JP Miller's Best Man Claims They Were NEVER That Close

Tony Brueski (0:12)

John Paul Miller's best man just told the world they were never that close.

That's an interesting one. But never that close.

True Crime Today (0:23)

Hmm.

Tony Brueski (0:24)

The record seems to show a little something different. But hey, you know, what happens on the outside, what we see as other people may be very different than what he felt on the inside. Mark Kaufman stood next to JP at the altar on November 2017 On the wedding tape, Kaufman said, JP forced me to be his best to be his friend, forced me to be his best man.

The morning after Mica died in April of 2024, JP stood at the SolidRock pulpit and introduced Kaufman as my best friend Mark, then handed him the microphone to sing. And you know what?

Kaufman took it.

34 million people watched that footage when Netflix released Death of a Pastor's Wife on August 26th, of 26 days later. Kaufman, feeling some of the heat, I'm gonna guess, released a public statement. JP Miller, he said, quote, was never part of the core group of friends with whom I regularly spent my time. And portrayals suggesting otherwise should not accurately reflect our relationship.

Best man to barely an acquaintance, not over years over a Netflix premiere and a federal trial date. Kaufman is not the only one running. He's just the one who ran the furthest with the longest paper trail behind him. JP Miller has not been charged in connection with Mica Miller's death. Mica, who was 30, was found dead on April 27th of 2024 at Lumber River State Park in North Carolina. The medical examiner ruled her death a suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In December of 25, a federal grand jury indicted JP on one kind of cyber-stalking and one kind of making statements to investigators. Prosecutors allege he tracked Mica's vehicle, contacted her more than 50 times in a single day, posted a private message on her online without consent. You know, the photo, the naked one, and damaged her tires. He pled not guilty in January 26 His trial date is set for October 26 He denies the abuse.

He is not being charged in her murder, and he denies anything to do with her death because it was never ruled a murder. It was ruled an ass. This is not about what JP Miller allegedly did to Mica. That story, we've been telling it. This one here today, this is about the people who stood next to him while it was allegedly happening. And what they're saying now that the rest of the world can see them standing there. Kaufman and JP met in the 1990s. Let's look back at this, oh, we're not so tight relationship, shall we? As the cockroaches like to run away from the fire that you've been standing, getting all, how many legs does a cockroach have? I don't even know. Getting all of your 12 legs warm.

It got a little too hot. Time to run, right? Right, Mark? I don't know. I mean, maybe. I mean, I'm telling you, unless you were completely unaware of that relationship that you had with JP, I don't know. It just seems like you guys were a little tighter than this. Although I could be wrong. Kaufman and JP met in the 1990s at Dixie Stampede in Myrtle Beach. JP was a teenager. Kaufman was a pianist when JP resigned in 2015 After his affair with Mica became public, Kaufman is the one who allegedly convinced him to keep fastering. Got to keep going on, right? That was a great move, Mark. Thanks for that. They became business partners then at Crocodile Rocks, a Myrtle Beach piano bar. Allegedly, JP held a minority ownership stake, and employees at the bar said in 2024 that they had no idea JP was a married pastor. After Mica's death, Kaufman says JP was banned from the bar, but in November 25, public records obtained by journalist Robbie Harvey showed JP gave Kaufman power of attorney over his flipside three shares, the company behind Crocodile Rocks. A power of attorney protects a business relationship, but does not end one. Frex LLC, the entity that purchased the church's serious airplane after the FBI searched JP's home, lifts Kaufman as the registered agent. Interesting there too. Kaufman's statement addresses a documentary's claims. One at a time, he denied picking up a woman from the airport so JP could allegedly meet her. He said he'd never been shown the text messages, the series reference. He said he was not closely involved or fully aware of the extent of the problems within their marriage. But Pam Muse, a fellow pastor at SolidRock, told the documentary something different. When Muse decided to leave the church, she said that within minutes, Mark Kaufman is on my phone. He told her she couldn't do this to JP. He said it would end everything and asked how they could change her mind. Casual acquaintance does not necessarily make that call. Now do they?