Netflix’s Death of the Pastor’s Wife covers JP Miller’s alleged abuse of Mica Miller and the circumstances surrounding her April 2024 death. However, the three-part docuseries left out several disturbing details, including two prior criminal convictions, a rape allegation, a cut interview, and the full story of his friendship with a key church figure.
Mica Miller deserved better. That much is clear from the moment Death of the Pastor’s Wife begins on Netflix. She was a woman who loved music, loved her community, and by all accounts tried desperately to get out of a relationship that was slowly destroying her.
The three-part docuseries tells the story of Mica’s marriage to pastor John-Paul “JP” Miller, the alleged abuse she endured, and her death in April 2024. Just two days after Mica formally served JP with divorce papers, she was found dead from a gunshot wound in what investigators ruled an apparent suicide. The protests outside Solid Rock Church that followed, demanding justice for Mica, made national headlines.
Netflix covered a lot of ground. But not all of it. There are details about JP Miller that the docuseries glossed over or skipped entirely. Some of those details paint an even darker picture. Here are five of them.
What criminal convictions did JP Miller have before marrying Mica?
This one is significant. Netflix documented JP Miller’s alleged stalking behavior in detail, but the series never mentioned that John-Paul Miller had two prior criminal convictions from the 1990s.
The first was a conviction for driving under suspension in March 1998. The second was far more serious. In June 1999, JP faced an assault and battery charge described in court filings as being of a “high and aggravated nature.” According to those filings, uncovered by local media outlet the Post and Courier in 2024, JP hit a woman with his truck and then drove for 100 yards with her on the hood of his vehicle. His explanation? She was harassing him.
For that assault, JP received a four-year suspended sentence, three years of probation, and 500 hours of community service. In 2022, a court pardoned him on both convictions, calling him a “law-abiding citizen” after he completed his sentences.
That description aged poorly. JP now awaits trial on federal cyberstalking charges and has maintained his innocence throughout.
Was JP Miller accused of assaulting a protester outside Solid Rock Church?
After Mica’s death, Solid Rock Church became a focal point for community grief and outrage. Protesters gathered outside for months, calling for justice on Mica’s behalf.
Then things escalated. John-Paul Miller was arrested for allegedly assaulting a protester outside the church. Netflix showed the protests, but this incident didn’t make it into the docuseries.
Shortly after that arrest, Solid Rock Church closed its doors. Three months later, JP reportedly sold the land the church stood on for $2.1 million. According to reports, the land will be demolished and turned into condos. The church that Mica sang in, the community she poured herself into gone.
Was JP Miller accused of rape?
This allegation also went unmentioned in Death of the Pastor’s Wife. JP Miller faced an accusation of raping a 15-year-old girl when he was 19 years old.
The filmmakers behind the series addressed the omission directly. As reported by The Tab, the filmmaker explained: “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 Miller has continued to strongly and consistently deny this allegation.
What did JP Miller say in the interview Netflix cut?
During the docuseries, viewers briefly saw JP sit across from NewsNation journalist Rich McHugh. JP broke down crying. However, Netflix cut a revealing portion of that conversation, and what got left on the editing room floor is worth knowing.
McHugh asked JP directly: did he abuse his wife? JP denied it immediately. “Never. Not once in any way, shape or form,” he said. He went further, insisting he had taken “better care than anybody could ever take care” of Mica and that she “never had to work” and “was never harmed in any physical way.”
McHugh then pressed JP about an apology letter he had written to Mica, the same letter that Mica’s lawyer argued, in the documentary, was proof of guilt. In the cut portion of the interview, McHugh asked JP about specific things he had apologized for, including placing razor blades in Mica’s tires, tracking her location, and posting a naked photograph of her online.
JP acknowledged the letter was genuine but disputed the context. He claimed Mica had been refusing to take her medication and told him she would only agree to take it if he gave her $10,000 and wrote her an apology letter.
That is a significant claim to omit from a three-part documentary.
What role did JP Miller’s friend Mark Kaufman actually play at Solid Rock?
Mark Kaufman appeared briefly in Death of the Pastor’s Wife, but his full story goes deeper than Netflix showed.
Before Mica Miller became the worship leader at Solid Rock Church, that role belonged to Mark, JP’s close friend. According to a since-deleted blog post by podcaster Beth Braden, Mark was the person who first created the “paradise” concept at Solid Rock: secular pop songs reworked into worship music. Those parody songs became central to the church’s identity. Throughout the docuseries, viewers see clips of Mica performing exactly those songs.
There’s more. When JP left the church after his affair with Mica came to light, Mark was reportedly one of the key people who convinced him to return. After Mica’s death, Still Rock Ministries purchased a plane, which has since been transferred to Mark’s company, FeRX LLC.
None of that made it into the show.
Mica Miller’s story is bigger than three episodes
What strikes you, after pulling all of this together, is how much ground three episodes couldn’t cover. Mica Miller’s story, her courage in filing for divorce, her voice, her community, deserved every detail to be told with care.
Some of what Netflix left out may have been due to legal or logistical constraints. Some of it may simply be the limitation of the format. But the fuller picture of John-Paul Miller, the prior convictions, the alleged rape, the cut interview, the church’s inner workings, adds layers that viewers deserve to understand.
Mica made a 911 call before she died. She fought for herself until the very end. The least the rest of us can do is keep paying attention.
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.