The Heartbreaking True Story of Mica Miller and Netflix's Death of the Pastor's Wife

Mica Miller as seen in Death of the Pastor's Wife —Courtesy of Netflix From the outside, the Myrtle Beach-based Millers appeared to have a picture-perfect marriage.

Mica Miller was a beautiful pastor’s wife whose husband, church leader John-Paul Miller, led a devout congregation.

But the Solid Rock Church community did not know that behind closed doors, Mica and John-Paul had a tumultuous relationship, and Mica would ultimately be found dead in a state park with a gunshot wound to her head, after telling authorities she planned to take her own life.

The next day, on April 27, 2024, John-Paul took the stage at Solid Rock to share the news: The congregation was now without a creative director to lead the worship, youth, and women’s ministry, and he was without a wife.

It wasn’t long before the Solid Rock patrons began to ask questions about what led to Mica's death.

The new three-part Netflix docuseries , Death of the Pastor's Wife , charts the now infamous—and ongoing—case against John-Paul, who has been charged with cyberstalking and making false statements to federal investigators, and seeks to uncover what really led to Mica’s death at age 30.

Co-directed by showrunner Mike Gasparro and Julia Willoughby Nason ( Murdaugh Murders , American Murder: Gabby Petito ), the series looks back on Mica’s life with never-before-seen footage and firsthand accounts from her friends and family, many of whom are speaking out for the first time.

Showrunner Gasparro tells TIME that Mica’s story is “complex and deeply resonant.” The responsibility of bringing what really happened to her to light was key to making the docuseries .

“We met with Mica’s family and made sure they felt comfortable entrusting us with her story,” Gasparro says.

Here’s everything we learned about Mica’s story from the new series.

A whirlwind romance John-Paul Miller in Death of the Pastor's Wife —Courtesy of Netflix John-Paul Miller first saw Mica Francis when she was a teenager attending Solid Rock Church.

The Francis family had recently relocated to Myrtle Beach and soon became regulars at the evangelical parish.

At the time, Pastor John-Paul was a married father of five.

Mica worked as his nanny, according to an affidavit filed by Miller’s first wife, Alison Williams.