Ex-boyfriend charged with Holly Springs woman’s murder extradited to Wake County

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – The 44-year-old man charged in the murder of a Holly Springs woman waived his right to extradition early Wednesday and has been transported back to Wake County

Brian Sluss was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Tazewell County, Virginia on a murder indictment related to the death of Monica Moynan.

“This is a tragic case where we have a young mother who has disappeared who we know now was killed or is dead and we are attempting to seek justice for her and her family,” said Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.

Moynan, his ex-girlfriend, was last seen in April 2019 and was reported missing in July 2019.

Holly Springs Police Chief John Herring say investigators quickly realized there were a lot of “suspicious things” about Moynan’s disappearance and have worked around the clock since getting involved in the case.

“It was a lot of dedicated hard work by the investigators here at Holly Springs for 10 months. This is the kind of case that raises a lot of emotions. It’s been tough for us. At times very difficult,” Herring said.

Moynan’s body has not been found. Freeman said it was “unusual” to not have the victim’s body in murder cases, but she and Herring say they are confident in the evidence.

“These kinds of cases have a lot of circumstantial evidence, but we also have a lot of solid physical evidence in this case,” said Herring.

Sluss appeared before a Virginia judge early Wednesday where he waived his right to extradition.

Sluss was arrested at the home of his parents in Bluefield, Va. late Tuesday afternoon, according to Holly Springs officials.

He was processed at the Wake County Detention Center just after 2 p.m.

Holly Springs police have been investigating the matter as a homicide since October. Warrants have shown that Moynan and Sluss had a history of domestic violence. He was identified as a person of interest in the death of the 23-year-old mother of two. His ex-wife was also named as a person of interest.

When asked if Jarlyn Sluss could be charged Freeman said she didn’t anticipate to indict anyone else for murder, but that there are “other matters” still under investigation.

Herring also said the investigation is ongoing.”Our work is never done on this. We’ve answered, for the family, a lot of questions. There are still some questions that are unanswered, but we’ll continue to investigate this,” he said.

Deputies with the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Department waited for Holly Springs police to arrive in Bluefield before making the arrest.

Moynan’s pregnancy may have led to her death, according to warrants released in October. Holly Springs police searched her residence multiple times. They found a positive pregnancy test during one of those searches, along with a box of tests.

On July 19, 2019 Moynan’s mother requested a wellness check on her daughter, telling police they saw each other once a week until March 2019 when they began only speaking in text messages.

The last time Moynan was seen was on April 6, 2019, according to warrants.

On April 7, 2019, Sluss called his parents and his ex-wife saying he was going to die, warrants say. A witness told police around that time they saw Sluss carrying large trash bags to the dumpster around 2 or 3 a.m.

Moynan was officially reported missing on July 23, 2019, after the manager at her apartment complex couldn’t get in touch with her.

According to warrants, Sluss had his ex-wife call the apartment manager and pretend to be Moynan to set up a meeting.

After Moynan didn’t show up at the meeting, the manager received an email from an address she didn’t recognize claiming to be Moynan, saying she’s moving to Virginia to be with Sluss.