True Sunlight

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...

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...

Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell find more pieces to the puzzle in what Mica Miller's life was like before her death in a North Carolina swamp.  Just a month before Mica’s death, old paperwork granting her husband the authority to make all medical decisions for her — including whether doctors fight for her life — was filed in the Horry County Register of Deeds Office.  Mandy...

Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue their deep dive into the Mica Miller case and into Mica’s estranged pastor husband, John-Paul Miller, who stands accused of harassing Mica in the days leading up to her death. On today’s episode, Mandy and Liz talk about what happened in November 2022 after JP instigated what would become a defining fight of their relationship. The es...

Before South Carolina pastor’s wife Mica Miller was found dead in a North Carolina state park at the end of April, her best friend tried to get church officials to step in and do something about Pastor JP Miller’s “volatile” behavior toward Mica. They admitted seeing it too … but they did nothing. Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue to look into what Mica’s life looked...

Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell untangle the very strange — and very heartbreaking — death of Mica Miller, a 30-year-old pastor’s wife from South Carolina whose body was found in a North Carolina state park a few weeks ago.  Over the weekend, journalists, true crime aficionados and people hoping for justice learned about Mica’s death, accusations of marital abuse and her in-...

The Michael Colucci retrial is less than two weeks away in the Charleston area of South Carolina. Did Michael kill his wife, did she kill herself or did Sara Lynn Colucci die after tripping and falling into the loose loop of a garden hose? Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell — who helped bring justice in the Alex Murdaugh cases — continue their pre-trial digging in the hopes of...

Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell — known for their work in covering Alex Murdaugh's murders and atrocious schemes — continue their look into the Michael Colucci case. In three weeks, Michael will be retried for the 2015 death of his wife Sara Lynn Colucci, who he says killed herself … or maybe tripped and fell into her noose?  In the days and weeks before Sara Lynn’s death by...

Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue to shine the light on a corrupt judicial system in South Carolina. This week they helped bring attention to and did their part to stop the legislature from electing prosecutor David Miller to a judgeship — after exposing Miller’s role in getting thrice-accused rapist Bowen Turner a secret soft plea deal in 2022. Also on this 47th epis...

Sandy Smith, David and Mandy headed to Wichita to speak at the Kansas Governor's Office Crime Victims Rights Conference this week. Sandy and Mandy presented a case study in media and how powerful forces can shape a victim's pursuit of justice. You'll hear a short excerpt from today's presentation and Premium Members will get the full video soon. On today's episode, True Sunlight Podcast, Co-hosts ...

On today's True Sunlight Podcast, Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell update you on what went down at Alex Murdaugh’s federal sentencing hearing this week, where he was sentenced to 40 years. What does this new sentence mean? And why does Alex have to pay back millions to his former law firm and Palmetto State Bank when both allowed these crimes to happen for years? Also on the show, the South C...

On today's True Sunlight Podcast, Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell break down what happened at Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill’s pathetic last attempt at staying in the post-Alex Murdaugh spotlight and why there might be more to the story about Becky’s pick for a replacement.  Also on the show, the federal government files a 126-page response to Russell Laffitte’s appeal, proving on...

On today's True Sunlight Podcast, Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell begin their dive down the complex rabbit hole that is the Sara Lynn Moore-Colucci case.  Sara Lynn was killed on the evening of May 20, 2015, outside of Charleston, South Carolina, at a jewelry warehouse she owned with her husband, Michael Colucci. She died by asphyxiation mere feet from Michael, who said he was waiting in the...

On today's True Sunlight Podcast, Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell talk to South Carolina Victims Assistance Network attorney Sarah Ford and Karl Stoller, a father who continues to seek justice for his daughter’s sexual assault, about the latest arrest of Bowen Turner. Bowen — who was accused by three girls in three separate counties of rape — avoided prison time for those sexual assaults aft...

On today's True Sunlight Podcast, Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue their investigation into the photos and screenshots found on Stephen Smith’s phone, learning more about what the Hampton, S.C., teen’s life was like leading up to his mysterious death in July 2015. Mandy and Liz revisit two interviews with South Carolina Highway Patrol that — with new context — shed more light on his...

True Sunlight Podcast co-hosts True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell continue to unpack the evidence in the Stephen Smith case file. On today’s episode they take a look at the thousands of photos downloaded from Stephen’s iPhone and iPad in 2015 and explore what they tell us about Stephen’s life … and his death. Hear an interview with someone from Stephen’s past who got to witness hi...

Just like in our Cup of Justice Episode 69 that published Tuesday on the separate feed, we’re going to do something a little different with today’s show. Today we'll 'Feed Drop' the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Podcast called Crime Story whose host, Kathleen Goldhar, interviewed Mandy back in November promoting the best selling book, Blood On Their Hands.  Fraud. Abduction. Murder. Every we...

It’s FOIA around and find out time again on True Sunlight Podcast! True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell unpack the latest round of records reporter Beth Braden received from Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill’s emails. In the stack of documents, Beth found memos from SLED outlining interviews with Alex Murdaugh’s siblings after Alex was finally charged with Maggie’s and Paul’...

True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell are finally free from the constant noise of convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh and ready to once again focus on the case that deserves all the sunshine: Who killed Stephen Smith? It’s been nearly nine years since Stephen — a teenager from Hampton County with high aspirations to become a doctor one day… ground zero of Murdaugh territory — was found...

The Alex Murdaugh Rollercoaster (finally) comes to a stop. True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell break down everything that happened at the very weird and very wild evidentiary hearing where Justice Jean Toal brought much-needed sanity to the state of South Carolina. After nearly seven hours of hearing from the jurors who found Alex guilty of murder and other testimony, Justice Toal...

So while we have a bit of an Alex Murdaugh break this week, True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell wanted to talk about something really important that’s expected to happen the week after his evidentiary hearing. With South Carolina’s judicial elections on the horizon, today's episode revisits the Bowen Turner case and how his prosecutor’s 12-year journey to the judgeship continues to...

On today’s show, True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell finally see some hope after five months of Murdaugh chaos. This week, Justice Jean Toal sent a strong message to Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin that her courtroom will not be a place for them to put Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill on trial in their quest to get Alex Murdaugh a new trial. Left with their playbook ripped in shre...

On today’s show, True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell discuss Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin’s latest filing with the court ahead of the Jan. 16 status conference in Columbia. Did Team Murdaugh just admit the evidence against Alex in the murder case was strong? Are they admitting they don’t have evidence of jury tampering? Also on today’s show, Mandy and Liz talk about a 1988 Cold...

After examining exclusive documents and videos from the early days of SLED’s case, True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell are wondering if there’s more to what happened after Maggie and Paul were killed”? As we watched certain videos appear on a November 2023 episode of Dateline, our reporter Beth Braden got right on that and FOIA’d for them. These videos are important because as much...

True Sunlight Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell take a look back at 2023 and how the effort to convict Alex Murdaugh became the “trial of the century.” As they consider the highs and lows of this roller coaster of a year, they’ve gotten new perspective on how Alex was treated by South Carolina’s Justice system. Plus, an update on Becky Hill’s story plagiarism, her emails and the lie she told t...