"Death of The Pastor's Wife"
By Jessica Grose Opinion Writer New York Times “Death of the Pastor’s Wife” has been one of the top ten TV shows on Netflix since it debuted on August 26. The documentary series is about the abusive, terrifying marriage of Mica Francis Miller, a South Carolina woman who died in 2024, and John-Paul Miller, the pastor and founder of Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, S.C., a nondenominational evangelical parish. Mica’s death was ruled a suicide, and the documentary touches on some unanswered questions about how she died. But it is much more about how her husband used the power of the pulpit against her. He took advantage of Mica’s strong faith as a method of control. John-Paul appeared to leverage his standing in the community and with law enforcement to isolate Mica from her friends and family. Her husband’s overarching method of manipulation was convincing his wife that if she did not submit to his whims fully she would be disobeying God. Rich McHugh, an investigati...
