On November 1, Miranda posted an ad on Craigslist offering companionship for men who "hated their wives." Troy answered the ad and she met up with him in the parking lot of a local mall on November 11, which also happened to be Elytte's 22nd birthday.

Elytte hid beneath a blanket in the backseat of the couple's red Honda CR-V. They had worked out a signal that Miranda would say—"Did you see the stars tonight?"—that would indicate if or when Elytte should pounce.

According to Miranda, when Troy got in the car she told him she had just turned 16. "When he said he didn't care, I knew." 

She gave the signal—twice—but Elytte didn't act until she finally hit him on the leg. He began strangling Troy with a cord, but things "got out of control." Miranda took out a knife and stabbed him 20 times.

Once he was dead, the newlyweds swiped his wallet, indiscriminately dumped his body in an alley, cleaned out their car with supplies they'd purchased at Wal-mart, and then went to a strip club to celebrate Elytte's birthday.

The Barbours resumed their lives as though nothing had happened. Miranda posted cheery status updates on Facebook. One, on November 19, featured a picture of her new wedding ring, which was purchased from Zales. Another, on November 26, read:

Oh wow!!!! It's finally here!!! SNOW!!!! Happy Holidays to me Happy Holidays to me!!! YAY!!

A few days later she joked about her first attempt at cooking Thanksgiving dinner for her roommates.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! So many first time things this year!! Hopefully everything works out if not guess it's Chinese night! Haha

Meanwhile, Sunbury police had followed a trail of sloppy evidence—including text messages on Troy's phone—that led them directly to Miranda. She was arrested on December 3. Elytte was picked up a few days later. 

Her baby was immediately taken by social-service workers in Pennsylvania, but is now residing with Miranda's father. However, he is currently engaged in a custody battle for the little girl with Miranda's uncle Arlin and his wife. Authorities are investigating the whereabouts of the child's father.

As for Miranda, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in her case—a decision that Miranda's father, Sonny, supports.

"I believe God has brought me peace with the fact that capital punishment, if chosen by the jury, is an appropriate end in this situation," he said.

"I think she has been through a lot of extremely painful things," said Alex. "And while I would never say that justifies taking lives, it's important to understand what might be motivating her.

According to Miranda, shortly after joining the cult she was involved in her first murder at the age of 13. She said she had gone with her cult leader, whom she declined to identify, to meet a man who owed him money.

It was in an alley and [the cult leader] shot him. Then he said to me that it was my turn to shoot him. I hate guns. I don't use guns. I couldn't do it, so he came behind me and he took his hands and put them on top of mine and we pulled the trigger. And then from there I just continued to kill.

Miranda's father thinks that the shooting in Alaska she described is "possible" since it would have occurred during one of the extended periods during which she had run away from home. But he says that the murders she claims to have committed in other states are an invention. "I can promise you that she has only been to California once and Texas a few times and both times she wasn't out of my sight."

Miranda insisted she can "pinpoint on a map where you can find" the bodies. Most of the murders, she said, occurred in Alaska — Palmer, Anchorage, Nome and Wasilla. She said she would lure people "who did bad things and didn't deserve to be here anymore."

However, while local authorities and the FBI are taking her confession seriously enough to investigate her claims, Alaska State Troopers issued a statement that there is "no evidence" that Miranda committed any murders in the state. Members of Seeking Alaska's Missing, a statewide support group, are also skeptical. Authorities where Miranda lived in North Carolina said that their only unsolved homicide cases date back to Miranda's infancy, and thus would've been impossible for her to have committed them. Experts have said she doesn't fit the profile of a serial killer, who are rarely women, are typically older, and don't use knives.

What no one is disputing is that Miranda, together with her husband, Elytte, murdered a man she met via an ad she placed on Craigslist.