Truth about what happened to Suzie Skinner’s first husband Chris in Death of the Pastor’s Wife

After Netflix’s Death of the Pastor’s Wife brought the story of Mica Miller and pastor John-Paul “JP” Miller to a much wider audience, people have also been wanting to know more about Suzie Skinner, JP’s current wife, and what happened to her first husband, Chris Skinner.

The Netflix doc looks at Mica’s life, her troubled marriage to JP and the circumstances surrounding her death in 2024. But Chris’s story also features in the wider picture, particularly because his death in 2021 was later questioned. So, who was Chris Skinner, and what actually happened to him?

Who was Chris Skinner?

Chris Skinner was a former Army National Guard member, author, counsellor and motivational speaker. He became paralysed from the neck down after a car crash when he was 20.

In an interview with WBTW during Alcohol Awareness Month, Chris explained what happened. He said, “I was 20 years old. I was a fully abled individual, wiggle my fingers, wiggle my toes. I was athletic and was in the Army National Guard, but I was making poor choices with my life at the time.”

He said he had been drinking with friends after a wedding when the driver lost control of the car. “The car flipped two-and-a-half times. I was thrown out and I broke my neck at the C-5 C-6 level leaving me paralyzed from about the collar bones down,” he said.

Chris survived the crash and later built a life around helping and encouraging other people. He also spoke publicly about living with paralysis.

He and Suzie Skinner lived in Myrtle Beach and had two children.

So, what happened to Chris Skinner?

Chris died on 6 September 2021, which was Labour Day in the US. He was found unresponsive in the swimming pool at the Emmens Preserve neighbourhood in Myrtle Beach. He was taken to hospital but died at 12:41 pm from asphyxiation caused by drowning.

At the time, authorities ruled his death accidental. But because Chris was paralysed and used a specialised wheelchair, questions were later raised about how he ended up in the pool.

The biggest development came years after his death, when surveillance footage from the pool was reviewed more closely. Surveillance footage showed the wheelchair entering the pool and subsequently raised questions about how it happened.

His sister, Tamra McDermott, told FITSNews, “It doesn’t look like an accident to me.”

That footage became particularly important because Chris was using a TracFab all-terrain wheelchair. There have since been questions about whether the wheelchair could have been controlled by somebody else. But there is no public finding that someone remotely controlled the wheelchair, and no evidence has established that another person caused Chris’s death.

So, where does Suzie Skinner come into the story?

Suzie was Chris’s wife when he died. She was also connected to JP Miller through the Myrtle Beach church community. After Chris’s death, JP Miller delivered the message at his funeral.

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Later, allegations emerged that JP and Suzie had been romantically involved while Chris and JP’s then-wife, Mica, were still alive. Those claims came largely from people connected to the families and from court documents. They have not been established as fact in a criminal court.

One of the most significant claims came from Alison Williams, JP Miller’s former wife. In an affidavit, Williams alleged that JP had been spending time with Suzie and that Chris had confronted JP shortly before his death.

Williams wrote, “Just two weeks prior to this incident, Suzie’s husband had confronted J.P. and asked him to leave his wife and children alone.”

She also described the deaths of Chris and Mica as “chilling” because of the alleged relationships.

JP has denied that he was having an affair with Suzie before Chris died.

What did police originally say?

The Myrtle Beach Police Department initially investigated Chris’s death and found no evidence giving them probable cause to charge anyone. Then, in 2025, police reopened the case to conduct more interviews. But after that further investigation, police closed it again.

Myrtle Beach Police spokesperson Randolph T. Angotti told WPDE, “The case was closed with a determination that no probable cause existed to charge anyone with a crime.”

As things stand, no one has been charged over Chris Skinner’s death.

In March 2025, Horry County officials announced that they were re-investigating the manner of Chris’s death after new evidence emerged. The Horry County Coroner’s Office was conducting a separate investigation from the police.

WPDE reported that Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard confirmed the investigation was being reopened. Chris’s official cause of death remained asphyxiation due to drowning, while the original manner of death had been accidental.

The police investigation and the coroner’s investigation therefore went in slightly different directions.

Police eventually said they had exhausted their leads and closed their case again in March 2025.

The coroner’s investigation, however, was reported as still open at that point.

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