There are no witnesses, no fingerprints, and no confession to the 1992 deaths...
and his sister, Connie Brianna, in East Tennessee.
There are, however, four alleged and uninvestigated alternate suspects, six alibi witnesses, a disgraced medical examiner, a nearly impossible timeline, a bad search warrant, and a man named Gary Sutton sitting on death row.
“I'm Beth Brayden, a writer and investigative journalist, and I'm going to tell you why I believe”
the death penalty does more harm than good in my new podcast, Time of Death. In February 1992, 28-year-old Gary Sutton, his uncle James Dellinger, and Gary's best friend, Tommy Griffin, went out drinking. The night ended with Tommy laying dead on the riverbank. Tommy's sister, Connie Brianna, went looking for her missing brother the following day, and
was never seen alive again.
Gary and James were convicted of murdering Tommy and Connie and sent to death row, where Dellinger died of natural causes in 2023, and Gary Sutton awaits his fate. Follow my investigation to explore this capital case and others, as the clock ticks down towards Gary Sutton's December execution. Search for time of death wherever you like to get your podcasts.
“Hey y'all, it's Manny Maddie. If you're listening to co-host, you already know that Micah”
Francis Miller's story runs so much deeper than what the world saw on Netflix. This week on Drew Sunlight, Liz Farrell and I are breaking down what death of the pastor's wife left out, and trust me, it is a lot, like J.P.'s fellow and father, Reginald Wayne Miller,
and how J.P. inherited the playbook from him, the manipulation, the lawsuit, the just-keep
preaching arrogance, straight from his daddy. Plus, we talk about the two J.D. lawsuits that Netflix barely touched, and we tell you a whole lot about J.P.'s x-white that Netflix left out. Remember, Justice for Micah is a movement, not a moment, in the full story matters. So follow Drew Sunlight wherever you're listening right now and check out Episode 163,
but Netflix left out of the Micah Francis Miller story. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. This is co-host, the devotion and death of Micah Francis Miller, Aluna Shark Dropfeed. My name is Manny Matney, journalist Liz Farrell, Beth Brighton, and I have been reporting on Micah's story for more than two years now for Drew Sunlight podcast.
Coerced is a winnishark production, made possible by producers Kate Thomas, Grace Hills, and David Moses.
“I will never forget the day that I first read Micah's list.”
I was in Ori County to cover what was supposed to be a hearing related to Micah's estate that day at the Ori County Courthouse. The hearing was canceled, but Regina Ward, Micah's family attorney, called a press conference instead. She stood in the hot South Carolina Sun and told a large crowd of press, the horrific details
that she had uncovered about Micah's relationship with JP, which she outlined in a list that she printed out for everyone who was at the press conference. The abuse that Micah alleged was so much worse than I ever imagined. In that day, Attorney Regina Ward proposed Micah's law. Let's dive in.
Well, hello from Murdoch Beach. We just got back from Micah Miller's family press conference at the Holy County Courthouse, and I have a lot of emotions to sort through right now. Mostly, I'm furious. I'm furious for Micah, who we are going to start referring to as Micah Francis as
much as possible, and we will explain that later in this episode. But also, I am furious for Micah's family. And for everyone who has fought the same fight with the system, working against them at every turn. I am furious that Micah's family had a stand there today in the hot blistering South Carolina
Sun to share Micah's story and educate the public on coercive control in hopes that laws can be changed and that other women, like Micah, can be saved. There are no doovers to this tragedy. They can win and civil court and maybe they can win in the state house with Micah's bill. But none of that brings their beloved Micah back.
None of it makes the pain of losing her any easier. None of it will bring them the light that Micah had on their lives. What happened to them was final. All they can do is help protect other Micah's out there in bad situations, who might
Be experiencing coercive control and don't even realize it.
All they can do is pick up the pieces that she left behind and expose those responsible
for her life ending the way that it did. All they can do is finish the fight that Micah started a long time ago. The fight to escape and eventually exposed JP Miller. All they can do is share the painful details of Micah's story and hopes that the world wakes up in maybe one day passes Micah's bill.
How can what happened to Micah possibly be legal?
“How much evidence of horrific behavior do we have to see until someone is in handcuffs?”
How come the punishment for stealing from Walmart is so much more clear cut and defined than the punishment is for mentally tormenting someone to the point that they feel like death is the only option.
How come coercive control?
A pattern of behavior used to dominate, manipulate, and intimidate another person. As attorney Regina Ward described it today, isn't a common term in our legislation. I want to talk about torment and coercive control for a minute today. As all be honest, I didn't really hear of that term much until I started listening to Laura Richards podcast crime analyst.
You can hear our conversation about coercive control on cup of justice episode 63. In today's press conference, Micah Miller's family attorney Regina Ward told reporters about how Micah's family once had changed. The coercive control bill and South Carolina to Micah's bill with a few adaptations. You see, as Regina explained today, this bill could have possibly saved Micah's life
by giving police officers a roadmap for what to look for in abuse cases. But unfortunately, this bill has also been collecting dust in the judiciary committee since 2020.
“It doesn't surprise me at all because honestly, our legislator is wildly corrupt, mostly”
male and quite frankly, this bill could be bad news for many of them. But besides that, the coercive control bill probably didn't get a lot of steam because it didn't have a specific name, face and story attached to it, showing people exactly what coercive control looks like in the tragic consequences of it. So on Wednesday, Regina Ward and Micah Miller's family presented Micah's bill to the
public. They released purple packets of information to reporters and sent them to state representatives with Micah's name, face, story, and Micah's list attached to it. Micah's list is a stomach-turning five-page document of unbelievably painful allegations that Micah made about JP and were discovered through her writings and journals.
It is all hard to read.
“Premium members received these documents last night, please share them.”
Regina notes that these are allegations, and that JP hasn't been charged with any crimes related to Micah ever, but I want to go over a few of these allegations because blanket attempts like abuse and torture just don't quite move the needle and get people fighting for Micah like they should. This list might change the game for how we look at coercive control as a society.
This list is divided into two parts.
The first part, list 15 coercive control behaviors alleged by Micah that are already
included in the bill followed by examples. We're going to go over this list again in a more detailed way, but I want to talk about a few of these and give the examples that were written to give you all an idea of what I'm talking about, and trigger warning. This stuff is hard to hear.
One item says depriving her of basic needs. It says that JP would not let Micah sleep. He kept her up all night and he pulled the covers off of her every time that she does off. It claims that she threw her clothes on the front lawn of their home.
He would allegedly and successfully wake her up screaming to the point that she had to sleep in her car at times. Another behavior listed is expressing her worthlessness. It claims that JP told Micah that she was lazy and mentally ill that her breasts were too small, that her family was ignorant, and that she wasn't a Christian woman if she ever
Questioned him or didn't submit to his dark secrets.
Humiliated, degraded, and dehumanized her.
“It alleged that JP forced Micah to submit to humiliating sexual acts that disgusted and hurt”
her. The document alleges that he would tell her that she was mentally ill and have her hospitalized against her will. Another behavior on this list, threats to reveal or publish private information. The example claims that JP would make videos of Micah and private and threatened to upload
them if she didn't do what he wanted. And finally, this one, rape. According to Micah, while she was hospitalized, JP demanded that she have sex with him, while she lay in a hospital bed. The document claims that JP forced her to perform sexual acts against her will and demanded
that she watched him and sexual acts with others, while preaching on Sunday, that it
was her job as a wife to always submit.
“So those were some of the things on the list that the original coercive control bill included.”
Then there is another list that includes behavior Micah alleged that were suggested to be added to the coercive control bill. One of those is cruelty to her dog, another one, destruction of supporting evidence, another misuse of legal documents, misuse of law enforcement, misuse of the legal process. But the one on this list that stuck out to me was medical abuse.
It says that JP declared Micah bipolar, forced her to take a lithium, a prescription of his own, monitored whether she complied with taking the pills and would forcefully give her steroid and testosterone shots in her arms, thighs and buttocks. JP would allegedly make her swallow pills, and if he thought she didn't take them, he would cut them up and put them in her food.
Whew, I know, it's hard to hear, but we need to hear at these details. It is madening to think that in the eyes of our law right now, a lot of those things listed above don't qualify as being black and white illegal. We will talk more about Micah's law later in this episode, and a lot more in episodes
“down the road because it is important, as Regina Ward said, we have to educate people,”
especially lawmakers.
On problems that they might be minimizing, simply because they never heard details like this
to explain a problem, like coercive control. This is a given tool that they need, needs to be education about what coercive control is. Someone is not lived in it or been a part of it. Sometimes as a difficulty wrapping their mind around what this is, coercive control is basically
like the psychological warfare, it will damage the very soul of a person. It will make them doubt and lose their self-confidence and especially their self-worth. And they'll give up. They'll give up on being happy and they'll survive and trudge through day by day, or maybe they won't.
What this family wants you to do is to help this. We want Micah's law. We want the coercive control bill to be looked at, taken seriously, put some time into it. Micah's list tells you what coercive control looks like. What comes next tells you how long South Carolina has known about this problem, and
how long are elected officials have failed to take action. Here is a clip from Truth on my podcast episode 55. We know this is going to be a big battle because a coercive control bill has already been introduced in the legislature three times, twice in the house and once in the Senate. All three times it was essentially dead on arrival when it was sent to the judiciary committee.
In December of last year, the South Carolina Bar Association held a continuing education course on family law court, in which attorney Megan Hunt Dell spoke about coercive control and how to identify the signs of this type of domestic abuse. A packet from the class notes that coercive control perpetrators are a particularly dangerous type of abuser because they are persistent.
Quote, their desire to control is intense and rigid, and if they feel like they're losing control, they can take extensive extreme and even lethal actions to maintain control and
Or punish the victim.
They generally refuse to take no for an answer.
“Consequences are quote unlikely to be deterrence.”
They are generally very charming and manipulative, and they have no interest in changing their behavior. So our state's own bar association has recognized how malignant this type of abuser is. Our bar association that is made up of lawyers. Many of whom are also a part of our legislature.
The bar even instructed lawyers and judges on what they can do when faced with situations were coercive control is at play.
Some of the things on that list include recognizing that abuse can exist without bruises,
making legal resources affordable for victims, validating victims' experiences, advocating for victims, identifying and exposing abusive tactics by abusers, supporting victims' attempts to set boundaries with their abusers and by enforcing court orders. So where exactly is the disconnect? Well the disconnect is that the bar has not acknowledged that this is an issue.
They have acknowledged that lawyers and judges have a role to play in mitigating this type of abuse. They've acknowledged that abusers are very difficult to stop, and yet a bill that would be a literal lifesaver has failed three times in our legislature. Is that because our mostly male legislature knows that a van diagram of their own bad behaviors
“toward women, which sometimes overlap in the coercive controlled bubble?”
They can't even make a joke about women being a lesser cut of meat these days. Am I right, boys? Right after Regina B. Ward's press conference last week, where she specifically called out Senator Luke Rankin, Luke Rankin, Micah's own Senator, posted his lame defensive and manipulative response on his Facebook page.
Rankin, by the way, is a chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is an attorney, who has been a part of the state Senate since I was in preschool in 1993. Rankin has done nothing to fix the way our state elect judges. And he had this to say about the Francis family's request for the legislature to reintroduce the bill under the name "Micah-Flaw" with a few amendments.
First, it starts out by explaining the situation to people who are not familiar with it.
I was shocked and saddened at the news of Micah Miller's death, and I joined our community in mourning her much too short life. Now we await results of any investigation by the proper authorities of possible wrongdoing. Then, he scolds those calling for a law to protect women from coercive control. Disappointingly, yesterday, the family law attorney who represented Micah before her tragic
death choose to use Micah's death to take a political cheap shot at me. Then, he splits hairs. For the record, there is no such bill pending before either the House or Senate Judiciary Committee, and no bill has been introduced by any member of the House or Senate since 2021. Then, he gets defensive, while also manipulatively establishing that no one who matters seems
to think we need this law. For yesterday, no law enforcement, victims advocate, family court judge, or family law attorney, including Ms. Ward, has ever asked me to help make this bill a law. He then calls Regina a liar. The statement or suggestion made otherwise is completely false.
Men, he promises nothing while also, and bear with me on this one because you might think that I'm reading too much into this, getting a little dog whistly for the patriarchy. He refers to South Carolina laws as men to protect the innocent, and by innocent, he likely means women, which is insulting and infantilizing.
“How about laws meant to prevent bad actors from committing bad acts?”
All that laws that are meant to hold the guilty accountable for their behavior. You only need to regard women as human. We don't have to be perfect Disney princesses to be deserving of equal justice under the law that holds our abusers accountable.
While I always seek ways to strengthen SC laws to protect the innocent, I rea...
bill to become law it requires action by the majority of the House, Senate, and the Governor. I stand ready to help continue to make SC and our community the place so many love to call home. Like I said, he made no promises.
Basically, the point of his post was that he didn't like people calling him out when
he was trying to get reelected. Don't blame me, blame yourselves. And that, my friends, is the general attitude of our legislators. We really hope that hearing about the experiences Micah outlined in her journals will help motivate these guys in a different way this time around.
“Because honestly, we don't know how anyone can read these allegations without wanting to fix”
it, so that men won't be able to act the way that Micah says J.P. acted toward her without fear of arrest.
We don't know how anyone can continue down their normal path after reading about Micah's
allegation that J.P. would routinely take her phone and hide it from her allegations that he would tell her that her family members were not good people, and that she should disassociate from them, allegations that he would forbid her from spending time with friends or question her so insistently about it that the harassment outweighed the benefit of having friendships.
Allegations that he wouldn't let her sleep and we keep her up all night, pulling the covers off her every time she dosed off, allegations that he would throw her clothes out on
“the front line that she would be forced to sleep in her car to get peace from him.”
Allegations that he tracked her whereabouts and showed up at a location where she was
and would stand in the distance so that she could see that he was there. Allegations that he would monitor her communications and talk about them in his sermons. Allegations that he would hack into her email, Abel account, and Facebook account and assume her identity. Allegations that he would take her driver's license, wallet, purse, house keys, and change
the locks on the doors of the house. Allegations that he convinced her she didn't need a lawyer. Allegations that he would use his sermons to send messages to her against speaking out. Allegations that he raped her and forced her to perform sexual acts against her will,
“enforced her to watch him and sexual acts with others.”
Allegations that he would preach that if his sexual wishes went unfulfilled, it would be her fault if he sought another woman or man to satisfy him. Allegations that he removed her from their bank accounts, but required her to continue to pay bills. Allegations that he would mess with her transportation and interfere with her work by randomly firing her from the church that she worked at.
Allegations that he would use her faith against her and tell her that she wasn't a good Christian. Allegations that he would make videos of her in private settings and then threaten to upload them as she didn't do what he wanted. Allegations that he would tell her she was lazy, mentally ill, gollable and not smart.
All of that, the larger picture of it, the pattern of it, would have been prohibited if South Carolina would have passed its 2022 course of control bill. And that is not even mentioning the allegations that speak toward further amendments to that bill, suggested by Micah's Attorney and Family. Allegations that JP was emotionally abusive, allegations that JP was using humiliation
as a weapon against Micah, allegations that he would ignore her request to leave her alone. Allegations that he was cruel to her dog, allegations that he would destroy her property and he had keyed her car and dented her hood with a dumbbell. Allegations that he actively tried to, and in some instances, was able to destroy evidence related to her documentation of his alleged abuse.
Allegations that he misused legal documents and had a cease and desist letter sent to Micah, threatening legal action against her if she spoke badly about him and the church. Allegations that he demanded she sign a post-naptural agreement, giving up certain marital
Rights, allegations that he demanded that she sign a separation agreement wit...
benefit of legal counsel, allegations that he would misuse law enforcement by calling
“police on her to make false reports, allegations that he would misuse the legal process”
by filing papers twice in pro-bay court to have her committed. The judge prevented that from happening, by the way. Allegations that he convinced Micah to drop her divorce case against him only to very literally, turned around and immediately filed his own case against her. Allegations that he would routinely cheat on her and pay for sex with both men and women.
Allegations, he would steal her identity and text from her accounts in an attempt to disgrace her name. Allegations that he would change her passwords and lock her out of her own accounts. Allegations that he would engage in medical abuse by declaring Micah to be bipolar and forcing her to take his prescription of lithium. Allegations that he would give her testosterone shots and make her swallow pills in his presence.
Allegations that he would convince her that her Christian duty was to forgive him. Allegations that J.P. would use his power at the church against her.
“Even using church letterhead for the purposes of harassing her.”
And finally, allegations that he would engage in physical abuse that left no marks. Such as finger punching Micah in the throat or holding her up against a wall by her throat. And such as slapping a drink out of her hand and sacking a plate of food from her and throwing it. So here's the frustrating truth. Many of those behaviors on their own are not chargeable crimes in South Carolina.
And the ones that are, J.P. Miller was never charged with.
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And it turns out that same instinct that drives my investigative journalism.
It makes for a different but pretty amazing new kind of travel show.
Wherever it leads is Luna Shark's brand new podcast. And it's nothing like the travel content that you've heard before. We go deeper, we talk to locals, reporters and people who actually live where you want to visit. Not just the ones who want your tourist dollars. We cover the food and landmarks sure, but we also ask the harder questions.
What is the real history here? The often sad and traumatic history. What new challenge is this place facing?
“And how can you show up as a visitor who actually makes things better?”
My co-host David Moses and I, along with a team of journalists, are heading destinations around the world. To expose the truth, give voice to victims throughout history and get the story straight. With new destinations and episodes every other week. Wherever it leads from Luna Shark.
Find it wherever you listen to your podcasts or visit wherever it leads, pod.com. So what exactly would Micah's Law change? Here's that explanation. From truth on light, podcast episode 54.
Perhaps the most important part of the press conference, though, was the announcement
that Regina and the Francis family are now working toward creating Micah's Law. A law that would criminalize coercive control in South Carolina.
A bill was introduced in the South Carolina House of Senate in 2020
that would have criminalized, quote, "the act or pattern of acts of assault, threats,
“humiliation, manipulation, and intimidation or other abuse including emotional abuse”
that is used to harm, punish or frighten the victim by fraudulent representations."
It basically expands the idea that domestic violence is solely a physical act of abuse,
but that bill failed. Regina said that had it passed in 2020. JP would have been arrested because the police would have had a law to follow. They wouldn't have been able to just throw up their hands in an act like there was nothing they could do about it, which...
We still think there were things along forcemen could have done to help Micah. Regina said that is part of their pursuit of a coercive control law.
“They want to include a misuse of legal documents clause that would criminalize the use of”
the legal system for purposes of intimidation and control.
This is where we should remind you about the police reports that Solid Rock appears to have filed against Micah, accusing her of stealing from them even after it looked like a judge had declined to issue a warrant declaring that "no crime had been committed." This accusation weighed on Micah. We told you a few weeks ago about how Micah had spoken with the FBI about a parent financial
anomalies at the church and how she was convinced that JP and his enablers would try to pin it on her. We'll talk a lot more about coercive control laws in the future, but we'll say this for now.
It's a much-needed law and it's going to take a big village to help get this past and you know why.
Because the coercive control law will protect women and it will really mess up bad men. And we all know that our mostly male legislators across the country really hate laws that they can picture being used against them because they know they're on behavior toward women over the years hasn't been so great. Because they hate giving women any control over their own safety.
Cup of Justice is Luna Shark's conversational podcast and sometimes we welcome expert guests from around the world. On Cup of Justice, episode 86 we spoke with Laura Richards, a former New Scotland Yard Criminal Behavioral Analyst and High Risk Stocking Advocate. Laura is also one of the world's leading experts on coercive control. Here Laura explains the patterns that she looks for and then she describes the red flags that she saw when she turned her attention to JP Miller.
Laura, all of this is just really upsetting. Can you talk a little bit about what specific patterns of behavior that you look for when identifying these coercive control behaviors? What are some things that people need to know to identify coercive control? Yeah, it is really troubling, man. I am glad that we're having this conversation because
“there will be people listening the relate to this and that's why talking about it is so important.”
But it can be lots of different types of behaviors. There might be behaviors where there's rules and regulations laid down and a fear of consequence. She has to have a battery charged on her phone and she has to call in or text message or send a picture of where she's at to prove that she is where she says she's going to be at her mother's house or at a friend's house. It could be close. Certain clothes being worn hair has to be in a certain way. It could be that she has to
work two or three jobs or it might be that she doesn't have to work and won't work at all. She's not allowed to work. It could be she's not allowed access to the bank account or that she has credit cards but he's running up the credit cards and getting her into debt. Or it could be anything where she may be subordinated or it creates a dependency. So one of the cases she wasn't allowed her own social media had to be joint social media so that
he could see everything that she was posting. It might be pseudo-carrying behavior or she's had a mental breakdown and I'm the one that's care-taking for her and in almost every case there's isolation. So the perpetrator will try and ensure that the victim is isolated from her friends and her family. With that it means that they can monopolize perception. Both perception of other people of her, but also he can talk to her in a negative way about her friends and family too and drive a wedge.
That isolation is present in most cases.
she was found talking to Y, it might be an old boyfriend or a new girlfriend or there are these rules
“and regulations and the perpetrator will use threats for the things that the victim cares about the”
most or the people that they care about the most. So it's very idiosyncratic behavior. It's nuanced and tailor-made to the victim. It could be that they're not allowed to sleep or they're not allowed to eat certain things or they have to do certain amount of fitness and that's being monitored
and managed by the perpetrator. It might be devaluing. So I always listen very carefully as to how
perpetrator talks about the victim. If they devalu them, if they try and make their world small, if they discredit them, if they belittle them. Or equally it might be that they are putting them on a pedestal and there's this sort of the opposite effect where they're saying these grandiose things that are almost too good to be true but they're divorced from reality. So I look for both things.
“It could be, I mean really it's about grooming and brainwashing. So I listen very carefully to”
how the victim talks about herself and if her world has been shrunk down and if I see a world being shrunk down rather than when two people are in a healthy relationship, you want your partner's world to be as expansive as possible. You want them to enjoy everything in life and experience everything in life. That's a healthy relationship. So the converses, if I see someone shrinking down someone's world, then I know that there are red flags there. So I look for lots of different
things because every case is quite different. But there's a list there of things that you can certainly like isolation that will be present and oftentimes the victim, when you hear them talk, they will talk in the perpetrators' words. So they might say, oh yes, well we did move away but that was because it was better for me and for my job prospects and it was better for Derek because he wanted a brand new start. What she won't say is it takes her away from her friends, her family,
her job, everything that she knows. So I have to listen very carefully to how a victim talks
“about what's going on for her but also how a perpetrator talks and that's why the dash”
risk model is very important to make sense of what's being said but every case is quite different. Yeah and we will absolutely link to that for people to look at. I mean your website is just full of really, really helpful information and list to like you said, break these complicated things down in a way that people understand and can relate to and can identify with relationships
in their life. The other thing I'll just add in, Andy, is I always look at the start of the
relationship too because often with a coercive control and you have love bombing and you have whirlwind. I happened all very quickly and the coercive controller moves the needle very quickly. This whirlwind with love bombing techniques of, you know, these grand statements of I want to die in your arms. I want your face to be the last person I see and within a week I want to marry you and have children with you, you know, them forcing intimacy which for the victim might
feel good because we all want to feel special and connected but the perpetrator will move it along and will create a false impression of who they are to match what the victim wants. So again, you know, asking very specific questions about how someone met and the type, you know,
how they got together and what happened within the first six months and I often see this
whirlwind and love bombing strategy which is a clear campaign because perpetrators do pick out the victim in a sense of not you, not you, not you, but you, they test boundaries and whether someone's malleable right at the start when they first meet the victim. Everything is a setup from the start. What red flags did you see when you started looking into this and you started watching videos of JP and his behavior? Yes, I mean there were many red flags that I saw from the start, even with
his announcement that Micah had died and that her death was self-induced which is what he said, which was a very strange thing that he announced her death at the end of a sermon as sort of a post script which struck me as very odd straight away when I saw that. But the fact that he then said that she had mental health struggles, those two things self-induced that she died and that she'd
Struggled with suicide she had mental health struggles immediate red flags fo...
that out there on the Sunday when you've just found out that your partner, your wife has died?
“That's before I knew anything of what had gone on and then as I started to dig into it and I think”
you and I were both digging into it at the same time because we saw that being said and it was an immediate red flag and him telling his congregation not to discuss it made me feel very uncomfortable and then finding out that she had separated from him, well that's another red flag, then finding out she was trying to divorce him so with finality it's not just separation it's also with finality that's within the high risk clusters that she wasn't going to go back to him and
then finding out there was some back and forth going on and then she called it and said absolutely
she was not going back and that there was adultery there. Well then I started digging into his background and finding out that he had been married before that he did have a previous conviction for running over a woman at high speed running over her twice while huge red flag how you treat a woman but literally
“this case the more you start digging the more red flags appear and that's what's the the”
concern to me of finding out that yes it's believed that she pulled the trigger while I know with many suicides the a woman may well end her life like just in recent Kelly Sutton and Chloe
Holland these are cases in the UK but what if he made her life so unbearable that she felt she
had no other option and that was the question that I had you know what if her mental health struggles were from him and that she didn't have them before and so that was another question that I wrote down when did the mental health problems an inverted common start why was he talking openly about them I felt that that was very disrespectful and it was almost like he was weaponizing and trying to corral the church this is before I knew all the detail that I now
know but these are the sorts of things the questions that I have in my head when I see something happening like what he did JP announcing to his congregation that literally you know that the day after he had been told that she had ended her life and I was sure that the police probably would have said to him not to say anything at that point because they still had an investigation and that was another red flag for me the fact that he was saying things when I'm
sure that the police would have told them not to make it public because they still had the autopsy right to be done that hadn't been completed so why did he feel given that she was trying to leave him and divorce him that it was his right to tell other people what had happened he still felt in my mind that she was his property and so that was another red flag and then of course when you start to look on social media you would see on Facebook that she had done a number of videos where
she clearly was upset about things and so that was a red flag for me when you look at other images of her where she looked so carefree and then some of these videos where she seemed very burdened with troubles and she talked about domestic abuse and she talked about what God would think would it be better for someone to live without the abuse and the abuse are and I felt that she was putting out a message there so these red flags you know just unfortunately he continued to
accumulate because it was sounding to me once I realized when she got married to him she was she met him when she was very young and he was much older so there's a power imbalance right
“from the start Mandy and that's what I look for was there a power imbalance is there coercive control”
and for her to be I think 15 when she met him in the church setting I wondered whether he started to pay her attention from early on I still don't know in detail how much attention he paid her but she was married before and then she ends up marrying him at 23 and he had five children so the fact that she's 23 I mean you're still very young at 23 and she's walking into the step mother role of five children that's a huge undertaking a huge power imbalance and then it
seemed to me that things started to unravel in that you know hearing that she had been sectioned in a mental health institution in 2022 again I wondered what proceeded that and then I heard your
Episode was Charlotte talking about a big argument and her leaving him going ...
and then him sending countless messages threatening her you know listening to that interview that
“you did with her and I'm so glad that Charlotte spoke out you get up got a real sense about how he was”
using Charlotte he was saying that it was for accountability but it was for manipulation in my opinion that he was using her to gang up against my care but also to threaten my care and to say he was going to go round to the sister's home he had six guns because he got a pardon on the offense where he ran over a woman and he requested that pardon and you covered that in your episodes but that was a huge red flag that action and that behavior he then having six guns and threatening
to go there armed and ready I mean I had chills listening to that of Charlotte describing what he
was saying and the Charlotte was aware of it but he was trying to twist the narrative to make himself look like the victim when Michael it seems to me just wanted time out at that particular time in the relationship and gone to her sisters to get some perspective and headspace and there he was threatening her and threatening her sister and the six-year-old boy who lived there well that told me he was a man who was unstable unhinged and potentially dangerous and then when she's not giving
“him the reply that he wants I think he'd sent her many messages trying to manipulate her into”
responding and she just said why you acting so crazy he then says that he's going to put all her possessions into goodwill by 9 a.m and that she has to do the right thing and be a godly wife and he's using all these different levers so on the parent control wheel I can see all his tactics trying to manipulate and control her and then understanding she didn't really have any money and she didn't have access to a car and then he's putting razor blades well she's she goes into a mental institution
after that and I wondered how much he played a role in that and then when she manages to separate from him it escalated again and the razor blades we know that he was stalking her because he admitted it to rich macue so I've continued to to track the case and everything that I've heard just makes me feel very concerned about the coercive and controlling behaviour of devaluing her demeaning her isolating her from her friends and family and telling them not to contact her when she
was in the hospital he was doing everything that he could to drive her into being more dependent on him when she came out and that for me wasn't someone acting in her best interest everything that he did appears in my opinion to be acting in his own best interest and he's stacked the deck in favour of himself and against her even with the church and I've been led to believe through Charlotte and others that I've heard that Micah was very popular there and yet he was trying to
corral everyone against her with these allegations of mental health issues which I still don't know if they've been substantiated and even if they were it would be understandable that she felt her world was upside down with all the gas lighting and how hopeless and helpless he made her feel when she's trying to separate from him and the anti was uped as I often see the stalking he hired a private investigator he did everything that he could to wear her down I call it the
war of attrition and he was relentless so there were many red flags and I knew that the diaries she had written the diaries and the journals I knew that they would play a huge part and the penny dropped for me when I heard that he had gone around to her apartment and was trying to gain access to her apartment after she died and I wondered was he trying to get her diaries and journals because we know that he'd already gone through her phone when she was in the
“hospital and we know that there was a half naked picture that was uploaded on April the 8th I believe”
it was of her from it was from her devices but it was linked to her old Facebook account I'm sure that that was probably him given the totality of everything that has gone on and that's
why Mandy I always looked for the pattern and the totality of who else would it be when you've got
all this drip drip of behavior the insidious 1,000 cuts so for me there were hundreds of red flags
That point in one direction of of this man passed a J.
and just so awful that perhaps that answers why she ended her life and why she felt that she
didn't she didn't have any hope because he was taking it away with every act even with the divorce and with the stalking the police said well there was nothing they could do because it was a marital car well that's absolute nonsense because there's no piece of legislation nowadays it says you and the car are the property of the marriage and therefore this law doesn't apply it's about how you apply the legislation but I do believe the course of control law is needed too
and therefore if it were in place it would have been much clearer if those officers were trained
but the point I'm making is just how everybody backs up the abuser that my catried
“to get her freedom and it cost her her life yeah and I think that's something that people”
tried to brush off with this case but it's not the point um how exactly she died doesn't matter a whole lot to me I'm more focused on what what drove her to that point where where she was and what drove her more on that after a quick commercial break we will be right back hey all it's mani mani if you're listening to coerced you already know that my conference is Miller's story runs so much deeper than what the world saw on Netflix this week
on True Sunlight Liz Farrell and I are breaking down what death of the pastor's wife left out and trust me it is a lot like J.P.'s fell in father. Reginald Wayne Miller and how J.P. inherited the playbook from him the manipulation the lawsuit the just keep preaching arrogance straight from his daddy plus we talk about the two J.D. lawsuits that Netflix barely touched
“and we tell you a whole lot about J.P.'s x-white that Netflix left out remember just as for”
my guy is a movement not a moment in the full story matters so follow true sunlight wherever you're listening right now and check out episode 163 what Netflix left out of the my girlfriend's is Miller's story say tuned stay pesky and stay in the sunlight my guess law eventually God it's hearing when a South Carolina Senate subcommittee took it up in April 2026 two years after Micah died lawmakers give proponents and opponents of a bill time to speak before making their
decisions here is Micah's sister Abigail Francis next we have Abigail Francis if you would to state your name if you're represent organization or reference your statement I'm assuming this is Anne of Francis on a stashup yes okay thank you good morning Mr. Chairman state representative
“committees and fellow South Carolinians my name is Abigail Francis and this is on a stashup”
Francis and we are representing the Francis family on behalf of our sister Micah Francis whom some of you may know as Micah Miller we're in favor of the course of control bill S702 and are asking the committee to rename this bill Micah's law Micah was a fierce woman of God a sister a daughter an aunt and much more on April 27th of 2024 Micah was found deceased two days after she had served her alleged abuser with divorce papers Micah did what we are all told to do and it would be
use of situations but was failed time after time by the mortal beach police department the
or a county police department and finally the robust and county police department in her death
between the years of 2022 and 2024 Micah called the police on seven different occasions seeking help against her alleged abuser but there was nothing for them to do since there are no laws to guide them against course of control Micah wrote a list of abuse she endured including an affidavid telling us just a portion of the heinous crimes that were committed against her in this affidavid Micah said that she was forced to take part in sexual acts against her will
meaning she was trafficked Micah was forced to take steroid injections causing medical and vocal court issues Micah's identity was stolen Micah's character was put in question with false police reports which the police on scene told her that it was an abuse of law enforcement Micah's personal belongings were either stolen thrown away damaged or moved to other locations but since she was still married all of these items were listed under marital assets so there was nothing she or law
Enforcement could do in this situation much more happened to Micah for many y...
abuser is not been charged for set crimes according to the South Carolina domestic violence advisory
“committee South Carolina is the nation's sixth worst state in regards to domestic violence homicide rates”
the original course of control bill was introduced in 2019 by Senator tool during the 123rd session it was introduced again in 2021 by Senator Sheely in the 124th session and now it's being introduced in the 126 session by Senator Goldfinch and Senator Grooms the lack of accountability over the years allowing this bill to lapse was detrimental and unforgivable as this could have saved our sister's life a petition started nationwide the moment Micah died seeking justice
“and stricter laws our family including 42,632 others and ploy you to give this bill a subcommittee”
along with chargeable offenses we implore you to take a stand and help save the lives of those who are in need at this very moment this bill has the ability to save and in calculable amount of individuals as Christians God requires us in Micah chapter 6 verse 8 to act justly to love mercifully and to walk humbly with him and that is what we will continue to do thank you for your time God bless and justice for Micah thank you you have any you have any questions thank you also much
“we appreciate y'all's story and y'all's courage and everything to continue battle”
for this and don't waver keep keep fighting okay thank you guys I am trying really
hard to be hopeful but uh that felt patronizing never waver does that mean this bill is already doomed
as of August 2026 Micah's law still has not passed we hope the global attention of Micah's story gives this bill the momentum at deserves for more information on Micah's law and how you can help get a past visit past Micah's law.net I want to leave you with this a law cannot be applied retroactively even if Micah's law passes next session in 2027
it can never be used against JP Miller so the question that this series turns to next is
what can be because while the legislator stalled other wheels were turning and the coming episodes will take you inside the allegations JP and his church leveled against Micah the probe documents and the medical abuse evidence the emails the records the injections the pills and finally we'll take you to the day that this story changed the day the federal agents rated JP Miller's house and what may come after coercive control is designed to be invisible
Micah made sure that what she went through wasn't stay tuned stay pesky and stay in a sunlight coerced the devotion and death of Micah Francis Miller is a lunar shark production with reporting from journalists many Mattney Liz Farrell and Beth Braden made possible by producers Kate Thomas Grace Hills and David Moses learn more about our mission and membership at linocharkmedia.com
