John-Paul Miller says he put GPS trackers on Mica’s vehicles, posted nude photo of her, report says

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — During divorce proceedings, Mica Miller said she was abused “emotionally, sexually, spiritually, financially and physically” in “every way I can think of,” according to a letter in court documents obtained by NewsNation.

More than a month before authorities said Miller died on April 27 by suicide in Robeson County, police reports obtained by News13 show four different instances in which GPS tracking devices were reported to have been found on vehicles linked to her.

Timeline: What’s happened so far in the death of Myrtle Beach woman Mica Miller

Her husband, John-Paul Miller, former pastor at Solid Rock Church in Market Common, admitted in text messages with NewsNation’s Rich McHugh to putting the GPS trackers on her vehicles. He also apologized for the damage he caused her vehicles. He was released from his ministerial duties on May 5.

“I even hired PI to put trackers on her car to know if she was going to a gun store,” John-Paul told NewsNation. “I have never once in my entire life ever hurt her in any way. Ever.”

John-Paul also admitted in an email exclusively obtained by NewsNation to posting a topless photo of Mica online.

News13 exclusive: Man who found Mica Miller’s belongings says her suicide ‘changed my life’

“I’m sorry for putting a picture of you on the internet,” the email reads. “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.”

In an April 8 report Mica filed with Myrtle Beach police about the incident, she told officers that John-Paul posted the photo she had sent him six months earlier on Facebook and tagged her old Facebook account, which he had access to. Officers told her there was no way to prove who actually posted the photo.

McHugh obtained the letter to the courts that was a part of Mica’s divorce proceedings. In those documents, she laid out why she was leaving John-Paul.

“Since the day we became husband and wife, I have been abused in every way I can think of emotionally, sexually, spiritually, financially and physically,” Mica’s letter reads.

Regina Ward, the attorney for Mica’s sister Sierra Francis, claimed John-Paul “brainwashed” Mica.

“This man, in my opinion and based on the documents, my conversations with Mica whenever she was alive, tell me that she was brainwashed by this man,” Ward told NewsNation. “He abused her in every possible way that there is. Financially, he abused her, but taking away things, phones, access to money, took away her car, those types of things to try to gain control of her. Every time she tried to leave him, he would harass and stalk her to the point she just felt like she had to give up and go back.”

Ward added in the interview with NewsNation that John-Paul “abused her religiously” and “her relationship with God.”

Mica also accused John-Paul in a police report filed Feb. 21 of “grooming” her for years before their marriage, a claim vehemently denied by John-Paul’s attorney Russell Long in an email to media outlets that threatened legal action over the coverage of Mica’s death.

Long also said Mica had a history of mental health problems and said some reports “made by her in the recent past are nonsensical.”

Francis and Ward added clarity about the Feb. 21 report that claimed Mica was “groomed” since she was 10 years old.

“If I had to assume, I would guess that she probably meant [the year] 2010 and not 10 [years old],” Francis told NewsNation. “She has consistently said since 14 years old. I have never heard her ever say 10 years old. That’s not even possible, we weren’t even in South Carolina.”

“Yeah, I don’t think she said since 10 years old,” Ward concurred.

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News13 has reached out to Long for a comment. Count on us for updates.

Editor’s notes: If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health crisis and thinking about suicide, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.

NewsNation is a national cable network operated by The Nexstar Media Group, the owner of WBTW News13.

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Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

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