Original subtitles

[tense music playing]

[operator] Cherokee County communications.

[Sierra] I had called earlier and filed a report

with my sister about her spouse.

He's saying he's gonna come over and that he was threatening…

that he had a weapon with him.

He said that he was gonna come here.

He just texted her and said,

"You… you better drive down the road now, um,

or I'm coming, and it's gonna be hell to pay."

"I'm… armed and ready."

[operator] What is his name?

[Sierra] John-Paul Miller.

[operator] What's your sister's name?

[Sierra] Mica Miller.

[indistinct police radio chatter]

[Sierra] The police came to my home to verify he was not waiting

at the end of the road like he was telling Mica.

She decided not to press charges.

After the police left, I asked Mica to not leave.

I said, "Just stay a few more days."

But John-Paul kept messaging her and calling her

and texting her how much he loved her.

And just trying to manipulate her any way that he could

to try to get her to come home.

She said if she stayed, it would just get worse, so she had to go.

I did get really upset.

And she always had the same answer, like, "You're supposed to cover your spouse."

If she kept being a biblical wife that things would get better.

Uh, Romans 13:1 says this, "Obey those who have authority over you,

for no authority can exist without God's permission."

[Mica] Ephesians 5:22.

"Submit to authority of husband."

[JP] Ephesians 5:33.

"The wife should always honor and respect her husband."

Don't give 'em respect in their home, they'll find it somewhere else.

I think he used the Bible over her. She just couldn't really see up from down.

[Mica] Ephesians 5:31.

"Leave family, cling to spouse."

"Submission to spouse reflects your love for God."

Mica needs to get away from him.

This isn't just red flag here, red flag here.

This is, "You're not safe. This is serious."

[tense music swells]

[tense music fades]

[Charlotte] The day after this big fight,

Mica ended up driving back to Myrtle Beach that day.

And she told Sierra and I

that "John-Paul and I, we're gonna turn our phones off all weekend."

They're trying to work on their marriage.

[suspenseful music playing]

She's then cut off from everybody.

Mica texts me on Monday.

"Phones are back on."

"Just got done with a wonderful weekend together."

It almost seemed like John-Paul

was looking over her shoulder during this text.

Because about ten minutes later, she wrote me,

"It actually wasn't wonderful."

After JP threatened Mica,

Sierra, myself,

I think it really got to Mica.

I believe it took a toll on her mentally.

[JP] Mica, stop. Stop.

Calm down, Mica. Stop.

There was apparently a big fight.

[JP] Stop, Mica!

Please stop, Mica! Stop!

Over the course of the next ten days, she said, "I'm not doing good."

-You've been through my purse. -[JP] I don't have your purse.

I was just so worried about her.

It just felt like something bad was going to happen.

-[calming worship music playing] -♪ Bending to bloom ♪

♪ The weight of his wind and mercy ♪

♪ All of a sudden, I'm aware ♪

-[worship music fades] -[unsettling music rises]

[Sierra] Mica had only been home for a little over a week

when JP put our whole family in a group chat.

He says, "Mica's having a bipolar episode."

When we try to call Mica, he's like, "Her phone's on silent."

"She doesn't wanna talk to you."

And he's keeping her from us.

[Abigail] Instead of talking to her as someone who loved her

and cared about her,

it was, "We need to get her detained and forcibly into the hospital."

[Anna] He would not tell us where she was,

give us any details…

other than the fact that she was in a hospital.

John-Paul is not letting Mica talk to anybody.

He wanted to continue isolating her further and further.

[Sierra] After Mica was released, she did go home with John-Paul.

He still continued saying that he was the only one who could take care of her,

and that he's the only one who knew her.

[Mica] Lord, please keep working on me so my marriage can be restored.

I will never give up on it, and I'm willing to do

whatever you ask of me to get healthy, and ultimately,

grow your family and build your church.

[applause]

Good morning, Solid Rock.

Uh, my name is Mica.

If you're new or visiting, I'm John-Paul's wife. Pastor John-Paul.

He's taking a well-needed Sunday off today.

But I'm glad to be here with you guys today.

I'm so glad you guys came out.

[energetic music playing]

[Charlotte] After Mica was released from the mental hospital,

Mica and I decided to meet up for dinner.

I never actually heard what the initial reason was

for her being admitted.

She said, "JP is obsessed with medicine."

Mica told me on numerous occasions how he would withhold her medication,

especially in an attempt to lure her back.

He is trying to control her mental state.

And it was just… atrocious.

At that point, I knew my husband and I had

no intention of ever going back to Solid Rock.

Now my only goal is to look out for Mica.

[Mica] Charlotte is good at everything.

We were such great friends in the beginning.

And I needed a friend so badly when God brought her to Solid Rock.

It's good timing, though, for her to move away,

because she no longer sees John-Paul the same.

And I can feel a disconnect.

Me, Bruna, and Erica have become closer, though.

They both have rock-solid faith that God will work everything out.

Mica took her role as pastor's wife very seriously.

Very focused on trying to be the best spiritual wife she could.

John-Paul would use the term to Mica, "You're my helpmate."

"Wives are helpmates."

If you don't meet your husband's sexual needs,

Satan will put 20 different options before his eyes

before the day's over with.

And if he falls, it is not your fault.

You do not take responsibility for someone's actions.

I'm just telling you, as a helpmate,

that God's created you to be, this is something that you can do

to help him very, very much.

The Bible does say, leave your father and mother

and cling to your spouse.

She was very submissive,

and she felt that was how she could honor God, you know?

God asked her to do it, and so she would.

I noticed some changes in her behavior.

I said, "Do you wanna talk about it?" And… and she said, "No."

"I want somebody who is gonna help my marriage."

She said she had scheduled to meet with a counselor

the following Monday.

[Laura] When I first started meeting with Mica,

I had heard of Solid Rock for years

because I had friends that attend there.

So I knew that church.

But I didn't know JP.

And didn't know the details of the situation.

In that first month,

she was so guarded.

She would only explain herself through JP's eyes.

[Mica] I hurt for John-Paul because I know he deserves more.

He deserves an on-fire, enthusiastic wife who loves him and God

and is talented and always is his biggest cheerleader.

I want to be that so bad.

-I used to be. -Good morning, Solid Rock!

[Mica] I wish I could forget the hurt and just move forward.

[Laura] There were even several times, periodically throughout our meeting,

that she would pull out her phone and say,

"He wants to make sure that I tell you this."

[wolf whistle]

[Laura] I was starting to see some indications in her

that she's not free to be herself.

This servant goes out and finds another servant…

[Laura] JP was in her life from a very early age.

[choir singing]

[Laura] She was on the worship team as a very young girl.

So he had a position of influence over her when she was young.

She just listened to his voice.

A voice of a pastor, a voice of a mentor, and then a voice of a husband.

[bright music rises]

[voice cracking] Sometimes it feels like, for me, my voice is struggling.

I don't know if you've noticed, I'm not leading any songs.

I took about a month off.

My hair's fallin' out. I'm gainin' weight. I'm on this med… It's like…

I'm goin' through a lot. And sometimes I justify it…

Maybe God doesn't want it if it's not my best.

If it's… If I'm not singing my best, maybe God doesn't want it.

And then I'm learning, though, that's not true.

-He just wants my all. -[audience murmurs in agreement]

He just wants it all.

[Erica] Mica was usually very well put together.

But lately, she didn't really look like herself.

She had started having trouble with her voice.

There were times off and on where she would lose her vocals.

Or she would have her voice changed.

She said, "You know all the problems that I've been having with my voice?"

"It's 'cause I took testosterone."

And I said, "What? Why would you do that?"

And she said, "Um, honestly, I heard that it would help me keep up

with his sex drive and make it easier."

When she told me, I was in total shock.

Singing was such an important and big part of her life.

Her range totally changed,

and they had to adjust all the pitches when she was onstage.

[voice breaking] I was so mad. I was infuriated.

Why would you ever recommend that, or do that, to your wife?

[JP] We love to close our worship out with a parody.

When we take a secular song and rewrite it for Jesus.

And today's parody

is by somebody we're hoping they're getting their voice back.

We're praying their voice is coming back to her. Here we go.

[audience cheering]

[Erica] I told her, "I want to address this with John-Paul."

And she said, "I don't wanna turn people away from Christ."

At the top of her heart,

Mica was so concerned about the people of the church.

♪ I stay so low… ♪

[Erica] I told her, "I'm here for you."

"I don't care about the church more than you."

"I don't care about John-Paul."

"You know, if anything ever gets

to a point where you need help, I hope you'll call me."

And she said, "No, no. I know. It's not like that. It'll be fine."

Husbands and wives, listen… Uh, ladies, your husband, um…

If you don't…

If you're not a big giver in that marriage, and I mean you give…

And both y'all, both need to romance each other during the day.

You need to give affirmation

so that when you're in the bed that night, you have a good time and you have fun.

But listen, look, if you don't give in your marriage,

the enemy will, just like that, send whoever or whatever he can.

And I would hate to think your husband's getting needs met

by a computer screen rather than his wife.

[unsettling music playing]

[Pam] I'm home on a Saturday,

and my church phone is blowin' up.

And I pick it up.

[notifications chiming]

[Pam] On my phone, I am seeing text messages to and from JP,

as though our phones have synced somehow.

There was a conversation going on between he and Mark Kaufman.

JP was at his home with Mica, in bed.

And Mark was being asked to pick up a young woman from the airport,

who was supposedly coming in to see JP.

I sat in shock.

It was at that process

that I realized how little I knew

about what had really been going on in his life.

I had the perception that Mica was a one-time mistake.

That was obviously not the case.

[indistinct chatter]

[Pam] I went to church the next morning.

I said, "You have 24 hours

to make the elders of the church aware of this situation, or I will."

Elders can ask for disciplinary action and get it

because they are the voice of the congregation.

He started to cry.

He started to try to rationalize.

He started to explain.

He begged me not to.

I said, "I have no choice because you have put me in a situation now

where my credibility, my integrity is on the line."

I left, and within minutes, Mark Kaufman is on my phone.

"You can't do this to him."

"He's in a bad place."

"This is gonna end everything."

"How can we change your mind?"

I said, "I'm gonna stop you right there."

"This is a done deal."

The next day, I met with the elders.

They listened

but weren't willing to do anything about it.

It was in that process that I learned about the structure of Solid Rock Church.

They had no power over JP at all.

In no church situation in my life have I ever seen that to be the case.

I had to get out of there.

It was time to go.

[somber music playing]

[Charlotte] I hadn't seen Mica face-to-face for a while.

So we got together, and when I saw her, it was…

Uh… It was… shocking.

I mean, she looked like she had been dragged through hell.

Even the way she was holding herself, almost in a protective way always.

She was just sad.

She was just a shell of herself.

We were having a little bonfire that night.

And that's when she told me about JP's ongoing affair with Suzie Skinner.

Good morning, Solid Rock. My name is Suzie Skinner.

Suzie Skinner, as in, husband passed away a year ago.

-In Jesus's name. Amen. -Amen.

She told me that she had known for a while.

"That starts a fight every single time I bring it up."

[woman] Chris Skinner is my brother.

He had been in a major accident.

He was paralyzed from the shoulders down.

He ended up going to physical therapy, and that's where he first met Suzie.

She was his physical therapist.

My lovely bride and Vanna White.

[Tamra] Chris really loved Suzie.

Suzie was a strong influence to Chris.

He started sayin', "Hey. I'm going to this new church."

But the last three or four months of his life, he started telling me

he didn't like that pastor.

And that he wanted to stop attending the church to find a new church.

But Suzie didn't want to stop attendin'.

She would go without him.

There was a significant mental health decline.

He felt that his wife was pullin' away from him.

And he felt this coldness.

He wasn't being showered.

Like, he was a burden to his spouse.

And one day, he decided to attend church for the first time in months.

He said he was gonna confront the pastor.

He felt the pastor had a crush on his wife and was hittin' on her.

On September 6, 2021…

[indistinct radio chatter]

…I got a phone call.

Neighbor called me and said, "Your brother was found

in the bottom of the community pool."

[disturbing music rises]

JP and Mica arrived to the scene to meet Suzie.

The fact that JP was called to the scene

prior to any family members even being notified…

I was disgusted.

We were told by the coroner

that Chris had accidentally fell into the pool.

But given my brother's mental health decline,

I feel like it was an intentional act,

due to the fact that he gained information

that devastated him.

[churchgoers applauding]

Suzie wanted the funeral held at Solid Rock Church.

Um, it's very, very exciting.

I'm… I was Chris's pastor.

One thing Chris is not.

He is not in a wheelchair anymore!

-And that is very, very exciting! [laughs] -[churchgoers cheering]

That was a very hard day for me and my family.

[crying] Jesus opened his arms and welcomed him in that finish line.

And gave him a huge hug into heaven and said,

"Well done, my good and faithful servant."

After Chris passed, it was almost like our relationship was nonexistent.

Suzie immediately started kinda separating herself from us.

Things just didn't seem to add up.

Everybody wave at Suzie back there in the back. [laughs]

[churchgoers clap]

Man, this excites me so… Look what God's done for this guy!

Now, listen, all you in here that are holdin' back

'cause there's something on your body, birthmark, weight, whatever it is,

don't let it hold you back.

If this guy can get this hot mama right here in a wheelchair,

you have no excuse!

[Mica] Today was a roller coaster… emotionally.

I did the sermon and new members videos like normal, but through tears.

Then finally, John-Paul found me in the back room crying,

and he held me while I fought

through emotions from failure to unsure of the future.

It was nice to feel him hold me while I cried.

Felt like he still loves me.

Mica said, "I'm not doing good."

"If this affair doesn't stop, I'm out."

He said, "You know, if you leave me, the church is gonna split again."

I think she looked at the church

as something that she could protect and shield.

[crowd cheering]

He knew she would never leave the church.

And I said, "So what are you trying now?"

And she said, "Well, I got him to sign a piece of paper that I wrote

that said if any of these behaviors continue,

if the affairs don't stop,

if any of these things happen one more time, I'm out."

And he signed it.

[solemn music playing]

[JP] You're needed.

The First Lady

is desperately needed…

-Um… -[Mica] Who is the First Lady?

Mica Miller.

And I never once…

honored her

to the level that I should have.

[clicks tongue] I was scared that she was gonna leave me one day.

Or I was scared that she was gonna say something to hurt me.

And so I was just scared, and out of fear…

I did it out of fear. It was always fear.

I don't know what was wrong with me.

I don't really have an excuse.

I loved God. I… [hesitates]

I loved you. I just… I don't know why.

[Mica] What would you do to get me back?

And she really loved the pastor a lot.

[sighs] To get you back?

There's no limit. There's no limit.

I would put myself in a psych ward.

Until they released me.

She always wanted to be the person that did not follow

in our mother's footsteps as far as getting divorced.

That's something that our entire family has dealt with.

I just didn't know what to think.

[Charlotte] She said, "I'm not even 30 yet,

and I already have one divorce under my belt."

"So before I add another one to that,

I wanna be able to say that I have tried everything."

[energetic music playing]

[Laura] We had coffee, and she starts telling me

that she was greatly hurt

when she realized how toxic this marriage was,

with the lie that it can get better.

She was struggling.

She loved the church.

All she wanted to do was love and serve in Jesus's name.

That was her heart.

-[man] Okay. -[JP] Action.

Hey, ladies of Solid Rock.

It is that time of year again!

It is going to be the Ladies' Tea Party

on October 12, from two o'clock to 3:30 p.m.

See ya there.

[blows raspberry] That was a horrible take.

I gotta do it, like, five more times.

…believe when we're teenagers, it's the lust of the flesh.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme. I want."

"I want, I want what I want, and I want it now."

Then you get married, and then you battle the lust of the eyes.

You start lookin' at things that don't belong to you.

[excited chatter]

[Nate] I was trying to keep tabs on what John-Paul was doing,

if I saw anything.

We went to go get coffee before worship rehearsal one night,

That's right, yup.

And we saw JP and Suzie together,

standing at the counter, waiting for coffee.

[Nate] I saw John-Paul and Suzie holding hands.

I was just… I was so upset.

And as soon as we walked up to them, JP's like, "Do you want me to pay?"

As if he was trying to cover something.

I told Mica what I had seen.

She was torn up.

She keeps on having to deal with sexual immorality

from a man that is supposed to be a pastor.

Mica called me, and she said,

"It's still going on."

"He won't stop."

I feel so disrespected

and so belittled,

and so just dehumanized in the way that he treats me."

"In the way that he treats our marriage bed."

"In the way that he perceives intimacy."

There was no hesitation whatsoever.

She said, "I'm going to file for divorce."

God hates divorce, but why?

According to everybody I've asked,

and the scriptures that I've found, it's because it hurts people.

But does abuse hurt people?

How do you think God feels about that?

She said, "I'm done."

He started getting angry. And he said they got in an argument.

[Laura] JP asked her to come pick up her belongings.

And when she picked up her box,

in there was a gun and bullets.

And she was so uncomfortable that she called her brother.

And Nate came immediately to pick up the gun.

Male or female, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what gender you are.

Abuse is abuse.

And my Bible says that he took all the abuse you could think of for you.

So that you didn't have to live that life of slavery

and bondage

and

pain.

Mica was in our house, 3:00 in the morning.

She said, "I need to tell you what's been happening in my marriage."

She told me everything.

There's incredible danger in unmet needs.

A fantastic marriage is simply this.

My needs are being met. Today.

The horror that she had to live with was something I never heard of.

Many times, they would leave dinner, and he will pull the truck

and just see a random homeless person, and he'd pay him to do things.

"I'll give you $100 if you just let her grab her boob."

And other times, he'd forced her to allow a man to finish on her.

She said she couldn't wash her skin

with enough things to feel clean ever again.

She thought that she was doing what God had asked her to do

by being obedient to him.

When your husband wants sex, God does not send an angel from heaven

to take care of that.

She told me that at nighttime,

after they've had sex four or five times during the day,

and he would try and initiate something, and she would deny him,

he wouldn't let her sleep.

Biblically, the sin that has the most horrifying results in your life

is sexual immorality.

Denying sex in your marriage, sexual immorality.

It's the same thing as rape, sex trafficking, homosexuality.

[Bruna] Sometimes she said he would wait till she's falling asleep,

and then he'll go and turn on all the lights in the room

just to wake her up.

He would mentally torture her like this

until she gave to him what he wanted.

Do not refuse sex to each other,

then Satan won't be able to tempt you

because of your lack of self-control.

Can you believe… And I don't know if y'all get tempted.

Maybe only pastors get tempted. 'Kay? Maybe it's only me.

So many nights, I would get to church and see her with deep, dark eyes.

And think, "Mica, what are you doing?" She, "Ah, I was up all night."

And I just wish I could hug her.

She said that sometimes her body was physically in pain,

and there was nothing else she could do,

and so she just accepted it.

[JP] When you refuse to meet this need in your marriage,

your spouse will leave you emotionally.

They'll put up a hard heart.

And a man never wants to be rejected more than once.

After that rejection, unless there's forgiveness

and you repent for it,

his heart gets hard, his heart gets hard.

[crickets chirping]

[Bruna] She told me that JP kept pictures and videos of her

while they were having intercourse.

He manipulated her with them. He used them to control her.

He told her, "No church is gonna want you when they see this."

Not even her sisters knew what he had done.

She was trying to protect everyone's heart who was part of the church.

[crying] Bruna told me the horrific things Mica had told her had happened to her.

And I was just sick.

The level of depravity is unimaginable.

There was no going back.

I couldn't have gotten away from John-Paul faster.

I told my daughters that if they ever saw him again,

they needed to run away as fast as they could. [sighs]

[Mica] I'd forgotten what my own voice sounds like when it's healthy and whole.

Today I found hope. Joy. Peace.

I don't feel scared.

I feel excited and at ease at the same time.

Thank you, Lord, for this lifted burden.

Amen.

[exhales deeply]

[Anna] We could finally talk to her clearly.

All of us took a long walk on the beach.

She said she was going to divorce John-Paul.

We had a sigh of relief.

She was seeing straight for the first time.

She says that she's done. She doesn't wanna put up with him anymore.

She's doing better. She wants to stay away from him.

She confided in me,

"I'm not sure how long I'm gonna have the money for this."

And that's when I realized

JP was also pulling the financial strings with her.

And I said, "Let's not even worry about that."

Our relationship transitioned more out of a counseling, professional relationship

into a "let's grab coffee, catch up."

I felt like there was just this relief in her.

[Mica] Restore who I am before I knew pain.

Childlike Mica needs to preach to adult Mica.

Give me fresh eyes, Lord.

Here I go! Whoa!

-That's really cold! -[group laughing]

[Anna] Mica was trying to get back to a normal life.

A life she could build for herself.

She just had started working at a restaurant.

-[Nate] She was independent. -[group] Oh my gosh!

She had nothing under JP.

[excited chatter]

[woman] Hi to Sierra.

[woman 2] What up, Sierra?

[Victoria] She was hopeful for her future.

She was excited about starting over.

She just couldn't get away from him.

He knew that it was over,

but some people don't know what "no" means.

[Abigail] I had gone to lunch with Mica.

And behind her, I see JP in the window.

And I said, "John-Paul's behind you."

"He's walking up."

And then he comes over, says, "You took my laptop."

She's like, "I do not have your laptop."

[indistinct chatter]

[Abigail] "It's not in my car."

And he said, "Your doctors called me."

And he just like stormed off.

[Anna] Mica called me, freaking out.

She said John-Paul called a mental hospital

and said Mica was trying to kill herself.

[tense music playing]

[Sierra] She has 72 hours where if the police go get her,

she has to be institutionalized for them to do an evaluation on her.

I called Mica, and I said, "Come see me. Everything's gonna be fine."

"We'll get through this."

While Mica was on the phone with me,

she got a call on the other line from a church member at Solid Rock.

He said, "I'll take you so that you can voluntarily get a psych evaluation

and show you're not being manic."

She got there. He wasn't there.

But the cops were there and physically took her out of her car,

and detained her and took her to the hospital.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Sierra] While Mica was in the mental hospital,

John-Paul takes her phone, her car, her laptop, her everything.

[Mica] Me and my husband are separated, and since I was admitted to the hospital,

I have been told that he's taken possession of my phone, laptop,

and car, which are all in my name.

How do I get a deputy out there

to get those items surrendered over to be temporarily held

until I get out of the hospital?

My phone and laptop have naked pictures of me on them.

[operator] So, were they brought to the hospital and he took those items?

[Mica] Yeah, and now he's going through my phone

and texting people, impersonating me.

[operator] Okay. Do you want the officers to come to you to make a report?

[Mica] No, I'd rather them show up at the house.

Because he works from home. He's a… a pastor, doing this.

[Victoria] At the time she was in the hospital,

there was posts made on her Facebook.

Just pictures of John-Paul and Mica.

It was just pictures of the two of them.

Hundreds of pictures were posted.

And I made a comment, and I was like, "This isn't Mica. She's been hacked."

Three days later, I end up getting a call

from the person that was in charge of releasing or keeping Mica.

She told me, "I can now see this time that this is a marital issue."

"I'm releasing her."

Every time she spoke up of something she didn't like in the relationship,

"Oh, you're crazy. Oh, there's something wrong with you."

She really was like, "This is a man of God."

"Is he wrong, or am I wrong?"

That was her struggle for the most of their marriage.

You know, was she being a good servant to Christ

and… and being an obedient wife or not?

The only reason a man

would not want to touch or hold a woman who he's married to

is 'cause he doesn't like her.

The only reason he doesn't is 'cause of her mouth.

So, I wanna remind you, like a bunch of people have been reminding me lately,

that I'm God's bride first.

You don't have to stay in an abusive relationship,

whether that's, um, sexual,

or alcohol abuse, or physical abuse,

uh, psychological abuse,

making you think that this is all your fault,

or you're, um…

you're not giving it your all when you know you are.

Encouragement in all this is you are the bride of Christ first,

before anybody else's.

And he's got you.

And he sees you.

And he loves you.

[Nate] Mica was speaking out about the abuse.

She wanted people to know what she was going through.

What she was used to was an entire church, hundreds of people.

Her circle was huge.

And then it went down to essentially nothing.

[JP] You know, there's a big battle going on around here right now.

Huge battle.

To let you in on a little bit of it,

after my wife got out of the mental institute, she's left,

and kind of evaded things, so… um, there's a battle going on.

[Mica] I just got out of the hospital a couple days ago, and when I got out,

he was impersonating my identity.

He hacked my social media.

There's been domestic violence. He put his hands on me.

The people that he's come in contact with,

based on how he's talking, they feared he had killed and buried me somewhere.

[Nate] She was constantly moving so that John-Paul could not know where she was.

Thank ya.

She stayed a few weekends in my house, but she mainly lived with Dianna.

And she trusted Dianna.

I was invited by a neighbor to attend Solid Rock Church.

I began working with Mica on a couple of her women's presentations.

Mica calls me, and she said, "Hi, Dianna."

"I was wondering if I could stay with you."

"Maybe two weeks, maybe three weeks."

"Maybe longer. I don't know."

For Mica's sake, I didn't question it.

She thought of me as her grandmother, and I thought of her as my granddaughter.

I wanted to keep her safe.

I wanted her to feel safe.

Mica insisted that we get a Ring camera,

just in case he came over and tried to get in.

I didn't trust him, and she didn't trust him either.

There was a knock on the door one day.

It was a florist delivery person.

And he said, "There'll be one every day this week."

And Mica said,

"I don't want any more flowers delivered here from John-Paul."

He managed to continue to harass her with a constant barrage of texts,

telling her that she wasn't being biblical,

that she was going against God's will.

He had tried to contact her 53 times within a three-hour period.

Mica had multiple phones.

She had to change her number multiple times.

Somehow, John-Paul would get her number and just start texting her.

Somebody was giving JP her phone number every time she changed phones.

Every single day, he did one or two or three things,

whether it was a message or email, somebody calling, chasing her.

Something that would throw her off.

Hello?

Hey, Mica. It's Mark.

I know.

I'm not calling on John-Paul's behalf.

I'm calling on… [chuckles]

…both of y'all's behalf.

Well, I don't need your help. Thank you so much.

[Anna] Mica had to call work and tell them,

"I can't make it today because there's razors in my tires."

[operator] Myrtle Beach Police and Fire. This is Ashley.

[Mica] Hi, um, I got a razor blade put in my tire at the Springmaid Pier,

and I wanted to make a police report.

My sister was being told by the police,

by everybody she was trying to get help from,

"There's nothing that can be done because they're married."

[JP] A lot of you, of course, have been asking about my wife, and…

The way I want you to pray for her is I need you to pray

that she will hit rock bottom so that she can come to her senses.

Sometimes people need to lose everything.

But until then, just pray that she comes to her senses,

hits rock bottom.

Y'all know that she's mentally ill, and the stuff she's doing is not her.

She's in and out of psychosis, and so, just pray for her

and… and… and pray for me as well.

[Charlotte] She said, "He's been following me."

"He's been stalking me."

"He'll send me text messages."

"'I hope you had a good time at the festival in Murrells Inlet today.'"

[Victoria] Mica and I were out to dinner one night with a few of our friends.

Twenty minutes later, he walks in, and he's like,

"Oh, I didn't know you guys were here." And the look on Mica's face…

I have never seen her look more terrified in my life.

[Nate] I went to her car and found a tracker.

We took the tracker to the police station.

Five minutes after we get there, we're outside talking to the police.

Based on the description of the vehicle my sister told me was following her,

the exact vehicle pulled in.

I went and started recording.

[tires squeal]

John-Paul whips it around, peels out, and leaves.

The trackers were being replaced once we found them.

The next day, another tracker would be on the car,

or a tire would be popped, or something.

Just absolute relentless chaos.

I'll fight tooth and nail to get what I want.

What I want is the thing that matters. I don't care what you have to say.

He threatened to expose her to… to everyone.

-[Mica] Walk away. -I'll show you the pictures.

-[Mica] Do you wanna go to jail? -They'll be on Facebook in a few hours.

She was afraid of what he could do with her image.

That he always threatened her that he would ruin her image.

That no church would want her when he was done with her.

He threatened, and he did.

He posted a picture of her to Facebook.

She was in disbelief. Complete disbelief.

My wife left me a few weeks ago.

I don't even know what I'm doing with my life.

The City of Myrtle Beach called us last week. Guess what?

We got Best Church of the Year, four years in a row.

[churchgoers cheering]

You can call my church members. Do whatever you wanna do.

[voice breaking] You're not gonna stop me! You're not gonna stop me!

[churchgoers cheering]

[Bruna] He is trying to stop you from leaving.

You need to just not answer the phone.

Cut off anybody that is speaking for him.

I don't know how you're handling this.

Let me pay for your ticket. Go to your sister in Kansas.

Stay there for a while.

And she said, "No, I can't leave."

She just couldn't do it.

"I don't wanna put my family at risk."

"I don't wanna go there and then he follows me there."

"I'd rather be here."

Hey, everybody.

I just wanna let you know that I'm alive and well, and…

Life's been kinda crazy the couple past weeks,

months, years.

I'm so thankful to God

for a strong family and the friends that God has put in my life

to be there for me at this time.

So, keep praying for me. Thank you.

And, um, I love you.

I'll be praying for you.

God bless you. Bye.

[mouse clicks]

[Bruna] Mica was confident.

She was determined to be divorced, and she was ready for a new life.

She finally found this lawyer.

She said, "She's really strong, and she's tough."

My name is Regina Ward. I'm an attorney in Myrtle Beach.

I have been practicing since 2005.

And in the fourth grade, I beat up my first bully.

I don't like people

who take advantage of the vulnerable, the weak, the meek, and the poor.

When I met with Mica,

she was truly ready to divorce John-Paul Miller.

[chilling music playing]

[Regina] JP was losing his grip on her.

One minute, he's a menace,

and then the next, he's asking for forgiveness.

And in fact, he sent an apology letter.

Mica forwarded that to my office right away.

That apology letter basically confirmed

the things that Mica had alleged that he had done.

Because he apologized for them.

"I already told him to leave me alone, and he didn't. And he won't."

"Made it clear he won't ever."

[Nate] John-Paul wanted Mica to feel

that the only way she could feel happiness and safe again is if she came back to him.

[Bruna] Mica told me and my husband that she was afraid for her life.

She's sitting in our living room, and she's saying, "I don't wanna die."

She says, "He's gonna put a bullet in my head

and then tell everybody I killed myself."

[chilling music peaks, fades]

[unsettling string music playing]

[string music ends]