Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP News Break "Mini-Sode": Chris Skinner 911 call + What JP Miller’s Ex Said

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

We originally planned to take this week off entirely, but guess what happened...? We got a flood of FOIA responses in the Mica Francis case… This week, due to the dogged FOIAing from Beth Braden and brilliant mind of Liz Farrell, LunaShark was the first media outlet to receive the 911 call from the incident that led to Chris Skinner’s death on September 6, 2021.  Tik Tok has been hot with Chris Skinner theories ever since the news of Mica’s death hit national headlines — but JP’s ex-wife’s mention of Skinner in recent emergency protective order documents made those theories worth investigating in our opinion. On today’s News Break “min-sode”, Investigative journalists Mandy Matney shares new details and the recently released 911 call concerning the tragic death of Chris Skinner in Myrtle Beach, SC. Mandy also highlights info available from recently released documents, while also pointing out inconsistencies in the drowning investigation and the intentional lack of witness statements.  We also continue to ponder the suicide ruling on Mica and raise concerns about JP Miller's behavior. And even though today’s “mini-sode” is short, Luna Shark Premium Members are getting a second bonus episode this week where reporter and producer Sam Berlin just could not let go of a pressing question from the Murdaugh saga… where did the money go?   We’ll be back next week with a full examination of all this and more...  Until then Stay tuned. Stay Pesky. Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ Episode Resources: Mica's List & Mica's Law, Documents If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. Learn more about how you can help us fund FOIA’s, dive deeper into cases and experience the investigation first-hand on lunasharkmedia.com all in one place. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. In June we’re offering your first month of Soak Up The Sun membership with a $6.00 discount. Join Luna Shark Premium today at Lunashark.Supercast.com. Premium Members also get access to searchable case files, written articles with documents, case photos, episode videos and exclusive live experiences with our hosts on lunasharkmedia.com all in one place. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. And for those just wanting ad-free listening without all the other great content, we now offer ad-free listening on Apple Podcast through a subscription to Luna Shark Plus on the Apple Podcasts App. Or become a Premiere Member on YouTube for exclusive videos and ad-free episodes. SUNscribe to our free email list to get that special offer for first time members, receive alerts on bonus episodes, calls to action, new shows and updates. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3KBMJcP Visit our new events page Lunasharkmedia.com/events where you can learn about the upcoming in-person and virtual appearances from hosts! And a special thank you to our sponsors: Microdose.com, PELOTON, and VUORI. Use promo code "MANDY" for a special offer! *** ALERT: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email [e-mail] and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** For current & accurate updates: TrueSunlight.com facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/ Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod Twitter.com/mandymatney Twitter.com/elizfarrell youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's the sound of unaged whiskey, transforming into Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Around 1860, nearest green taught Jack Daniel how to filter whiskey through charcoal for a smoother taste, one drop at a time. This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell. To hear them in person, plan your trip at tnvacation.com. Tennessee sounds perfect. Summer is like a cocktail. It has to be mixed just right. Start with a handful of great friends. Now add your favorite music. And

then finally add Bacardi rum. And there you have it, the perfect summer mix. Bacardi, do what moves you. Live passionately, drink responsibly. Copyright 2024. Bacardi, it's trade dress and the bat device are trademarks of Bacardi and Company Limited. Rum 40% alcohol by volume. My name is Mandi Matney. This is a special mini-sode of True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption previously

known as the Murdoch Murders Podcast. True Sunlight is produced by Lunashark Media. Hello and Happy Thursday. So we originally planned to take this week off entirely, but guess what happened? We got a flood of FOIA responses in the Micah Francis case. As a reminder, we are now referring to Micah Miller as Micah Francis after we noticed court documents that she wished to change her name before her death, from her husband's name to her her name before her death, from her husband's name to her maiden name.

And we all figured that that is the least we could do. The Micah Francis story is one of the most twisted and complicated stories of alleged abuse I have ever seen. Ever since a few hundred of y'all reached out in early May, requesting that we cover this case, our team has been working in overdrive talking to sources, filing FOIA requests, which are Freedom of Information Act requests for those of y'all new here, and piecing together a tragic timeline that documents a horrific cycle of alleged abuse dating back to the 1970s. To recap, 30-year-old Micah Francis of Myrtle Beach

was found dead with a bullet in her head on April 27th, 2024 in Lumber River State Park, North Carolina. The day after she died, Micah's estranged husband, Pastor J.P. Miller of Solid Rock at Market Common Church, delivered a bizarre speech that captured attention around the world announcing his wife died from suicide. What J.P. Miller didn't mention was that Micah left behind a paper trail documenting

her attempts to leave her husband. That she filed for divorce from him twice at that point. That she had called the police more than three times for him allegedly putting trackers on her car, that she had filed for a restraining order documenting several incidents of alleged harassment, that she told the police that her pastor husband had groomed her since she was a child, and perhaps most importantly that her husband was served divorce papers two days before her death, marking possibly the most terminal moment in their seven-year marriage.

Less than two weeks after her death, the Robeson County Sheriff's Office ruled her death a suicide. But of course, the story didn't end there, which is perhaps what makes our work different from a lot of true crime coverage out there. After five years of exposing the network of crimes and deaths tied to Elick Murdoch, we know one thing is for certain. Never take a good ol' boy for his word. Question everything. Backcheck everything.

There is always more to the story than what the police report says. At Lunashark, there is always more beneath the surface. This week, Lunashark media reporter Beth Braden was first to break the story that the medical examiner's report in Micah's case was released. Maybe the most puzzling detail out there that was released this week were that there were multiple casings in a live round found at the scene

and that the gun was found 100 feet away from her body in the river that appeared to be stagnant. It is possible that Micah's body floated further from the firearm and the casings, but we are going to dive into all of this next week in greater detail. It is possible that Micah's body floated further from the firearm and the casings, but we are going to dive into all of this next week in greater detail. Every time I read this report, which is available in the Miniso description, by the way, I have questions about how thorough the investigation was and if they truly found enough evidence to call her death a suicide so quickly. Like we did with the Murdoch story, we are working around the edges instead of focusing

just on the death. We are devouring every public document related to JP Miller that we can get our hands on, which we've organized and assembled for premium members at lunasharkmedia.com. This separates fact from fiction, and public documents help expose the evil in this story. One of those public documents really stood out to us, and that was J.P. Miller's ex-wife's emergency motion that she filed in May, in which she sought custody of their two youngest children.

In her motion, Allison Williams included an affidavit that further illustrated Micah's fears leading up to her death. But she also put on the public record that the death of a man named Chris Skinner affected JP's behavior in 2021. Specifically, Allen said that things started to get really bad with JP and his marriage to Micah in the fall of 2021. In fact, she linked the worsening of JP's behavior with the sudden death of Chris Skinner. Chris Skinner was a motivational speaker

who was married to a woman that Allison identified as a paramour of JP Miller's. Chris was paralyzed from the chest down. He was an Army veteran and an avid surfer and leader in the Myrtle Beach community. His ESPN story of survival and triumph after his accident that left him paralyzed decades ago went viral in 2020.

And country superstars Cole Swindell and Luke Bryan helped him get a special wheelchair in 2020. But in 2021 Chris's wife Susie who was also a member of Solid Rock Church and JP allegedly started to spend a lot of time together according to Allison's affidavit. I want to read this part of Allison Williams' affidavit because it is important. When I learned JP was exposing our children to yet another one of his adulterous affairs, I confronted JP and Suzy and told them to not let that happen again. JP called me the day Suzy's husband died in an alleged drowning accident, extremely upset and asking me to pray, which was incredibly bizarre.

Based upon information and belief, just two weeks prior to this incident, Susie's husband had confronted JP and asked him to leave his wife and children alone. It is chilling to know that the spouses of both Susie and JP are now dead from tragic events." End quote. Susie, if you remember, was seen in several photos eating with JP Miller soon after Micah's death. TikTok has been hot with Chris Skinner theories ever since the news of Micah's death hit national headlines.

But Allison's mentioning of this made those theories worth investigating in our opinion. In September 2021, Chris Skinner was found unresponsive in his neighborhood pool. He drowned to death, according to records. Allison said it was around this time and around the time that JP applied to get a pardon so that he could get a gun that she began to witness increasingly concerning behavior from JP which eventually led to Micah seeking her counsel about what to do next. This week due to the dogged foeing from Beth Braden and the brilliant mind of Liz Farrell, Lunashark was the first media outlet to receive the 911 call to the incident that led to Chris

Skinner's death on September 6, 2021. At 8.54 p.m., a woman called Myrtle Beach Police from the Emmons Preserve neighborhood pool, which is about 1.4 miles from JP's church to say that she found a man in the pool as she was getting ready to do her water aerobics class. We are going to play this entire 911 call for you. He's on. Cardle Beach 911, what is the corner of Yorkshire Parkway and Market Comment. Okay, what's going on? We have a dead body in our pool. You have a dead body in your pool?

Yes, ma'am. They tell me it's a male, it's that he was disabled, there's a wheelchair, and all is in the pool. Okay. All right. I'm going to...hold on. We can't meet him. the I didn't go over a lot. I'm going to drop you on... I'm sorry? Okay, ma'am, just stay on the line with me. I'm just talking to my fire dispatch here. Okay. I don't even know his wife's phone number. Okay, thank you.

Okay, is there anyone out there? Yes, we're, we were having water, we were going to have water aerobics, so there's like four of us here right now, so yeah, someone will be here to let them in. Okay, is anyone trying to get him out or? They tried, they tried to get him out, but they can't move him. Is he still in the wheelchair? He's still in his wheelchair. She could not move anything.

OK, Sam, while I'm just updating them now, we've got paramedics on the way. Thank you. I think he's gone. And I just, who's gone? The body in the pool. Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay.

All right. And I just want to make sure you said Yorkshire and Wellington, correct? Yes. There's a clubhouse here. You'll see the clubhouse and the pool's just beyond it. We'll have someone at both gates. Okay. Okay.

Are you a resident there or are you... Yes, ma'am. Okay. Yes. Yes. I am a resident. All right. Here we go. Let me just update them because they're on the way. I'm sorry That's okay. I'll be able to get here. It's on the corner of Yorkshire, Wellington way anyway, so Okay, yeah, he's in that he's in the wheelchair. They can't get him out. She was talking 911. Well, I'm talking to Margo Beach. She's got their medical on the way. I talked to it was already telling me first. All right, ma'am. All right. Perfect. Yep, they are on the way. I've got you in coming to you. Okay. Okay. Thank you. We will have someone at the gate. Collect them in. Yes, ma'am. I did update them now you Okay. Okay. Thank you. W at the gate, collect them update them now. Okay. O welcome. Thank you. Bye.

to Chris Skinner's death at 12 41 p.m. At Grand S Deputy Coroner Tamara A manner of death an accident, and his cause of death being asphyxiation due to drowning. He was cremated and the Myrtle Beach police closed the case two days after his death. Let's be clear here. We are not accusing anyone of murder. There is no evidence that ties JP or anyone to the death of Chris Skinner. However, we learned in the Murdoch case that it is so important to

put sunlight on those newsworthy elements of an investigation that just don't add up. An example, Gloria Satterfield, as the threads just might lead down a road to justice. Lunashark media reporter and researcher Beth Braden foiled for all materials related to Chris Skinner's death. But the bulk of what we received was a two-page investigation report that states the date, time, and place of the incident, followed by a short summary that states the following.

On September 6, 2021, at approximately 0854 hours, I, PFC Liozzi, responded to 1145 Yorkshire Parkway, which is within the city limits of Myrtle Beach, in reference to a drowning. When I arrived on scene, I observed a wheelchair in the pool and began speaking to witnesses and family members. The victim was transported by medics to the hospital and Sergeant Gibson was notified. There is nothing further at this time.

Myrtle Beach Police did not give us any records of witness interviews in our FOIA request. A Myrtle Beach legal representative said specifically that there weren't any further paper statements that were subject to FOIA, but we have filed an additional FOIA request regardless. Specifically, Beth was told that typically witness statements are done by body worn cameras, which are not subject to FOIA. That would be a very odd way for a police department to collect evidence that circumvents FOIA on purpose. Anyway, after we received this FOIA response, we noticed another news outlet received additional documents that the Myrtle Beach Police conveniently left out of our FOIA request. That additional report stated that Chris was supposed

to meet a friend there that morning and that police did review video footage from a pool that showed Chris in his wheelchair, quote, moving quickly forward into the water by himself. The camera apparently showed him, quote, lifting his head up a few times before quote, the camera cuts to a different time. How does it paralyze,

but otherwise seemingly healthy and athletic 41 year old man end up drowning to death in a neighborhood pool? Did he call for help? If the wheelchair malfunctioned, did anyone bring a lawsuit against a chair manufacturer or perhaps the community?

Why is it so hard to FOIA for basic investigation details in Myrtle Beach? The materials that they gave us in this response to our FOIA actually made the investigation look more suspicious than it is. I could go on and on with questions we have about this case, because the little information that we got from a FOIA request make us question quite a bit of the events described. But this is a mini-sode. While there does appear to be evidence that this was an accident, the words in Alice and William's sworn affidavit keep ringing in my head. Quote, it is chilling to know that the spouses of both Suzy and JP are now dead from tragic

events. Right now, we are asking anyone with information on Chris Skinner's death to email info at LunasharkMedia.com. And even though today's mini-sode is short, Lunashark Premium members are getting a second bonus episode this week where reporter and producer, Sam Berlin, just could not let go of a pressing question from the Murdock Saga.

Where did the money go? Visit lunashark.supercast.com to join today. Or we will be back next week with our regularly scheduled episode. Until then, stay tuned, stay pesky and stay in the sunlight. True Sunlight is a Lunashark production created by me, Manny Matney, and co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell. Learn more about our mission and membership at lunasharkmedia.com. Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky. If you do your shopping while working, eating or even listening to this walk, then you know

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