Expert explains biggest mystery surrounding Mica Miller’s death in Death of the Pastor’s Wife

There’s one detail from the Mica Miller case that doesn’t quite make sense: Her body was found around 100 feet from the gun that killed her.

With Netflix’s new documentary Death of the Pastor’s Wife putting the case back in front of millions of viewers, that distance has become a major talking point. Two bullet casings were also discovered at the scene, prompting some people to question whether everything about Mica’s death adds up.

Via Netflix

A former crime scene investigator has explained why neither detail is necessarily as strange as it sounds.

Mica died by suicide in April 2024 after shooting herself in a remote North Carolina state park. Before her death, she called 911 and asked the operator to locate her body for her family.

She was married to pastor John-Paul ‘JP’ Miller, who was the pastor of Solid Rock Church at the time. The Netflix documentary explores Mica’s relationship with JP, including journal entries in which she accused him of abuse. Her family has also made allegations of abuse against JP.

According to an official police report, Mica was found in a river by a man who was fishing from his kayak. Her body was around 100 feet away from the gun used in her death, while two bullet casings were also found at the scene. Those details have led some people online to question whether Mica’s death was actually a suicide.

Via Facebook

But Alina Burroughs, a TV host and former crime scene investigator, says the evidence isn’t necessarily as unusual as internet sleuths have made it out to be. Speaking to LADbible, Alina explained that finding two casings could be consistent with someone who was unfamiliar with firearms or feeling nervous.

In fact, she said people in similar circumstances sometimes fire a test shot before using the weapon.

She explained: “So what we see a lot of times with people who are either less familiar with firearms or maybe nervous is they do a test shot. They fire a test shot first so that they can kind of know what to expect in a way, like what is it going to sound like? How is it going to feel in my hand? How loud is it going to be?

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“All of those things. So it’s not uncommon to see a test shot in the suicides that I’ve worked. When we see two casings and a live round, those to me fit together more with somebody who’s less experienced with firearms.”

Alina also said it’s important to consider the crime scene as a whole rather than treating one detail as proof that something more sinister happened. When it comes to the 100-foot distance between Mica’s body and her gun, there’s one huge factor to take into account: the fact that she was found in water.

via Netflix

“If this were on land it would be suspicious [that her body was 100 feet away], but the difference here is that we have a body of water.”

According to Alina, a body can be moved surprisingly quickly by flowing water.

She explained that human bodies are buoyant, while even relatively slow-moving water can generate a significant amount of force.

“When you look at the power of water, a cubic foot of water weighs approximately 62 pounds, water moving relatively slowly at four miles an hour exerts 66 pounds of force per cubic foot. That means that even a slow moving river could move a boulder… it would take seconds to move a human 100 feet.”

While the circumstances have inspired plenty of speculation online, JP has never been charged in connection with Mica’s death.

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Featured image via Netflix