Ex-boyfriend found guilty of murder in death of missing Holly Springs woman
A jury found Brian Sluss guilty Thursday of killing Monica Moynan, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of their two children, though Moynan’s body has never been found since she went missing in April 2019.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul C. Ridgeway sentenced Sluss to life in prison without parole.
When the jury returned their unanimous guilty verdict, family and friends quietly cheered, and Moynan’s mother, Melanie Tucker, put her hands together in prayer, mouthed “thank you, thank you” to the jurors, and visibly shook as the jury was polled. She then clasped her hands into fists and cheered silently, turning around to supporters behind her.
The jury deliberated about an hour before returning the verdict that they found Sluss guilty of first-degree murder involving domestic violence.
Throughout Thursday’s closing arguments up to when the announcement of a verdict, Sluss sat quietly and did not show emotion.
Sluss’ first-degree murder charge was unique because prosecutors used provisions of Britny’s Law, which allows for first-degree murder charges to be filed against a person suspect of killing a victim who is a significant other, if they have a previous conviction of domestic violence against the same victim.
It is one of the first cases in the state to successfully convict a suspect of charges under Britny’s Law, prosecutors said.
Moynan, who was 22 years old when she was last seen, had two daughters with Sluss. She was living with him and their children last in Holly Springs before she disappeared in early April 2019.
Sluss was previously charged in 2017 for physically assaulting her and was convicted in January 2019.
Kathryn Pomeroy, the Wake County Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case, thanked the Holly Springs Police Department and the town for the “amount of time, money and heart” that went into the investigation along with the state crime lab and Virginia law enforcement who worked “to try and bring some justice to Monica and her family.”
She turned to Moynan’s family, and with her voice breaking, thanked the family for trusting her.
“The one thing I had always wanted was to be able to bring her body home and I couldn’t do that for the (family), that is a regret I will always have,” Pomeroy told reporters outside of the courtroom. “But to get this justice today means everything.”
Tucker, along with her husband, Brandon Tucker, and Curtis Moynan, Monica’s father, gave emotional statements before Ridgeway sentenced Sluss.
“A piece of our family puzzle is gone forever,” said Melanie Tucker, describing how she and her husband have adopted Moynan’s daughters. “I will never get to listen to her, be cozy with her or talk to her about all the things, literally, all the things ... (Sluss) ended the life of a beautiful, strong-willed, independent, super fun , funny and intelligent, yet vulnerable, special young mom.”
When the trial concluded, members of the jury lined up after Sluss was taken into custody to hug members of Moynan’s family.
The closing arguments
The prosecution presented text and images on a large screen displaying the facts and findings of the case. Numerous pieces of evidence were presented to support the prosecution’s argument that Sluss was abusive and manipulative toward Moynan. He had harmed her and wanted to continue to do so, Pomeroy said.
“Monica was tired of him,” said Pomeroy, which she said led to Sluss’ anger and decision to attack her.
He eventually planned to kill her, Pomeroy said, and did on or about the night of April 6, 2019, or the early morning of April 7, disposing of her body and leaving behind traces of blood in the kitchen and other evidence in Moynan’s Holly Springs home.
Moynan’s mother, Tucker, shook her head silently in the courtroom as the evidence was presented to the jury.
After April 7, everything changed surrounding Moynan’s life, Pomeroy said. The restaurant where she worked stopped seeing her, her phone usage reduced, her social media posts decreased and changed, her cards were used to pay for dating sites linked to Sluss’ email and the grocery receipts never showed that the foods and goods she consistently bought were ever purchased again.
Jarlyn Sluss was charged May 12, 2020, in connection with Moynan’s death. She was charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and obstruction of justice for allegedly helping Sluss by pretending to be Moynan on the phone to fool an apartment manager.
One of the pieces of evidence stemming from Moynan’s recovered phone was her internet search history. Before April 7, she had researched things relevant to her life, such as resources for doulas, since she aspired to be one. Afterwards, her search history had taken a sharp turn. During the time Sluss had her phone, porn sites and sexually explicit content was searched.
Sluss mostly avoided glancing at the projection screen a few feet away from him as slides were shown to the jury.
Nanny cam videos were presented showing Sluss hitting their young daughter with a slap and with his fists. Pomeroy detailed the inconsistencies in Sluss’ statements to investigators in the last two years.
The presence of Moynan’s blood found on kitchen tile under a children’s play mat with signs of clean-up and the remains of bleach were also shown, as part of the wide range of evidence used against Sluss.
Sluss confirmed in his testimony Wednesday that he had used Moynan’s social media and phone to pretend she was still around after he alleged that she abandoned him and their daughters in June 2019.
What the defense said
But the jury first heard from Tommy Manning, Sluss’ attorney, who summarized the defense of Sluss’ innocence in the murder and disappearance of the young mother, who Sluss met when she was 18.
“He was the constant person that she called on when she needed help,” said Manning.
Manning’s defense maintained throughout the trial that when Moynan experienced troubles in 2019, Sluss was a present father and partner, even after the couple broke up and Moynan had filed a protective order against him for assaulting her in 2017.
Their relationship was consensual and Sluss put his jobs and independence on the line for her since he sold stolen goods to support the family, Manning argued.
The argument defended Sluss’ manipulation of Moynan’s social media and personal phone to fake that she was still home with her family.
Manning argued that the blood found in the kitchen could be there for a number of reasons, such as Moynan cutting herself with a knife while cooking, he said.
A positive pregnancy test that was found in the home during the investigation is Manning’s main argument for her disappearance, arguing that she fled in a panic to avoid responsibility for another child in her economic instability.
The defense’s argument was followed by the prosecution presenting the evidence to the jury that Sluss killed his ex-girlfriend.
Now, the state’s murder case against him will be registered as one of the first in North Carolina that convicted a suspect using Britny’s Law without a body used as evidence.
“We don’t know where she is still, and we’d like to put her to rest,” Curtis Moynan, Monica’s father, told reporters. “But at least we’ve got Brian where we need him and he deserves to be there.
This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 2:19 PM.
