Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #59 - 911 calls shed light on JP Miller’s True Colors And Cohort + Stephen Smith Officer Claps Back (Sort of)

Episode Date: July 18, 2024

Investigative reporters Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell share two newly released 911 calls in the Mica Francis case. In the first call, Mica’s estranged husband Pastor JP Miller can be heard in the background as his loyal friend and associate pastor Tricia Ross tries to get Mica arrested by accusing her of theft.  As Mandy and Liz continue to piece together the days and weeks leading up to Mica’s death in April, they’re finding more and more evidence of the abject cruelty Mica might have been experiencing in February and March as the system got weaponized against her. In the second call, Pastor JP gives away what kind of church leader he is after calling police on a “bum” seeking water and reportedly in the middle of a potential medical crisis. Also on the show, in a TikTok interview, JP Miller says that before she died Mica tried to get JP to give her a handwritten apology letter detailing all the things he was sorry for. JP says “apology letter” but it sounds almost like Mica was trying to get JP to handwrite a confession. Was she working with the FBI before she died? Or was she just trying to get leverage in her divorce?  Visit our new events page Lunasharkmedia.com/events where you can learn about the upcoming in-person and virtual appearances from hosts or submit your own ideas at lunasharkmedia.com/newevents Premium Members also get access to episode videos, case files, live trial coverage and exclusive live experiences with our hosts. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ Episode Resources: Mica's List & Mica's Law, Documents Nick Ginn Facebook Comments Nick Ginn Training History  Solid Rock Tricia Ross Employee Theft Report on Mica Francis  If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. And for those just wanting ad-free listening without all the other great content, we now offer ad-free listening on Apple Podcast through a subscription to Luna Shark Plus on the Apple Podcasts App. And we also offer access to exclusive video content through our new YouTube Premiere subscription. SUNscribe to our free email list to get that special offer for first time members, receive alerts on bonus episodes, calls to action, new shows and updates. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3KBMJcP And a special thank you to our sponsors: Microdose.com, PELOTON, and VUORI. Use promo code "MANDY" for a special offer! *** ALERT: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email [e-mail] and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** For current & accurate updates: TrueSunlight.com facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/ Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod Twitter.com/mandymatney Twitter.com/elizfarrell youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Disney's Young Woman and the Sea, streaming on Disney Plus this Friday. I've decided to swim the English Channel. A woman? I believe she'll die in that water. From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joachim Roening, comes the must-see true story, Daisy Ridley. I go to England or die trying. Trudy, you don't have to do this.

Don't let anyone take me out of the water, no matter what. Disney's Young Woman and the Sea. Streaming on Disney Plus this Friday. Make your nights unforgettable with American Express. Unmissable show coming up? Good news. We've got access to pre-sale tickets so you don't miss it. Meeting with friends before the show?

We can book your reservation. And when you get to the main event, skip to the good? We can book your reservation. And when you get to the main event, skip to the good bit using the card member entrance. Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash ymx. Benefits vary by card, other conditions apply. I don't know if my opinion of JP Miller could get much lower, but it did this week when we dug into more 911 calls and police incidents leading up to Micah's death. Now that the picture is clearer than it's ever been of a woman being pushed to the brink,

I am wondering if more than one person could be charged in the FBI investigation surrounding her death. My name is Mandi Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption previously known as the Murdoch Murders Podcast. True Sunlight is a Lunashark production written with journalist Liz Farrell. So, we are excited for some enhancements at Lunashark Studios. Last month, we started dropping bonus content for Premium members with an episode on Trusts. Later this month, we'll publish an episode on defamation and libel, something this week's Cup of Justice covered extensively and what we're going to revisit on today's True Sunlight.

We're also very excited for something new on the horizon. We'll be publishing new bonus episodes called Wherever It Leads, a travel show where we interview locals from our adventures around the country and the world to find out the best each location has to offer, some of the challenges in those areas, and how tourists can invest in making these places better when they visit. Also this week, we are excited to announce a new premium only show

with Mandy and Liz. The members only show called Girl Talk, Mandy and Liz's version will show a whole different side to us, our fun side with a focus on current events, pop culture and more. Stay tuned for a show's premiere coming soon to the premium feed. You can learn how to join new members like Susan C, Liane M, and Kathleen B in our Lunashark Premium Community by clicking the links in the description. In early August, we will be traveling up the East Coast meeting our fans near DC and Baltimore, then on to Pennsylvania and returning through Virginia and the Carolinas.

We will travel to London, Italy and Spain in September for all of our European fans, then Indiana, Missouri and Kansas in October. If you want to see us or suggest a stop along the way, submit a venue or event idea at lunasharkmedia.com slash new events. We will also be hosting a special event here on Hilton Head at Cocos on the Beach September 28th. Click the links in the description for details. We hope to see you on the tour wherever it leads. Last week, we reported a frustrating update in the Stephen Smith case.

The fact that nine years have now passed since Stephen Smith was killed, three of those since Sled reopened the investigation, and still, Sled has not named any suspects or any persons of interest in Steven's death. Because of Sled's lack of movement, our strategy this year has been to re-examine the 2015 investigation piece by piece in hopes of 1. Figuring out what happened in the investigation and 2. Stirring of new leads and information. The tiniest rabbit holes have led investigators

to leads that end up solving cold cases. We owe it to Sandy to explore each one. One of those rabbit holes was the Sean Connolly-Patrick Wilson theory that we told you about last week. Now, most people familiar with the Stephen Smith case have heard of the Sean Connolly-Patrick Wilson theory, particularly since last year, a certain news outlet

who we happened to use to work for claimed in April, which was after we left, by the way, that Sean and Patrick were suspects in Sled's investigation. Our sources have disputed that claim and said there have never been suspects or persons of interest identified in the investigation. Instead, there have been a handful of people

identified as potentially having valuable information. Worse, though, is that that outlet is now being sued because they used a random guy's photo in their YouTube video with the label Suspect Twice once after being told that they were using the wrong man's photograph. Because of that, our former employer is facing a massive lawsuit from Mark the Tiger Tensley, to which we say, karma is a relaxing thought. Unlike our former employer, we are not sloppy with our reporting,

no matter the stakes, no matter the potential audience gain, and no matter the case. Our credibility is something we cherish and will protect at all costs. We double and triple check our facts, especially when those facts really matter and those facts can alter the outcome of someone's life.

So Nick Ginn, the former Hampton officer who we talked about in the last episode, should know this by now. Now, we brought up Nick Ginn's name again last week because, like we said, we are shedding light on tiny pieces of this investigation to get the truth on not what only happened to Stephen Smith, but what happened to the investigation.

Nick was a Hampton police officer who, according to the case file, provided not just the last tip in the case, but the best tip. He is the one who officially brought Patrick and Sean's name into the investigation. And even though his tip was third-hand, it was the very first and only tip that had any measure of certainty to it. Nick's tip was that Patrick Wilson knew firsthand that Sean Connolly hit Stephen. Sean denies this, by the way, and reportedly is cooperating

with law enforcement. The tip wasn't that someone was rumored to have been there or rumored to have hit Stephen, like the rest of the tips that brought up the Murdoch name, that a person knew this, that they could attest to it. And yet, that is pretty much where the case ended. It went cold soon after investigators received that lead. So obviously the question, why, is a natural one there. So we asked, we asked why. While we didn't get an exact answer to that,

we did discover that Nick's personnel files raised questions about his integrity as a police source. He was once terminated from a police agency for allegedly interfering with an investigation and intimidating a coworker who was a witness, according to documents. This is relevant information and in public interest. It is also information that we got from official on-the-record sourcing. On my professional Facebook post last week, I posted this paragraph with a link to our last episode. I said this week we dug deeper into the Patrick Wilson Sean Connolly theory. It is traced back to Nick Gin, an officer who happens to have a history of intimidation

in interfering with an investigation. I said this is important and it matters when it comes to talking about the investigation as a whole. Soon after I posted this, Nick Ginn himself responded and well as requested from so many of you lovelies on social media, we're gonna have David read this one. before you public slander my name. I will be reaching out to an attorney if you do not remove this. Just for the followers, I was a police officer and this was out of my jurisdiction.

I relayed information I was given. Be sure to check your sources before believing everyone who jumped on a bandwagon trying to get noticed. A couple things there. We have been doing this for a long time. And we get big red flags when those public officials who cry slander without specifics decide to include insults

within their comments. Someone should tell Nick Ginn that we have been investigating the Stephen Smith case since longer than anyone out there. So if this is a bandwagon, and that bandwagon, to be clear, would be called justice for Stephen Smith, we are driving it. And we always have been. Oh, and I'm pretty sure having two shows hit number one on Apple counts as already getting noticed. But anyway, we didn't get where we are today by being sloppy with facts and

information. While Nick did relay information as an officer, we pointed out in last week's podcast, simply how the whole thing was weird and even weirder considering his history as a law enforcement officer. Now, it gets even better. A commoner named Craig came to our defense and said, Nick Ginn, so no one would say that you have a history of intimidation, question mark?

Just asking, very familiar with this. They don't miss. And by the way, thanks for saying that Craig. But then it got even weirder when Nick responded. Again, I'll have David Reed as requested. Sir, I know both Sandy, my sister went to school with Steven. I was in law enforcement for 17 years. My entire life has been serving the public in varying forms, volunteering and taking care of my kids for a few things.

I live here in Hampton. If anyone knows, I would certainly be one, LOL. And I'm more than happy to share everything I know, but it's nothing you could even write three paragraphs about." So there we have another big ol' red flag. A man who cannot answer a straight question. But ol' Nicky couldn't help himself.

He kept rambling and revealing more about himself than he probably should have. He obviously wants good ol' boy points for simply being from the same town that the murder took place in and having relatives who knew Stephen. Yeah man, so did Elick Murdoch. Next. Then, he said that he has been in law enforcement for 17 years and his entire life has been serving the public in quote varying forms and I quote again volunteering and taking care of my kids for a few things. Whoo moms and dads of the world do you consider taking care of your children as a form of public service that you should receive gold stars for.

I have to wonder if he's the kind of guy who considers watching his own children as babysitting. And can I just say this? Reproducing does not immediately make you a better human being, and I am tired of men, specifically men in public positions, using their title as a father to demonstrate that they somehow care about women and children more. Men who have children are no better than men who don't.

Anyways, before the Lunashark team got wind of this Facebook exchange on Friday night, Nick decided to make one more comment of note when someone asked him to come on the podcast and tell us what he knows. Again, I'll have David read this. I'm sorry, but I won't be on the podcast. I have been on several television series, books, and media outlets. If someone wants to know, I'll be glad to sit down and discuss, but it would be a waste of time simply because I was called, given information, and related to the officers in

that jurisdiction. That's it. It shows how much your name can get out there with the smallest thing. LOL. If I was on a podcast, it would be like three minutes long, and you'd have to find something else to listen to. Weird flex to talk about being on several TV series, books, and media outlets when you apparently know nothing, but okay.

So we finally heard about all of these comments on Friday night, and my husband, who is a perfect example of a good man who happens to not have children, responded with a most epic reply. Dear Mr. Ginn, thank you for your service to South Carolina. We at Lunashark take accusations of slander, spoken defamation, very seriously, and defend our reporting zealously when appropriate. This is a portion of the public document we referenced from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Academy. Please feel free to email info at lunasharkmedia.com with any demands or legal matters and we will involve appropriate parties.

Nick Ginn has not reached out to us or our lawyers since David posted these receipts. So yeah, once again, we foiled around and found out. Before we get started, we have a few short updates. The first is about, who else? Ellic Murdoch. We talked about this in this week's Cup of Justice, so there's really not too much more to say.

Late last week, he filed a motion for certification with the South Carolina Supreme Court. As you all know, he's appealing Justice Gene Toll's ruling earlier this year, denying his claims that Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill, had tampered with his jury in the murder trial. In summary, and using our own words, Justice Toll's ruling was basically, Becky is a sad, plagiarizing loser with bad judgment

who really, really wanted to be the popular girl and get famous off of Elec's trial. But she didn't try to change the jury's mind about Elec's very apparent guilt. Elec obviously didn't like that ruling, but the issues he's bringing to the Supreme Court right now relate to how Justice Tolle came to her conclusion. Ellic contends that she should have used the federal standard of review, which would have put the burden of proof on the state and not on Ellic, simply because Becky was a public official and therefore he contends that her comments about telling a few jury members

to quote, listen closely and quote, watch Alex body language met that threshold. And had justice told used that standard, Dick and Jim would have been able to bring in the rest of their janky ass carnies to turn the courtroom into a full fledged circus where jilted juror 785, the egg lady juror, would have been able to breathe her fire of indignation right there in the center ring. Justice Tolle largely used state case law as the standard but also mentioned that there had been new case law that further clarified the

federal case law cited by Ehrlich's defense team. At any rate, the filing is 625 pages. Most of that is pages from the transcript from Justice Toll's hearing. It seems like there's a new characterization of Becky's behavior going on. The defense is saying Becky, quote, secretly advocated for a guilty verdict. Neither of us remember that phrase being used before. It's not a change in their position really, but that phrasing certainly is one that perks up the ears, right? It also plants this idea in the Supreme Court's mind that there's something more to be learned here because it was secret advocacy and that the full extent of that secret can't be discovered unless the Supreme Court allows for Dick and Jim's interpretation of what the law and what they say should have happened this past January.

The bottom line is this, despite the egg lady juror's official contention that she had not yet made up her mind on Ellic's guilt when she was removed from the jury, even though witnesses had said she was outright telling them that she thought Ellic was innocent. And that's a word Dick wanted at least one witness to characterize as the state hadn't met its burden. It really seems like Dick and Jim know the egg lady juror was Ellic's key to a hung jury. And that this is them trying once again to make that happen. Again, how is Ellc able to afford this? For a man with no money and who has admitted to stealing the money he did have, it's pretty sickening to watch him spend it. The way I picture it is this. If murder charges are

a locked door, a defendant with no money gets a keyring that has two keys on it to try and unlock that door. If that first key doesn't work, he then gets to try the lock again on appeal. A defendant like Elec, on the other hand, gets a key ring too. But in addition to those two keys, he can afford to buy extra keys. And in addition to the extra keys, he can legitimately buy keys that come in the form of good lawyering and smart strategy and buy the book arguments based on the truth and a truthful critique of the state's case. He also used his money to convert every trick, every nonsense headline Dick and Jim were able to get over the past few years, every lie, every hyperbolic temper tantrum from Dick into more keys. He keeps trying to unlock the door

with all those very expensive keys, but none of them have worked so far. As for this latest 625 page key based on Justice Toll's reasoning, it seems like that key isn't going to work either because the case law she based her decision on came from the state Supreme Court, but we will see. And we'll be right back.

The justice system can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. We all want a drink from the same cup of justice and it starts with learning about our legal system. My name is Mandy Matney, and together with journalist Liz Farrell and world renowned attorney Eric Bland, we create the perfect trifecta of legal expertise,

journalistic integrity, and a fire lit to expose the truth wherever it leads. We all encounter a part of our justice systems at one point, so why not get prepared while being entertained with tales from the newsroom and the courtroom? Cup of Justice has amazing special guests like Sheryl Crow, Vinnie Politan, Emily D. Baker, and other experts to share their take on the bright side of the truth. Lunashark Media invites you to gain knowledge, insight, and tools to hold your own or hold

public agencies accountable. Search for Cup of Justice wherever you get your podcast or visit cupofjusticepod.com. Just a couple more Murdoch updates, sort of. Corey Fleming's team has filed a fourth status report with the state court of appeal saying that no circuit court judge has been assigned to his case yet and no date has been scheduled to hear his case. Remember, he is trying to appeal his state sentence, but the state was like, you don't get to do that yet because Judge Newman hasn't yet decided on your restitution. The Court of Appeals agreed with the state and in April sent the case back to Circuit

Court for the matter of Corey's restitution to be decided. Every week, reporter Beth Braden checks in with the Attorney General's office to find out the status of Corey's case. As Corey's team has told the court, there is no update. Beth also checks on whether a trial date has been scheduled in Russell Lafitte's state case and whether a date has been scheduled for Michael Colucci's retrial. Again, so far, nothing, but we'll continue to keep you all updated on those things. Also, real quick, Micah Francis' family filed liens last week against

properties owned by Solid Rock Church in conjunction with Micah's divorce case in Horry County Family Court. Remember, Micah's sister, Sierra, is continuing with Micah's divorce case and not only seeking to reclaim Micah's marital property, she's asking the court to grant Micah's request to restore her maiden name or, at the very least, to allow her to drop Miller and go by her first and middle names. The liens make it harder and nearly impossible for the church and JP to sell or transfer these properties until decisions are made in this divorce case. JP and Solid Rock Church have denied Serah's and Micah's claims, and JP is currently seeking to have family court records sealed because of the allegedly embarrassing nature of Micah's

medical records. That's his contention. A hearing has been scheduled for September on these issues. It will be interesting to see how the judge regards JP's request for sealing the documents when he has spent the past few months airing Micah's dirty laundry on TikTok. Speaking of, the TikTok videos from True Crime Re that we've been telling you about suddenly disappeared. As in, they were taken down. Why is that? According to a post from True Crime Re, they were taken down. Now, why is that? According to a post from True Crime Re, they were taken down and preserved for law enforcement, which doesn't actually make a whole lot of

sense, absent any context there might be there that we don't know about. Because guess what? Law enforcement doesn't need anyone to take down videos to preserve them as evidence. I promise you, they know how to screen record and download videos off social media especially the FBI. But we can totally understand why JP's lawyers might have wanted them to be taken down because predictably the videos not only offer a constantly changing narrative about what led up to Micah's death and Micah's mental health history and the history of her relationship with JP, JP always seems to up the ante by adding more flourish to it. And that flourish paints the picture of a pastor who

might be feeling the effects of walls closing in on him. The timing of the removal of these videos is interesting though. This past week, a photo of one of Micah's purported prescriptions was posted by a YouTuber that shows a bottle that appeared to have a label stuck on top of a label. Though it's difficult to tell because the YouTuber posted several semi-transparent versions of his Twitter handle over the details in a watermark. That bottle was allegedly given to the YouTuber by JP. It's for 45 tabs of Olanzapine and appears to be from Walmart. No date is visible that I could see. Olanzapine, by the way, it's a drug used to treat schizophrenia.

Again, the report from the Robeson County Medical Examiner's Office lists mental conditions that Micah allegedly had, according to medical records that the medical examiner had obtained and schizophrenia is not one of them. But also, Alanzapine is not listed as one of the drugs Micah was on at the time of her death or prescribed at the time of her death. Obviously, part of JP's shtick is that Micah wasn't taking her meds and that's what contributed to her taking her own life. But even if she weren't taking the drug, she likely would have had a prescription for them. The Medical Examiner's Report doesn't talk about what prescriptions were in her system. It talks about what she had been prescribed. Again, the only prescription mentioned is

the strong antihistamine she was given to manage acute anxiety. What we're saying here is this. The purpose of the medical examiner's report was to build their case for why they believe Micah's death was a suicide. They included details right down to what the dirt around where the bullet casings were found looked like. It was undisturbed and didn't indicate a struggle. If there were evidence that Micah was on prescriptions

for serious mental health conditions, it would have made sense for the medical examiner to include that in this report, including any report that she wasn't taking them at the time of her death. Because obviously not taking critical medication for mental health disorders can result in suicidal ideation, and that would have helped the medical examiner solidify their case, right? Again, the report contains none of that. But JP's videos about Micah appear to have been taken down after the publication of this photo.

We're not saying those two things are linked though. We're just noting the timing of it. The other thing that happened is that a TikTok username Flo posted the first of a two-part video interview of JP. It cost three dollars to view it, which reporter Beth Brayden did. Beth said the interview was long and mostly uneventful, especially considering the fact that JP, who we have caught in numerous lies already, admittedly was fuzzy on dates and details.

But he did mention an alleged apology letter that we want to talk about. So JP says that the last time he saw Micah, that Micah told him that if he wrote her an apology letter for a whole list of things, and if he gave her $10,000, that she'd then get back on her medications. We all know that is JP's core issue. He wanted Micah back on those meds that we hear so much about and yet have seen no actual receipts for other than that pill bottle that's alleged to be hers. JP said Micah wanted this letter done by hand. He said he gave her a counter offer. He offered her the apology and $1,000, which is interesting because,

according to Micah's list, which was distributed by Micah's legal team after her death, JP allegedly paid a woman $10,000 to destroy a sexually explicit video of himself. The fact that he tried to talk down his own wife to $1 thousand dollars is actually more than insulting. According to the video, JP said Micah handed him a page from her diary, quote, her real diary, not the one people are making up, with a handwritten apology.

He has a picture of it. He said it's half, quote, not normal. He said he emailed her an apology and she told him that it wasn't detailed like how she wanted it to be. The quote made up diary JP is likely talking about, by the way, is materials that Micah's legal team has. It's in the form of journals that her team says outlines JP's behavior and that served as the foundation of Micah's list. Interesting that JP says that these journals are fake because after Micah died, he allegedly tried to retrieve them from her apartment. The apartment manager wouldn't let him in and called the police on him. Okay so also

in the video, JP said that he then texted the Reverend Charles Randall to tell him about Micah's request. The Reverend Randall is who helped JP in 2015 after his marriage to Allison fell apart. According to sources, he continues to be JP's helper in a crisis. The Reverend Randall reportedly has a daughter who is a therapist and works at Waccamaw Center for Mental Health. According to JP in this video, JP thought that he finally got it. That all he had to do was write the email apologizing for things that he did not do and give her a thousand dollars and that everything would then be fine because she would go back on her meds and she would realize that he hadn't actually done any of the things she was accusing him of. He said that the Reverend Randall told him not to give Micah the handwritten detailed apology she wanted because it wouldn't be wise.

Again, we take everything that JP Miller says with a grain of salt, but if true or remotely close to true, wow. And not for any of the reasons JP thinks I'm saying wow. Because it sure does sound like Micah was trying to get JP to write a confession of sorts. Remember, Micah had told her best friend Charlotte before her death that she was working with the FBI and Charlotte took that to mean that the FBI should be looking into him. But is this an indication that the FBI is on the case now because an informant died during their investigation?

Were they already investigating JP and Solid Rock and their missions program when Micah died? Or was Micah simply trying to get a little leverage to help make her divorce from JP go more smoothly. Obviously we don't know the answer to that yet, but we are going to keep on reporting on it until we do. Okay, now we want to talk about what we've learned in the criminal allegations that were made against Micah in the lead up to her death in April. We know these allegations weighed heavily on her and that she had told friends that she believed that JP and the church were going to try to pin any financial anomalies in their books on her.

What we need all of you to realize today is this. We went into this past week knowing that Micah was facing tremendous and relentless pressure in her life because of the divorce with JP. We knew that the police reports tell a story of a woman desperate for someone to help her stop her estranged husband's harassment and stalking. But it is even worse than that. It is not just a haphazard thing born out of heightened emotions. I mean yes, it's that too. But we also believe there's something more sinister afoot here. Something that is just downright cruel.

Actions that were designed to push Micah to the brink. That when taken all together would seem incredibly hard for anyone to overcome. Not to mention a woman who was trying to escape a relationship that her legal team has said displayed all of the signs of coercive control. What I am saying is this. There are things that happen when relationships are falling apart, mean things that are tit for tat.

He does something, I do something, I say something, he says something. But JP wasn't just being an angry or a heartbroken husband lashing out at his wife. According to sources, court documents, police reports, and Micah's legal team, JP was making sure Micah knew that she would never win. It wasn't just about letting her know that he was hurt. It was about making her feel like she would never escape him because he has all of the power.

It was to take away whatever scrap of agency she was able to gain in the weeks leading up to her death. And that is where the cruelty comes into play, willfully hurting another person and not caring about it. Again, we knew all of this was at play, but we didn't understand that it was even worse than it looked on paper, even worse than what we were imagining when we put ourselves in Micah's shoes. This is part of sharing our experience with you as we take you behind the scenes on what it looks like to report on a true crime podcast in real time.

Our perspectives change as we gather more information and old pieces of information snap into place better. It's like looking through a telescope and each week learning how to make it come into focus better. So going back to the criminal accusations that were made against Micah. In Micah's list, you might remember the item discussing JP's alleged misuse of law enforcement. Here is David with the exact wording of what was said. JP called the police on her for no reason. He reported her for a crime she did not commit, making her

subject to a police investigation which became unfounded and dropped. The officer allegedly told Micah it was abuse of law and a waste of police time. By all accounts, Micah took her faith seriously. Some might point to her extramarital affair with JP in 2015, in which she was also betraying her friend, Allison Williams, as evidence that she was morally equivocating. But that's until you consider that she was 15 when JP came into her life, that she considered herself as having been groomed by him as a teenager, that she was 21 at the time of the affair, and that he was her pastor, her religious leader, the person she entrusted to guide her in her faith.

Because again, by all accounts, Micah strove to be a good person and she was thoughtful in her approach. She considered the angles before acting, which is why it's really hard for those who knew her well to understand her choice of that swamp where her body was found. I say this because it also makes it hard to believe that Micah would steal from Solid Rock. One, by stealing, she would have been giving JP more ammunition to hurt her and to remain in her life for longer. Two, though she was hurting for money at the time, the amounts the church accused her of stealing weren't enough to risk getting caught over

and having to face the consequences for. Three, she had other resources, people who were supportive of her escaping her marriage, who offered financial assistance. And four, she loved the programs they accused her of stealing from. One of the things we've repeatedly heard throughout this as JP's quote evidence of Micah's so-called manic episodes is that she had ideas. That she became excited about those unspecified ideas. Most of us would call that passion, but ideas are attached to one's own sense of self-empowerment, right? If you have ideas, it means you have dreams. If you have dreams, it means you have a belief in yourself

to whatever degree that there's something better and that thing that's better includes you. If you have ideas, it means that you, again to whatever degree, believe that you have the ability to make them happen. And that ability, that that you have the ability to make them happen. And that ability, that belief in your own ability, is where a woman begins to show that she understands a world exists in which she can direct change rather than be directed

to change. Oh, what a threat that must feel like to men who believe that wives are duty-bound to them and their interpretations of God alone. Micah had ideas. And some of those ideas by JP's own admission were related to her work as a missionary. Micah was passionate about music and sharing her talents with the church, and she was passionate about a future in Kenya where, according to her friends and family, she was planning to stay for a while after her divorce. To be accused of stealing is one thing. To be accused of stealing from a cause that gave you strength and purpose is one thing. To be accused of taking money from the needy

is one thing. But having those accusations of theft be used as a metaphorical manacle is another. You look at that timeline of these accusations, it's really hard to A, take them seriously, and B, see them as anything other than a tool of psychological torture. Let's start with the first report which was made on February 15th.

That's three days after Micah was released from Waccamaw Center for Mental Health, according to the Medical Examiner's Report. Actually, let's back up even further. Let's start with February 6th. On this day, according to text messages between her sister and one of her best friends, Micah was done with JP. And on that very next day, Micah was hospitalized involuntarily,

according to the Medical Examiner's Report. That was a result of a doctor's emergency order. According to the text, that order was, quote, falsified because JP had said Micah was going to harm herself and therefore doctors were required to intervene. Sources close to the incident say that on this particular day, JP was frantic. Micah had filed for divorce in October, citing adultery as the reason. A hearing was set for temporary relief in November. That hearing would have established what JP owed to Micah in terms of spousal support

and it would have set ground rules for the separation moving forward. That hearing was postponed and never ended up getting held. During that winter, Micah went to Kenya on a mission trip. It was also during this time period when she was experiencing great pressure from church members, including at least one member of the elders, to make the marriage with JP work. According to Micah's List, JP even told her that God wanted this for them. Here's David. JP knew how much she adored and loved Jesus and the teachings in the Bible, and that she wanted to be a good Christian, so he used it against her. Christian, so he used it against her. When she wanted to divorce, he told her God hates divorce and it is a sin. When he would do terrible, terrible things to her, he would tell her that God

said she cannot judge him and as a good Christian, she is to forgive him, and even more so as his wife. Now, at this time, JP was making it clear to people in their circles that he wanted Micah back. He was framing this as part of her so-called manic episodes. But did he really want her back? That's the question. Or rather, did he want her back for the right reasons? The word adultery appearing on their divorce records likely upset him. We know from court records that this was a consideration in his first divorce and that Allison Williams had left it off as sort of a favor to him so that he could keep his church. We also can assume that this would be a pretty big blow to his ego and to the church that he had rebuilt to great success after his marital failings

in 2015, when he lost most of his members and therefore most of the church's revenue. We also know from sources and court records that this was a pattern for JP, right? When Allison left him in 2015, when the affair with Micah became known, it was the final straw for her. At that point, according to court records, she knew about the alleged molestations that she says JP admitted to the elders and right before the affair became public, JP had publicly announced to his church members in a sermon that he had paid for sex from sex workers while married to Allison. When she left him, he made it widely known that he was on a mission to win her back.

Do you all remember when JP showed up to one of their divorce hearings all bandaged up and on crutches? And he told the judge that he had been in a tree. And the judge asked him why were you in a tree? Before perhaps recognizing that the person in front of him wasn't going to be a reliable narrator, so why bother? So the judge cut him off. We've since learned that JP was in a tree in some sort of romantic gesture aimed at rekindling his relationship with Allison. We also know from police records that Allison's father called law enforcement on JP in 2015 when he found JP lying in Allison's front yard when Allison wasn't home. At that time, the offender appeared to be under the influence of something. JP refused medical care

and blamed it on a medication mix-up, according to the report. We've since been told that this incident was one in which JP was doing his nonsense to guilt Allison back into marriage. Allison is about the same age as JP. She's a contemporary of his. Also, she is the mother of four of his children. Micah was 15 years younger than JP and they didn't have children. I say this because of where this pattern in the divorce diverges. Like Allison said in her latest affidavit, Micah's experience with JP was different in a lot of ways, but there were enough similarities in what Micah was telling her was happening that she trusted Micah's perception of things. She knew Micah was telling her the truth. The differences

here are 1. JP had already lost one wife. 2. He also lost all his court battles with that wife. 3. The only power over Allison that he had technically was his alimony and child support payments which were court mandated. Soon after they separated, Allison gave him back the car that was owned by the church, meaning it was no longer something he could hold over her head if he wanted to. Plus, Allison's alimony was chided to the payment of the mortgage on the house the two had shared, and JP maintains an economic interest in the equity, according to records. According to their divorce agreement, when their children all reached the age of 18, Allison must sell the house and split the equity with JP at that time.

Meaning, it's ultimately in his best interest to abide by those payments because he could face contempt of court charges and he could compromise his own investment. And 4. Micah worked for JP. According to Micah's list, JP had removed Micah from bank accounts and told her she didn't know how to manage money while also requiring her to pay her own car payment and insurance as well as medical bills. Also, according to the list, he had forced her out of her job at the church. Here's David again.

Here's David again. When she worked at the church, JP would randomly fire her for quote, disobeying him, and then he would hire her back if she agreed to certain sexual acts or some other list of demands. He allowed or wrote letters to her on church letterhead demeaning her and putting her down. She had to leave the job that she really loved, the church, and take a job in the restaurant industry. Lastly, and we've covered this a lot so I won't go into the details again, but he controlled her transportation too, even though the car was in her name. Going back to February 7th, this is what happened. Now on February 7th, Micah's divorce case

based on adultery was still active. According to sources, she and JP were working on things. Behind the scenes, members of Micah's family and her friends were upset that she decided to give it another go. But by February 7th, things appeared to have fallen apart again. From what we understand,

JP had told Micah's family that a doctor was ordering her to be hospitalized in a mental facility. But Micah wasn't with the doctor. We don't have the full picture yet, but we're told that JP was on the hunt to find where Micah was so that she could be hospitalized. That brings us to February 21, 2024, an important date in this story.

We will talk more about that right after this short break. According to a police report filed by Micah on February 21, Micah left her car in a Walmart parking lot on the day that she was hospitalized. Micah left her car in the Walmart parking lot on the day that she was hospitalized. Knowing that JP was searching for Micah that day so that she could be hospitalized, it appears that this is the location where he found her. That said, reporter Beth Braden has asked in a few different ways for any law enforcement records from that day. If Micah was refusing hospitalization, it is likely that police would have been involved.

Additionally, from what we understand, people were being told that police were involved. But so far, there have been no records of Micah being transported that day or police responding to the Walmart parking lot for any reason other than a fender bender. According to the police report that Micah filed on February 21st, Micah believed that JP had fraudulently initiated her involuntary hospitalization and quote, stole her car while she was there.

According to that same report, JP admitted to taking the car and told JP that Micah was having a mental episode, that they were not separated, that it was marital property and he wouldn't give it back to her because he was afraid she would sell it. Again, he didn't mention that the car was solely

in her name. Okay, so on February 7th, Micah was taken to the hospital. On February 12th, she was released. On February 13th, she filed a consent order signed on the day she was released from the hospital, dismissing her divorce from JP. But according to text messages at the time between Micah's sister and her best friend, Micah was done with JP. He had taken her car and her phone, so Micah's sister was putting out a warning that JP was monitoring messages and told Micah's friend not to text her. So, was Micah done but planning on refiling her divorce as a no-fault divorce? Or, as her family and legal team have suggested, did JP persuade her to drop the case so he could file one of his own, which he did, 10 days later?

JP dropped that case on March 11th, which as you all know, is a very significant date in Micah's timeline. It's when she filed a restraining order against JP, and it's when she called the police to report that she'd found yet another deflation device in her car tire. This time around 2am that morning, she told 911 that JP was having her followed and had accused her of having an affair. Meaning that according to multiple sources, on the evening of March 10th and early hours of March 11th, JP appears to have been having Micah followed and seemed to believe she was having an affair with a younger church member. Help us with that one because usually it works the other way around, right? Husband thinks wife is having

an affair and files for divorce. Not wife dismisses divorce case on day she's released from an involuntary mental hospitalization that her husband was involved in and then husband files divorce case of his own but then drops it weeks later after believing wife is having an affair. You know the only time all of this would make sense, right? When the divorce filing was being used as a weapon against Micah. Did JP find out that she had filed a restraining order and that she had called the police about Spring Maid Pier?

Was he trying to mitigate the fallout by doing something nice and dismissing the divorce filing? Was he trying to put out the fire he had started? Up until this point, it appears that the only other police filing made against JP was the one Micah made trying to get her car back on February 21st. If JP walked away from that police interview believing that he'd won the day, he wouldn't be wrong because Micah was told by the officer there was nothing they could do. Those two acts by Micah on March 11th were an upping of the ante. He was now

going to have to appear in front of a judge and account for his actions. Back to February 12th. Let's talk about the day Micah signed a consent order dismissing her divorce case. So three days later and again remember that the text between her sister and friend are indicating that Micah is done by this point. She's determined to get away from him and this time it seems like she means it. She's very angry about the hospitalization it seems,

and plus JP seems to have taken control of her phone, her Facebook account, and her email. According to the text messages, JP had kicked Micah out during her hospitalization, moving her belongings to a former roommate's house. Quote, and this is from the text messages, as you would guess he's losing his mind trying to manipulate her. He has her car, her phone, her watch, her laptop, her wallet. Three days after Micah was released from the hospital is when the first report came from the church about her alleged theft.

Meaning, this report came right when she appears to have decided that she's going to continue on with the divorce, then got hospitalized against her will, then lost her means of transportation, her money, her modes of communication, her belongings, her social media identities, and then decided to drop her divorce. So again, was it because she wanted to drop it or did JP use this as some sort of quid pro quo? Such as, you want your things back? Drop the case. It was bam bam bam bam bam. One thing right after the other from Micah. According to the report on February 15th, police were told that Micah had taken money out of the mission's account and

had also stolen around $1,200. She was referred to as an employee of the church. According to the report, the person who made this call made it to the wrong law enforcement agency and was advised to call Horry County Police Department. After this, it appears that nothing happened for weeks. Now again, if we're going to think about this report as a weapon, it would be a bomb with a timer on it, right? The wrong cops were called, but cops were called, meaning it could now be said the police have a report on you being a thief. All it takes is for one of us to press charges. It's a threat that were it actually made, could have been deployed at any time and on any

whim. Turns out that whim came on March 13th, two days after JP had dropped his divorce filing, two days after Micah had filed her first official police report alleging harassment and stalking, two days after JP had allegedly begun to believe Micah was seeing another man. Sources say that JP was whipped up pretty bad during this time. So on March 13th, Trisha Ross, who is JP's right-hand woman and is also a pastor at the church and an elder, called the police to again report the theft. Let's talk about that call. Okay, what exactly happened? The employee was entrusted with one of our missions accounts and they took it upon themselves to go and remove the money

out of the account and close it and quit and without any permission from the church. Okay. And your first name? Andy. And the phone number? Okay. So they stole money from you or is it just that they closed your account? They stole the money as well. They took the money out of the account as cash and put it in their personal account. It's like a breach of trust, I guess. Okay.

And it was an employee, you said? Yes. One of your employees or one of the banks? No, one of the church employees. Oh, one at church. Okay. And we have documentation with her name on it, withdrawing the cash and also bank state was deposited in her private account.

And we're also filing a case with the city because she took in donations that she received door to door. Okay. And when did this happen? This happened on February 14th of this year. Okay. Is the suspect still in the area? Yes, sir. Okay. Do you need her address? Well, not yet.

So she's in the area like within your church area? Yes, she's within Market Commons. Okay, and are you at that location now? Yes, we're at the church. Okay. Is he... She's not here. She is not here though. She lives within the Market Commons, but she's not at the church right now. Right. Okay.

And she took money. How much money was involved? In the county it was 159.09. Is it $159 or 159,000? Yes. $159.09. Okay. $59.09. Okay. Okay.

Yeah, because the city was over a thousand pounds just now. Okay. Do not disturb anything at the scene and contact your financial institutions to cancel bank credit cards and checks. An officer will be disp dispatch as soon as possible. Anything changes or any further information, just give us a call back and they'll come over to Avenue. Okay, thank you so much. All right, you're welcome. Perfect.

We'll be seeing you soon. So, you heard what we heard, right? First, it is hilarious that the dispatcher thought that they were reporting a theft of $159,000 and they had to be like, oh no, actually it's just $159. But also, Tricia wasn't on that call alone, was she? No, it sure does seem like she made that call with JP right there beside her or maybe on the other line.

The two seem to be working together in an effort to get Micah arrested. Plus, given this seeming urgency in JP's voice at the end there, it kind of seems like he wanted this thing to happen like now. In addition to the Myrtle Beach Police Department report that was filed that day, again, the church had been told a month earlier that Horry County PD had jurisdiction. A report was also filed with Horry County. According to the report, an officer went to the church and met with Trisha, who said that Micah had opened the mission's account under the church's nonprofit status and that Micah was in charge of managing that account. which strikes us as perhaps unusual.

We're not yet familiar with how churches typically manage their books, but it would seem like a church the size of solid rock would have a centralized system of financial management rather than accounts directly managed by individuals. Over a month ago, screenshots of text messages purportedly between JP and Trisha, purportedly shared by an investigator JP had hired allegedly to allegedly dig up dirt on reporters and those speaking out against him, show that Trisha appears to have had access to at least one account as she was able to draw up a check for hundreds of dollars from the church's benevolence fund to allegedly pay the investigator for JP's alleged vendetta. Those screenshots were shared online by YouTuber Robbie Harvey. According to the

Horry County report, Trisha told the officer that Micah had collected money for this mission, the Dare to Care missions, and then used that money for herself. Again, it's not exactly clear how Trisha could have known that Micah had deposited the money she had withdrawn from the church's bank account into her own account, only a day after this thing allegedly happened. And also, the amount that Trisha says Micah took was $159.09. According to the report, Trisha said that the church had tried to work with Micah to

retrieve that money, but that Micah had failed to respond to them. Now, did Trisha offer that up because it was something that happened? Or did the officer ask a question to assess whether the church had made an attempt to retrieve the money? And that's just how Trisha answered. It's not clear. But what we can say is this. Trisha has a criminal history herself and is, like her pal JP was before he was pardoned

in 2022, a felon. She was arrested in January 2004 and charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent for stealing more than $5,000 from her employer, Dollar General. In May of that same year, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison suspended and five years of probation along with restitution. According to court records, she did not fully pay that restitution though. In 2006, the court ordered her to pay more than $400 to Dollar General and fined her $268

for not satisfying the conditions of her plea deal. She was also ordered to pay nearly $800 to the state parole agency, the same agency that Trisha would later write a letter of support to for JP's pardon application in 2021. By the way, she did not mention her own criminal history in the letter and it's not really clear why a letter from a felon would have been accepted as a character reference for a man seeking a pardon. Back to the allegations against Micah though. During this second bite of the apple, Trisha again told police, the Myrtle Beach police, that Micah had stolen

almost $1200 that she had collected by going door to door on the church's behalf, again for the mission to Kenya. Again, Trisha says that this money was withdrawn from the church's Zelle and Cash apps and deposited into Micah's account. In this instance, it would make sense that Trisha would have known where the money went because the app would have noted that. Now, here is where we get a resolution. As we have told you before, a judge refused to sign a warrant in Micah's arrest after looking at the evidence. The investigator discovered that Micah had personally deposited money into this account in January and in February,

and she withdrew less than the amount that she had deposited. She also was authorized to close the account. In fact, she is the only person who would have been able to close it. So while Micah was experiencing one of the hardest moments of her life in February, JP and Trisha allegedly started the ball rolling on getting her criminally charged for stealing her own money and for closing an account only she had the power to close.

Then they appear to have sat on it until two days after Micah reported J.P.'s alleged harassment and stalking to police for the first time, the first time according to records that we have received so far anyway, and two days after she made it so that he would have to appear in front of a judge and account for his alleged behavior. Then they tried to detonate the bomb, but the bomb fizzled. It is just one instance in which JP's attempts to use the court against Micah failed.

Remember, according to Micah's March 11th call to police, JP had tried to have her involuntarily hospitalized again during this time. On March 6th, she was evaluated by state-appointed psychiatrists and the court, and they found no cause to have her committed, meaning they did not believe that she was a danger to herself or others. We already knew that Micah was open to hospitalization, by the way. In November 2022, she sought help and her sister brought her to Whack-a-Mole. You'll remember it was JP who tried to stop that hospitalization and tried to ferry Micah away.

And you'll remember that police felt that JP was interfering. They noted threats made to them, and they asked Micah herself, away from JP, if she wanted to be admitted. She said yes. That is a sign of a person who seeks health when they need it, who can say yes, please. Show me the path to feeling better.

In February and March of this year, Micah was rejecting the need for hospitalization. Based on past history, plus the court's decision not to hospitalize her, we have no reason to believe Micah's assessment of her own needs. And JP's campaign to paint her as being in serious danger and his campaign to paint himself as on a mission to rescue her continues. JP also continues to show us who he is, not just as a husband and as a man in the spotlight, but as a pastor. We want to end today by sharing this 911 call

that was made by JP on April 25, 2015. All right, sir, you still on the line with me? Yes, can you answer my question about where's your emergency? All right, you're going to have to hold on a moment. City, this is County. I have a caller on the line with us stating that his cleaning lady who is working at a church at 803 Howard Avenue had a gentleman walk into the church stating that he's having a heart attack. We're going to be sending EMS, but my caller believes that he may not be having a heart attack and is requesting an officer to respond as well. Sir, go ahead and speak with Myrtle Beach police.

Hey, how are you? Doing great. How are you? Good. My cleaning lady just called me and she thought that the church was locked, but a man walked in very calmly. I don't know if he's asking for money or what, but she said he's pretending like her, or acting like, or telling her that he thinks he's having a heart attack. She said, what do you want me to do? He just said, I need some water.

He asked for help. She said he asked for...you know what, I don't even know the details. She just called me and said that she's scared because there's somebody in the church. She asked to go out and whatever. So I'm calling 911 to get an officer out there. I don't think he needs to hear much from what she said. She told me that she does not think he's sick or having a heart attack. But, oh, you all be the judge of that.

I'm going to be there now. Okay. Is she there now and he's there? Yes, he's now outside of the church. So there's two people at the church? Correct, I'm on my way there right now, but I thought I'd call y'all just to get an officer out there. Okay, they're just going to ask me what they're going for, so I'll need as much information as possible. Every now and then we have bums that come up and other day somehow. They're definitely sound like it was. Okay.

I guess I might have to wait. Because the lady that was just on the phone with me that transferred me to you, because she requested the ambulance, do we have to pay for the ambulance? That's going to be up to you and them. I have no idea. She sent the ambulance, and if you requested the ambulance, I wouldn't know if you have to pay for it. I did not request it.

Well, whatever just happened, I have no idea. You tell me to send the officer, that's what I'm doing. I don't know anything about the ambulance. So that is where JP's priorities are. A man comes into a church asking for water and says that he's feeling sick and might be having a heart attack. JP calls the police, which fine. His quote unquote cleaning lady was frightened and JP was on the way. But the way he talks about this person needing help

and the way he refers to people who have come into his church seeking help before as quote-unquote bums and the way he doesn't mention that he himself asked to speak with the man which he could have done if he wanted to by the way he could have asked to have the man be put on the phone as he drove there to better assess the situation. And the way he reveals his biggest concern at the end. His worry about the ambulance bill. The worry about his money, which he got from tithing in Jesus' name, having to go toward

a man in distress needing an ambulance ride. It all speaks volumes. It makes you wonder what that benevolence fund, the one he allegedly used to fund his alleged personal vendettas, exists for if not for incidents like this very one. What's that saying in the Bible? "'For I was hungry, you gave me food, I was

thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. I must have missed the part that said, for I was having a heart attack, and you asked if you were going to have to pay for the ambulance. We say this because it is telling. It isn't the only 911 call in the pastor's 20 year history that shows his unchrist-like behavior. It is one of many. Like we said in the last episode, this man calls the police more often than most people

order DoorDash. We are still finding out about more incidents to Foyah. But JP loses his power, the power that he used against Micah for years leading up to her death, with every member who leaves Solid Rock. He loses his power every time we publish another public record showing the world exactly who he is. Pressure breaks pipes, and the pipe that is currently supporting Solid Rock is close to bursting. We hope today's episode has given you an even better understanding of the timeline leading up to Micah's death and that it's giving you a look inside JP's strange relationship with Trisha Ross, his longtime church member,

employee and cohort. It is a relationship that appears to have blurred boundaries, one that appears to have extended far past the professional in the pastoral right into the personal, right into the messy territory of JP's marriage to Micah. The question we have now is how much influence this relationship with Trisha Ross factored into Micah's death. Just how involved was Trisha Ross in JP's marriage? Just how much did she contribute to Micah's demise? And just how involved has she been in helping JP carry out his narrative in the wake of Micah's passing?

Finally, JP has never been charged with harassment, stalking, or abuse of any kind in connection to Micah's case, before or after her death. Neither has Trisha Ross. But to quote JP's father, ol' Wayne Miller, allegations are allegations. And we are going to keep looking into them. And apparently, so is the FBI. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell.

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