{Update:5.8.24} Pastor John-Paul Miller Said Mica, His Wife, Died of Suicide. Friends and Family Think Otherwise. Death Ruled Suicide.

Posted on by May 13, 2024avatar
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=66150&picture=woman

Woman With Red Hair, Crying. Public Domain

“People expect all stories of abuse to be loud and angry, but they’re not.
Sometimes they’re quiet and cruel and swept under the rug.” ― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

Trigger Warning: Graphic discussion on suicide and abuse.

5.8.24.  Evidence indicates that this was a suicide:  “Mica Miller’s Suicide ‘Is Quite Clear,’ Police Say as They Push Back on Conspiracies Around Pastor’s Wife’s Death.”

In their statement, the sheriff’s office shared that they determined Mica’s husband was at an athletic event in Charleston on the day of Mica’s death. Authorities stated that neither he nor a woman he is “allegedly romantically involved with” were in North Carolina on the night before and the day of Mica’s death.
John-Paul “was given the opportunity to attend” a meeting with police on May 7 but “indicated through his attorney that he would not come to North Carolina” to do so.

…Mica’s body was found in a body of water at Lumber River State Park on April 27, according to a new release from the Robeson County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office shared on Tuesday, May 7.

Robeson County Medical Examiner Dr. Richard Johnson told WPDE on Monday, May 6, that Miller died by suicide, and police have now detailed different pieces of information that corroborate that ruling.

“A death investigation that has tugged on the hearts of people across the nation has been ruled a suicide,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “The decision was based on surveillance footage, interviews, physical evidence, and the examination of the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office.

“The evidence is quite clear and compelling, and we are as saddened as anyone that this occurred,” added Sheriff Burnis Wilkins in a statement.

Final Thoughts:

The evidence is compelling that she committed suicide. The evidence is also compelling that her husband should not be a pastor.

What happened to Mica? Was it suicide or homicide?

I often follow crime stories in the news, but few appear on TWW. The death of 30-year-old Mica Miller caught my eye since it involves some strange actions on the part of her estranged husband, John-Paul Miller, the pastor at Solid Rock of Market Commons in the Myrtle Beach area. The link to the church’s website is not operational, but FaceBook and Instagram are still working as I write this post.

This weekend, The Christian Post published pastor says his mentally troubled wife died by suicide, but some refuse to believe it.

Police in North Carolina are investigating the death of Mica Miller, the wife of Pastor John-Paul Miller of Solid Rock at Market Common in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who was found with a bullet wound to her head at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County last Saturday as her widower comes under a barrage of suspicion online.

Major Damien McLean of Robeson County Sheriff’s Office told ABC15 News that officers are gathering information from people who knew the late 30-year-old pastor’s wife to understand how she died.

Last Sunday, just hours after her body was found, Pastor Miller announced to his congregation in a viral video that his wife died by suicide even though investigators have not yet confirmed an official cause of death.

In the video, Miller announced he was taking a break for an indeterminate amount of time after he revealed his wife’s death, which he said was a suicide. Some believe that the church is permanently closed. Protestia, which tweeted the viral video, is also linked to Mica’s obituary, which her husband supposedly wrote.

The odd part of all of this is that the pastor preached a sermon in which he appeared to tell humorous stories. Then, at the end of the service, he announced his wife’s death.

Mica appeared to have applied for a divorce.

The Christian Post described an on-again, again, and back-on-again divorce.

Court records cited by The New York Post show that Mica Miller filed for divorce from her husband in October 2023, but the reasons were not stated. The case was eventually dismissed in February, but a few days later Pastor Miller filed for “Separate Support and Maintenance” seeking financial support. Mica Miller would file for similar support in April. A hearing was scheduled for June 5.

CP. also spoke to John-Paul Miller, who claimed his wife, both of whom were married before and both were guilty of adultery with one another, struggled with a mental illness.

Pastor Miller admitted that his relationship with Mica began with adultery. He said they were both previously married and cheated on their spouses, and many people left his church, forcing them to start over. He said he and Mica got married in 2017. Shortly after, she underwent surgery for an undisclosed reason and was diagnosed with “bipolar II, schizophrenic and dependent personality disorder.”

…The pastor said he took his wife to probate court a few weeks ago to get her hospitalized, but the court stated that she wasn’t a danger to others so she could not be forced.

“Nobody believed me when I told them that she was having a psychotic break. She would have never left. She would have never done what she did. They wouldn’t believe me. I have 48 text messages that I sent out saying she needs her lithium; somebody help me please. And no one believed me,” the grieving pastor said.

“Everybody thought I was a demon for trying to take her to probate court and get her put in a hospital. I told her family, I have text messages, over and over, I told her family she needs her medicine. They told me I’m crazy. She doesn’t need any medicines.

An early history of Mica and John Paul’s relationship.

For that, I had to go to RedditMyrtle Beach. Pastor Announces Wife’s Death After Sermon, says suicide, but locals are finding evidence that suggests otherwise. This is what I gleaned from many comments. I cannot attest to their truthfulness.

Mica started attending Solid Rock Church when she was 15. She then married and divorced. When she was 23, she began a relaitionship with John-Paul who was married with 5 children. he diorced and remarried her.

This Myrtle Beach writer alleges:

His charges when he was married to her (Mica):

Knowingly damage property (2x)
Aggravated assault/deadly weapon
Possession of a liquor by minor (2x)
Possession of consumed liquor by a minor
Possession cannibis <2.5 grams (same night as the minors)
Contributing to the delinquency of a child
Domestic battery/bodily harm
Domestic battery/physical contact
Assault/assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (2x)
Being on premises after warning or refuse to leave

The more extended narrative implies that Mica alleged domestic abuse.

Another timeline includes Mica and John Paul in the past three months.

What sort of a church was Solid Rock?

I chased a rabbit for this one. The Reverend Charles Randall served as an advisor and possibly on the elder board at Miller’s church. According to McLeod Health:

Dr. Randall is the Pastor of St. Delight Pentecostal Church in Little River, SC. He joined the McLeod Foundation as a Trustee in 2012. He serves on the McLeod Loris Seacoast Community Board of Directors.

So, although that is a guess, it is likely that Miller’s church was at least superficially linked to the Pentecostal faith. It is possible that Miller started the church independently. As of today, Idaho News reports that Miller has been “released” from the church. This story is now attracting national attention.

John-Paul and his alleged new girlfriend who also lost her spouse in an odd tragedy.

 

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A post shared by Robbie Harvey (@therobbieharvey)

Family and friends are concerned that her death wasn’t suicide but homicide.

WPDE posted Got to be some accountability:’ Loved ones grieve amid death investigation of MB woman:

Loved ones of a pastor’s wife who was found dead in a North Carolina state park with a bullet wound to her head are not convinced she died by suicide, as her husband claims.

Instead, they’re pressing authorities to probe Mica Miller’s death as something potentially more sinister—especially after her husband’s announcement of her death a day after her body was found did little to quell rumors about the tragedy.

“This has to be at least looked into deeply,” Kenn Young, Mica Miller’s friend, told WPDE. “There’s got to be some accountability here, because yeah, a tragic life was lost, and it’s not just as simple as mental health issues.”

It appears that a police investigation is about to commence.

The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday it was opening a probe into Miller’s death, with Maj. Damien McLean telling WPDE its officers were still “in the process of gathering information from people in South and North Carolina as part of their investigation into how Miller died.”

Her family is speaking out on social media, describing abuse and a “no contact order.”

The Facebook page Voices in the Wilderness, said to be run by Miller’s mother, has posted frequently since her death. Her mom noted that a “no contact order and a divorce was filed just days before this tragedy,” adding that “we are devastated.”

Miller’s sister Sierra Francis urged people in a Facebook post not to “listen to false stories being shared about” her sibling, adding that she had suffered from abuse.

Mica’s death has galvanized neighbors in Myrtle Beach.

Friends are publically protesting, asking for “Justice for Mica.”Thanks to Todd for the following.

There is a GoFundMe page titled “Help us get #JusticeforMica,” which has raised over $10,000 as of this writing.

Mica was baptized at another church before her death.

The Daily Beast reports:

Miller posted a final photo to her public Facebook profile on April 9, a selfie with the eerie caption, “When terrible terrible TERRIBLE things happen to you… (y’all know what I’m talking about) RPF: resting peace face.”

She had posted photos of herself being baptized in the ocean a little over a week earlier, tagging a South Carolina church that was not the one where her husband preached. And on March 22, posted a video in which she discussed “leaving a dangerous situation.”

Here is her last FaceBook post.

Mica’s death ruled a suicide by the medical examiner’s office

A statement from the Robeson County Sheriff’s  Office

As of approximately one hour ago, this statement was released. Looks like we’ll be waiting.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 9-8-8. It’s available in English or Spanish 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Comments

{Update:5.8.24} Pastor John-Paul Miller Said Mica, His Wife, Died of Suicide. Friends and Family Think Otherwise. Death Ruled Suicide. — 46 Comments

  1. Mr Miller performed the whole samn dervice (2, I think) and had his audience laughing moments before he chanced to remember to tell them his wife had died. Mr Randall then prayed for him as the audience got ready to quietly file out. Mr Miller was careful to call Mr Randall “Bishop”. If he’s really a bishop he needs defrocked asap. All this even if Mr Miller didn’t gaslight his wife to death.

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  3. WRT the cause of Mica’s death: Tammy Daybell’s death was ruled natural at the time. Her body was later exhumed and it was determined she had been asphyxiated. Chad Daybell (disgusting man cosplaying as her husband at the end of her life) is on trial for her murder in Idaho.

    If I were the family, I’d find the money and get a second opinion on the autopsy. There’s too much weirdness. But even if the wound was self-inflicted, the woman was under such incredible stress I can sadly see it happening. That does NOT mean her husband should be off the hook. He should never pastor a church again. He’s a guy who needs to be working the third shift at the 7-11.

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  6. Frances:
    the story made its way to Switzerland through a free newspaper. 20minutes.ch in French

    Todd told me that it was in the Daily Mail (UK)

    This is a profoundly concerning story that raised the hackles, rightly so, of many good people. At a minimum, the pastor is not Billy Graham, and his personal life appears to disqualify him from ministry. However, like many of his ilk, he shows up and starts new churches elsewhere.

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  8. Dave A A: Mr Miller performed the whole samn dervice (2, I think) and had his audience laughing moments before he chanced to remember to tell them his wife had died.

    Warm up the audience and get ’em laughing.
    Then drop the bombshell and get the Sympathy.
    Also get the Spin out and take control of the Narrative before any Fake News can surface.
    Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

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  12. From dee’s post….. adultery, divorce and 2nd marriage……
    Then ‘ The Christian Post described an on-again, again, and back-on-again divorce.’….. and the list of charges filed against JP….

    And here’s a little snippet from the obit:
    (I read on one web page that John-Paul Miller wrote the obit – didn’t mark it, can’t find it now..”

    . Mica was a great stepmother, and an amazing wife and helpmate. She helped Pastor JP with the church in every way. Mica was the worship leader, graphics designer, youth leader, women’s ministry leader, and Pastor’s assistant. And she did all of this with the upmost integrity and faithfulness. Mica made the greatest of efforts to always be the best wife she could be. She truly served Jesus and her husband with all of her heart. She would praise her husband after every church service telling him he was the best preacher in the world (even if it wasn’t true). She also told him he was the funniest preacher in the world (even though that wasn’t true either)

    IMO, something is definitely fishy, and then some!

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  17. Pastors’ wives.

    Who disappeared only to be found in their car backed into an abandoned semitrailer in an empty lot down a dirt road near old railroad tracks. Expired.

    Who fell down the stairs in their family home, fatally.

    Who seemingly ended their own lives. After a so-called history of being emotionally distraught.

    Who ran away never to be seen again, or so they say.

    Who drown in the tub, collapsed in the shower.

    As seen on Dateline. Pastors’ wives who were Datelined.

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  18. JUST IN: Law enforcement release heartbreaking 911 call of Mica Miller making sure her location could be found for her family before she tragically took her own life.

    “I’m about to k*ll myself and I just want my family to know where to find me.”

    Mica had just filed for divorce from her husband Pastor John-Paul Miller who is accused of abusing her.

    Police have also released surveillance footage of Mica purchasing a gun before she took her life in North Carolina.

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  19. ” don’t know what else happened with this couple, but I do know that the Church Too types that were out strongly implying this man murdered his wife have now been exposed for what they often are—rumor mongers who have no respect for due process. Or even basic prudence.”

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  20. Sounds like she was indeed possibly bipolar, which is one can of worms. Add in a bully of a husband and another can of worms.

    But did see on the news last night the coroner and sheriff say self inflicted gunshot wound. Also heard the 911 call.

    Of course no way at this time to know if she was being coerced at the time of the call.

    So sad. And why would anyone attend a church with this man as pastor?

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  21. linda: So sad. And why would anyone attend a church with this man as pastor?

    Fear of Eternal Hell/being Left Behind can be quite a motivator.

    As can everyone around you dewy-eyed and trembling-lipped in the Presence of the Mighty ManaGAWD. It’s not only chickens who peck any defectives to death in the barnyard.

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  23. senecagriggs: don’t know what else happened with this couple, but I do know that the Church Too types that were out strongly implying this man murdered his wife

    The family and close friends believed that this could be the case. John Paul Miller sounds like the type of guy you would love to follow as a pastor.

    The uproar was due to people being concerned about a young woman’s life. It seems justified.

    Finally, the Church Too movement is justified in this instance. Reread the history. Miller will be heard from again.

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  24. dee,

    I agree with everything you said in this comment.

    I’m glad the investigation has been concluded and case has been solved. I am glad that she was not murdered, but I do hate that things compelled a young woman to take her own life.

    However, I do believe all of this (the death, the doubts, the publicity, etc.) will make it easy for the pastor to continue, or even increase, his unchristian behavior indefinitely while an adoring congregation hangs on his every word….. and keeps throwing money in the plate. I believe he will do everything he can to use his “persecution” to his advantage.

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  25. So this Bishop Randall seems to condone a “pastor” leaving his wife and 5 kids, marrying someone who leaves her husband for him, having a girlfriend during divorce proceedings for the 2nd marriage, etc. Not only does he seem so unfit for ministry, he is a very bad example to his own kids. But who will correct him as he leads the sheep astray?

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  28. dee: Finally, the Church Too movement is justified in this instance. Reread the history. Miller will be heard from again.

    I’m sure we’ll be hearing about him on Dateline. Or Inside Edition.
    Or on YouTube, specifically on Dire Trip, Real Crime, True Crime Daily, True Crime Central, etc (with a special/snarky psychoanalysis by Dr Todd Grande).

    Dire Trip especially: https://www.youtube.com/@diretrip/videos
    (What IS It with these @-sign hashgtags in the URL? Can’t embed a link to save your life…)

    P.S. I entered “pastor murders wife” into YouTube search.
    Guess who’s at the top of the (very long) list?

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  31. I do believe the church should take him off the platform for the time being and work thru a host of troubling issues letting the investigation lead where it may.
    *
    But let me reiterate a belief I’ve expressed in the past. Let’s not have the hanging until all the evidence is in.

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  34. Domestic abuse can explain her mental health diagnosis. She complained to the police multiple times about alleged stalking, then she filed a restraining order and divorce paperwork. He was served 2 days before she died.

    There needs to be more compelling evidence of suicide than she was found in the water with a GSW. It seems very convenient that she was in water.

    Any DV advocate knows filing for divorce often puts a survivor in extreme danger – especially when stalking is part of the abuse.

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  35. senecagriggs:
    ” don’t know what else happened with this couple, but I do know that the Church Too types that were out strongly implying this man murdered his wife have now been exposed for what they often are—rumor mongers who have no respect for due process. Or even basic prudence.”

    Seneca, have you considered that it was entirely likely that she was driven to suicide by her husband? No? *scowls* There’s a lot more I could say, but I am NOT letting this guy off the hook. He has a history with teenage girls and he groomed Mica. In the meantime, Seneca, please don’t talk about things you know nothing about, such as due process. *double scowl*

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  37. senecagriggs: Let’s not have the hanging until all the evidence is in.

    The evidence is in and the state of North Carolina won’t be hanging him. However, watch a couple minutes of him on the “platform” and you’ll know this joker (a literal joker- telling jokes moments before announcing his wife’s death) this joker is a thief- a “shepherd” who fleeces the sheep. So we can remind him that the Bible says he should no longer steal and should get an honest job. And the bishop who platforms him should be defrocked,

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  40. Muff Potter:
    Headless Unicorn Guy,

    If I remember correctly, he (Seneca) went under the moniker ‘Jimmy’ back then.

    I think he had a couple other aliases.
    Whenever he got bounced, he’d sign in under another alias, all wide-eyed Innocence — “Seneca? Who’s ‘Seneca’?” “Jimmy? WHo’s ‘Jimmy’?”

    Unfortunately for him, all these Wide-Eyed Innocents traced back to Seneca’s IP Address.

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  45. Cynthia W.,

    Mostly silent,

    Lots of folks on this blog have experienced or loved ones have experienced church abuse in many forms. The blog exists for them to express their pain and anger. Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair but the process works itself out over time. You should have seen me when I found out a friend’s son was among the 30+ teens who were molested at my church. I started this blog to get it off my chest. I’m doing better now but my son was not harmed.
    Time heals or begins to heal the pain inside.

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  46. Headless Unicorn Guy: I’m sure we’ll be hearing about him on Dateline. Or Inside Edition.
    Or on YouTube, specifically on Dire Trip, Real Crime, True Crime Daily, True Crime Central, etc (with a special/snarky psychoanalysis by Dr Todd Grande).

    He just DID get “a special/snarky analysis by Dr Todd Grande!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1PgzLy4Jro

    Check out the comments as well:
    “So even though this “pastor” cheated on his first wife and then married his lover.. he was still pastoring? Dear God! This woman needed help. And he was the worst thing that happened to her.”
    “His eulogy looks more like a bitcoin 6-week to financial freedom scam presentation”
    “A malignant narcissist if I ever saw one!”
    “I can’t fathom going to a church where the pastor is married to his mistress that he met as a minor, where they both cheated on their spouses and he was their officiant! All WHILE he was pastor!”
    “How do we know Mica was bipolar?? She was diagnosed AFTER she married John Paul. He mentioned that he was bipolar and had taken lithium. Her mental health was affected by his toxic and abusive behavior. He was projecting his bipolar on Mica.”
    “When a sociopathic narcissist meets a bipolar disordered soul. BANG….”
    “FBI is now investigating him, Plus Mica had bruises on her hand when she supposedly committed suicide ”
    “As a person who has Complex-PTSD, anxiety, and major depressive disorder and who lives with a narcissist, I need to say that I understand that while her husband may not have actually pulled the trigger, but he certainly is responsible for her death.”
    “Have you considered the fact that many abuse victims are labeled “bipolar” when it could actually just be symptoms of abuse???? ”

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