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While it’s difficult to imagine two individuals with more divergent backgrounds, the Mica Francis Miller story got even stranger this week after a property transaction linked the saga to a man previously associated with pop culture icon and international supermodel, Anna Nicole Smith.
As we reported earlier this week, embattled South Carolina pastor John-Paul Miller – Mica’s husband – sold the property which previously housed his Solid Rock Church on Valentine’s Day for $2.15 million. Located at 803 Howard Avenue, this property was purchased by Salem Wood Holdings. The company’s developer – Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based Gaither B. Thompson – told The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier his company purchased the property because it is prime real estate in an affluent community.
Thompson said his company had “no plans” to open a church.
If Myrtle Beach had a hall of fame for its most notorious residents, Thompson’s portrait might very well hang in the lobby alongside that of Miller’s.
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Following Anna Nicole Smith’s death in February of 2007, Thompson and his son-in-law, Ford Shelley, were named in a series of lawsuits filed by Smith’s attorney and longtime companion, attorney Howard K. Stern. At the time of Smith’s death, Thompson was engaged in a dispute with her over a house in the Bahamas called Horizon – property Thompson purportedly purchased to help Smith obtain residency in the Bahamas.
According to Thompson, Smith promised to sign a mortgage and repay the favor. However, no such agreement was completed. The dispute took an ugly turn following the overdose death of her son, Daniel Smith, on September 10, 2006. Daniel Smith died in his mother’s hospital room just three days after the birth of her daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead.
According to court filings, Anna Nicole Smith was served with an eviction notice from Thompson the day after her son’s funeral. He later attempted to have the power turned off at Horizons despite the fact Dannielynn was living there, the lawsuit alleged.
The infant was less than three months old at the time.
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RELATED | JOHN-PAUL MILLER SELLS SOLID ROCK PROPERTY
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As for Smith, she was found unresponsive in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida on February 7, 2007. Broward County medical examiners determined Smith succumbed to a “combined drug intoxication” which included significant levels of chloral hydrate, a sleeping medication.
No illegal drugs were found in her system – and no criminal charges have ever been filed in connection with her death (or her son’s death just six months earlier).
As for Thompson, he later claimed Smith called him after learning she was pregnant – asking him to sign the birth certificate as the child’s father. Despite their romantic involvement, Thompson declined – citing his vasectomy as proof he could not be the father.
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These claims – and many others – were documented in court filings submitted by Stern following Smith’s death. Among the filings was a 2007 libel suit (.pdf) against the author and publisher of Blonde Ambition, a biography of Smith. According to Stern, the book was riddled with falsehoods and sought to exploit Smith’s legacy.
Yet while Thompson’s entanglement with Anna Nicole Smith is arguably the most sensational episode of his life, it is far from the only controversy attached to his name. Court records, property filings and legal disputes across multiple states paint a broader picture of financial and legal troubles.
In 2012, Thompson was implicated in a mortgage fraud scheme involving the Pineapple Bay condominium project in Myrtle Beach. As a result, he was sentenced to seven months of home confinement. More recently, Thompson has been dissolving or filing notices of termination for several of his Myrtle Beach businesses. According to records from the South Carolina Secretary of State’s Office, the following business entities ceased operations as of November 2024:
- Thompson Brothers Land Company
- The Playpen, Inc.
- Triple B Holdings
- Stones Edge Associates
- Royals Landing
- Royals Estates
- Rainmaker Holdings, LLC
- Queens Harbour, Inc.
- Founders Group LLC
- Diamond Aviation Group
Given the way Mica Francis Miller’s story has unfolded thus far, this is unlikely to be the last chapter involving Gaither B. Thompson story. Count on FITSNews to continue tracking the many twists and turns that emerge in this increasingly complex and controversial narrative.
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BACKGROUND…
Exclusively reported by FITSNews, Mica’s tragic death has captured the attention of a global audience. To recap: The aspiring missionary and worship leader was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head at 4:23 p.m. EST on April 27, 2024 at North Carolina’s Lumber River State Park – a sprawling 14,000-acre wilderness located roughly an hour’s drive northwest of Myrtle Beach. Her body was found at this secluded location a short time after she called 911 asking the operator to pinpoint her phone – stating she was “going to kill herself” and wanted her family to be able to find her body.
Mica had traveled to this park from Myrtle Beach earlier that day, and her body was ultimately found in a swampy area approximately 40 meters from where police recovered spent shell casings and her belongings. She died less than 48 hours after serving divorce papers to John-Paul Miller.
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On April 28, 2024 – less than twelve hours after being notified of Mica’s death – John-Paul Miller delivered a sermon at Solid Rock. His message closed with a bizarre announcement of her passing, at which point Miller told congregants to leave the church quietly and not to discuss Mica’s death as they departed.
Mica’s death was officially ruled a suicide by North Carolina investigators and medical examiners, but the bizarre manner in which her husband revealed it – and subsequent allegations of harassment and abuse leveled against him in multiple court filings and previous 911 calls – have raised doubts.
In addition to the ‘Justice for Mica’ movement – which aims to amend South Carolina’s domestic violence laws – the saga has sparked an ongoing probe into related allegations against John-Paul Miller led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
BANNER VIA: GETTY IMAGES
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Callie Lyons is a journalist, researcher and author. Her 2007 book ‘Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal’ was the first to cover forever chemicals and their impact on communities – a story later told in the movie ‘Dark Waters.’ Her investigative work has been featured in media outlets, publications, and documentaries all over the world. Lyons also appears in ‘Citizen Sleuth’ – a 2023 documentary exploring the genre of true crime.
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1 comment
Truth is stranger than fiction. You can’t make this stuff up.