0:00

The justice system can be intimidating, but

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it doesn't have to be. We all

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want a drink from the same cup

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of justice, and it starts with learning

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about our legal system. My

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name is Mandi Matney, and together

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1:09

My name is Mandi Matney. This

1:12

is a special minisode of True

1:14

Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and

1:17

corruption previously known as the Murdoch

1:19

Murders podcast. True Sunlight

1:21

is produced by Luna Shark Media.

1:24

Hello and happy Thursday. So,

1:27

we originally planned to take this

1:29

week off entirely, but guess what

1:31

happened? We got a flood

1:33

of FOIA responses in the Micah Francis

1:36

case. As a reminder, we

1:38

are now referring to Micah Miller as

1:40

Micah Francis after we noticed

1:42

court documents that she wished to change

1:44

her name before her death, from

1:47

her husband's name to her maiden name. And

1:50

we all figured that that is the least we

1:52

could do. The

1:54

Micah Francis story is one of

1:56

the most twisted and complicated stories

1:58

of alleged abuse I have ever

2:00

seen. Ever since a

2:03

few hundred of y'all reached out

2:05

in early May requesting that we

2:07

cover this case, our team has

2:09

been working in overdrive talking to

2:11

sources, filing FOIA requests, which are

2:14

Freedom of Information Act requests for

2:16

those of y'all new here, and

2:18

piecing together a tragic timeline

2:20

that documents a horrific cycle

2:22

of alleged abuse dating back

2:24

to the 1970s. To

2:28

recap, 30-year-old Micah Francis of Myrtle Beach was

2:30

found dead with a bullet in her head

2:32

on April 27, 2024, in Lumber River State

2:35

Park, North Carolina. The

2:40

day after she died, Micah's estranged

2:42

husband, Pastor J.P. Miller

2:44

of Solid Rock at Market Common

2:47

Church, delivered a bizarre

2:49

speech that captured attention around

2:51

the world announcing his wife

2:53

died from suicide. What

2:56

J.P. Miller didn't mention was that

2:58

Micah left behind a paper trail

3:00

documenting her attempts to leave her

3:02

husband, that she filed

3:04

for divorce from him twice at that

3:06

point, that she had called

3:09

the police more than three times

3:11

for him allegedly putting trackers on

3:13

her car, that she had filed

3:15

for a restraining order documenting several

3:17

incidents of alleged harassment, that she

3:19

told the police that her pastor

3:21

husband had groomed hers since she

3:23

was a child, and perhaps

3:25

most importantly, that her husband was

3:28

served divorce papers two days before

3:30

her death, marking possibly

3:32

the most terminal moment in

3:34

their seven-year marriage. Less

3:37

than two weeks after her death,

3:39

the Robeson County Sheriff's Office ruled

3:41

her death a suicide. But of

3:43

course, the story didn't end there,

3:46

which is perhaps what makes our work

3:48

different from a lot of true crime

3:50

coverage out there. After

3:52

five years of exposing the network of

3:54

crimes and deaths tied to Eilik Murdoch,

3:57

we know one thing is for certain. Never

4:00

take a good old boy for

4:03

his word. Question everything. Backcheck

4:05

everything. There is

4:07

always more to the story than

4:10

what the police report says. At

4:13

LunaShark, there is always more

4:15

beneath the surface. This

4:17

week, LunaShark media reporter Beth Braden

4:19

was first to break the story

4:22

that the medical examiner's report in

4:24

Micah's case was released. Maybe

4:26

the most puzzling detail out there

4:28

that was released this week were

4:30

that there were multiple casings in

4:32

a live round found at

4:35

the scene and that the gun was

4:37

found 100 feet away

4:39

from her body in the river that

4:41

appeared to be stagnant. It

4:43

is possible that Micah's body floated further

4:45

from the firearm and the casings, but

4:47

we are going to dive into all

4:50

of this next week in greater detail.

4:52

Every time I read this report, which

4:54

is available in the Minniso description, by

4:56

the way, I have questions

4:59

about how thorough the investigation

5:01

was and if they truly

5:03

found enough evidence to call

5:05

her death a suicide so

5:08

quickly. Like we

5:10

did with the Murdoch story, we are

5:12

working around the edges instead of focusing

5:15

just on the death. We

5:17

are devouring every public document related

5:19

to J.P. Miller that we can

5:22

get our hands on, which we've

5:24

organized and assembled for premium members

5:26

at lunasharkmedia.com. This separates

5:29

fact from fiction, and

5:31

public documents help expose the evil

5:33

in this story. One

5:36

of those public documents really stood out

5:38

to us, and that

5:40

was J.P. Miller's ex-wife's emergency motion

5:43

that she filed in May, in

5:45

which she sought custody of their

5:47

two youngest children. In

5:50

her motion, Allison Williams included an

5:52

affidavit that further illustrated Micah's fears

5:54

leading up to her death, but

5:57

she also put on the public

5:59

record record that the death

6:01

of a man named Chris Skinner

6:03

affected JP's behavior in 2021. Specifically,

6:07

Allen said that things started to get

6:09

really bad with JP and his marriage

6:11

to Micah in the fall of 2021.

6:15

In fact, she linked the worsening

6:17

of JP's behavior with the sudden

6:19

death of Chris Skinner. Chris

6:22

Skinner was a motivational speaker who

6:24

was married to a woman that

6:26

Allison identified as a paramour of

6:28

JP Miller's. Chris was

6:30

paralyzed from the chest down. He

6:33

was an army veteran and an

6:35

avid surfer and leader in the

6:37

Myrtle Beach community. His ESPN story

6:39

of survival and triumph after his

6:41

accident that left him paralyzed decades

6:44

ago went viral in 2020, and

6:46

country superstars Cole Swindell and Luke

6:48

Bryan helped him get a special

6:50

wheelchair in 2020. But

6:53

in 2021, Chris's wife Susie, who

6:55

was also a member of Solid

6:57

Rock Church and JP allegedly

7:00

started to spend a lot

7:02

of time together, according to

7:04

Allison's affidavit. I want to

7:06

read this part of Allison

7:08

Williams' affidavit because it is

7:10

important. When I

7:12

learned JP was exposing our children

7:14

to yet another one of his

7:16

adulterous affairs, I confronted

7:19

JP and Susie and told them

7:21

to not let that happen again.

7:23

JP called me the day Susie's

7:26

husband died in an alleged drowning

7:28

accident, extremely upset and asking

7:30

me to pray, which was incredibly

7:33

bizarre. Based upon information and

7:35

belief, just two weeks prior

7:37

to this incident, Susie's husband

7:39

had confronted JP and asked

7:41

him to leave his wife

7:44

and children alone. It is

7:46

chilling to know that the

7:48

spouses of both Susie and

7:50

JP are now dead from

7:52

tragic events. End quote.

7:55

Susie, if you remember, was seen

7:57

in several photos eating with JP

8:00

Miller soon after Micah's death.

8:02

TikTok has been hot with

8:05

Chris Skinner theories ever since

8:07

the news of Micah's death

8:09

hit national headlines, but Allison's

8:11

mentioning of this made those

8:13

theories worth investigating, in our

8:15

opinion. In September 2021, Chris Skinner

8:17

was found unresponsive

8:19

in his neighborhood pool. He drowned

8:21

to death, according to records. Allison

8:23

said it was around this time

8:25

and around the time that JP

8:27

applied to get a pardon so

8:29

that he could get a gun

8:32

that she began to witness

8:34

increasingly concerning behavior from JP,

8:37

which eventually led to Micah seeking

8:39

her counsel about what to do

8:41

next. This week, due

8:43

to the dogged foying from Beth Braden

8:46

and the brilliant mind of Liz Farrell,

8:48

Luna Shark was the first media outlet

8:50

to receive the 911 call

8:53

to the incident that led to Chris Skinner's death

8:55

on September 6, 2021. At 854 p.m., a woman

8:57

called Myrtle Beach Police from the Emmons

9:02

Preserve Neighborhood Pool, which is about 1.4

9:06

miles from JP's church, to

9:08

say that she found a man in the

9:10

pool as she was getting ready to do

9:12

her water aerobics class. We are going

9:15

to play this entire 911 call for

9:17

you. Peace

9:23

Bar. Peace Bar, Myrtle Beach

9:25

911. What is the address of your emergency?

9:28

I don't know the actual

9:31

address, but it's on the

9:33

corner of Yorkshire Parkway and

9:35

Wellington Way in Emmons Preserve.

9:37

In Emmons Preserve. In Emmons

9:40

Preserve. In Emmons Preserve.

9:42

In Emmons Preserve. Community and Market

9:44

Comet. Okay,

9:46

what's going on? We have a dead

9:48

body in our pool. You

9:51

have a dead body in your pool? Yes,

9:53

ma'am. They tell me that the male is

9:55

that he was disabled,

9:58

his wheelchair, and all. is in

10:00

the pool. Okay.

10:03

All right. I'm gonna hold on. We

10:10

can't know how

10:12

long has he been in there? I don't

10:14

know. But he's been in there some time

10:16

because when I first got here at eight

10:18

o'clock, I thought it was a, uh, an

10:20

air tube that was, you know,

10:22

deflated. I didn't go over. I'm

10:27

sorry. Okay, man. Just stay on the line

10:29

with me. I'm just talking to my fire dispatcher.

10:31

Okay. I

10:35

don't even know his his wife's phone

10:37

number. Okay.

10:48

Okay. Is there is there anyone out there? Yes.

10:51

We're having water. We were gonna

10:53

have water aerobics. So there's like four of us

10:56

here right now. So yeah, someone will be here

10:58

to let them in. Okay.

11:00

Is anyone trying to get him out

11:02

or they tried, they

11:04

tried to get him out, but they can't move.

11:06

Is he still in the wheelchair? He's still in

11:09

his wheelchair. He could.

11:11

She could not move anything. Okay.

11:18

Stay on one. Just updating them now. Okay. We've

11:20

got paramedics on the way. Thank

11:23

you. I think he's gone. And I just who's

11:26

gone. The

11:28

body. Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. All

11:30

right. And I just want to make

11:32

sure you're said you're York Shire and

11:34

Wellington. Correct? Yes. There's a clubhouse here.

11:37

You'll see the clubhouse and the pool's

11:39

just beyond it. We'll have

11:41

someone at both gates. Okay. Okay.

11:43

Are you a resident there

11:46

or are you? Okay.

11:48

Yes. Yes. I'm a resident. All

11:51

right. Here we go. Let me just update

11:53

them because they're on the way. I'm sorry.

11:55

That's how you'll be able to get here. It's

11:57

on the corner of York Shire, Wellington way anyway. So

12:30

I did update them now, okay? Okay, thank

12:32

you. You're welcome. Thank you. Bye-bye.

12:36

Bye-bye. According

12:38

to Chris Skinner's death certificate, he

12:40

died at 1241 p.m. at Grand

12:43

Strand Medical Center. Deputy coroner Tamara

12:45

A. Willard ruled his manner of

12:47

death an accident and his cause

12:50

of death being asphyxiation due to

12:52

drowning. He was cremated and the

12:54

Myrtle Beach police closed the case

12:57

two days after his death. Let's

13:00

be clear here. We are

13:02

not accusing anyone of murder.

13:05

There is no evidence that ties

13:07

JP or anyone to the death

13:09

of Chris Skinner. However, we

13:12

learned in the Murdoch case that

13:14

it is so important to put

13:16

sunlight on those newsworthy elements of

13:18

an investigation that just don't add

13:20

up. An example, Gloria

13:22

Satterfield, as the threats

13:24

just might lead down a road

13:26

to justice. Luna

13:29

Shark Media reporter and researcher Beth

13:31

Braden FOIA'd for all materials related

13:33

to Chris Skinner's death. But

13:35

the bulk of what we received

13:37

was a two-page investigation report that

13:40

states the date, time, and place

13:42

of the incident, followed by

13:44

a short summary that states the following.

13:47

On September 6th, 2021, at approximately 0854 hours, I,

13:53

PFC Ljotse, responded to 1145

13:55

Yorkshire Parkway, which

13:57

is within the city limits of Myrtle Beach. in

14:00

reference to a drowning. When I arrived

14:02

on scene, I observed a

14:05

wheelchair in the pool and began

14:07

speaking to witnesses and family members.

14:09

The victim was transported by medics

14:11

to the hospital and Sergeant Gibson

14:13

was notified. There is nothing further

14:16

at this time. Myrtle

14:18

Beach Police did not give us

14:21

any records of witness interviews in

14:23

our FOIA request. A Myrtle Beach

14:25

legal representative said specifically that there

14:27

weren't any further paper statements that

14:29

were subject to FOIA, but we

14:32

have filed an additional FOIA request

14:34

regardless. Specifically, Beth

14:36

was told that typically witness

14:38

statements are done by body-worn

14:41

cameras, which are not subject

14:43

to FOIA. That would be

14:46

a very odd way for

14:48

a police department to collect

14:50

evidence that circumvents FOIA on

14:53

purpose. Anyway, after

14:55

we received this FOIA response, we

14:58

noticed another news outlet received additional

15:00

documents that the Myrtle Beach Police

15:02

conveniently left out of our FOIA

15:05

request. That additional report stated that

15:07

Chris was supposed to meet a

15:10

friend there that morning and

15:12

that police did review video footage

15:14

from a pool that showed

15:16

Chris and his wheelchair, moving

15:19

quickly forward into the water

15:21

by himself. The camera apparently

15:23

showed him lifting his

15:25

head up a few times before,

15:28

quote, the camera cuts to a

15:30

different time. How does

15:33

it paralyze but otherwise seemingly

15:35

healthy and athletic 41-year-old man

15:37

end up drowning to death

15:39

in a neighborhood pool? Did

15:41

he call for help? If

15:43

the wheelchair malfunctioned, did anyone

15:45

bring a lawsuit against a

15:47

chair manufacturer or perhaps the

15:49

community? Why is it so

15:51

hard to FOIA for basic

15:53

investigation details in Myrtle Beach?

15:56

The materials that they gave us in this

15:58

response to our FOIA act as a made

16:01

the investigation look more suspicious than

16:03

it is. I could go

16:05

on and on with questions we

16:07

have about this case because the

16:09

little information that we got from

16:11

a FOIA request make us question

16:13

quite a bit of the events

16:15

described. But this is a minisode.

16:18

While there does appear to be

16:20

evidence that this was an accident,

16:23

the words in Alison Williams' sworn

16:25

affidavit keep ringing in my head.

16:27

Quote, it is chilling

16:29

to know that the spouses of

16:32

both Susie and JP are now

16:34

dead from tragic events. Right

16:37

now, we are asking anyone

16:39

with information on Chris Skinner's

16:41

death to email info at

16:43

lunasharkmedia.com. And

16:46

even though today's minisode is short,

16:48

Lunashark Premium members are getting a

16:50

second bonus episode this week where

16:52

reporter and producer Sam Berlin just

16:55

could not let go of a pressing

16:57

question from the Murdoch saga, where

16:59

did the money go? Visit

17:02

lunashark.supercast.com to join

17:05

today. Or we

17:07

will be back next week with our

17:09

regularly scheduled episode. Until then,

17:12

stay tuned, stay pesky, and

17:15

stay in the sunlight. True

17:25

Sunlight is a Lunashark production created by me, Mandy

17:32

Matney, and co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell. Learn more about

17:34

our mission and membership at

17:36

lunasharkmedia.com. Interruptions

17:38

provided by Luna and Joe Pesky. This

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