US Attorney’s Office, FBI consulted as part of investigation into Mica Miller’s death
Divorce docs show Mica Miller accused Pastor John-Paul Miller of adultery
The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigations in South Carolina confirmed Tuesday that they have been consulted about the suicide of Mica Miller, the late wife of Pastor John-Paul Miller of Solid Rock at Market Common in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Miller was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, North Carolina, on April 27.
"We have been in contact with the Robeson County Sheriff's Office, but we don't confirm/deny/comment on investigations," U.S. Attorney's Office Public Affairs Specialist Veronica R. Hill emailed The Christian Post in response to questions about the investigation.
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Kevin Wheeler, public affairs specialist at FBI Columbia, responded similarly when asked about the Mica Miller case.
"I can confirm the Robeson County Sheriff's Office consulted with the FBI; however, we cannot confirm or deny the potential existence of an investigation. Allegations of criminal conduct are reviewed for their merit, with consideration of any applicable federal laws," Wheeler told CP.
On Monday, the Robeson County Sheriff's Office announced in a statement cited by ABC 7 that they had asked both the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI in South Carolina for help with the case.
"The Robeson County Sheriff's Office has been in contact with the United States Attorney's Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation in South Carolina since the early stages of the Mica Miller investigation. Based on the information gathered during the investigation and jurisdiction reasons, the Sheriff's Office has requested the assistance of both agencies," the statement said.
"No other information will be released at this time. Anyone with information pertaining to the Miller investigation in South Carolina is asked to contact the Columbia, SC FBI Office at 803-551-4200."
Although Robeson County Medical Examiner Dr. Richard Johnson ruled the 30-year-old Mica's death a suicide, family members and friends have raised significant concerns about abuse in her marriage to Pastor Miller, 44.
They allege the abuse contributed to the deterioration of her mental health and likely driven her to suicide. They have also been clamoring for him to be held accountable for her death.
Pastor Miller has insisted in an interview with CP, however, that it is his wife's bipolar II disorder and her roller-coaster attitude towards taking her medication that drove her to suicide.
In an affidavit cited by NewsNation, Mica Miller's father, Michael, alleged that Pastor Miller claimed his daughter was not taking her medication properly and needed to be hospitalized in February 2023. Michael noted, however, that Mica just decided to take one pill instead of two, which was allowed under her medication regime.
"Throughout a lot of their interactions … John-Paul was exaggerating a lot of things and making up things so that he could, in fact, get Mica hospitalized against her will," NewsNation producer Allison Weiner, who reviewed the affidavit, told NewsNation's "Banfield."
In a sworn affidavit shared on X by Protestia and filed as part of her application to serve as special administrator for her sister's estate, Sierra Francis said Mica Miller, 30, had served her husband with divorce papers on April 25 and was looking forward to being free of him because he was abusive.
"My sister was hopeful for her future after filing for divorce from John-Paul," Francis wrote in the affidavit.
"My sister also expressed to me that she was fearful that she would not make it to the divorce and that her life would be taken from her. It is my belief, based on conversations with my sister, that she told multiple people, including other family members," Francis explained.
"Mica stated to me on many occasions 'if I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, it was JP.' Mica forwarded a family group text message notifying us that Mr. Miller was served the divorce papers on April 25, 2024," Francis added. "On April 27, 2024, my sister, Mica A. Miller, was found dead as a result of a gunshot wound in Lumberton, North Carolina."
In a separate affidavit supporting Francis' application to serve as special administrator, Mica Miller's brother, Nathaniel Francis, a member of Solid Rock at Market Common, said his late sister also confided in him about her marital struggles.
Nathaniel Francis noted that he left Solid Rock at Market Common after several years there "due to the behaviors I observed."
He said shortly before her death that Mica Miller reported to police that her estranged husband was viciously stalking her.
"Mica made several police reports over the last few weeks of her tires being slashed and tracking devices found on her car. In Mr. Miller's email forwarded to me, he apologizes to Mica for the tires and causing damage to her vehicle," Nathaniel Francis wrote.
"Mr. Miller's email to my sister continued to state that he was angry when Mica confided or 'put her family before' him, and that made him want to hurt her. In his words 'when someone hurts me, I try to hurt them back rather than forgive.' And instead of me forgiving you … I just attack and try to cause pain.'"
A week ago, the Robeson County Sheriff's Office presented a detailed report of "clear and compelling" evidence showing that Mica Miller took her own life, including a 911 call in which she told a dispatcher, "I'm about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me."
In divorce documents cited by The Daily Mail, Mica Miller alleged last October that her husband had repeatedly committed adultery during their marriage. She also claimed that her husband would become hostile toward her when she pushed back against his behavior.
"Plaintiff (Mica) is informed and believes that the defendant (John-Paul) has and is currently engaging in acts of adultery with women whose names are well known to the defendant," the complaint alleges."
"Plaintiff has not condoned the adultery. The plaintiff would show that she left the marital home due to defendant's philandering as well as defendant's growing hostility towards plaintiff. Defendant has threatened to throw plaintiffs belongings into the yard, locked plaintiff out of her own home and has defamed and demeaned the plaintiff before a congregation of people," it continues.
Though their relationship started with both of them cheating on previous spouses, Mica Miller claimed that in the seven years she was married to Pastor Miller, she was a "faithful and dutiful wife" who was "devoted to their church and marriage."
In a 2017 affidavit also highlighted by The Daily Mail, Miller's first wife, Alison, who's the mother of his five children, accused him of engaging in sex acts with minors younger than 16 and having an addiction to prostitutes. She also alleged that Miller was caught in an affair with Mica in 2015 while she was working as their babysitter and married to his then-best friend Jeremy Deas.
"Our marriage and my husband's career were less than stable at the time, because at the time my husband's affair was discovered, he had previously admitted to both me and our congregation that he had an addiction to prostitution," Alison wrote in the affidavit seeking alimony.
"He had also confessed to me and other staff members of the church that he had sexual encounters with young females from the church, who were under the age of sixteen," she added.
Instead of removing Miller as leader, Alison stated that church officials demanded he get counseling for his sex addiction, but he refused to get counseling, which caused many of the members to leave.
"When he refused, the majority of our church left the congregation," Alison wrote.
Miller previously acknowledged the affair with Mica and being forced to start over at his church in an interview with CP, but he did not share the details alleged by Alison.
In one of the latest allegations against the pastor, according to News Nation, Miller confessed to posting a nude photo of Mica on social media as she tried to divorce him.
"I'm sorry for putting a picture of you on the internet," he said in an apology email cited by the news outlet. "It was for less than one hour and immediately taken down. I was hurt that you are 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."
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