Law&Crime Sidebar - 5 Chilling Details in the Case of Pastor’s Dead Wife as Family Questions Death

Episode Date: June 1, 2024

It’s been one month since Mica Miller, 30, reportedly took her own life in a state park. Miller’s husband John-Paul was the pastor of a church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since her sudden death, Miller’s family have questioned the circumstances she was found in, as well as Miller’s behavior leading up to it. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber takes a closer look at the most shocking details revealed in the last few weeks.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’ve used Incognito mode in Google’s Chrome browser, find out if you have a claim in a few clicks by visiting https://www.incognitoclaims.com/sidebar/?v=sb8HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. He had his sights set on her from a very young age. I was just thankful that I had found out around 2 a.m. that morning from any of else but him and in that way things that go on behind closed doors is only known by those people so for him to have a personal direct knowledge of anything would be surprising to me the sudden death of micah miller is still raising a lot of questions and the conversation continues we're going to go through some recent updates in the case to make sense of what is going on welcome to sidebar presented by

law and crime i'm jesse weber Hey, everybody. This is a law and crime legal alert. Google Incognito tracked users browsing data without their knowledge. Yep. Well, Mass Tort Alliance, one of our legal sponsors, is actually helping users file for compensation due to Google users' privacy issues surrounding Google Incognito. So if you've used Google Incognito any time since 2016, you can start your claim in less than 10 questions. Just go to Incognito Claims.com slash sidebar. We have been following the tangled story of South Carolina woman Micah Miller here on Sidebar, and we wanted to update you on some recent developments because it could be hard to keep track of what has been happening in this story. And look, we have been quite fortunate to interview some key people in this story, which we're going to get into. But before we even talk about anything, let me give you some background on this.

So we're talking about 30-year-old Micah Miller. She was found dead at Lumber River State Park just across the state line in North Carolina on April 27th. She had reportedly purchased a gun in the days before her apparent suicide from a pawn shop. The Robeson County Emmy ruling Micah died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Her body found in that park. By the way, talking updates. There was newly released surveillance footage that apparently shows Micah going to a gas station, getting gas, walking into the store to buy an energy drink, just hours before her death.

And you would never know what's about to happen, again, just only later that day. The manager of that gas station reportedly said that nothing seemed out of the ordinary regarding Micah. There was a chilling 911 phone call that was released where you seemingly hear Micah telling the operator that she's about to end her life and wanted her family to know where to find her. Police, the medical examiner, they've ruled Micah's death as suicide. But that hasn't stopped theories and rumors and accusations and a lot of. lot of focus is being put on Miller's estranged husband, John Paul Miller, and his alleged mistreatment of Micah. In fact, the Sunday after Micah died, her husband, 44-year-old John Paul Miller, a pastor,

announced his wife's death during a recent service at the church where he's a pastor, a solid rock church in Myrtle Beach. And he actually delivered a eulogy for Micah where he talked about trying to raise her from the dead. She loved, she told me that she was, she was so creative. Everything she did was so creative. What's the next picture? What's the next picture? She'd stop.

We'd be on the way to like a show or something. She'd say, stop. I got to get a picture. I said, we're going to be late. She said, I don't care. What's the next picture? Next picture. And as we try to piece together the pieces of this puzzle, we're trying to understand what was Micah going through?

What was the dynamic between her and John Paul? In fact, in one of her final posts on Facebook, Micah uploaded a selfie with the caption, When Terrible, terrible, terrible things happen to you, you all know what I'm talking about, RFP, resting peace face. She included the hashtag Still Blessed and God is Good. She also been posting videos on her social media talking about leaving abusive situations. It doesn't matter what gender you are. Abuse is abuse. And you are the bride of Christ. And my Bible says that he took all the abuse you could think of for you so that you didn't have to live that life of slavery and bondage.

and pain and we have learned during the course of this story that over a month before micah's death police reports indicate that mica had complained that tracking devices were found on her cars and one of the reports after micah apparently accused john paul of placing a tracker on her vehicle an officer allegedly said that this was a civil matter and that they were still legally married so it doesn't seem like more could be done and one major recent update news nation reported that John Paul Miller wrote a letter seemingly apologizing for posting a topless photo of Micah online. The letter apparently reads, quote, I'm sorry for putting a picture of you on the internet. It was for less than one hour immediately taken down.

I was hurt that you were telling everyone horrible intimate details of my past sin, and I just wanted to try and hurt you. Please forgive me. It was evil of me to do that. Well, now for another update, we had the opportunity to sit down with, Regina Ward. Now, Regina Ward is an attorney who was representing Micah Miller in her separation action from John Paul. And we definitely got a lot more context to the situation. We moved forward on the no-fault grounds. In South Carolina, to get a divorce, you have to have

grounds. It's adultery, which she had evidence of that. Also, physical cruelty, which she had evidence of that. And then she didn't want to go that route anymore. She wanted to try to to lead the marriage as amicably as possible. She didn't want to go after him on fault grounds and put all of those things out there. She just wanted to be, hey, our relationship is over with, let's move on, we're going in different directions.

She had found her passion and she was ready to do that. And she was empowered and felt uplifted, you know, and that we could pursue this without, you know, it being just an all out litigated fight. So we move forward on what's called the grounds of one year separation. So it's not right for a divorce yet, but at the moment it's just called it's called separate maintenance and support. A lot of people refer to that as a legal separation. They are legally separated whether there's a court document or not. So the point was that we were going to go forward on this June

5th hearing where and she was going to ask the court for specific relief, return and possession of certain property of hers that she wanted to have. And then we would just wait for the one year to pass and at the end of one year separation, then she would file for an actual divorce at that time. Now, that accusation of infidelity is interesting. Why? Because the Daily Mail has just reported and published photos that apparently show John Paul on a date at a restaurant with another woman just four days after Micah's death.

sources telling the outlet that he was laughing and drinking now to be clear we haven't been able to independently verify the photos or the situation as of yet but that dynamic is so important and with that we had the opportunity the privilege to sit down with micah's father michael francis and he shared his doubts about the findings the scene the investigation into micah's death and keep in mind it was reported that john paul was not in north carolina when mika died but it was actually in Charleston, South Carolina, that he was observed traveling on a highway in South Carolina at 222 p.m. on the day Micah died. So seemingly has an alibi.

But let's hear what Michael had to say. Since there were multiple shell casings found and a live round found, it already didn't make much sense. So it would seem that they would automatically do a complete toxicology, not just blood alcohol and a complete autopsycheons. which they did not do. And we're just devastated that they didn't because John Paul rushed the cremation process

during the 911 call. She's so slow and so, you know, but then later there are, I haven't even heard them myself, honestly. I have someone who's going through all that for me and filtering the information because otherwise, the more information I get that sounds off, the more furious I get, and I need to be able to focus and control my emotions. So, but there is screaming going on and such, and that's not something indicative of a self-inflicted.

You know, that's, that sounds like a, you know, a fight. And with the bruising on her hands and on her arm, scratches on her hands, indicating defensive wounds, she had scratches on her arms and, I mean, on her, on her hand. And the coroner in training had the chief coroner with her, but she spoke out and said, well, maybe that's from when they retrieved her from the water. And I said, OK, of course, maybe. So was there blood in those scratches and such?

They had no answer. Very disappointing. So I basically said the scratches indicate some type of scuffle or something, Because the area where she was, there was no trees or anything anyway. There was no trees in the water. There was nothing there that would have scratched her hands the way they were. I mean, like this.

So, you know, it indicated that there was, you know, some type of pressure. You have a theory as to what you believe happened to your daughter? Okay, well, I'll share what we spoke to about with the authority, sheriff in North Carolina. Also, as far as with his location, we've seen pictures of his truck. It had dark windows. Was it even him in there? Where's pictures of him physically there? When the car was at the park and then it was collected by the authorities, they didn't check for a tracker, which blew my mind. They had, they said, oh, we have all the evidence and everything. We asked him, was there a tracker on her car? And they said, well, we didn't

check and we were flabbergasted this happened over and over and during that interview why didn't you check that we know that there was three or four trackers put on her vehicles why wouldn't you check to see if she was followed they said oh that we there there's no cameras but we know she wasn't followed her car's just out here and I said well there's no trackers they said no tracker I said well they you know they could have removed it after they did the deed so then the Micah's mother Angelita she said you know She said, pretend this is, this is Micah's hand.

And this is, and she asked me, grab this hand. And then she pulled it up, you know, and said, it looks like someone squeezed her hand and raised it up and shot. Yeah. Wow. So again, we, we couldn't verify this. This is the account of Michael Francis, kind of providing an alternative understanding. We also did get a chance to speak to Sierra Francis. This is Micah's sister.

And one of the things, Sierra has stepped in as special administrator of Micah's estate and appears that there is kind of a legal battle going on between that estate and John Paul Miller in terms of certain assets. But one of the things that we asked Sierra about was her sister's mental state. And the idea that John Paul was acting as Micah's power of attorney, which is usually set up when somebody can't make medical decisions for themselves. again, trying to understand what was Micah's situation? So before Micah married, John Paul, she had no signs, no history, no indications of mental illness at all. He had every way to control her, and he was very good at manipulating the situation.

He had his sights set on her from a very young age, I would guess probably 14 years old, 14 or 15 when we first came to the church. And he, you know, he made sure that he kept her exactly. where he wanted her to to the point of who she married, what job she picked up after she was 18, he got her married, and then he made her his secretary and his babysitter and his, let's go to lunch person, and oh, you're so beautiful.

And then when she was married, same thing. Best friends with her husband, her previous husband, and manipulated the situation where he could have him doing something because he was his right because he was his right-hand man and then spend time with Micah alone. I also asked them about this allegation that came out that Micah was a suspect in the theft of nearly $1,200 in charity money for the Solid Rock Missionary Program in Africa. The investigation was closed.

It was determined it was a civil matter. But let's hear what they had to say. That was investigated. I have seen, you know, police excerpts on that. And from what I've seen to my, to best of my knowledge, it said that that was just a domestic dispute and there was no criminal charges to be filed. Okay, and also, as far as the amount that was mentioned, Micah was having trouble with the websites releasing the money to her from the donations, such as Ben Mo or stuff like that.

Right. They were holding on to those funds as they do for like the three-day period or whatever, gaining interest. And so during that period where the money didn't show up yet, he was accusing her, of stealing that money. And then after the fact, after she's passed, all the money showed back in except one penny. Not to mention that money wasn't money that was donated and she was stealing. This money was, hey, I've put $600 out of my pocket with the intention of, hey, you know, I will be reimbursed from this because that's what she was told. Hey, spend your $600 to purchase,

you know, all the donuts that you're using for fundraising. It's a charity. We'll make sure we reimburse you. Okay, now I want to move on to another update. And it concerns, Reginald Miller. This is the father of John Paul Miller and father-in-law to Micah Miller. And he insists that his son's relationship with Micah has been misunderstood, that he wants to correct the record. In an email to the Daily Mail, Reginald Miller says, quote, I have a video of Micah on a mission where she tells last year how she took a gun to kill herself and pulled the trigger and the bullet locked in the gun. In the second weeks of marriage, she went and got a gun and was outside shooting up the neighborhood when my son ran out to stop her. She spent the first three weeks. in a mental facility and all the time since then. Her family refused to believe how sick she was. She was a very, very sick young woman. He also seemed to mention that Micah wasn't overly emotional in her 911 phone call just before her death.

But here is what Regina Ward, again, Micah's former attorney, who we spoke to, here's what she had to say about that. I can only tell you what my client explained to me happened. And basically, there was a situation where she says that she did. get a gun and that she did put that to her head that she did pull the trigger and that it the bullet jammed um as far as the gun going off after that that did not happen according to my client she didn't you know say that that happened um there's statement that she shot up the neighborhood like she went through you know shooting the gun that's not true according to what my client relate

to me. It was simply, you know, the gun jammed, and that was the end of it. Nothing else happened. And what about the claim where he says her family refused to believe how sick she was? She was a very, very sick young woman. Okay. Well, Mr. Miller's father, from what I understand, and I don't have all the details on that, I'm not sure exactly how much she was actually involved. The other thing is that things that go on behind closed doors is only known by those people. So for him to have a personal direct knowledge of anything would be surprising to me. And so to say that she was very, very sick, I don't think he is in a position to make that call. And pretty much anything that he's sitting there is going to be hearsay from his own son who's going to spin it in his own direction.

By the way, John Paul Miller's lawyer, Russell B. Long, doubled down on refurb. refuting any insinuations, writing in a statement, quote, it has come to light that Micah Miller struggled with mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, which would not properly manage, led to paranoid episodes and self-destructive behavior. Following the untimely death of Micah Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations began circulating on social media and in various media outlets, suggesting Pastor Miller's involvement in her demise.

This created a buzz, causing local and national media outlets to be proliferating these falsehoods on a mammoth proportion. our client refutes any report that suggests he ever abused his wife now on that note let me go to a recent interview we did on sidebar with charlotte corn this is micah miller's best friend and it was a fascinating discussion because she actually provided us seemingly screenshots of conversations from micah and john paul miller so this was the last conversation between mica and charlotte it's dated april 5th mica writes you thank you for your gentlemen warnings throughout the years regarding my relationship with the J.P. I know that you knew I wasn't ready to get out, but looking back, your warnings were very helpful when trying to make tough life decisions. Definitely have replayed our convos in my head over and over throughout the years and wish there was something I could do to get out. And now I've done it with a smiley face emoji. And then later on, she writes, yes, things are looking up and are headed in a great direction.

What do you make of that? I mean, they were. She was, she had a new purpose in life. She had done a mission trip earlier that year and it really sparked a heart for missions for her and she had plans to go back and really had a new desire to become a missionary. She was working at a new job that she was loving.

She'd finally taken moves, legal moves, to end her previous chapter and start a new one. So things were looking up. And Charlotte made it clear to us that Micah never indicated she wanted to harm herself and that there is this misconception that she was off her meds and was having a psychotic break. Now, from there, we talked about how John Paul notified Charlotte that Micah had died. This is from J.P. Miller. This is on April 28th at 6.28 a.m.

And it says, I thought you two should know, Micah killed herself earlier today. she needed her lithium because she has been having a three-month psychotic episode. I'll keep you posted on funeral. What was your reaction to that? I was just thankful that I had found out around 2 a.m. that morning from anybody else but him and in that way. but of course my first thoughts were this is the text from the grieving husband telling her best friend there's another message that you sent us from john paul miller and it's in a group of people and if you could explain to us who all the people are in this group but this is what the message

appears to show from john paul this is what happens when you try to encourage someone to divorce the person they love and tell them they don't need medicine and that they're not ill when they are. Good job Francis family. So who was he writing that to and what was that about? So that was the night of her death at around 10, 30 at night. They had found out within a few hours of that message. And that was the text that he decided to send them at 2 a.m.

When I found out from another friend, I was just in total disbelief. and thought there was just some terrible misunderstanding. So I immediately called her sisters, and they were all together and confirmed everything. But they sent me that message. They said, this is how JP is handling it. Yeah. Now, Charlotte also shared with us a text conversation between John Paul, Micah, and herself from 2022. So the message appears to show John Paul Miller writing,

I would leave anyone or anything for you. I'm only asking for the same respect. You can't treat someone like S and then leave. You're supposed to work it out, stay and do whatever it takes. Please don't be selfish this one time. I'm literally begging you to do the right thing, the godly thing. And he goes on to say, I need you. I want you.

And I don't want to sleep alone ever. Okay, so Charlotte, there are a lot of these messages. What exactly was he talking about here? What was going on? The question that kind of kicked into them having an argument was he asked her, if you could kiss a girl, who would it be? And she said, of course, I wouldn't kiss a girl. That's a ridiculous question. I'm not going to answer that. But he kept harping on it and harping on it. And finally she said, fine, I guess if I had to kiss a girl, it'd be Charlotte. But he did not like that answer because we were reversed.

very good friends, obviously. And we were spending a lot of time together. We talked all the time. And so that just kind of made the switch flip. And he started asking, well, what kind of feelings do you have for Charlotte and have y'all kissed? And it just, that was the conversation that led into, I think a greater conversation, which I still don't have

the full information on. But that was what kicked off this big blow up. I had a direct message going with him and I probably five, six, seven times wrote to him, John Paul, stop messaging her. I don't know what's going on with you guys right now, but you are making this so much worse. Please stop messaging her and I just kept telling him, which goes to show my reason for being in the message was totally not for accountability like he so claimed. And there's another message, if you can provide context, this is from John Paul. We'll please ask your wife to stop texting me things when she has no effing clue what has happened or is happening.

She has sent wisdom out of her mouth about how she would do what Micah did, blah, blah, blah. And it goes on, what is this about? It was at the end of the night around 1 o'clock in the morning and Micah was concerned that he truly was driving up there to get her back. He had stopped responding to the messages that she was in with her sister. He'd stopped responding to the message that we were in together. And then when we stopped responding, Micah was obviously very concerned. And she said he turned off his location services, so she didn't know where he was. And she was asking me what to do.

And I said, honestly, Micah, I would call the police and have him do a wellness check just to make sure he's there. And she did. Um, and once he, once he finally started writing back, um, his direct message to me, because I, I said, Jim, he, if you don't write me us back soon, like, I'm going to come over there. Um, I'm sure I would not have, but, um, he finally wrote back and he said, and I'll just, unless you fill in the blanks here, but effing B tried to get me arrested. And, um, I said, John Paul, she wanted to do a wellness check.

You know, with everything that you're saying, I would have done the same thing. And me saying that is what sparked his message to my husband and myself about stop texting me. You have no effing clue because I said I would have done the same thing. Now I'm going to leave you with one more update in the Micah Miller case, and that is that the Robeson County Sheriff's Office has announced that the FBI has launched a parallel investigation into this. this case. But to be clear, not into the death of Micah Miller. Again, authority is still saying this was a suicide, but something seemingly connected to the case. We're not sure where this FBI investigation will go. We are not sure what new details we will learn, but these are some updates that have currently come out, and we will continue to follow anything that happens. And I just

want to thank our guests who have come on sidebar to talk about this, speaking to us about Micah, in what has to be just a very, very difficult time for them. So again, just want to thank them for coming on and sharing those details. That is all we have for you here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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