BREAKING: Mica Miller's Pastor Husband Slapped with Indictment

making sure that my heart doesn't have. any unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, just forgiveness and hope for the future. and peace. Cuz you can't put a price on peace. >> We have breaking news. It is the moment. that many in the Myrtle Beach area of. South Carolina have been waiting for. Controversial former pastor John Paul JP. Miller has been indicted by a federal. grand jury. [music] Now, Miller made. headlines after his wife Micah, who.

filed for divorce, ended her [music] own. life. But since then, rumors, speculation, they have all been rampant. And now, Miller finds himself [music] in. some very serious legal jeopardy. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. [music] I'm Jesse Weber. All right, look, I got to say this real. quick, not to detract from what we're. saying, but it is the holiday season. You might be looking for a perfect deal. and a perfect gift. I got to mention. this. The Chef IQ Sense Smart Meat. Thermometer. This right here is the.

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And with my code sidebar, you can save. 30% off sitewide at chefiq.com. Incessant phone calls, leak nudes, a. tracker on a car. These are just some of. the allegations that are laid out. against John Paul JP Miller by federal. prosecutors out in South Carolina. A. brand new indictment comes nearly two. years after Miller was thrust into the. spotlight in connection with his wife's. death. We've talked about this before. Micah Miller, took her own life on April.

27th, 2024. This was 2 days after. serving Miller with divorce papers. Miller himself, a pastor, delivered the. news to the congregation at Solid Rock. Church in Myrtle Beach at the end of a. sermon. And this shocked everyone. >> Um, I got a call late last night. my. wife has passed away and yeah, it was it. was self-induced and it was uh up in. North Carolina and uh she was she wasn't. y'all knew that she wasn't well mentally. and that uh she needed medicine that was. hard to get to her.

>> Almost immediately after people heard. that news, rumors started flying that. Miller could have had something to do. with Micah dying. Now, to be clear, authorities have said there was no. direct evidence saying that he, you. know, killed her, was responsible for. her death because at first there was. speculation that Miller might have been. directly involved. You know, there was. rumors about staging a homicide to look. like something else. But to be clear, a. medical examiner confirmed that Micah's. death, this tragedy, was a fatal gunshot.

wound, was self-inflicted. But then. something else happened. As word spread. that Miller may have been allegedly. abusive, there were accusations from. Micah's family and the community that. Miller had Micah under his thumb, refused to let her go, that she. reportedly became more isolated, which. by the way, she seemingly addressed in a. Facebook video. Hey everybody. I just. want to let you know that I'm alive. [snorts] and well and um.

life's been kind of crazy a couple past. weeks, [sighs]. months, uh years, but um I've kind of had to keep my. circle really small for the past couple. weeks. just because um. I'm going through a lot and it's hard. and. it's my cross to bear. It's the thing. that God has put in my life to deal with.

and I don't want to bring a lot of. people into it. >> And just a couple months before her body. was found at a state park, Micah Miller. made a call to 911 telling the. dispatcher that Miller had assaulted. her. >> 911. What's the address of the. emergency? >> Hi. Um, I have somebody who I believe to. be in a manic state and is a direct. danger to the people in his household. and himself and others. Uh, I need an. immediate pickup, not the 72-hour pickup.

that a spouse can initiate. I need this. to be a little quicker because he is a. flight risk. There's been domestic. violence. He put his hands on me. >> and he's pushed me down in front of. thousands of people at Disney World. And. so, yeah, and his best friend even saw. that happen. Slapped drink right out of. my hand. Okay. >> I was in the hospital after that from. just a panic attack of what was. happening. >> So, with it looking more and more like. Micah was living in an allegedly abusive. relationship, many in the community,

they called for authorities to get. involved and determine whether Miller. had any culpability in Micah's death in. some way. Now, meanwhile, according to. multiple online reports, Miller seemed. to be moving on and pretty quickly. He. was reportedly seen on a date with a. woman named Susie Skinner, just days. after Micah's death. According to. Miller's first wife, Miller and Skinner, they were allegedly having an affair in. 2021, the same year that Skinner's. wheelchairbound husband drowned. It's. really odd thing that two people who had.

a relationship are suddenly both single. because of the deaths of their spouses. But to be clear, authorities have never. said there is any evidence to suggest. these deaths are anything than what they. seem. I will tell you Miller and. Skinner, they got married this past. summer. So now I want to go back to. November 1st of last year. You know why? Because that is when the FBI searched. Miller's home. They were reportedly seen. removing items from his house. But what. exactly was taken into evidence or why. Miller was under investigation, that.

wasn't clear. During all this, Miller. was having to contend also with. protesters outside of his home and. church calling for justice for Micah. And after the FBI raid, tensions boiled. over and Miller was ultimately arrested. for getting into an altercation with a. woman in a parking lot. Authorities were. called out and according to an incident. report, the woman that Miller got. apparently into this altercation with. told police, quote, "While she was on. the sidewalk in front of Solid Rock. Church, she observed the offender. recording them from behind protesters. vehicles in the parking lot." She then.

went across the street to confront him. She stated she called out to the. offender to ask what he was doing. The. offender walked away, but she called. back out to him and the offender came. back and met her in between two vehicles. where words were exchanged and the. victim said the offender began recording. her. While the offender was holding the. phone up to her face, the victim said. the offender asked her, "What you going. to do?" and tapped the bill of her hat. two times and walked away. After which. the victim yelled at the offender, "Don't you touch me." multiple times. So.

Miller was later arrested. He was. charged with thirddegree assault and. battery. He was released on bond the. following day. And as we started digging. into Miller and as we started looking. more into his prior legal issues, we. learned a lot of information from a. request that Micah filed with Surfside. Beach Magistrate Court on March 11th. And this is where she was seeking a. restraining order. She alleged that. Miller was stalking her, doing things. like putting a tracker on her car, spamming her phone with calls and text.

messages. The court proceedings ended up. being dismissed and no restraining order. was ever actually issued. But in light. of what he's now charged with, you got. to wonder, are authorities believing. everything she was saying? Because I. will tell you, those allegations right. now are in black and white and federal. court records. A grand jury returned a. bill of indictment, the United States of. America versus John Paul Miller. To talk. more about this, the allegations, I want. to welcome back on Regina Ward, an. attorney for Micah's family. Thank you. so much uh for taking the time. Before.

we even go through the indictment here, this is major news for anybody who's. been following this story. We know the. family has been waiting for some sort of. accountability for years. How are they. feeling right now? Uh given the fact. that he has been indicted. >> Yes, it's been like a you know kind of. felt like everyone else. When is the day. coming? And um so the the wheels of. justice tend to turn a little slow, but. that's okay. I'm happy with methodical. justice and um I'm glad we're here. >> As the lawyer in me, I do have to say,

look, he is innocent until proven. guilty. The prosecution uh will have the. burden of proving all of this. But have. you learned any more on your end about. the FBI investigation? What has been. going on behind the scenes? Because this. has taken some time since the news first. broke that his property was being. searched to now the indictment. Do you. know anything that's been going on. behind the scenes that you can share. with us? >> Right. I wouldn't have any direct. personal knowledge. I did in the. beginning obviously whenever the. subpoena was served upon me for my.

documents and things that the FBI wanted. uh when they were beginning their. investigation. Uh once that ball got. rolling and they were um you know they. had everything that I had then they. executed that search warrant which I'm. sure added a lot to it as far as what. was going on behind the scenes. I can. only imagine by virtue of this. indictment, they've been doing their job. and getting the evidence and everything. in together to be able to pull this. indictment off. Le. >> let's talk about the indictment. I want. to go through it because and and as we. go through it, so everybody knows, Micah. is referred to victim one here. So,

there are two counts. Count one, cyberstalking. Here's what the filing. says. the grand jury charges that. beginning on or around November 16th, 2022 and continuing through on or about. April 27th, 2024 in the District of. South Carolina and elsewhere. The. defendant, John Paul Miller, with the. intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance, with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate victim one, used interactive. computer services to engage in a course.

of conduct that placed victim one in. reasonable fear of death or serious. bodily injury and caused attempted to. cause, and the course of conduct would. be reasonably expected to cause victim. one substantial emotional distress, to. which John Paul Miller sent or caused to. send unwanted and harassing electronic. communications to victim one. Used or. threatened to use nude photos and. photographs of victim one to harass. victim one. Posted a nude photograph of. victim one online without victim 1's.

consent. Placed or caused to be placed. tracking devices on vehicles used by. victim one. Placed victim one or caused. victim one to be placed under. surveillance with the intent to harass. and intimidate victim one. Damaged. victim 1's vehicle. Interfered with. victim 1's finances and banking. and. interfered with victim 1's daily. activities. There's a whole lot to. unpack there, but Regina, you know, first I I think it's notable that these. were allegations we had heard before, but federal prosecutors believe they. have the evidence to substantiate this.

>> Yes. As I stated before with the. subpoena, the things that Micah uh kept. and put together in preparation for her. uh hearing in family court, all of those. things were turned over. and it had to. do with specifically um the the the nude. photo that's being referred to. Also um. the tracking device and the evidence. that we had of that tracking device, the. police reports that were made that. support the um you know the damage to. her vehicle and uh and the slashing of. her tires. There's supporting evidence.

for all of that that was collected by. Micah herself. And if you talk about the. nude photos or the uh, you know, the. videos of Micah that Miller allegedly. put online, we've actually heard about. this before. News Nation reported last. year that Miller had apparently written. a letter to Micah, seemingly. apologizing, seemingly admitting to. doing just that. Quote, "I'm sorry for. putting a picture of you on the. internet. It was for less than one hour. and 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. Now, Regina, revenge porn is more. common than m maybe most people probably. realize. It is also a crime. Uh talk to. me about that. Talk to me about this. letter. Uh because I think it's. significant. >> Yes. In fact, that that letter was. written. He's tried to explain away that. letter that that she required him to. write it and he made up all of these. things because she was saying all these. things, but she had independent evidence.

of these allegations that she kept. uh. also in in addition to that her journals. and and the uh writings that she put. together. Uh so as far as the you know. when you speak of like revenge porn I. don't even like to call it that because. really it was it was intent the intent. of the photo was for a private uh photo. for to be shared between a husband and. wife and certainly not to be shared. Um, and Micah was very clear in that. She. even made a police report about it,

complaining that he was threatening to. upload it and and that sort of thing. A. >> and when you talk about the evidence, because Mike had previously told police. that she found a tracking device on her. car. She thought that she was being they. thought she was being surveiled, that uh. Miller was messing with her finances and. possessions like her car and this, you. know, sort of alleged escalating. behavior. But there had to be something. else that investigators found some sort. of evidence maybe when they conducted. search warrants, right? When they see. certain materials apparently that would.

corroborate this. I mean, do you have. any idea what sort of evidence might. investigators have to back up those. claims of the surveillance? >> Yeah, absolutely. That was one thing. whenever they executed that search. warrant. I actually was there when the. FBI was doing that and I was watching. some of the things that that that you. could see that was coming out. most of. it was in paper bags and boxes and. things like that, but there was. obviously a computer that was taken out. of that house. Um, and so when I saw. that, I immediately thought, yes, um, that's definitely going to have some. material on it that would corroborate.

Micah's um, you know, the allegations. that Micah had been making. And I would. assume that that is exactly what had. happened, especially with the the. mention of the purchase of the tracker. uh there would have been evidence of him. purchasing that whenever he's the one he. said he never never excuse me the um the. the the um things that this slashing of. the tires uh you know he denied that and. it sounds like they found some evidence. to corroborate that allegation. >> and I want to highlight this part of. count one it's very crucial with the.

intent to kill injure harass intimidate. um so prosecutors seem to be alleging. that there was intention uh behind what. Miller allegedly do that he was. deliberately uh trying to hurt her in. some way. People might read this, Regina, and say, "Wait a minute. Is this. a roundabout way of accusing Miller of. causing Micah's death, not directly. killing her?" Do you think there's. anything to that or or are we looking. too far into it? Because, you know, the. there were a lot of thoughts about. whether or not he was responsible uh for.

her death in any way, and there was no. evidence to suggest that he uh, you. know, was directly involved in what. happened to her. But there were those. who were would make the the claim, you. know, he drove her to what happened. He. was responsible. Do you think that this. is a way a roundabout way for. prosecutors to make that point or am I. looking at it the wrong way? >> Well, no. I of course I can't get into. the minds or smise what a prosecutor is. thinking, but I also know that, you. know, there are attorneys and they they. they like to win. Lawyers like to win. their cases. Um, and so basically.

whenever they pull this cyberstalking. count, uh, there are what we call. elements of law that are associated with. any type of, uh, crime that's being. charged against someone. And those words. are actually part of it. You know, I. know that some people will extrapolate. that and say, "Oh my goodness, this. proves he was trying to, you know, to. take her life." We have to read beyond. that and also know that it also not only. that that it was also that he intended. to injure her, harass her, intimidate. her, the things that we talk about in.

coercive control, abuse. Uh this it's. exhausting to read the indictment. because it's not even everything that. she experienced, but it's a lot of it. And just going through that demonstrates. how this type of um you know, mental. abuse can be can wear a person down. and. um and just, you know, uh really get. into um their self-confidence and things. like that. So, uh I don't I don't think. it's a roundabout way. I I like that. it's directly on point uh with regard to.

the type of harassment and abuse that. she suffered um you know, allegedly at. his hands. >> And then you have this this this other. um this other charge making a false. statement to law enforcement. quote, "The grand jury further charges he. falsely claimed victim one had been. calling him more than he called victim. one on March 11th, 2024 when in fact the. defendant, John Paul Miller, called. victim 1 at least 50 times more than she. called him. He falsely claimed police. had never told him to stop contacting.

victim one when in fact the defendant. John Paul Miller was told on March 11th, 2024 by a police officer to stop. contacting victim one. He falsely. claimed he did not damage victim one's. tires or cause to be damaged when in. fact the defendant, John Paul Miller, used or caused to be used a tire. deflation device in victim 1's tires. So, Regina, give us more context about. what that's about. Him allegedly lying. to law enforcement about his. relationship and activities with Micah.

>> Yeah. Well, sure. That's, you know, part. of the classic uh tactics is to, you. know, deny, lie, deny, obuscate type of. thing. So, the interesting thing here. is, as you mentioned earlier, victim one. is referring to Micah. Well, with regard. to the false statement, the victim there. is the United States of America. That's. the state who is prosecuting that. That. that is a victim that's um that can. offer up uh corroborating evidence. Um, and so there's, you know, there is some. concern by some who have looked at this.

that because Micah will not, you know, be able to testify against Mr. Miller in. a court of law that it's going to be a. little bit more difficult on that. charge. Um, while I think that they've. got a lot of good evidence there, of. course, when you have that testimony is. is probably the most solid, but with. regard to the false statements, um, the. victim is this is the prosecuting. authority, is the United States, is the. people. Um, and so that's going to be a. charge that that that probably has a.

pretty good bit, you know, good. standing, >> right? And let me let me say this as. well. You know, digital records, the. digital trail so critical to any. investigation. I I spoke earlier about. Miller's relationship uh with his former. wife Susie Skinner. There were. allegations of infidelity. We all now. are wondering, you know, by the way, Skinner has never investigated or. charged in connection with Micah's. death. You do wonder if she'll play a. role in this in some way. But here's. something that's interesting. It's our. understanding from the federal court. docket that Miller was not taken into or.

will not be taken into custody. He was. issued a summon. Um he has to report to. the courthouse. The docket indicates. that he's set to be arraigned on January. 12th. If Miller is found guilty, do you. know what sort of punishment he could. face? And no matter what the outcome is, the fact that now he has been indicted, does this affect Micah's family, their. ability to file a civil claim against.

Miller? >> Okay, so um a few things there with. regard to the um you know, the penalty. if he's found guilty. Uh with regard to. the cyberstalking, I think it's up to. five years in prison. Um of course, that's the max. Uh as far as the false. statement, I apologize. I don't know. what that is off the top of my head. And. in terms of, you know, will he be will. he do time? Well, we certainly hope so, but I'm also a criminal defense attorney. and I know that there are ways to, you. know, negotiate cases and things like.

that and look for um weaknesses and. loopholes in cases. So, I'm sure that. his his lawyer will, you know, do his. job as a defense attorney. as far as him. not being, you know, picked up and and. he was just received a summon. Well, it. was not uncommon knowledge to know that. he was represented by a criminal defense. attorney. Uh, and it's not unusual for. criminal defense attorneys to say, "Hey, I know that you're you know, you you may. have a warrant for my client. Can we can. we organize where they can voluntarily. turn themsel in?" So, that's uh was.

something that his lawyer obviously was. uh working for him. Yeah. So with regard. to the civil claim, um that was actually. handled early on in the case and the um. there was a confidential u there was a. confidential settlement regarding that. So that was already addressed uh very. early on in the case. >> All right, Regina Ward, this is a very. interesting update. Uh we want to. continue to follow it, see what happens. Um we'll see, you know, what happens at. that next court date. Um but really.

appreciate you taking the time uh and. speaking on behalf of Micah's family as. you always do. Thank you. >> Yeah. And thank you. Appreciate um you. covering the the um the story. It's been. very important to all of the folks who. have been supporting uh Micah and her. case and the and the movement to get. change in our law. Um and so it that's. helped by your by you as well. Thank you. so much. >> It was our our pleasure to cover this. and again we I know that people have. very strong opinions about this case. one way or another. I I do have to add.

always the caveat. We're trying to. present uh be fair, present both sides. As I mentioned, he he is innocent until. proven guilty. We will see more of the. evidence uh that they have against him. and what the defenses may be. But um. it's just again a very interesting. development in what is a very very sad. case. Regina Ward, thank you. >> Thank you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can follow me on X. or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll.

speak to you next time.