Crucial details about JP Miller Netflix omits from Death of the Pastor's Wife

Warning: This article contains discussion of domestic abuse and suicide which some readers may find distressing

Netflix’s Death of the Pastor’s Wife has been a huge hit for the streamer, topping the charts in both the US and Worldwide.

Despite this though true crime fans are as always desperate to not just have the information provided in the documentary itself but know all the extra details that the filmmakers decided not to include.

The case of John-Paul (JP) and Mica Miller is incredibly complicated between Mica’s accusations of abuse from before her death, which JP denies, his criminal history and relationship with his father, and the cheating saga which both started and ended their relationship with one another.

Netflix however couldn’t include everything, and details about JP’s arrests, the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, and a joint press conference by Mica and JP's lawyers were all left out of the doc.

Netflix’s filmmakers specifically chose to not include much information about JP’s father, Reginald Wayne Miller

In the Netflix doc it is off-handedly mentioned that JP himself had spoken about being abused by his father Reginald, but did not go into much detail about his abuse allegations of his father or his dad’s own criminal record.

Reginald was arrested in 2014 and pled guilty to charge of fraud in foreign labor contracting and visa fraud. He has also been accused of cheating on his wife and abusing his son JP, but filmmakers spoke about why they didn’t include more details around this, saying: “In no way were we trying to excuse JP’s actions… without JP participating, or without his dad participating, we couldn’t go into too much detail.”

JP and Mica’s family held a joint press conference announcing lawsuits were gonna be dropped and calling for an end to protests

The Francis family, many of whom spoke in Netflix’s doc to detail Mica’s allegations of abuse against JP, held a press conference with the pastor where they announced a ‘global agreement’. This agreement settled any possible or pending civil lawsuits, ruling out the possibility of him being served a ‘wrongful death’ lawsuit.

Russell Long, JP’s attorney, said in the press conference: “This is over. This global agreement is Mica’s justice.” The two groups agreed to put their weight behind ‘Mica’s Law’, a piece of legislation proposing that coercive control be added to the definition of domestic abuse in honour of Mica, and called on protestors from outside JP’s church to support this instead of holding weekly protests.

Regina Ward, the attorney for Mica’s family, said: “I know that some of you are going to be disappointed. Whenever you’re involved in litigation of this magnitude and this many things to cover, it could take years to go through a court system.

“We don’t want to talk about Mr Miller anymore. We want to move forward to the next chapter, and that is getting this [Mica’s] law passed.”

JP and his now-wife Suzie Skinner had an alibi which ruled them out of investigations into Mica’s death

Netflix’s documentary is quite vague about whether JP could be involved in Mica’s death, even though he was never arrested or charged in connection with her death, instead being arrested for cyberstalking and making false statements by the FBI.

The doc does not however include that he has an alibi in which he was out of town at the time of her death.

JP was in Charleston, South Carolina, for his childrens’ soccer tournament on the day Mica died, which was confirmed by police. This was verified by an interview with a ‘female companion’ who was identified as Suzie Skinner.

JP is accused of having had an affair with Skinner prior to Mica’s death, something he denies.

He also spoke about this alibi in an interview with Newsnation, saying: “I was with about 100 people. We had dinner that night. We were all together at the soccer fields that day.

“After the soccer game somebody was with me the entire time who I can't name due to legal purposes but I will say it's somebody that I love more than anything else on planet Earth.

“We went shopping in Charleston and we got food in Charleston, and there's all the receipts from that throughout the time.”

JP has a criminal past that wasn’t included in the documentary

The Netflix doc does cover his indictment by the FBI for cyberstalking but does leave out two arrests from the 1990s and one from after her death.

JP had two charges against him pardoned in 2022 from driving with a suspended license in 1998 and hitting a woman with his truck in 1999, driving 100 yards with her on the hood of the vehicle, leading him to be arrested on an assault and battery charge of ‘high and aggravated nature’.

He received a four-year suspended sentence, three years of probation, and 500 hours of community service for hitting the woman with his car.

The pastor was also arrested for assault for an incident involving a protestor criticising his church in 2024, which he denies.

An interviewer asked him about whether he ever abused Mica

Death of the Pastor’s Wife includes interviews with a Newsnation reporter Rich McHugh who conducted his first interview after her death, but doesn’t include him asking JP if he abused his then-wife.

He asked directly, leading JP to say he had ‘never’ in ‘any way, shape or form’ abused her, and even claim that she was ‘never harmed in any physical way’.

McHugh also asked about an ‘apology letter’ which JP sent Mica, which the pastor did not deny doing and in the letter featured him apologising for stalking her and putting razor blades in her tires.

He admitted to writing the letter but claimed it was not an admission, stating that as part of a deal to start taking her medication again Mica had requested an apology letter and $10,000.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.