Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #73 - Justice for Mica: With FBI Raid, JP Miller’s World Comes Crumbling Down

Starting point is 00:00:02 I don't know if or when we will ever see J.P. Miller in handcuffs. But after the FBI conducted a robust raid of his Myrtle Beach home on Friday, and after watching his castle of solid rock crumble this past week, I am more hopeful than ever that justice for Micah is coming. My name is Mandy Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast. exposing crime and corruption previously known as the Murdoch Murders podcast. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production written with journalist Liz Farrell.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Hello. Not going to lie, I have been crying off and on all day. And I haven't gathered my thoughts completely as to what is happening with our country right now. But honestly, I'm not ready to talk about it, and I don't want to talk about that right now. I want to talk about things that we can control. I want to talk about justice that we can work toward. I want to talk about crimes that need sunlight. And today, we have a lot to talk about. Here's Liz.

Starting point is 00:01:41 As always, we have a few quick updates before we talk about the very major development in the Micah Francis case. First, today officially marks one week since the South Carolina Department of Corrections decided to try try again with its wacky experiment of seeing whether Bowen Turner's prefrontal cortex hole has closed, as per his attorney at his last state plea hearing, a plea hearing that cleared the way for his parole. Bowen was released last Thursday, and according to the DOC's website, he is under intense supervision. What's intense supervision, right? Great question, because as soon as we saw the phrase, we were like, sure, we'll believe that when we see it. Remember, South Carolina

Starting point is 00:02:31 is a state that couldn't even keep track of where Bowen was when he was on GPS monitoring and house arrest for two rape charges. And not only that, South Carolina is a state that when presented with the hardcore evidence that, hey, Bowen Turner has been breaking the conditions of his bond repeatedly, it chose to reward him with a reduction in charges, rape charges, and a sweetheart plea deal of probation instead of holding him accountable. And as you all know, he's outdone himself in proving just how little he deserved that. Anyway, we asked around what intensive supervision actually means. Anecdotally, we were told that intensive supervision is what regular parole should probably look like,

Starting point is 00:03:20 meaning regular parole conditions are laughable. That said, Christy Shane, who is the spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, said that as part of this intensive supervision, Bowen agreed to one of the standard conditions for all YOA releases, which is to say, quote, I shall not use controlled substances except when properly prescribed by a licensed physician, not consume alcoholic beverages to excess, nor enter establishments whose primary business is the sale and drinking of alcoholic beverages.

Starting point is 00:03:58 Further, I shall submit to testing for drugs, alcohol, when required, and agree that the test result may be used as evidence of violating my parole. May, not will, right? Remember, during his final plea hearing in late September, Bowen was sentenced to Time Served for Revenue. resisting arrest back in March. And that meant he avoided what could have and to our minds should have amounted to another year in prison. As part of that hearing, his attorney said that Bowen had agreed to receive a shot on the day of his release that would prevent him from

Starting point is 00:04:37 feeling the effects of alcohol. What I'm saying is this. Bowen bought himself and his community, as it were, 30 days at least. Now that we know alcohol monitoring is a part of this, though, that does ease our minds little. However, we don't know what that looks like. The Department of Corrections is making us FOIA for more details on the terms of Bowen's parole. So we'll update you on that when we finally know something. And that pledge or honor code that YOA offenders have to agree to upon release is utterly meaningless unless there's a monitoring system that's actually in place.

Starting point is 00:05:16 So this is all to say we don't know yet what intensive supervision looks like. We don't know if that includes actual active monitoring or if this is just some performative thing that's getting done because the Department of Corrections knows we're watching. We hope Bowen has turned a corner and it's taking this opportunity more seriously than he did all the other chances he has been given. In the meantime, everyone stay safe out there. Our next update. The South Carolina Supreme Court delivered a beautiful blow to one of Eleg Murdoch's core peripheral arguments in trying to get his murder conviction overturned. I say peripheral because I'm referring to his argument that the Egg Lady jurors dismissal

Starting point is 00:05:58 is somehow relevant to his verdict when she didn't render a verdict. On Thursday, justices denied the Egg Lady's jurors demand to become part of the case and her motion to unseal records related to the investigation that led to her getting kicked off the jury on the last day, due to her blabbing about the trial outside the courtroom in direct violation of the judge's orders. The funny thing about this is that Ellick's attorneys argued in support of this by claiming that transparency was the most important thing at stake here. And I'm not kidding you. They argued this. Ellick's quote, admitted financial crimes likely could not have happened in the sunlight of full public access to the information.

Starting point is 00:06:45 involved judicial proceedings. So they're blaming who for that? Judge Carmen Mullen? The other judges in the 14th Circuit who might have gone along with Eleg's request to not file documents properly or publicly? If only the judges had been more transparent. Because if they are saying that,

Starting point is 00:07:06 we agree, obviously, as far as what happened in the past anyway. As far as the Egg Lady is concerned, we still regard that as a big joke, where reality and the truth and facts do not seem to matter to the egg lady, to Ehrlich, to their delusional supporters and advocates, or to their lawyers. The Egg lady's lawyer, by the way, is Joe McCullough, Dick Harputtleyan's bestie. So essentially, this is the court knocking back the nonsense. Like we said on Cup of Justice this week, the Egg Lady's request to be part of this

Starting point is 00:07:42 case, again, denied, is all part of Team Murdoch's strategy to blur the facts and seize the headlines in Elyx's favor. They want people to regard her removal as some sort of conspiracy involving Becky, but it's not. And it's dumb that we have to keep saying this over and over again, so we won't. While this does not mean that Elex appeal is doomed by any stretch, it does serve as an early test of just how much the Supreme Court might be willing to entertain their sideshow hustle. Okay, now let's talk about the Krista Bauer-Gilley case in Houston. As you all know, Krista was killed on October 7th, and she was nine weeks pregnant at the time. Her husband, Lee, is charged with strangling her to death.

Starting point is 00:08:33 Both are from South Carolina. Lee initially told police that he and Krista had gotten into an argument and that he had found her unconscious three hours later. He told police she had taken drugs to kill herself and that he tried to give her CPR to revive her. Then, Christ's autopsy contradicted his claims, which anecdotally seems to be a disturbingly common reality that we are learning more and more about in cases across the country.

Starting point is 00:09:03 A woman dies, the man in her life claims it was a suicide, and it turns out it wasn't. So on Friday, the Houston Chronicle reported on what went down at a hearing about the custody of their two small children and it is telling. First, let's do a quick refresher. Lee is out on a $1 million bond. He's on GPS monitoring and on house arrest, at least between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Starting point is 00:09:33 We still do not know where his house arrest is supposed to be. be. That was concerning to us last week and even more concerning now after this custody hearing. Because here's the thing, as a part of Lee's bond agreement, he is barred from seeing his children and restrained from going to the house that he shared with Krista as well as his children's daycare, which is significant, right? Because when you're talking about child custody, obviously the kids shouldn't be in a place where Lee Gilley might be. Now, The bombshell that came out right after that hearing is that Lee's brother and father-in-law told the judge that after police interviewed him about Christ's death, Lee considered fleeing

Starting point is 00:10:19 the Houston area with the kids. Lee's attorney denies this, obviously. Because if Lee were planning to make a run for it, that would be a big deal, because Bond is for people who are not flight risks or dangers to the community. So that is another thing that is concerning here. Now, as far as the hearing goes, Lee's brother and Christ's family both wanted custody of the children. According to the Chronicle, Lee's brother's attorney asked the judge

Starting point is 00:10:52 to weigh the needs of the children over Gillie's pending murder case, which the murder in question is about their mother. So to ask the court to overlook that kind of shows you where the guy stands, right? And while we are not saying that his brother would expose the kids to Lee, we are saying that it puts them one degree of separation away from him at a time when the court has been clear that he is to have no contact with them. Luckily, the judge appears to have been on the same page with us about that. Sort of. She granted temporary joint conservatorship to Christ's parents and to Lee's sister-in-law.

Starting point is 00:11:35 not his brother, but his sister-in-law. It is not clear if that's referring to Lee's brother's wife or another member of the family spouse. And it's also not clear whether the sister-in-law is still married to the brother. Because what difference does it actually make if they're in the same household? The judge told the court that the children must stay mostly in Texas and she reiterated that Lee cannot be around them until after this case has been adjudicated.

Starting point is 00:12:06 According to the Chronicle, the lawyer for Christus' parents asked Lee's brother and his wife whether they thought Lee was a danger to the children and they both said no, calling him one of the best fathers they know, inciting the fact that he was around the kids in the days after Christus' murder and his arrest,

Starting point is 00:12:26 which, okay, let's face it, the stakes are much higher for Lee right now, right? He has a lot to lose, and if being pregnant is the most dangerous time for a woman, when it comes to the risk of getting murdered, then let's talk about what might be the most dangerous time for a murder suspect, innocent or guilty. We are continuing to hound officials to find out where exactly Lee Gilley is supposed to be, and we are continuing to talk to sources on background about Lee and Krista Gilli.

Starting point is 00:13:00 If you knew them, please contact us. What we are hearing so far is surprising and strange, and we hope to share more on this case soon. Also, in the meantime, Christus Friends have been resharing the GoFundMe for Christus Family. An update on the GoFundMe that has raised more than $194,000 has a recently updated goal of $250,000. They said this is because of increased financial needs now that the Bowers, Christus Family, have to move to Texas to care for the children likely until Lee's trial. The update said, quote, the family now faces the reality of planning Christ's funeral,

Starting point is 00:13:43 managing their businesses from afar, and maintaining two separate households, all while shouldering the immeasurable emotional toll of this loss. They are deeply grateful to have the children with them, as they know the road ahead will be filled with challenges. No family should ever have. have to face. We shared the GoFundMe for Christus Family in the description, and we encourage all of you to support them and to share it. Okay, so now it is time to talk about what ranks up there as probably the best news that we have gotten since

Starting point is 00:14:19 Elyke Murdoch was convicted for murder, and we watched his best buddies get locked up. We are all about justice and small daily doses. They are daily victories when we put sunlight on live, contradictions, hypocrisies, corruption, and incompetence. All things that contribute to the two systems of justice, right? We take immense pride in being able to deliver those doses through our reporting each week. But man, it feels really good to watch justice play out in the most dramatic of ways. We are going to have reporter Beth Braden, who has been on top of this story, the beginning, tell you about how the news unfolded Friday when the FBI finally raided the home

Starting point is 00:15:10 of John Paul Miller. And she will tell you about that right after a quick break. We'll be right back. So, there we were on Friday morning minding our own business when I saw YouTuber Robbie Harvey tweet about the presence of law enforcement at J.P. Miller's home on Coldwater Circle in Myrtle Beach just afternoon. Hearing that law enforcement was at J.P.'s home, or even at Solid Rock, has become a regular expectation for us at this point. We've told you about the numerous times the cops have been there in the past year, with the most recent occasion being a neighborhood argument about a four-wheeler in September. On Friday, though, photos and video from the scene showed us that the vehicles at J.P.'s home were completely unmarked, not an Ory County cop in sight.

Starting point is 00:16:10 So I reached out to Kevin Wheeler, the FBI's public information officer in the Columbia office. Thus far, the FBI, as is typical for them, has been very tight-lipped on J.P.'s case. Typically, they don't even acknowledge the existence of an open investigation. But they did confirm that there was one in this case back in May when Wheeler told me that he didn't dispute the Robeson County North Carolina Sheriff's Department, saying that they had called on the FBI to investigate following information they received throughout the course of investigating Micah's alleged suicide. So when I called Kevin, I wasn't actually expecting to get a whole lot of information about what was happening at JP's house. At that point, we didn't even know if it was the FBI there. But sure enough, Wheeler told me that the Bureau was, quote,

Starting point is 00:17:02 conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity, end quote, at the home of John Paul Miller. The FBI finally confirmed court-authorized law enforcement activity in an investigation that has been going on for months. But before this moment, we were never able to attribute the information we were reporting to a named law enforcement official. And boy, was their search of J.P. Miller's house a big deal. In addition to the fleet of unmarked SUVs, the FBI had brought a large evidence processing truck, which was the same size and shape as a small moving truck you might rent to move your stuff across town. The FBI truck, however, had all kinds of doors and panels that opened up to reveal everything that the agents needed to process the scene. Boxes, bags, swabs, fingerprint powder, you name it.

Starting point is 00:17:56 They also brought a camera and at least three members of the evidence response team. The ERT are the folks who are trained to document, collect, and catalog physical and forensic evidence. You don't need these guys if you're just swinging by to seize a laptop and cell phone on your lunch break before heading back to headquarters. So that tells us they were looking for more than just the electronics and were interested in other kinds of evidence. The commotion quickly drew a crowd outside J.P.'s house. So by about 1 p.m., we had access to a couple of live streams and were receiving photos and video from sources on the scene. After a few hours, protesters who have been posted outside Solid Rock each Sunday during service arrived at J.P.'s house, where they continued their chance of, Justice for Micah, and You Can't Hide from the FBI.

Starting point is 00:18:47 JP wasn't there at the time, but we think the protesters were assuming he might have. have been tuned into one of the live streams and would hear them. According to bystanders, J.P. wasn't home when more than two dozen, yes, I said that right, more than two dozen FBI agents descended on his home. The buzz is that J.P. was over at Starbucks when the agents approached him to give him the sealed search warrant and tell him that they were about to raid his place. The same place he shared with Micah after their marriage in late 2017. We don't know for certain when Micah was last at the home, but JP's probate filing from the summer says she was there for about four hours on March 19, 24, which is more than a month before

Starting point is 00:19:32 her death. On Friday, the dark blue pickup that JP is known to drive was not at the home when we started getting photos and video from the raid, but the Delorean he had bought right after Micah died was visible in the garage with its back-to-the-fut-themed vanity plate, out-time. O-U-T-T-I-M-E. Also in the garage was that four-wheeler that was at the center of the September police presence at J.P.'s house. Speaking of the garage, it was opened and closed several times during the raid, probably to keep crying eyes from seeing what they were searching for and or finding in there.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Back in October, J-P's oldest son, Logan Hardy, posted the four-wee. for sale on Facebook for his dad, and the photos showed several plastic bins on shelves in the garage at that time, so there was plenty to look through from what we could see. Now, the search warrant for J.P.'s house is sealed, so we don't know what they were looking for specifically. However, a source with knowledge of the investigation says that the alleged crime being investigated is interstate domestic violence. Interstate domestic violence has two offenses. One has to do with, quote, travel or conduct of the offender, and the second is, quote, causing travel of a victim. That second offense says, quote, a person who causes a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner

Starting point is 00:20:58 to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or to enter or leave Indian country by force, coercion, duress, or fraud, and who, in the course of, as a result of, or to facilitate such conduct or travel, commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence against that spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection B. This is a serious charge, by the way. If JP does get charged with this, he can face up to life in prison. Like I said, it's no joke. And keep in mind, Micah was a resident of South Carolina and traveled to North Carolina where authorities say she killed herself. I have reached out to JP's attorney, Russell B. Long for comment, and to find out more about the

Starting point is 00:21:48 warrant, but he has not returned my call. J.P. Miller has not been charged with any crime related to Micah's death in either state or federal court. He also denies ever abusing Micah in any sense of the word. On Friday after the raid, we watched on a live stream as agents removed several cardboard boxes and paper bags, as well as what looked like a desktop computer, an IMac computer, and some kind of cardboard cylinder. We think the cardboard cylinder was a container for something else, but we have no idea what was in it. In all, it took agents nearly five hours to go through the home, and this is not a big house. According to an old Zillow listing, it's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-bathroom house coming in at 2300 square feet. Let's say bystanders were wrong,

Starting point is 00:22:35 about the number of agents, and it was only 10 or 12 of them. That's still pretty heavy coverage for a home that size. From everything we're seeing, the feds had the place smothered and covered. We also know that the FBI did not go to the actual church building at 803 Howard Avenue, which is interesting because I think we all assumed that the church itself would be part of any investigation since JP is the registered agent of Solid Rock Ministries, Inc., which owns the church, the house on Coldwater Circle, and two parcels of land on the Highway 17 bypass that are slated to become the home of a new building for Solid Rock. And speaking of those two parcels of land on the bypass, there was another incident we need to talk about and dispel some of the social media scuttlebutt.

Starting point is 00:23:22 On Friday morning, prior to the raid at J.P. Miller's house, there was a suicide on the side of the U.S. 17 bypass right along the property owned by Solid Rock. That property is also across Highway 17 from the entrance to J.P.'s neighborhood. That road is a busy one. According to the redacted CAD and police report from ORI County, a passerby called 911 at 9.45 a.m. to report a woman lying on the side of the road near a black Cadillac SUV. Ory County Police Department Officer Robert Aman noted in his report that there was a black semi-automatic handgun near the victim's right hand,

Starting point is 00:24:01 and there was blood coming from under her head. Additionally, the report notes that another bystander told police that her surveillance camera had recorded a gunshot between the hours of 3.30 and 5.30 on Friday morning. Now, of course, somebody turning up dead at or near Solid Rock property on the same day the FBI raids J.P. Miller's home did not feel like a coincidence whatsoever. But this time, it was.

Starting point is 00:24:30 Let me lay out why. First, I know the name of the woman who died, and we send her family and those who loved her are deepest condolences. I can tell by reading the tributes to her on the obituary page at the funeral homes website that she was beloved by many. While we won't be sharing her name to protect her privacy and the privacy of her family, I can tell you I spent hours chatting with sources and doing lots of research in an attempt to find any concrete links between the woman,

Starting point is 00:25:00 her husband or her family, to Solid Rock, J.P. or his father, and there aren't any. Additionally, they appear to be from different faith backgrounds that wouldn't generally attend the same style of church as Solid Rock. It's a strange coincidence in the same way it was a strange coincidence when a woman jumped from a Beaufort County Bridge on the morning after Paul Murdoch and Maggie Murdoch were killed in 2021. People were convinced the jumper had something to do with the murders, but there was no link. There's also another piece of misinformation floating around TikTok. This one from a TikTok user known as the iPhone guru,

Starting point is 00:25:39 who generally live streams the protests that have been happening outside Solid Rock each Sunday for the last six months. On Saturday morning, a video showing the Emmons Preserve Neighborhood Pool was posted to TikTok and YouTube, in which Guru, as he's known to his followers, is heard on videos saying that the Ori County Police and the FBI had done. just left. He implied that they had been there in connection with the death of Chris Skinner, the quadriplegic husband of Susie Skinner, who drowned in his wheelchair in 2021. According to court records, Susie Skinner and JP were romantically involved while they were

Starting point is 00:26:14 married to Chris and Micah, and she has been spotted with him in public several times since Micah died. I checked with Ori County, and they have no record of being in that neighborhood Friday night. Additionally, that neighborhood is in Myrtle Beach Police Department jurisdiction, and they don't show any police activity in their crime map for that neighborhood. There's also no evidence that the police visited the Emmons Preserve Pool or Susie Skinner's home after the raid at J.P. Miller's home. And no shade, but the video that was posted purportedly showing this so-called police presence shows no police presence. So let's talk a little bit about the mechanics here. First, we cannot stress this enough. We would

Starting point is 00:27:00 not have been able to see and understand the FBI raid on JP's house without the quick thinking from citizen journalists who live streamed from outside his house. We want to especially give a shout out to a woman named Chloe Irbon who stood outside the house for hours so that people could see what was happening and it was hot in Myrtle Beach on Friday. Chloe spotted it out for everyone, but also we want to give her props for the way she handled herself in the situation. We don't know if she has any formal training in journalism or communications, but she was very careful about what she said during the live stream. She refused to speculate. She qualified everything she was saying by citing a general source, as in, this is what I was told. She never once sensationalized what was happening. And she

Starting point is 00:27:47 patiently answered commenters questions as she went. She was also incredibly sweet to a little boy in the neighborhood who was apparently beyond thrilled with the drama and excited to tell everyone that he was going to be famous because he was going to be on the news. There are so many disappointments and frustrations in what we do, especially in covering this case. So we just wanted to highlight some positives. Okay, so back to the actual rate itself. Let's start with the biggest question, and I want to qualify it by saying, I'm coming from a place of pleasant surprise but also mild suspicion. All that for a domestic violence charge? Y'all, when I tell you how unusual it is to see this much effort go into this case,

Starting point is 00:28:37 that many resources being used, it's a dream come true, right? How many women's deaths go deeply uninvestigated every day by law enforcement? How many domestic violence cases get pleaded down to practically nothing or dropped altogether? How many times have you heard about law enforcement officers arresting both parties simply because they can't be bothered to dig deeper to find out what was actually going on here. It's bleak. The state of how domestic violence is policed is eternally bad. So again, yay for the FBI on this one. But also, let's think a little cynically here for a second. All that for one potential charge of domestic violence, it makes us wonder if there might be something more going on. Because like Beth said, it doesn't seem like you would need.

Starting point is 00:29:27 need three evidence response team members for a couple of computers and journals. But we're not FBI agents, so what do we know, right? Oh, wait, we talk to sources. From what we understand, this is very unexpected and unusual to see. We don't yet know what to make of that, though, because all indications are that this is just about one charge and doesn't involve anything related to church finances, etc. The second unusual thing, or at least unusual, according to the people who are familiar with these types of investigations, is that there appears to have been an assistant U.S. attorney on the scene. Our sources say they don't usually do that.

Starting point is 00:30:07 So does this mean that this case rises to a certain level within the U.S. Attorney's Office? Maybe. Certainly seems that way. But there might be something else going on. This case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Florence, South Carolina. According to information online, there is an assistant U.S. attorney in that office who bears a resemblance to the photos we have of the man at the scene of the raid. According to LinkedIn, that man appears to be someone who joined the office in the past few years. This particular prosecutor's focus, according to his LinkedIn page, is narcotics, violent crime, and national security.

Starting point is 00:30:43 And he wasn't always a prosecutor. He used to be a law enforcement officer, again, according to his LinkedIn page. and he lists as one of the agencies he worked at as a patrol deputy as Robeson County Sheriff's Office. That's right. The same agency that initially investigated Micah's death. Now, what does that mean? Maybe nothing, right? But it could also mean that this case ended up where it was

Starting point is 00:31:09 because maybe this prosecutor's ears perked up when he heard there was a common denominator with it. Remember, we were originally told by the sheriff's office that something came up in the regular course of investigation that rose to the level of getting the FBI involved. None of this changes anything. Considering this information does help us in our pursuit of gaining insight into why there was such a strong showing of agents on Friday. It prompts us to keep asking questions and pull at any thread that might suggest there could be more here. Now, the warrants remain sealed. According to the Post and Courier newspaper, Russell B. Long, who we call Russell B. Wrong, J.P.'s attorney, said the FBI was on a fishing expedition.

Starting point is 00:31:53 If you listen to a cup of justice this week, you know Eric Glenn said this is highly unlikely. At this point, the FBI had to have probable cause in order to get a warrant, which means they have some sort of evidence already and had an idea of what they were looking for while in the house. Here's what JP's attorney also said. Quote, there was no affidavit to the search warrant,

Starting point is 00:32:15 therefore I have no idea what it's in relation to. and that after the FBI was done with their searching, that he was hoping this was, quote, the end of it. We don't have to remind you that over the summer when Micah's family settled their probate case against JP, that this same attorney made quite the show of saying that to his knowledge, the FBI had closed its investigation into JP. There have also been several comments on TikTok since then that we've seen, in which people who appear to be supporting JP also claimed the FBI case was closed. Does that case seem closed to any of you?

Starting point is 00:32:50 Yeah, us neither. The raid kind of gives it away, right? And a lawyer like Russell B. Long, who has a long history of federal cases he's worked on, would know that this spells trouble for his goofy client. One more thing. Why was the search warrant sealed? It didn't have to be. They could have chosen not to seal it.

Starting point is 00:33:13 Doesn't even appear to have been filed with the court yet, at least not where it's publicly visible. The reason to seal a warrant is to obviously keep the apparent target and any potential other targets connected to the case in the dark about the nature and scope of the investigation. In other words, there's a reason the FBI doesn't want JP to know what exactly they're looking at here. And something tells us that we're going to know sooner rather than later what that reason is. And we'll be right back. Now, in our opinion, and let's be clear about that,

Starting point is 00:34:02 This raid could not have happened to a more deserving man. Six months and 23 episodes ago in episode 50, we began our journey covering this case. And now, after the FBI raid, we need to look back on what we've learned. I'll be honest. After re-listening to episodes 50 through 57 in particular, I have realized how much shocking information that we have uncovered in this case, and it is easy to forget, details. Days after Micah's death, several hundred of y'all tagged, messaged, and posted on

Starting point is 00:34:39 social media asking for us to cover this case because of our reputation from covering the Mardot case in a way that forced accountability and resulted in accountability. We decided to cover this story for many reasons. We understand the South Carolina justice system better than any other true crime podcast out there. We understand the great disadvantage women have in our system, especially when their cases are immediately labeled as suicide. And the more we learn about coercive control through Micah's story, and the more that we share that knowledge with our audience, the more lives we save. Lucky for us, Micah left a large paper trail of evidence documenting the alleged abuse that she faced in her marriage, nearly up until the day she died. And her estranged

Starting point is 00:35:37 husband, J.P. Miller, he also made our jobs much easier by providing a sea of red flags for us to examine, which helped us expose his behavior over the course of more than 20 episodes. But the first red flag that alerted most of the world to J.P. Miller in the wake of his wife's mysterious death, was straight from the pulpit of the preacher himself. On Sunday, April 28th, less than 24 hours after he found out that his 30-year-old wife had died, John Paul Miller waited to the end of church service

Starting point is 00:36:14 at Solid Rock to deliver news that shocked the world. I'm going to have you stand up and I'm going to make an announcement. And after the announcement, I'm going to ask that you leave church quietly and don't talk about the announcement. the announcement here in the building, please, if you can't. So y'all can stand to your feet. Before I make the announcement, I also want to say that my request to you is that you will continue to come to church and serve and give for the next, you know, a little bit.

Starting point is 00:36:45 I'm taking a little bit of a break and I don't want to have to worry about the church. My break may be a few days, a few weeks, I don't know. I got a call late last night. My wife has passed away. Yeah, it was self-induced, and it was self-induced, and it was. was up in North Carolina. And we're going to have a funeral for her next Sunday here at 3 p.m. And so it's all I can, yeah, I'm just kind of going on adrenaline right now.

Starting point is 00:37:10 So y'all pray for me and my kids and everybody. And she was, she wasn't, y'all knew that she wasn't well mentally and that she needed a medicine that was hard to get to her. And so I'm sure there'll be more details to come. But just keep our family in your prayers. And I'm going to let Pastor Randall, a bishop, he can pray. I get a microphone, pray out, and if you have anything you want to share as well. I had to go back to this moment because this clip is what got news outlets from around the world to cover the story.

Starting point is 00:37:40 This clip is what raised true crime creator's suspicions surrounding Micah's death. Let's be clear, J.P.'s PR crisis began the moment that this clip hit the Internet, and he has no one to blame for that except for himself. The whole thing gave most of us the ick, including his own church members, who immediately felt something was up there. Why did he say it like that? Why did he announce Micah's death as a suicide 10 days before authorities had ruled it a suicide? Why was he concerned about church members leaving at this very moment? Why was he referring to Micah as his wife when she had just served him divorce papers for the second time in six months? Why was he publicly blaming her mental illness like that when the investigation was very much new and ongoing?

Starting point is 00:38:46 And why did he tell his congregation to stand up to hear such devastating news? From there, the red flags of J.P. Miller kept popping up like whackamoles. It was surprisingly easy, actually, to gather disturbing information on this man that would support the idea that Micah's death was going to expose something much bigger going on. From the beginning, we felt that Micah wanted her death to expose JP. Every piece of information we have gathered in the last six months has painted a dark and very vivid picture of J.P.'s allegedly abusive behavior toward Micah that did not end when she died. Specifically, it showed us that Micah's mental health history was not just being weaponized against her, but there were serious questions about J.P.'s' role in her

Starting point is 00:39:43 original diagnosis and subsequent treatment. In those first few days of reporting, we all read Micah's obituary written by JP with her jaws agape. Every word felt like another stomp on her grave, and we didn't even know the full scope of the story yet. J.P. wrote an entire paragraph about how great he was and made sure the people realized that her purpose in life was serving her husband. And again, without even knowing J.P. and Micah and the extent of their history, we immediately picked up on how odd it was that he mocked Micah's love for her family, who we later found out he was constantly at odds with.

Starting point is 00:40:32 He wrote in her obituary that Micah loved them so much, literally with a bunch of drawn-out O's. And he poked fun at Micah by mentioning things that she did that were obviously points of contention in their marriage, which is something we later confirmed to be true. He mocked her ice baths, which he had blamed for causing her bipolar disorder, according to text messages.

Starting point is 00:41:00 He said she loved her nice car, which was a Honda Civic, a car that she actually owned, and the car which he took from her in February and then lied to police about. And he said in the obituary that she loved her dog Loki. The same dog that he was later accused of sexually abusing by a person who called the police, but the police never investigated. See episode 68 for that.

Starting point is 00:41:29 I told y'all this man deserved the FBI rating his house for hours, in our opinion, of course. Oh, and at the end of the obituary, J.P. urged people to donate to the Dare to Care Mission Fund in memory of Micah. We later would find out that J.P. had previously accused Micah of stealing from that charity, and he documented that accusation in a police report twice. A move that was devastating to Micah because she loved that charity. It was an accusation that a judge later declared unfounded. Oh, and he was never charged with filing a false report to police afterwards,

Starting point is 00:42:12 which was one of many occasions that we found where Ory County and Myrtle Beach Police let this man's bad behavior slide and escalate. Hence why we are so glad the FBI is on this right now. For me, there was one final red flag that stood out to us in week one of our Micah Frances investigation, and that was her family's affidavits. On May 2nd, which was just a few days after Micah's death, Micah's sister Sierra filed paperwork to be appointed special administrator of her estate. And that paperwork contained affidavits from Micah's siblings,

Starting point is 00:42:51 documenting their knowledge of the abusive relationship. And that gave us a trail of breadcrumbs to follow that we are still on. This move by Micah's family was unusual to us. In a lot of cases, it takes grief. grieving families weeks or months to get to a point where they feel comfortable making accusations. But Sierra's affidavit took the guesswork out of our story. She told us all in so few words how her sister actually died by a thousand metaphorical cuts, rather than just a bullet of a nine-millimeter. I know my sister to have expressed the abuse and violence against her by her husband to others,

Starting point is 00:43:39 including family members and members of the church congregation. Micah told me that there were people following her, keeping track of where she went. She thought that Mr. Miller hired people to follow her. Mr. Miller later confirmed this during a sermon I watched. Micah confided in me that Mr. Miller was moving assets that were in his name, such as his vehicle, changing the deed to their house, to the church, transferring interest in crocodile rocks to one of his sons. It's interesting how now we see that JP was talking about moving assets before Micah's death, which could have been in anticipation of the divorce. to hide assets from Micah. But after JP's home was raided by the FBI on Friday,

Starting point is 00:44:35 everything looks different in this light. In Sierra's affidavit, she cut straight through the noise surrounding her sister's case and pointed the finger right at JP. My sister also expressed to me that she was fearful that she would not make it to the divorce and that her life would be taken from her. Micah stated to me on many occasions,

Starting point is 00:45:02 if I ended up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me. It was J.P. Micah forwarded a family group text message notifying us that Mr. Miller was served the divorce papers on April 25th, 2004. On April 27th, 2024, my sister. Micah A. Miller was found dead as a result of a gunshot wound. Let me repeat that. Quote, if I end up dead with a bullet in my head, it was not by me.

Starting point is 00:45:47 It was by JP. Haunting, right? What are the odds that a woman would tell her sister, those words? In just two days after her husband, J.P., was served divorce papers, She ended up dead in a random park that was more than an hour away from her home. Micah serving J.P., his divorce papers, was one of many actions she had taken in the weeks leading up to her death that might indicate she hadn't been planning to end her life, but rather was trying to start a new one, free of him. She was working as a waitress at a place in Myrtle Beach called J. Peters Grill and Bar.

Starting point is 00:46:32 She was living in an apartment with a roommate to save money and had shipped items to Kenya as she wanted to move there eventually. money was tight for Micah in the last few months of her life, and those close to her were baffled that the day before her death she had made a $200 car payment for overdue taxes on her Honda. Why go to all that trouble of paying car taxes and getting that far in her divorce if she was planning to end her life? While details from the Robeson County Sheriff's Office investigation appeared to convince the police that Micah died by suicide, we found enough holes for reasonable doubt to shine through the narrative that Micah, and only Micah, was responsible for her death.

Starting point is 00:47:11 Nearly two weeks after Micah's death on May 10th, the Robeson County Sheriff's Office released details of their investigation that led them to declare that Micah died by suicide. Specifically, they released a 31-page report that on its surface appeared to show a detailed investigation. Police arrived at this conclusion based on a few pieces of evidence. One, the evidence that showed Micah purchasing the weapon she was shot with, and that was found near her, hours before her death.

Starting point is 00:47:42 Two, the 911 call from Micah herself an hour and a half before her time of death, telling police that she wanted her family to know where her body was because she was about to kill herself. Three, the fact that Micah appeared to be by herself, and that the most likely suspect in this scenario, in any scenario when a woman is found dead, the husband, appeared to be in another state. 4. The fact that the medical examiner concluded this was suicide, which they seem to base on medical records that we've since raised serious questions about. 5. The fact that police and the medical examiner both received information, likely from JP, that Micah had tried to kill herself before and had a history of mental illness. Now, at first, I know that seemed like an open and shut case. But it didn't take us long, and every sleuth on the internet long, to poke holes in this. investigation and it's important for us to go back to this as it's clear a federal

Starting point is 00:48:39 investigation that started around the time of Micah's death is undoubtedly heating up and possibly heading toward arrest. First of all, the shell casings found 100 feet away from Micah's body have never made any sense to us. The water levels where she was found were low and it seemed unlikely to us that her body could have moved that far in that short amount of time. But again, why multiple casings? I have a hard time believing that a person who wanted to end her life would fire a test shot off her gun in a public park near a fishing pier at the risk of people hearing the gun shop and disrupting the plan. Second, Micah was dressed and on her way to work when she, for some unknown reason, changed plans and ended up showing up at a pawn shop shortly after the start of her work shift to purchase a handgun with money that her friends and family were surprised she had, given her financial state at the time. The 911 call is by far the strongest evidence to support police conclusions that Micah's death was a suicide,

Starting point is 00:49:34 but we all know that it's possible, though unlikely, that AI could have been used for that phone call. Also interesting is that one of J.P.'s attorneys has bragged about his knowledge of AI technology on his website. Now the third part is the most frustrating. Police, to our knowledge, had no concrete evidence of J.P. Miller's whereabouts on the day of Micah's death. We've read the two paragraphs that the sheriff's office wrote about JP and his so-called alibi more than 100 times, and we cannot overlook this. The investigation also revealed that Miller and her estranged husband, John Paul Miller, had been separated and were involved in the legal system. This information led to the investigators confirming the whereabouts of Miller and a female that he is allegedly romantically involved with. Investigators were able to confirm that both individuals were not in North Carolina on the night before and the day of the Miller's death.

Starting point is 00:50:36 Investigators learned through interviews that John Paul Miller was at an athletic event in Charleston on the day of Micah Miller's death. John Miller's vehicle was observed traveling on Highway 17 bypass in Ory County at 222 p.m. on April 27, 2024. The investigation confirmed that John Paul Miller was accompanied while traveling to and from the event in Charleston, South Carolina. Okay, so we should note that the only sentence the sheriff's office decided to bold in this entire press release was about exonerating J.P. Miller and his alleged girlfriend, Susie Skinner,

Starting point is 00:51:20 which to us seemed like a clear indication that police were releasing this, primarily to exonerate JP. The accompanying PowerPoint by the Robeson County Sheriff's Office said that JP was in Charleston for a sporting event Friday night and that eyewitness statements placed him in Charleston, which was about two hours away. I have never understood why they bothered to rely on eyewitness statements of J.P. Miller being in Charleston on the day before Micah's death. Especially considering this man has access to eight vehicles and a plane through his church.

Starting point is 00:52:00 Screenshots from traffic cameras showed that one of J.P. Miller's vehicles, his truck, left Charleston County around 1.30 p.m. that afternoon, and it showed it going through the Myrtle Beach area around 2.20 p.m. Please also mention that J.P. was accompanied by other individuals while traveling to and from Charleston. But here's the thing. None of that matters. It is concerning that from the information that police decided to give us, nothing appeared to show where J.P. Miller, or his truck, was located between 220 p.m. and when Micah died around 4.30 p.m. There are no cell phone records. There are no witness statements. In fact, there has still been questions about,

Starting point is 00:52:52 JP's whereabouts around that time. And according to reporting from YouTuber Robbie Harvey, a neighbor of JP is certain they saw him speeding through the neighborhood when he was reportedly in Charleston or on his way back. According to Robbie, there was also evidence to show that JP had magnetic plates that adhere to your pickup to change its appearance and color. None of that, by the way, has been fully substantiated beyond a comparison. of photos and video of J.P.'s truck with its distinguishing stickers in the back window. And, ugh, guys, this part drives me crazy. And I hope that the FBI is also investigating Robeson County's investigation so that they don't do this to another person. The fact that police

Starting point is 00:53:45 seemed to be convinced that J.P. had nothing to do with Micah's death, based on information of his location in a time frame that ultimately does not matter, that is either intentional gaslighting from the police, aka the old good old boy move we know of muddying the waters to make it look deep, or it is simply just incompetent investigators. And that brings us to the medical examiner's failure in this case, which, by the way, listen to episode 67, 57, for a full report on that if you're really feeling like getting angry today. The four-page medical report showed that the examiner ultimately based their conclusion on Micah's past medical records. The fact that she was prescribed anti-anxiety medication at the time, which was a mild one not associated with suicidal

Starting point is 00:54:44 ideation, and the absence of the appearance of any struggle where the casings were found. Also, there were two medical examiners. The first one called up a second one because clearly this was not a cut and dry case from the start. Ultimately, North Carolina authorities failed in this investigation by deciding to not get an autopsy on Micah before J.P. Miller cremated her body. I am worried that if the FBI investigation involves Micah's death, this decision by the medical examiner's office is going to hurt the case. An autopsy could have cleared up a lot of questions in the investigation. Oh, and the toxicology that was done on Micah was also strange. It appears that the medical examiner's office did not collect her blood to be able to conduct a test. Instead,

Starting point is 00:55:45 fluid from her eyes was extracted at an organ donation lab, which made us think, did they forget to do a toxicology at first? The toxicology report only tested a few things. Interestingly enough, THC components were not among them, when in the same report, the medical examiner blamed Delta 8 and THC use as if it were evidence of Micah's mental demise. that made us wonder if J.P. fed them information that they didn't vet. Perhaps most importantly, the medical examiner's report mentioned Micah's anxiety, like it was a bad thing that led to her suicide, but they did not know anything about what would be causing this woman's anxiety.

Starting point is 00:56:36 Like, for instance, a long history of reported harassment and stalking from her past her husband, who she was desperately trying to, to leave, the one who was served divorce papers just two days before her body was found. The fact that it wasn't even mentioned as a possible circumstance surrounding her death felt ultimately like a deep injustice to Micah in a grossly mishandled investigation that somehow tipped off the FBI and eventually led them to J.B.'s home on Friday. And this is why this FBI rate is such a big deal. only does it make us happy to know that we've been right on the money this entire time,

Starting point is 00:57:24 and not only is it yet another sign that we and all women should trust our guts when it comes to things that don't seem right, it's pretty much the first time where we can say that on this day someone with power did something for Micah. We just wish this had happened before it was too late for her. Now, you'd think this much drama would cause Amanda Laylow, right? You see, your house getting tossed on national news. it might be a cause to not create, you know, any more news about yourself. Not with J.P. Miller, y'all.

Starting point is 00:57:54 Last week, we told you about how he had registered the existence of another church with the State Secretary of State's Office, Living Water Ministries, that's a new name. Is Solid Rock changing its name? It depends on how you look at it. This definitely appears to be an attempt at rebranding. It's not quite a name change, though, because Solid Rock still exists as an entity, at least on paper. But now it's reportedly closed. Closed. Done.

Starting point is 00:58:19 No more. This past Sunday appears to have been its last service, and JP was, according to YouTuber Robbie Harvey, not in attendance. He's still registered agent for the church, though. Which is why it was interesting to see on Tuesday that substantial items were being taken from the church. According to Robbie Harvey, several former elders of Solid Rock told him that JP was allegedly giving everything away and had told them to come get what they wanted.

Starting point is 00:58:45 Pictures posted by Robbie showed rubber-made containers on the sidewalk and a man who appears to be J.P.'s mentor and cleaner-upper, Charles Randall, loading them into his vehicle. We're going to do a deeper dive on this in the future because there are so many questions about the church's assets and what happens to them now. We'll say it again. Both Micah and J.P.'s ex-wife Allison have said that the line between J.P.'s finances and the church's finances was blurred. Months ago, Robbie Harvey reported that he had evidence that JP had instructed his right-hand woman, Tricia Ross, to use the church's benevolence fund to pay someone who is assisting JP with digging up so-called dirt on reporters and content creators who are covering this case. Doesn't seem like a church expense to us, but we're not CPAs, so who knows? But there are very serious questions to be asking about whatever it is that JP has planned with this new church and how it might intersect with. his now closed church, which was built off the backs of its church members and their hard-earned

Starting point is 00:59:50 paychecks. I'm sure some of you are wondering why JP would be allowed to give away the church's possessions like this when he's clearly under investigation by the FBI, when they're clearly on the hunt for evidence against him. As Beth said earlier in the episode, the church was not part of the FBI raid. We think it should have been, given the blurred lines between JP and the church. Whatever abuse he may be accused of was alleged abuse that would have occurred at and through the church as well. No? We all know that Micah's law outlined examples of that alleged abuse, including J.P., allegedly using Micah's job at the church as a point of power over her, firing her and then hiring her back on a whim. The church even pressed charges against Micah during the height of her relationship problems with J.P.

Starting point is 01:00:35 When she was trying to divorce him, accusing her of stealing from them. We've always maintained that this was something that it was. appeared to be used as leverage against Micah. As you know, a judge refused to sign a warrant for the case because he said there was no evidence of wrongdoing. So why didn't the FBI searched the church as well? What does it mean now that there's evidence that items are being removed from it? Could JP be charged with tampering with an investigation? It's hard to know the answer to that because we don't know what the FBI was looking for, or what JP and his attorneys were told by the FBI,

Starting point is 01:01:17 if anything, about whether it was okay to do something like this. The other thing we know is that JP doesn't have any outstanding civil claims against him, so as far as any accusation of him wasting assets here, that wouldn't apply. And the FBI didn't search the church, which is either an oversight on their part or an indication that they did not believe there was anything that would be helpful to their investigation into JP there. As for what comes next here, if the FBI found what they were looking for during the raid, it is not unreasonable to suspect that an indictment would be coming up soon. According to sources with knowledge of the investigation and an interview that Micah's attorney Regina B. Ward did on law and crime, the FBI did not go into this raid empty-handed.

Starting point is 01:02:15 They already had a lot of potential evidence in their hands. This is just the beginning of what we hope is finally justice for Micah. So stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay. in the sunlight. True sunlight is a Luna Shark production created by me, Mandy Matney, and co-hosted by journalist Liz Ferrell. Learn more about our mission and membership

Starting point is 01:02:51 at LunaSharkmedia.com. Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.

Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #73 - Justice for Mica: With FBI Raid, JP Miller’s World Comes Crumbling Down

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