Truth About Pastor’s Wife: Mica Miller Case Reignites

making sure that my heart doesn't have. any unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, just forgiveness and hope for the future. and peace. You can't put a price on. peace. >> A young woman committed to helping. spread the Christian gospel takes her. own life in a park far from loved ones. This was a loss that sent shock waves. throughout the community and it turned a. critical eye on her husband, Pastor John. Paul Miller.

And now with a new Netflix documentary. dominating the streaming charts, we are. examining these shocking allegations. from family and friends right now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. The death of Micah Miller, a young. pastor's wife, is back in the national. spotlight, and that is thanks to a brand. new Netflix documentary called Death of.

the Pastor's Wife. This quickly shot to. number one on the streaming platform. This is a three-p episode series that. examines how she met her husband, John. Paul Miller, JP Miller, what she. apparently revealed to friends and. confidants and what allegedly happened. in the days leading up to her apparent. decision to take her own life. We have. been following this case very closely. here on Sidebar since this happened in. 2024 as her family has voiced concerns. about whether Micah's death was truly.

self-inflicted about the suspicious. circumstances surrounding her tragic. situation. Although to be clear, and we. will get into this, no one has been. criminally charged in connection with. Micah's death. And the official findings. are that she did do this to herself. But. today, I want to take a look at the new. revelations or the shocking revelations. from this documentary as well as the. details that maybe have been left out. Okay. But first, I got to give you. background. Oh, and I have to also tell. you something, too. This has been a very. big case for us here on Sidebar. We've.

been covering a lot of big cases, too. And what we've done is something. different. Since we can't show you every. line from every document or every piece. of footage, we have the case file. section on the Long Crime Plus app. Okay, this is where we open up the. evidence vault so you can inspect the. raw body cam footage, the 911 calls, the. crime scene photos, the full trial. tapes, all firsthand. Plus, you get. adree streaming of all your favorite law. and crime and court TV shows. You can. see the full picture for an entire month. free, by the way. Head on over to.

longrimeplus.com, enter promo code. sidebar, and you can start exploring all. that today. Okay, background. April. 2024, 30-year-old Micah Miller calls 911. from Lumber River State Park in North. Carolina. This is across the state line. from her home in Myrtle Beach, South. Carolina. She tells the dispatcher that. she plans to end her own life and wanted. first responders to be able to find her. body to alert her family. >> Robinson County 911, what's the address. of your emergency?

>> Hi. Um, are you able to trace the. location of my phone? >> You don't know where you're at? >> A national park. >> Tell me what's um happened. >> Um, I'm about to. myself and. I just want my family to know where to. find me. >> Now, Micah's body was found by a. kayaker. It was determined she had a.

gunshot wound to the head. So that was. on a Saturday. And despite receiving. such horrific news, her husband, okay, JP Miller, decided he still wanted to. preach on Sunday. And according to a. video of the service that was played in. the documentary, he seemingly acted. totally normal throughout until he. decided to announce at the very end that. his wife Micah Miller, a beloved member. of the Solid Rock Church, was dead.

>> I got a call late last night. My wife. has passed away. Yeah. And it was it was. selfinduced and it was uh up in North. Carolina. They all knew that she wasn't. well mentally and that uh she needed her. medicine that was hard to get to her. >> So, as you can imagine, the congregation. and community were left stunned. And now. the question became what had been going. on? What had been going on in Micah's. life that she would think her only way. out was self harm. It's the question at. the center of this docue series. So, I.

want to dive into what we learned from. the documentary. Okay. Micah Miller and. her five siblings moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with her mom and stepdad. when she was in her teens. They started. attending the Solid Rock Church and that. is where she met John Paul Miller, also. known as JP, a man twice her age who. served as a pastor. Micah's sisters told. the documentary crew that out of all of. them, it was Micah who seemed the most. connected to her faith, that she knew. from a young age that she wanted to be. involved in the ministry, that she loved.

to sing, that she was chosen to be Solid. Rock's worship leader at just 16 years. of age. And at the time, Micah was. dating another member of the church, Jeremy. The two got engaged when she was. 18. John Paul officiated the wedding. ceremony himself at Solid Rock. And. around the same time, Micah was. apparently brought on as JP's assistant. at the church. She even started nannying. for his family. JP was married to a. woman named Allison. They had multiple. children together. And according to. friends and family, Jeremy, Micah, JP,

and Allison would spend a lot of time. together. They even went on double. dates. But not long after, a. lifechanging secret came to light. John. Paul and Micah had apparently been. having an affair. And so they both chose. to divorce their partners. Micah JP. officially started dating. Family. members said in the documentary that. JP's alleged obsession with sex started. to come out right when JP proposed. They.

claim that Micah had never discussed. having a breast augmentation before, but. suddenly decided to have surgery. According to what JP allegedly told her. family, she had a bad reaction to the. anesthesia, had some kind of mental. break, so she was institutionalized, diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That's. all from the documentary. Now, Micah's. family claims that JP used that. diagnosis as well as religious doctrine. to allegedly exert even more control. over his new wife, who he apparently.

married just days after she was released. from the hospital. And the documentary. showed portions of sermons that JP had. apparently given to the Solid Rock. congregation over the years. And you can. arguably spot kind of a theme in his. preachings that a wife should always. submit to her husband no matter what to. be considered a good and godly spouse. And the documentary also included these. entries from some of Micah's own.

journals where she chronicled her. struggles with John Paul, what she. apparently considered to be her own. moral failings. So for example, Micah. made note of several Bible quotes from. the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 5:22, submit the authority of husband. Ephesians 5:33, the wife should always. honor and respect her husband. Ephesians. 5:31, leave family, cling to spouse. Submission to spouse reflects your love. for God. And according to Micah's. friends, she revealed that she and JP.

would have sex four or five times a day. that if she resisted or turned JP down, he would allegedly go out of his way to. essentially terrorize her, doing things. like not allowing her to sleep, sending. barges of text messages. And the. documentary also revealed allegations. that JP forced Micah to take. testosterone injections in an effort to. help her keep up with his sex drive. The. testosterone apparently changed her. voice, made it difficult for Micah to.

lead worship like she had in the past. Again, that's according to those who. knew her. JP's sermons at Solid Rock. featured in the docu series often. revolved around kind of this sin of. lust. I mean, according to JP's. preachings, if a wife didn't submit. sexually to her husband, then it was. basically guaranteed that he was going. to go looking for sex outside of his. marriage. Read you a quote here from one. of his sermons. Quote, "Ladies, wives, if you don't meet your husband's sexual. needs, Satan will put 20 different. options before his eyes before the day. is over with." And it turned out JP.

himself was apparently straying because. according to the docue series, it was. revealed that he was allegedly having an. affair with another married woman in the. congregation, Susie Skinner. Although. there seems to be kind of a push back on. whether this was happening after Micah. died or not, but there was an allegation. that he was having an affair with her. When Micah apparently discovered what. was going on, she vowed to divorce him. and moved in with an older woman from. the church who she trusted. During that. time, JP allegedly talked about his wife.

and her mental health struggles during. his sermons. At one point during a. sermon played in the documentary, he. apparently asked the congregation to. pray that Micah would hit rock bottom so. she could finally start to heal. Now, meantime, Micah was reportedly working. to get a restraining order against her. husband. and a handwritten affidavit. seemingly exposes some of these horrific. allegations, these things that Micah. reportedly was going through. So, in.

addition to the alleged injections of. testosterone, Micah also claimed that JP. had shown nude photos of her to members. of the church, that he had paid homeless. people to join them for threesomes and. perform sex acts on Micah. That was a. stunning allegation. In her journal, Micah reportedly wrote, quote, "I was 13. years old when I met John Paul Miller as. my pastor. Since the day we became. husband and wife, I have been abused in. every way I can think of, emotionally,

sexually, spiritually, financially, and. physically." And Micah often posted. photos and videos to social media and. posted this update during this what. appeared to be tumultuous time between. her and JP, her leaving JP, and when she. died. Look at this message. Hey. everybody. I just want to let you know. that I'm alive and well and um. life's been kind of crazy the couple. past weeks, 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. >> Now again, I have to say it. It is.

important to note John Paul Miller has. never been criminally charged or even. officially accused in connection with. Micah's death. This was officially ruled. a suicide by the medical examiner. John. Paul was reportedly miles away in. Charleston when Micah died. By the way, this conclusion that Micah intentionally. took her own life, this comes from a May. 7th, 2024 statement from local. authorities, the local sheriff's. department. It says, quote, based on. surveillance footage, interviews, physical evidence, and the examination. of the North Carolina Medical Examiner's.

Office. However, despite that, supporters calling for justice for Micah. claimed that JP's treatment of Micah. practically guaranteed this. heartbreaking ending, that he was. responsible. Now, here's the thing. JP. has not been criminally charged in. connection with Micah's death. However, he is currently facing federal charges, something the docue series mentioned at. the very end, and I want to get into. that. So, one of the big revelations in. the documentary was that when the FBI.

obtained a search warrant for JP's home, they used Micah's biblical counselor, this woman she had reportedly confided. in to lure him away from the house. According to the documentary, JP had. allegedly reached out to her before. trying to get his hands on notes that. she had taken during her sessions with. Micah, and the counselor had refused. But now, she claims she had some info. she could give to him. And when he left. home, that's when the FBI swooped in, collecting computers and electronic.

devices. And in December of 2025, John. Paul Miller was indicted on two charges: cyberstalking and making a false. statement to police. And in the. indictment, we believe that Micah is. referred to as victim one. 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 wit. John Paul Miller sent or caused to be. sent unwanted and harassing electronic. communications to victim one. Used or. threatened to use nude videos 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 one's vehicle, interfered with. victim one's finances and banking, and. interfered with victim one's daily. activities. Then you got count two, 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 1 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 with Horry County Police. Department to stop contacting victim. one. He falsely claimed he did not. damage victim 1'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 after the indictment, John. Paul Miller wasn't arrested. He was. issued a summon to report to the. courthouse. And since that time, his. court appearances have been pushed back. again and again and again with the. latest update being this pre-trial. conference scheduled for October. Although look, could potentially be. continued as well. We'll keep a careful. eye on that. But now I want to talk. about this. So to talk more about what. Micah was going through at the end of.

her life as well as the reaction to this. new documentary, I want to bring back on. Regina Ward, uh, who had represented. Micah for a period of time, um, particularly with her situation with. John Paul. Um, good to see you, Regina. Thank you so much for taking the time. Um, so you were featured in this. documentary. Um, what was that like? What has the reaction been like to this. new series? talk to us about it. >> Yeah. So, I was um obviously dishonored.

to even have been asked uh to do that, but I think that it was important. because obviously I was her, you know, I'm a divorce attorney and that's what. she retained me for. So, it I had the. evidence that she left with the world. So, it was um it was a great honor to be. able to speak on Micah's behalf and to. to share that information and and it was. just something that we had to sit on for. a long time because it was in the. makings and trying, you know, to keep. that quiet, but um it really was uh. something special. It was extremely.

emotional as well. And um and so far the. feedback, I've had people, you know, sending me different things saying that. I did a a great job. They were very. happy about how I handled John Paul. Miller on the phone calls. So that. seemed to be a big hit with everybody. >> Can you expand upon that? What you mean. by the phone calls? >> Yeah, absolutely. So he on Monday after. Micah had after Micah had passed on that. Monday um he started calling my office. before before we even opened and left.

messages on my voicemail. So my. receptionist picked those up and she. said he's left some messages and I'm. like just put them in the system. I'm. not going to return his call. Well, in. true John Paul Miller fashion, he was. incessant. Continued to call and call. and call. It was driving, you know, my. staff crazy. And so, every time he would. call, I would say, "Nope, not now." And. so, then got to a place where they're. like, "Are you ever going to take what. do you want to tell the guy?" And I. said, "Well, when he calls next time, I'll take the call." And then the other. thing was he was asking if he could h.

have a refund of whatever trust account. money that she may have had u which was. just absolutely. you know just showed where his. priorities were. And um and then he he. he blurted out you know that um he felt. that I you know was not I guess talking. to him in a fashion he thought that I. should be talking to him. He got it very. got the very clear message um that I. didn't buy his narrative, wasn't going. to buy his narrative and he said. something to the effect um Mike and I.

had a wonderful marriage and I said. that's a lie, you know, that's just a. lie. And um so when you're dealing with. somebody like that that's trying to spin. a narrative, which I was never going to. buy. And in fact, he had actually called. my office before Micah trying to retain. my services and um and I didn't take his. case and and didn't even meet with him. and um and in fact didn't even know that. he had called in until later on some. things happened and said, you know, he. tried to call in here. I was like, no. So anyway, it I feel like that he knows.

my stance against course of control. abuse and abuse in general. And in that. phone call and him calling constantly, it was really the undertone was really. that he wanted to get to me to see if he. can manipulate me into believing his. narrative. So, I just shut him down. right away and just let him know that. that just wasn't going to happen. >> Did you learn anything about him, about. Micah, about this story from the. documentary that maybe you didn't know. before? >> You That's a really good question and I. don't I don't think so. There may have.

been a little bit more detail on maybe. some of the farther back uh history of. Micah, but u most everything there I I. didn't I don't recall seeing anything. I. was like, "Oh, I didn't know that." Mhm. Um I thought, you know, for a lot of. viewers who don't are not familiar with. the story, um one of the things that's. come out and I just was hoping you could. expand upon a little bit more um and. it's making the headlines is this. allegation uh from Micah's siblings and. it was made in this documentary that. John Paul Miller had involuntarily.

hospitalized her uh on at least one. occasion. Um can you talk to us a little. bit more about that allegation? >> Yeah, absolutely. the allegation is true. and he did it more than once. Um I can't. remember the exact number of times and I. think that the documentary kind of. showed a little bit of that but he did. that more than once and it's a classic. coercive control tactic is to um you. know weaponize the legal system against. uh the victim and to weaponize u medical. care against the victim too. So anytime.

that she was trying to it looked like. she was getting strong enough to walk. away from him, then that's when he would. want to turn around and and slap her in. the hospital just so he could let her. know that he's got control of her and. and that, you know, and that he can do. that. And he did it more than once. >> And by the way, our understanding is is. you turned over piles of information, documentation to the FBI when they were. investigating um JP Miller. Do you see. any direct correlations between what you.

handed over and the charges that he now. faces? Because as I mentioned before, those federal charges came up at the end. of the documentary, too. >> Yes. And absolutely. Um I felt like uh. the um the factual allegations in the. indictment actually didn't track. everything I gave them, but everything. that was in the indictment was supported. by something that come from my office. By the way, do you know what he's been. up to uh in the months since he was. federally charged? Now that this. documentary is coming up, do you have. any knowledge about his whereabouts, his.

activities? Because it's our. understanding that the Solid Rock Church. building was sold. Not sure if he's. leading another service. Do you know. anything about what he's up to? >> Yeah. Um from what I understand, and you. know, people report things to me all the. time from the community. Um he had. developed another church, a very small. church and like a little strip mall type. of thing. Um, so and he renamed it and. uh we're not going to give him a plug on. that, but he uh has a real a really. small church that he's been having.

services at. Him and Susie, you know, his new wife. Um they've been doing that. together. They still are seen around in. the local community in um Myrtle Beach. and Surfside Beach area. Uh so he's just. been going along with his life, you. know, but of course the the um. conditions of his bond is he has an. ankle monitor, so he can't leave the. state of South Carolina. And he also um. you know, had to surrender his tra his. passport, so his travels are shut down. Uh but he's just, you know, it's kind of.

just blows the mind how I mean, a normal. person would go into hiding or move. somewhere and not stay in the same town. where all of this stuff, you know, occurred. Uh but not him. he sticks. around. But now that the documentary is. out, I'm curious to see what's going to. happen at that point because this I mean. it's one thing to have the whole local. community on you and a local news and. and some you know folks on the internet. and stuff but now when you put it in. front of 90 million plus subscribers of. Netflix that's got a whole new uh spin.

on it. >> What do you hope comes from this. documentary? Number one for me is for people to learn. what coercive control abuse looks like. Whenever I offer um you know a. definition of it, I always feel like it. just kind of lands flat or people go. that sounds horrible. Well, when you. watch the documentary, I'm hoping that. people walk away and I've gotten this. feedback, but people are walking away. going dang, you know, that that is. horrific. And I'm like, "Yeah, but what.

you don't understand is this was. condensed into three, you know, 40 45. minute um episodes when Micah underwent. the same type of relentless behavior for. years, her entire 20s and all the way. up, you know, till she was married to. him and so forth. So specifically, of. course, I want the law passed in the. state of South Carolina. And at this. point, I'm hoping with this kind of. coverage that my goodness, maybe we'll. get a law in every state in the United. States that criminalizes this behavior.

as it should be. >> What kind of gap in the law is there? Just to be just to be clear, what what. gap is missing? Well, so for the biggest thing is. whenever you're married, um, and it's. when you're married and the property. that you own, even if it's like, oh, the. husband always drives this car, the wife. always drives that car, and when they. tend to look at it as my car and their. car, but when you're married in the. state of South Carolina, is considered. marital property. So, if you want to. damage your own property, um, is what.

the law looks at. You know, if you want. to put razor blades in your tires and. you want to, you know, slash up seats. and drop dumbbells and key your car, you're welcome to damage your car all. you want to. So, it's not recognized. that that that you take it outside of. it's not at this marital property. It is. a form of harassment and stalking and um. you know, those types of things. And the. the law is not it needs to catch up in. South Carolina. It's still archaic that. um you know, violence leaves marks.

course of control doesn't leave marks on. the body. It leaves an indelible scar, lifetime traumatic um scar on the brain, on the psyche and on the um. self-confidence of a person that's a. victim to it. >> Before we wrap things up, I I just want. to go back to something. The way the. documentary starts is I mean it talks. about the death of Micah. Um, when you. go back and you think about your last. conversations with her the last time you. saw her and then you hear the news about.

what happened to her, what do you look. back on? Do you say, you know, I I I saw. something like this coming, it came out. of nowhere. Were you shocked? I'm sure. just watching that is really difficult. for you, but I'm just curious um when. you go back to that moment in time, you. know, what was your feeling? >> Yeah. So whenever I found out about it, of course, I 100% did not believe it. I. was shocked and just it wouldn't. register for me because when Micah was. in my office, um, and remember, I've.

been a divorce attorney for over 20. years, I've seen all kinds of things, you know, in people in different places. And I can usually tell if a client comes. in and they're contemplating leaving or. they really feel like they want to, but. they're really not all the way in it. because they're still uncertain because. most people want to continue to try to. save their marriage. But Micah had. reached that final place and it was very. obvious to me that she was confident in. the decision. It was exactly what she. wanted. She had already removed herself. from him. She wasn't living with him.

She was in another place. She had gotten. a car that was, you know, he had nothing. to do with that he couldn't interfere. with. She also had gotten another job. So, he wasn't manipulating controlling. her pay as working in the church like he. liked to do all the time. So, she was. really gaining her self-confidence back. and standing in my conference room. I'll. never forget as long as I live, her. being so excited about her own future. because she had already found, you know, her longtime calling from the Lord, as. she put it, was to to go into mission. work. And she was so happy to go and try.

to build a school in Africa. And so for. someone to appear healthy and to appear. emotionally stable to me outside of. sadness that's commonly associated with. the ending of a marriage. I just didn't. see her as someone that that would have. happened to that she would have even. contemplated that was just surprising to. me. And plus, you know, she was making. plans, you know, and it just it just. doesn't make sense. Still doesn't make. sense to me to this to this day. I know. that we don't have her anymore, but I.

still just can't believe that she would. have done that to herself. >> Regina Ward, thank you for taking the. time. Really appreciate it. >> Thank you. And I always want to say I. just appreciate your show so much. I. feel like that you and your staff when. y'all get together, y'all really get the. story right and and I'm very. appreciative of that and keep doing the. great job that you're doing. >> Thank you for saying that. We definitely. try. Um this is a big update. This is a. big event in Micah's story and we wanted. to definitely have you on to talk about. it. So, thank you so much, Regina.

>> Thank you. You have a great day. I. appreciate it. >> 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 also check us. out on NBC's Peacock as well. If you. want to follow me, X Instagram, my. NewsNation show, Jesse Weber live, Monday through Friday, 11 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next time, everybody.