The father of Mica Miller’s pastor husband has broken the family’s silence since her suicide to his defend his son in an extraordinarily frank statement to DailyMail.com.
In a lengthy, strongly worded email, Reginald Miller, 75, insisted his son John-Paul, 44, had nothing to do with his daughter-in-law’s April 27 death – when she drove to a North Carolina state park and shot herself in the head.
He also made several claims about Mica’s mental state and previous incidents between the couple, alleging she ‘shot up the neighborhood’ two weeks after she married John-Paul and had tried to shoot herself before.
‘Mica was a very, very, sick young woman,’ he said in his statement riddled with several grammatical errors.
‘All have been covered (up) to protect her memory.’
Mica, 30, whose husband pastored Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was found dead in Lumber River State Park.
Reginald Miller, 75, defended his pastor son John-Paul ‘JP’ in the wake of Mica Miller’s death, in a lengthy statement to DailyMail.com
Mica’s family have been quick to launch a Justice for Mica campaign following her April 27 suicide, claiming she was pushed to her death by her husband’s actions
A segment of Reginald Miller’s 900-word statement to DailyMail.com addressing allegations, Reginald insisted his son John-Paul, 44, had nothing to do with his daughter-in-law’s April 27 death
Her death came days after she had served John-Paul, also known as ‘JP’ with divorce papers.
Her family have been quick to launch a Justice for Mica campaign in the wake of her death, claiming that she was pushed to kill herself by Miller’s actions.
Weeks before her death, Mica had shared a video speaking about abuse within marriage as claims emerged that she was being harassed and was ‘afraid for her life‘.
But Miller’s father has broken the silence surrounding his son, who has kept a low profile following the revelation that the FBI is assisting the investigation into Mica’s death.
Reginald – who sometimes goes by his middle name Wayne – had a taste of fame in the 1980s after launching a religious TV show from his Gloryland Bible College in Florence, South Carolina.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘I have a video of Mica on (a mission) where she tells last year how she took a gun to kill herself and pulled the trigger and the bullet locked in the gun.
‘When all of this is over and they see in the second weeks of marriage she went and got a gun and was outside shooting up the neighborhood when my son ran out to stop her.
‘She spent the first three weeks in a mental facility, and all the times since then.
‘What has been accomplished,’ he asked in all capital letters.
‘Her family refused to believe how sick she was. She was a very, very, sick young woman.’
Reginald denied that Miller was with another woman at the time of Mica’s death, despite Robeson County Sheriff’s Department releasing a timeline of his movements which claimed he was in Charleston with someone he was ‘romantically linked’ to.
Authorities also released surveillance footage of Mica purchasing a gun in the hours before her death, along with a 911 call she made.
But JP’s father says the footage and call is proof that she was in a psychotic state before she ended her life.
Miller’s father pointed to CCTV video that emerged showing Mica purchasing a firearm before she died, speculating she was likely in ‘one of her psychotic states’
Mica took her own life not too long after serving her husband John-Paul Miller, 44, with divorce papers. Police ruled her death a suicide
Reginald said: ‘Did you see the smile on her face buying the gun. Is that a distraught woman?
‘Did you ever (see) any crying or upset in her voice in her 911 call.
‘No. Because she was in one of her psychotic states.’
And he blamed her family for refusing to allow her to get proper treatment.
Reginald also addressed his own brush with the law in 2014, when he was charged with labor fraud and other offenses for allegedly turning his Cathedral Bible College into a forced work camp
‘If her family would have left her the last time her doctor put her in a mental facility for a minimum of three weeks and had not checked her out and convinced her she did no (sic) need drugs I believe she would be alive today, happy, singing in church.’
John-Paul is accused in court documents of grooming Mica for years from the age of 14, committing her to hospital so he could steal her car, and cheating on his first wife, Alison, with underage churchgoers.
He has not been charged in relation to her death.
In affidavits filed by Mica’s family, they express their concern over her relationship with Miller who has been described as a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ and a ‘false prophet’ by those who know him.
JP announced Mica’s death casually during a service at Solid Rock Church on April 28, calling it ‘self-induced’.
A week later at her memorial service he gave an emotional 20-minute speech telling church goers of her mental health struggles.
In the days after her death, Miller’s friends and family held a rally outside the church where her husband previously worked and boycotted a memorial service he organized for her – holding their own on the beach.
Reginald, who said in his statement that he was diagnosed with stage four cancer last year, defended his son, saying that he is ‘not a monster’.
‘He loved her with all his heart’, he said. ‘My son did everything he could to keep her on her drugs, help her through her psychotic states.
‘On one occasion he had to call the police after she bloodied his nose and he refused to press charges.
Mica Miller is pictured exchanging vows with her pastor husband John-Paul Miller in 2017 in a photo unearthed by DailyMail.com
Miller has been accused in court documents of grooming Mica (pictured during her first marriage) for years before they wed, committing her to hospital to steal her car, and cheating on his first wife with underage churchgoers
The unearthed texts show Mica had gone to visit her sister while she and her pastor husband John-Paul Miller were having ‘issues’ in late 2022
‘She told me just a couple of months ago that her family were mad because she was with JP, because she had told them things that weren’t true. When they realized they were not true, they were all mad with her.’
Miller’s father admitted in the statement that he was charged with labor fraud, visa fraud and failure to pay minimum wage in a 2014 case where he was accused of turning his Cathedral Bible College into a forced work camp.
Overseas students told the probe that classes they were taught were a sham and that Miller Sr. forced them to work at the college or his home for little pay.
They claimed that if they refused he threatened to have them deported.
He served 15 months in prison following his arrest, and was released after his sentencing as part of a plea deal which saw his time served as his punishment.
He was banned from possessing firearms, given home detention for a year and had to perform 500 hours of community service.
He also had to pay restitution of $75,000 to his victims, and was handed a supervised release term for three years.
Speaking about his conviction, he said: ‘In 2014 I had signed two student visas that they knew English because I had been led to believe they did.
‘When they got here they did not know English.
‘I was suppose (sic) to have reported them but did not, giving them English lessons instead.
‘I therefore committed visa fraud by not reporting them and plead guilty to that. The only reason I was in prison leading up to the pleading is that I had no money for bail because I have never maintain (sic) a balance greater than a couple of thousand since all my life has be given to helping others.
‘The other two charges was two students who had worked over the 20 hour requirement of how much they could work. I had considered some of their hours to be training.
Reginald – who sometimes goes by his middle name Wayne – had a brush with fame after launching a religious TV show from his Gloryland Bible College in Florence, South Carolina in the 1980s
Since his wife’s death, disturbing allegations have emerged against Miller as well as claims about the couple’s turbulent marriage
John-Paul Miller shocked his congregation when he announced her death as a suicide at the end of a service at Solid Rock at Market Common Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Miller Sr was was also charged with lewdness and prostitution in South Carolina in 2006.
He reportedly exposed himself to an undercover male police officer in a bath house at Myrtle Beach State Park.
The charge was ultimately expunged after he participated in a pre-trial intervention program.
He was also dogged by allegations that he made sexual advances towards two men, whose wives were Bible college students.
In the late 1980’s following his TV success he was also part of a five-part news report in which anonymous students accused him of making inappropriate advances towards them.
He used his statement to DailyMail.com to bash media coverage of his daughter-in-law’s suicide and his own run-ins with the law.
‘The problem with press reports is that only the rich can do anything about what is said in the media. The poor cannot afford a lawyer and just have to bear the false allegations.
‘I and my family have enough each of us to deal with without this mob of vicious attacks.’
When asked about the claims, Miller Sr. said simply ‘allegations are allegations’.
The investigation continues to surround Miller’s husband John-Paul after it was revealed earlier Monday that he penned a poisonous email to his estranged wife before her death saying he wanted to ‘attack and cause pain‘.
DailyMail.com has also since revealed a series of threatening messages John-Paul sent to Mica and her family in the two years before she filed for divorce, with police reports showing that the couple had been having marital problems for months.
Robeson County Sheriff’s department confirmed that in the early stages of the investigation they had reached out to the FBI and US Attorney’s office for help in probing Mica’s death.
In a statement the department said: ‘Based on the information gathered during the investigation and jurisdiction reasons, the Sheriff’s Office has requested the assistance of both agencies.
When contacted by DailyMail.com, the FBI office in Columbia, South Carolina, confirmed that it had been in contact with Robeson County Sheriff’s office but could not give any further information.
If you or a loved one is experiencing suicidal thoughts or actions, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
