it laughable that JP believes this hurts...
Published 09/26/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue their coverage of two appeal hearings heard last week in the case of thrice-accused rapist Bowen Turner and his sweetheart plea deal.  Today. listeners will get to hear Part Two of the Chloe Bess interview, where she talks about what it was like being in the courtroom and on her thoughts about how the system continues to coddle and make excuses for Bowen, who sexually assaulted her as a teenager.  Also on the show, Mandy and...
Published 09/19/24
The Bowen Turner case in South Carolina has been one for the outrage records. Listeners across the country have been horrified as they watched the justice system coddle Bowen over and over while the thrice-accused rapist gave his second, third and fourth chances the middle finger. But now, something good could come from the case — a case that included the horrific bullying of Dallas Stoller, one of his accusers. Bullying that resulted in her death.  Something good might come from Bowen’s...
Published 09/12/24
Leaked medical records from Mica Francis’ in-patient and outpatient visits to mental health facilities were leaked to the public over the past week, and investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell are diving in. According to the records — some of which were sent directly to Luna Shark Media and others that were posted online by a TikToker sympathetic to JP Miller’s plight — Mica was confused about her diagnosis and its symptoms. At the same time, these records raise questions about...
Published 09/05/24
Investigative reporters Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue their look into the Mica Francis case with Part Two of their deep dive into the pile of “evidence” her estranged husband — Myrtle Beach Pastor JP Miller — filed in her probate case.  The evidence was meant to support JP’s claims that he was a good husband and not the cause of Mica’s death this past spring. Instead, Mandy and Liz are finding that the evidence — when pieced together — provides a disturbing look at the early days of...
Published 08/29/24
Investigative reporters Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue their in-depth coverage of the Mica Francis case.  Earlier this month, exhibits filed with Horry County Probate Court by Mica’s estranged husband, Myrtle Beach Pastor JP Miller, were made available to the public. To JP Miller, they are evidence that Mica Miller was a sick woman and he only wanted the best for her — that her estrangement from him was the result of family pressure and not because of anything she felt.  He is adamant...
Published 08/22/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell are once again forced to scrap their plans for an episode topic because of breaking news. On Tuesday, TikTok user JusticeNTruth4SCcourts posted never-before published 911 calls from Mica Francis and her estranged husband Pastor JP Miller. This caught Mandy’s and Liz’s attention because they had FOIA’d Horry County for just about everything one can think of or related to this case and yet these calls were not disclosed to us. This public...
Published 08/15/24
We have had a weird week between traveling and Tropical Storm Debby at home, so we decided to switch things up on the True Sunlight feed with a special deep dive episode lead by Sam Berlin. We will be back next week with more shocking developments in the Mica Francis story and we'll start this show with a couple of quick updates on a few of the cases we have been following.  This is an exclusive Premium Dive Episode normally reserved for Luna Shark Premium Members but todays premium dive will...
Published 08/08/24
After Monday’s settlement was announced between Myrtle Beach Pastor JP Miller and the family of his estranged wife, Mica Francis, investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell take a look at what led up to this moment. For the past two weeks, JP Miller has gone on a media tour … and when that tour didn’t seem to get the reaction he wanted out of the public, he appears to have made a decision: It’s time to post the recording from the night of March 11, when JP discovered that Mica...
Published 08/01/24
Today, investigative reporters Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell take a look at everything JP Miller has said on the record thus far and offer an analysis of how his statements jibe and conflict with each other and with police and court records. Over the past month, Pastor JP Miller of Solid Rock Ministries in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has taken to TikTok videos to combat what he says are lies being told about him after his wife Mica's death. Over the past two weeks, though, those videos have...
Published 07/25/24
Investigative reporters Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell share two newly released 911 calls in the Mica Francis case. In the first call, Mica’s estranged husband Pastor JP Miller can be heard in the background as his loyal friend and associate pastor Tricia Ross tries to get Mica arrested by accusing her of theft.  As Mandy and Liz continue to piece together the days and weeks leading up to Mica’s death in April, they’re finding more and more evidence of the abject cruelty Mica might have been...
Published 07/18/24
Tragically this week, two abused women were failed by the justice system and allegedly killed by their partners — Lauren Johansen of Mississippi Stephanie Francis of Rhode Island. On today’s episode we’ll get into that and a lot more on why our justice system needs to be paying attention. Investigative reporters Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell give an update in the Stephen Smith case during the ninth anniversary of his mysterious death. Why did Highway Patrol stop looking into Stephen’s death...
Published 07/11/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue their coverage of the Mica Francis case, starting with JP Miller’s shock and horror upon discovering a shirtless photo has been posted of him online. Social media came hard for JP this week with more accusations surrounding the tattoo of Mica’s signature he has on his torso. Solid Rock Ministries continues its battle with protesters, who were assaulted by a sprinkler this past weekend. Mandy and Liz also break down the contents...
Published 07/04/24
We originally planned to take this week off entirely, but guess what happened...? We got a flood of FOIA responses in the Mica Francis case… This week, due to the dogged FOIAing from Beth Braden and brilliant mind of Liz Farrell, LunaShark was the first media outlet to receive the 911 call from the incident that led to Chris Skinner’s death on September 6, 2021.  Tik Tok has been hot with Chris Skinner theories ever since the news of Mica’s death hit national headlines — but JP’s ex-wife’s...
Published 06/27/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell — formerly of Murdaugh Murders Podcast — give an update on the latest drama involving Alex Murdaugh. His remaining son, Buster Murdaugh, filed a defamation lawsuit this week against major networks over documentaries they ran, which he said falsely insinuated he had something to do with Stephen Smith’s death. He is also suing a Hampton County reporter and his newspaper company for that same thing. Also, a federal judge issues an order in...
Published 06/20/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue down their path of discovery in the Mica Francis (Mica Miller) case and how her estranged husband, Pastor JP Miller, tends to operate, knowing the system will largely have his back. From TikTok videos in which JP threatens to expose Mica’s private musings to divorce court, where he showed up in a wheelchair, to his 2021 pardon hearing where he showed no remorse, the collective of JP’s actions and words show a man who thinks he...
Published 06/13/24
Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue their real-time coverage of Mica's case — which they’re now going to call the Mica Francis case to give Mica back her identity free from Pastor JP Miller.  As each week passes since Mica’s death, more information emerges about the utter hell she was experiencing in her attempts to escape JP. On Wednesday, her divorce attorney Regina B. Ward — who is now representing her family — announced that plans are in the works to champion...
Published 06/06/24