Former church members and friends of Mica Miller, the pastor’s wife whose death is the subject of a three-part Netflix docuseries, claim that her husband, John-Paul Miller (JP), not only groomed her as a teen but used his wife for sex and abused her in various ways.
Bruna Pabon, a former member of John-Paul Miller’s Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said that the pastor subjected Mica Miller to mental and sexual abuse, People magazine reported on Wednesday.
“He wouldn’t let her sleep. He would splash water on her face and pull off the covers,” Bruna Pabon claimed. “She couldn’t take a trip because he couldn’t go two days without getting physical. He was basically using her for sex. That was the whole marriage.”
Bruna Pabon, 34, said that her friend tried to be an obedient wife at first, but her growing self-respect and desire for independence clashed with her husband’s wishes.
Other former church members and friends of Mica Miller, Ricky Pabon and Sam Rickman, spoke about the alleged abuse with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on his podcast “Cuomo Crime Time.”
Ricky Pabon alleged that John-Paul Miller, who was at least 15 years older than Mica Miller, started abusing his friend before her first marriage to Jeremy Deas.
“She was groomed … all the way through even before her marriage with Jeremy. I think in some way, JP had his fingers already in the marriage,” Ricky Pabon stated, claiming that John-Paul Miller was close with Deas.
According to Rickman, members of the church made their concerns about the pastor’s conduct known to leadership, but he claims, “We were lied to. We were gaslit.”
John-Paul Miller’s attorney, Russell Long, did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. This article will be updated if a response is received.
The death of Mica Miller, which was ruled a suicide in 2024, was the focus of the 2026 Netflix docuseries, “Death of the Pastor’s Wife.” Netflix’s docuseries features accounts from friends, family members and former church members who allege that John-Paul Miller harassed, stalked and abused his wife.
While John-Paul Miller has not been charged in connection with Mica Miller’s death, he was indicted in December 2025 for allegedly making false statements to federal investigators and cyberstalking his estranged wife for nearly two years until she took her own life in 2024. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina alleges in an indictment filed on Dec. 17, 2025, that John-Paul Miller began cyberstalking Mica Miller on or around Nov. 16, 2022, until her death on April 27, 2024. Mica Miller is identified as Victim 1 in the indictment.
According to the indictment, the pastor’s actions were carried out with the “intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with the intent to kill, injure, harass” his wife.
The pastor allegedly used or threatened to use nude videos and photographs of his late wife to harass her and posted a nude photograph of her online without her consent, according to prosecutors.
He also reportedly “placed or caused to be placed tracking devices on vehicles” used by Mica Miller, in addition to interfering with her finances, banking and daily activities. Investigators said that John-Paul Miller falsely claimed he did not damage Mica Miller’s tires on her car, and that his wife had called him more than he had called her.
“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 1, when in fact, the defendant, John Paul Miller, was told on March 11, 2024, by a police officer with Horry County Police Department to stop contacting Victim 1,” the indictment states.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
