Reason why Netflix recreated Mica Miller’s voice in Pastor’s Wife doc to read out harrowing journal entries

Warning: This article contains discussion of domestic abuse and suicide which some readers may find distressing

The director of Netflix's Death of the Pastor's Wife has addressed the documentary's decision to use AI to recreate Mica Miller's voice.

New Netflix true crime documentary Death of the Pastor's Wife retraces the events which led up to the death of Mica Miller.

Miller was found dead on 27 April, 2024, at a state park in North Carolina and her death was officially ruled a suicide.

In December 2025, Mica's estranged husband John-Paul Miller was indicted by a grand jury for cyberstalking and making false statements to federal investigators - both charges he's continued to deny and pleaded not guilty to.

John-Paul has not been charged in connection with Mica's death and maintains he had no involvement, however, given the allegations of coercive control and abuse made by her family and friends within the Netflix documentary, the circumstances surrounding Mica's death have continued to face scrutiny.

In the documentary, the filmmakers used AI so that Mica's personal journal entries could be told in a version as similar to her actual tone of voice despite facing backlash for doing similar in a documentary about Gabby Petito.

Why directors used AI to 'recreate' Mica's voice in Death of the Pastor's Wife

The artificial intelligence and recreation was done with Mica's family permission.

And Gasparro told Vanity Fair: "Seeing her sing at such a young age, seeing her love for the church, her love for her friends and family.

"We tried to really bring all that to life so that you know who Mica is through Mica’s own voice."

It follows Gasparro and Nason having made a similar decision on American Murder: Gabby Petito.

AI recreation was also used for the documentary about Gabby Petito (Netflix)

When AI 'vocal recreation' has been used before

Indeed, in a similar way, Petito's journal entries and text messages were read out in the 'vocal recreation' created by AI in the documentary about the vlogger's death - Petito killed by her fiancé, Brian Christopher Laundrie.

At the time of the documentary's release, a Reddit user share to thread r/GabbyPetito: "Is it just me or is the AI voice recreation of Gabby in the documentary feel a bit uncomfy?"

"It sickened me tbh," another responded.

A third wrote: "It did bother me even though it’s what the parents wanted. Idk I felt a little traumatized by it because if I had heard my own loved ones voice as AI I’d feel uncanny valley about it."

Although, a fourth argued: "I thought it was a really special way to bring those journal entries to life, and they really seemed to put a lot of effort in to ensure the only things read in her voice were without a doubt actually coming from her."

Death of the Pastor's Wife is now streaming on Netflix.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.