Murders & Minivans

Tali & Stephanie

Murders and Minivans explores the world of true crime through the lens of everyday motherhood. Each episode takes listeners deep into cases ranging from notorious murders to overlooked crimes, offering thorough research, thoughtful discussion, and fresh perspectives. Alongside these stories, the hosts reflect on the realities of parenting, family life, and the unique challenges of raising kids in today’s world.

  1. 1d ago

    Mica Miller: Death of a Pastor's Wife

    mica miller: the trial that isn't about her death mica miller was found dead on april 27, 2024, at lumber river state park in robeson county, north carolina, about seventy miles from her home in myrtle beach. she was 30. the robeson county sheriff's office determined she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. the north carolina medical examiner ruled her death a suicide. investigators said there was no evidence her estranged husband was involved in it. that is where most cases end. this one didn't. on december 18, 2025, a federal grand jury in columbia indicted john-paul miller, 46, pastor of solid rock church in myrtle beach, on one count of cyberstalking and one count of making false statements to federal investigators. the indictment alleges a pattern beginning in november 2022 and running until the day mica died. what the indictment alleges repeated unwanted communications, including more than fifty contacts in a single daytracking devices placed on her vehiclea nude photograph of her posted online without her consentinterference with her finances and daily activitiesdamage to her car tiresprosecutors also say miller admitted hiring a private investigator to keep mica from buying a firearm. timeline november 2022: the alleged harassment begins, per the indictmentapril 27, 2024: mica miller is found dead at lumber river state parkmay 2, 2024: the death is first reported publiclymay 6, 2024: the robeson county sheriff's office refers the matter to the u.s. attorney's office in south carolina2024: mica's family settles a civil suit against john-paul millerjune 1, 2025: john-paul miller remarriesdecember 18, 2025: federal grand jury returns a two-count indictmentjanuary 12, 2026: arraignment in florence, south carolina. not guilty plea, released on $100,000 unsecured bondaugust 13, 2026: judge joseph dawson iii grants a continuance, moving the case to the october 2026 termwhere it stands john-paul miller has not been charged in connection with mica's death and has denied responsibility for it. he faces a maximum of five years on the cyberstalking count, two years on the false statements count, and a fine of up to $250,000. these are allegations. he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. the case has been continued four times. that is not unusual in a federal prosecution with this much electronic evidence. why this case matters beyond itself the gap between "no evidence of involvement in her death" and a federal stalking indictment is the whole story. advocates in south carolina have used it to push for domestic violence law that recognizes coercive control, meaning patterns of surveillance, isolation, financial control, and intimidation that leave no bruises. sources u.s. attorney's office, district of south carolina, indictment and press release, december 18, 2025. robeson county sheriff's office. north carolina office of the chief medical examiner. federal court records, district of south carolina.

  2. Aug 31 ·  Video

    The Freeway Phantom Murders

    between april 1971 and september 1972, six young Black girls disappeared from southeast washington, d.c. they were ten to eighteen years old. they were walking home from the store. going to work. going to night class. coming home from a boyfriend's house. their bodies were found along highways in and around d.c. and maryland. Carol Spinks. Darlenia Johnson. Brenda Crockett. Nenomoshia Yates. Brenda Woodard. Diane Williams. at first the murders were not connected. different detectives worked different cases in a city overwhelmed by homicides. the media barely covered it. by the time investigators recognized the pattern, most of the girls were already dead. the killer named himself. a note torn from brenda woodard's own school notebook was signed "free-way phantom." handwriting analysis determined she had been forced to write it before she died. in this episode we go through all six cases. the phone calls made to the victims' families. the semen that was never tested. the reports of a body in the grass that police did not act on for a week. the missing shoes and shoelaces. and the two theories that were never closed: robert askins and the green vega gang. neither was ever charged. we also talk about Romaine Jenkins, the homicide investigator who built the largest private collection of records on this case, and the reinvestigation that found what the original one lost. the case is still open. the reward is $300,000. more than fifty years later, no one has been charged

    The Freeway Phantom Murders
  3. Aug 17 ·  Video

    The Tylenol Murders

    Seven people in Chicago died in three days in 1982 after taking Extra Strength Tylenol laced with cyanide. Nobody has ever been charged. Every seal on your medicine bottle comes from this case. On September 29, 1982, a twelve-year-old girl in Elk Grove Village named Mary Kellerman took a capsule for a sore throat before school. She was dead within hours. By the end of that week, six more people were dead across the Chicago suburbs, including three members of the same family who took capsules from the same bottle on the same afternoon. It took two off-duty firefighters comparing notes on a phone call to figure out what the deaths had in common. It took a nurse named Helen Jensen going back to a victim's house and counting the capsules to prove it. In this episode, we walk through all seven victims, the seventy-two hours it took anyone to connect them, the lot numbers that proved the bottles were poisoned after they reached store shelves, the extortion letter demanding a million dollars, and James Lewis, the man investigators spent forty years trying to charge and never could. We also get into what happened after. Thirty-one million bottles pulled. Tamper-evident packaging on every over-the-counter product in North America. A federal anti-tampering law. The case is still open. Victims: Mary Kellerman, Adam Janus, Stanley Janus, Theresa Janus, Mary McFarland, Mary Reiner, Paula Prince. Source Info: murdersminivans@gmail.com FOLLOW US! Instagram: @murdersandminivans Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MurdersMinivans

  4. Aug 7 ·  Video

    What Happened to Nolan Wells?

    Nolan Xavier Wells was an 18 year old wide receiver from ocean springs, mississippi, preparing for his freshman season at southwest mississippi community college. on july 4, 2026, he traveled to horn island with a large group of friends on multiple boats. the boat he rode out on took on water from a failed bilge pump and turned back early. nolan was not on it. his body was found in the water on july 6. in this episode we walk through the full case in order: who nolan was, the geography and currents of horn island, the boat that took on water and the released sea tow distress call, the conflicting accounts of his final hours, and a 22 page timeline review that found a material gap in his last confirmed hours. we cover the multi agency search and the two competing explanations, what both autopsies found, the independent one that ruled cause and manner undetermined without excluding foul play, and the official state autopsy that is complete but sealed while prosecutors prepare a grand jury presentation. we also cover the unresolved details around his phone and keys, his clothing, and the tides, the family's legal team led by ben crump, support from tyler perry, colin kaepernick, and al sharpton, and the new two sided legal fight as three of the friends, publicly named, hire attorneys and assert their innocence while three strangers face charges for threatening people connected to the case. this is an open case. as of recording, no one has been charged in nolan's death, the cause and manner of death remain undetermined, and the friends have publicly stated they are innocent. we report only publicly available information.

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Murders and Minivans explores the world of true crime through the lens of everyday motherhood. Each episode takes listeners deep into cases ranging from notorious murders to overlooked crimes, offering thorough research, thoughtful discussion, and fresh perspectives. Alongside these stories, the hosts reflect on the realities of parenting, family life, and the unique challenges of raising kids in today’s world.