302. Murdered By An Angel - The death of Milton Sawyer
45m 13s
The 2018 murder of Milton Sawyer, a respected community figure in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, began as a reported burglary but was revealed to be a premeditated, intimate crime. The victim, a man known for his kindness and community involvement, was killed by Isaac Melcher, who confessed to strangling him during a home invasion. The attack was part of a longer plan orchestrated with Angel Sawyer, Milton’s wife, who had an affair with Isaac. They had discussed killing Milton to escape their troubled marriage, with Angel initially agreeing to the plan despite fear. Evidence—including prepared tools, a key left at the door, and confessions during phone calls to Isaac’s pastor—confirmed the conspiracy. Angel, who claimed Milton was abusive, was later convicted of first-degree murder, while Isaac pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The trial revealed that both had deeply flawed relationships, with emotional manipulation and denial fueling their decisions. The case shocked the community, not only due to the violence but because it exposed how personal betrayals—rooted in jealousy, insecurity, and unmet love—can escalate to fatal outcomes. It also highlighted the societal failure to recognize that emotional turmoil, not just criminal intent, drives such tragedies. Ultimately, the story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unresolved domestic conflicts and the false belief that violence is a solution to emotional pain.
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Every small town has that one very beloved local.
The older man who bags groceries down at the supermarket.
The school principal who all the kids admire and respect.
The neighbor who always greets you with a smile and never says no to lending a hand.
It's these friendly faces.
That make a community feel like a home.
That makes us feel comfortable, loved, welcomed.
That gives us hope in humanity.
So when something tragic and seemingly random happens to one of these people,
the pillars of our community,
it feels personal, even to those who only knew these people in passing.
Because it leads us to wonder,
if someone so admired, so well-known,
can be targeted by a random act of violence in their own home,
are any of us really safe?
Or is nothing in this world truly random?
So let's head back to the year 2018.
To a quiet North Carolina community along the river known as Elizabeth City.
It is here that a 55-year-old man named Milton Henry Sawyer Jr. calls home.
In fact, he has for his entire life,
which is probably why he is such a man,
and such a pillar of the community.
Milton came from a big family full of siblings,
half-siblings, step-siblings,
most of which he remained close with his entire life.
But that probably wasn't hard for Milton.
Everybody who knew this guy said they loved him.
He was the kind of person who always had a smile on his face,
who loved cracking jokes and keeping the mood light.
The guy who everyone would pat on the back and ask,
when are you going to run for mayor, Milton?
In many ways, Milton kind of seemed to be the mascot of this small city.
He was always a great student and was the drum major in his high school marching band.
And after graduating, he got a degree in math and computer science
and worked in data management at the University of North Carolina.
But Milton, just being a simple man, always had one dream.
And it was one that he eventually chose to pursue.
That was in the world of collectibles.
Milton loved collectibles.
He loved antiques and sports memorabilia so much
that he actually ended up opening his own little antique store
in his hometown of Elizabeth City.
It was just three miles from his home, and he called it Treasure Hunter.
Now, by this point, Milton was married to his high school sweetheart.
They had two children.
And while things at the antique shop seemed to be going well,
his marriage at this point wasn't.
Now, reportedly, Milton had a bit of a wandering eye,
and the romance,
had come to a bit of standstill with his first wife.
A wandering eye, okay.
Yeah, that's what they'd be calling it.
That's what they used to call it, right?
Wandering eye.
Like a polite way to put it.
Right?
Yeah.
You know, he just had a wandering eye.
What can you say?
Yeah, it's better than being like, you know,
I just like to sleep with other people.
Yeah, that's what I mean.
Yeah.
So Milton began looking outside the marriage,
and he eventually found it with another woman,
who he then had a third child with.
Another daughter.
So after the affair, Milton and his wife chose to part ways,
but they stayed on good terms for the sake of their children.
And for a few years, Milton dated around,
but in 2011, he met someone 10 years younger
that would kind of change his life entirely.
Her name was Angel Marie Wilson.
Again, this is 2011.
Angel was the daughter of a pastor
who was raising four children after her own failed marriage.
So she and Milton actually confided a lot in each other.
They shared a lot of the same challenges.
Plus, they were falling in love fast.
A year later, in 2012, they tied the knot,
and Angel became a part of Milton's business,
helping him run the antique store.
Now, Milton was head over heels for Angel,
as the two acted like teenagers in love.
He showered her with gifts.
He did everything he could to protect and nurture Angel.
And meanwhile, Angel seemed to be doing well.
She was doing whatever she could to keep the business thriving.
She was organizing, staging inventory
to make the space more inviting.
She worked the cash register, that sort of stuff.
But as the years passed, this couple fell into a routine,
and with seven kids between the two of them to manage,
their relationship lost its spark,
as did the treasure hunter.
By 2018, the business was starting to flounder.
Not many people knew what was going on,
and people were shopping at the store.
And regardless of how well-liked Milton was in the city,
it was becoming difficult to turn a profit.
But still, Milton seemed like a loving husband,
committed to overcoming the challenges that life gave them.
So on July 23, 2018, he posted on Facebook, saying,
Every man deserves a real woman
that makes you forget every other woman on the planet.
Okay.
I found mine,
and she is all that and more.
I love you, my angel.
And then, around July 30, 2018,
Milton and Angel went to visit Milton's son, Caleb.
Caleb was now 20 years old
and an engineering student living in Raleigh, North Carolina,
studying for his degree.
And Milton and Angel made the two-and-a-half-hour trip
to help Caleb move into his new house.
And Caleb said the trip with his dad and stepmom was perfect.
Everything seemed great between Milton and Angel,
they were giggly, happy.
Honestly, Caleb, the son,
thought it was kind of similar to when they first got together.
So Caleb thought, okay,
they had a rough patch, but they're turning a corner.
The sparks seemed to be coming back between the two of them.
It's interesting because this is not a knock on Milton,
but just in general, like, no one's perfect.
And I don't know how to say this without maybe it coming off rude,
but there are skeletons in everybody's head.
And those skeletons don't have to be extremely bad.
It doesn't have to mean that person's killing someone
or doing something illegal, but, like, we're all human.
Everyone's been the villain at some point.
Yeah, like, there's just, it's. I know.
I do find his post kind of funny,
considering, like, his history in life.
Well, I mean, it's a good example, right?
Like, he had a wandering eye.
Like, people paint him as, or currently,
we're like, oh, he's perfect and he's so nice.
And it's like, okay, well, he cheated on his wife.
Well, and also, like, his post being, like,
every guy deserves a woman who makes him forget
that other women exist.
Yeah, it's kind of funny, huh?
I'm like, no, bro, that, no woman is going to do that for you.
You got to do that yourself.
Yeah.
Like, that doesn't exist.
That's a fairy tale.
That's a fantasy.
I don't know.
So they are here with Caleb visiting him.
Everything seems to be going good.
But just three days later,
everything would come to a screeching halt.
It was around January.
On 2 a.m. on August 2nd, 2018, when Milton and Angel's neighbor, a man named Carl, heard a frantic banging on his door.
And when he answered, he saw Angel, Milton's wife, hysterical, screaming, and covered in blood at 2 a.m. on his doorstep.
Okay.
Now, she said a man, dressed in all black and wearing a mask, had broken into their home a little after midnight.
He had stolen some things before attacking both her and Milton.
She claimed the robber had tied her and Milton up, binding them with duct tape.
The intruder then hit her in the face with a pistol, demanded they tell him where their money was.
And after they did, she tells her neighbor, the guy did something terrible to Milton.
But she doesn't give any details about what it is.
Just basically saying, like, Milton's in trouble.
Now, hearing Angel's story, the neighbor dialed 911 right away, and police rushed over to the residence.
And one of the earliest deputies at the scene was Sergeant Jason Wilbarger.
And he was terrified of what he might find in the home.
Because, like I said, he knew Milton.
When police were responding, they knew this was the. guy who had grown up here in this smaller town.
Everyone knew him.
Yeah.
And he always thought Milton was a lovely guy.
In fact, he actually saw Milton and Angel earlier at a local Italian restaurant.
This was just a few hours before getting the call and responding.
So, the police make their way over to the Sawyers' house.
There doesn't appear to be any forced entry, but this is a relatively safe town.
Maybe they actually had their doors unlocked on this Sunday.
So, police enter through the back doors, guns drawn, because they aren't sure what's going on.
And everything inside is completely quiet and still when they walk in.
But the place is a mess.
It looks totally ransacked.
Drawers and cabinets opened with their contents everywhere.
And there's jewelry and other valuables spread out on the floor.
Police said you could barely walk on the carpet without stepping on something.
And when they detect. Detective gets to the bathroom.
That's where he eventually finds Milton.
He is face down on the floor, lying motionless.
His hands are duct taped behind his back and. Jeez, man.
He no longer has a pulse.
Okay.
So, 55-year-old Milton Sawyer. Is dead.
Is dead in his own home.
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And while just like his wife had said,
it appears to be a very obvious robbery gone wrong.
Milton's cause of death wasn't totally
identifiable just from looking at the crime scene alone,
but it did seem to be clear what the intruder was after.
Angel claims she had a lot of her expensive
jewelry stolen between 50 and $100,000 worth of jewelry.
And as far as evidence was concerned, there honestly wasn't a whole lot.
Dude, $100,000 in jewelry?
Jewelry?
I know a lot.
I think I have to remember these are people who run an antique store.
They're collectibles.
So the one thing that was strange was a key that was left out on a table.
Investigators later learned the back door actually had been locked after all.
And this key had been used to open it and then left inside by the assailant.
So whoever did this literally had a key to the home.
Had they stolen it?
Is this someone that the
Sawyers knew?
And was there more to this story than just a robbery gone wrong?
Well, the police's best witness right now is Angel Sawyer.
She had gotten a look at the intruder, so police went to speak to her at the
hospital where she was being treated for a head wound.
And by the time they spoke, Angel was also in a neck brace and awaiting a CAT scan.
So her injuries didn't seem superficial, but she wasn't as helpful as the police had hoped.
She only described the robber as a white male since he was wearing a mask.
She said the night started out with her
and Milton having some quiet time alone while their two youngest daughters were
actually away at sleepovers. They were lying in bed binge watching
Game of Thrones when she got up to get a snack.
Games of Thrones is so good.
She claims, though, when she opened the door to her bedroom,
there was a masked intruder standing there and he came storming in asking her to hand
over her jewelry. She said the man then grabbed Milton and
tied him up first before moving on to her.
He left Milton in the bathroom and then
brought Angel into the bedroom where he forced her to hand over some of her belongings.
Now, at one point she said she tried to grab Milton's cell phone, which was on the floor.
But the assailant came and saw her.
He hit her head so hard she nearly lost consciousness.
And during all of that, she could hear a commotion in the bathroom.
And that's when she realized Milton had
probably been hurt in there.
She said this is when she saw an opportunity to run to a neighbor's house to escape.
She claimed first she tried a sheriff who lived a couple of houses down from them,
but he didn't answer and then some friends who also weren't home before
finally making it to the neighbor that answered.
And what she supposedly didn't know at
this point while being questioned was that Milton wasn't just injured in the bathroom.
He had died.
And while police are talking to her, she apparently
has no idea.
So investigators break the news to her in the hospital.
She becomes a total wreck.
And when Angel finally calms down and gathers her thoughts,
she gives the detectives some theories on who she thinks the intruder was, which isn't abnormal.
They're going to ask, is there anyone who wants to hurt you?
Who do you think could have done this?
So she said she believed the attacker knew
that they owned the treasure hunter and was targeting them deliberately.
It wasn't a random attack.
Apparently, Milton had recently advertised that they were having a yard
cell at their house and had made their address public on Facebook,
which she actually got mad at Milton at the time for doing.
And then when the police asked her, OK, well, what happened earlier in the evening
before the robbery, like we want a whole timeline of your day leading up to this.
She tells them about the dinner they had
and that's where the sergeant had saw them and could confirm this.
But after that, Angel said Milton went to meet up with
someone. It was a guy named Dylan who was actually trying to sell him a TV.
Milton told Angel would be quick, just a public stop.
They would meet him in a fast food parking lot.
Supposedly, Dylan was actually a regular
around the store, but Angel told police she found him to be a bit shady.
Actually, there were quite a few people
that Milton dealt with that she thought were pretty shady.
Most of them treated their store like a pawn shop to try and sell stolen goods.
OK, so understandably, Angel didn't love the fact that Milton
was working these deals outside of the store.
She thought it could be dangerous and
that it was very possible from there they were followed home in fact angel said she and milton
got into a pretty heated argument about it on their way home but they made up shortly after
however there was one other thing detectives needed her to explain hey so at your house we
actually found a key that was used to get into your home okay yeah and and they're like how does
an intruder have a key for your back door and angel is like oh no this is very simple her kids
were always forgetting their keys so they often hid one out by the back door for them to use
she's like it would be a simple look and you could find the key so at this point police feel
it's pretty likely that milton was targeted by someone because of his business after all the
store didn't just sell antiques they bought and sold a lot of golden jewelry as well and one of
the first people they actually wanted to speak with was the man that angel said milton had met
up with earlier that night his name dylan hostetier now dylan wasn't just another client he had
committed a couple of robberies before he was caught so police knew his rap sheet so when his
name got brought up they were like okay yeah we need to talk to him they figured it wasn't hard
to imagine dylan following the couple home that night and waiting for the right time to strike
but this wasn't a guy who was
going to come in willingly and talk to the police so i'm not sure how but they ended up arresting
him for possession of drugs and that's when they get him to come down to the station to talk about
milton she's got to be involved i know that sounds crazy to say right now but i mean come on we're
300 episodes in on murder with my husband she's got to be involved yeah i mean i think you always
look at the partner have to so at first dylan tells police what angel said that he met up with
him at 8 30 p.m in a fast food parking lot to sell him a tv and that his girlfriend was actually there
with him dylan said after he and his girlfriend parted ways and spent the night separately
but eventually after some more questioning dylan changes his story and says okay actually we didn't
go home we went and bought drugs together from a dealer and then he and his girlfriend went back
to his house but what's strange is when police bring him in for questioning dylan has a black eye
now this is not a good look when you're being questioned in a murder investigation but dylan
insisted he was innocent that he and milton were just friends that he loved milton just as much as
the next guy he had no reason to go after him the problem was his alibi was i was at home doing drugs
this is not exactly an alibi okay however when police go to speak with dylan's family who he
still lives with they all vouch for him they're like yeah we saw him come home that night yeah we
saw him at home doing drugs yeah
yeah we saw him at home doing drugs yeah
so police take a sample of dylan's dna just in case and in the meantime they move on to other
suspects but dna actually is a pretty big problem in this case in general because they find no dna at
the crime scene killer did a pretty good job of covering their tracks there was no shell casings
no blood footprints or fingerprints and again this is 2018 not so much as even a hair seemed
to be left behind even milton's cause of death was kind of still a bit of a problem
of a mystery at least until the autopsy was over so what they discover is that milton died from
manual strangulation this is an interesting method for a robbery gone wrong yeah that doesn't really
make sense right not just because it's time intensive but as we know strangulation is
typically deliberate personal yeah a little rageful so now the police are starting to wonder
okay is this not a robbery gone wrong and was there a more personal connection to
whoever did this was there more to the story than angel was letting on now after angel recovers she
takes police to the treasure hunter to see if anything might be missing there as well she's
like maybe they robbed the store and the house but nothing seems to be out of place so a day
or so later police go to visit angel again at the home where she's staying with a few friends
and when she comes out to greet them they notice that she seems like a shell of herself
she's holding a teddy bear she's holding a photo of milton she's crying uncontrollably
it almost seems like everything had kind of hit her but when they go to ask her for more
details about the night in question she starts giving some strange answers when asked about the
fight they had over buying the tv angel was like nope we made up straight away we even had sex that
night and then she proceeds to tell the police that they actually had sex every single morning
and every single night every single day oh man they're just nice but sometimes joked with milton
that he must be getting tired of her and she says no she's not she's not she's not she's not
of her but they were still madly in love however she said it hasn't always been this way there was
a time after they got engaged that she found out milton had been seeing another woman i mean
surprise surprise and while she was able to move past it she claimed milton didn't really return
the favor she said he was incredibly jealous whenever a man looked her way now all of this
does make sense to police because they'd heard from milton's family who said you know this
marriage wasn't perfect cracks had formed but milton had told his
brother that it was because no matter what he did angel never seemed to be happy with him
she always wanted more more attention more gifts more money just more he was never enough and
according to other witnesses angel found more just like milton had turns out milton was not
the only one with a wandering eye in this marriage which is like i said you just i have said it
before you never ever know what's going on behind closed doors with anyone married not married single
just people not married single just people not married single just people not married single
in general you never honestly i know it might sound negative but you never truly know somebody
you just don't angel was also guilty of it in fact dylan guy that they met up that she was like
this guy's so shady the guy that police kind of feel like they ruled out apparently he and angel
had had a little fling after she met him down at the treasure hunter sounds like it was brief
but that might be because angel set her sights on someone else
you
the year prior back in 2017 44 year old angel was in a car accident that required her to start
some physical therapy she met a 37 year old therapist named isaac melcher and as the two
worked together angel said her pain wasn't getting any better so isaac recommended a
treatment called dry needling it's kind of like acupuncture so it's a closed door kind of thing
and it was behind those closed doors that this relationship uh blossomed
she was in a car accident and she was in a car accident and she was in a car accident and she
began telling him intimate details of her life she started sending him naked pictures
and soon this conversation turned into we're having a full-blown affair by the way isaac also
had a wife and three kids of his own at the time but it wasn't long until angel and isaac began
having sex meeting up about three times a week and most of them were during these treatments
now then came january of 2018 this is eight months before milton's death that is when angel went to
isaac to say she no longer would be going to therapy because milton believed she was having
an affair with him which she was like milton wasn't wrong he was right yeah this didn't put
a stop to things they kept finding new and creative ways to see each other outside of like
going to therapy and by may they were really testing the boundaries when angel told isaac
that she and her family were going to a particular beach that afternoon she's like you just bring
your family there too and that day she was like i'm not going to therapy i'm not going to therapy
together with their families they literally walked past one another and milton notices
obviously like he knows who isaac is yeah milton doesn't say anything that day but the following
tuesday milton's daughter called isaac's office and said hey you better watch out my father's
going to come into your office and confront you like he knows what's going on he's angry
and that's when isaac called the police and an officer went down to milton's store to
say yeah don't go to his office and confront him maybe don't do that now what's weird is after this
angel just sort of ghosts isaac like almost like all his drama had been too much and she was like
okay she's over it okay yeah throughout june two months before the murder he tries to get in touch
with her through facebook she doesn't respond and then he calls her using the office phone line he's
like hey i still love you and finally by the end of that month angel was coming back around
and that's when isaac told her he was willing to leave his wife and kids for her and would take her
away from milton oh no this this never works so honestly pretty quickly police learn about this
affair they kind of already knew they realize there's some motive going on yes isaac we need
to look into him but when they do they find out this guy is totally clean he's a wife and kids
a good job he's involved with the church he has no criminal record plus angel says she's pretty
positive that isaac was not the man who came into her home and attacked her and she's like
killed her husband still they try to track isaac down and when they speak to him he claims there
was no affair he tells police i don't know what you're talking about there was no contact between
me and angel it was all professional no because he was trying to hide it from his wife he also says
he was home the night of the murder with his wife and kids he only left for a short window to go to
walmart because he spilled water on his phone and needed a new one which is why police aren't even
able to take a peek at his old
his cell phone because he had thrown it out.
- All right.
Well, red flags all over the place.
Anytime someone has an issue with their phone, this is going to look suspicious in a murder
case, but it gets worse.
Shortly after this brief conversation with police, Isaac actually leaves North Carolina.
He goes to Oregon, where he's originally from, to visit his mother.
And it's there, on the opposite side of the country, that the truth finally does start
to emerge.
What's crazy, if he would have just been like, yeah, we had an affair, yada, yada, yada,
but I didn't do anything, the police probably would have dropped it.
Would have been less suspicious, yeah.
And they probably wouldn't have looked into him anymore.
Right.
It's the denial when literally Isaac-
And then moving out of the state.
Had called police and said, hey, Milton's going to come down to my store.
Yeah, that's crazy.
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So while Isaac is in Oregon, he calls his former youth pastor turned dairy farmer,
a man named Louie Kazumir.
And he says, hey, I'm in town.
Can we meet up for a bit?
The two are very close.
The pastor said he saw Isaac as his own son.
Didn't seem odd.
That was until he actually lays eyes on Isaac and he says he looks broken.
According to the pastor, Isaac is slumped over.
His eyes are shifting.
So Louie invites him.
He invites him into his backyard because Isaac says he has something that he needs to discuss
with him in private.
And that's when he tells Louie, hey, I had an affair.
I'm in love.
And I may have strangled her husband to death.
Oh, my gosh.
But Isaac also tells the pastor something, too.
He said Angel had told him that Milton was abusive and was going to kill either of them
if he found out about the affair.
I don't know if I don't believe this right now.
So Isaac basically confesses to murder,
but then tells Louie, hey, I had an affair.
And then tells his pastor, I'm basically like the knight in shining armor.
Oh, my gosh, dude.
Get out of here.
I saved Angel from her monstrous husband.
Now, I want to say this abuse was never confirmed to be true.
So after Isaac leaves that day, Louie is like, OK, yeah, I know that this is like my son
and I'm a pat like was his youth pastor.
You just killed somebody.
I got to call police like I'm not just going to keep this a secret.
So he gets in touch with the sheriff's department dealing with the case back in North Carolina.
And he's like, hey, Isaac just came to my house and confessed to murdering his mistress's husband.
And right away, officers hop on a plane to Oregon.
They meet up with Louie and that's when they ask him for his help one more time.
They are going to try to catch Isaac, but they need him to get that confession on tape.
They're like, hey, if he's already confessed to you once, invite him over.
We'll record it and get him talking about it again.
So over the next few days, Louie agrees to record three different phone calls with Isaac.
And Isaac tells him a similar story.
He confesses to Milton's murder.
He says that he believed he was helping Angel, that he was in love with her.
And he adds, quote,
I reached the place where I asked the devil to help me.
Because I knew that I had to go fully to my back on God to do this.
I reached the place where I asked the devil to help me.
What is up?
What do you mean?
Because I knew I had to fully turn my back on God to be able to do this.
Oh, and by the way, Isaac's wife.
I think Darlene is actually on the line during one of these phone calls,
apparently hearing all of this for the first time.
Oh, for the first time.
I thought you meant that she had been like, OK with it.
No.
OK.
But Isaac makes a few more explosive statements during these recordings.
He didn't want to turn himself in because there was evidence of premeditation
that if he got away with it, he still wanted to be with Angel.
His wife hears this part, too.
And he says, Angel, help me.
Let me plan this whole thing.
Holy crap.
She was in on it.
I didn't do this alone.
He claimed that there was no other way out, according to Angel.
Milton would never let her go.
Divorce was not an option.
And the only way forward was killing him.
Now, with these taped confessions as evidence, police arrested Isaac Melcher on August 21st.
This is 19 days after Milton's murder.
He was charged with first degree murder.
And they arrest Angel Sawyer with the exact same charges.
Super curious where this goes, because.
How do you prove this?
Yeah, how do you prove it?
Right.
Proving this is so hard.
Now, as they're both awaiting trial, obviously more details start to come to light.
We see this often in cases.
Like exactly how the murder plan was set in motion in the weeks before Milton died.
Turns out about a month before the murder, back in July,
Isaac began talking to Angel about killing her husband.
By this point, Isaac had already committed to leaving his wife, was preparing for separation.
And while he kept asking,
Angel to do the same, she told him she couldn't.
She was too afraid of what Milton might do.
So when Isaac spoke about a way to get rid of him for good, he says she willingly went along with it.
They talked about mixing Milton's medication with alcohol, trying to fake an overdose.
And at one point, Angel apparently even tried to do this, but it only made Milton sleep till noon the following day.
Do, do, is any of this over text?
Is it all phone calls?
Do they have proof of it, like texting each other or no?
I don't think they have messages because I think they would have come up in reporting.
Yeah.
But I think this is all just based on interrogations, them talking to police.
Now, after the yard sale where Angel got annoyed with Milton for publicly listing their address on Facebook,
she's like, wait, this is perfect.
She told Isaac he could pretend to be a burglar and rob them because he got their address off Facebook.
And then he could kill Milton in the process.
The thing was, they never actually set a date for the plan.
But on August 1st, Isaac was ready to go.
He had already had a bag prepared with duct tape, rags, bottles of alcohol, a pistol.
And then he used a key that Angel had set out by the back door in anticipation.
OK, there's the key.
They didn't set a date, but she was like, while talking about the plans, like, oh, yeah, I put a key out there for when this happens.
That's so diabolical.
So the day comes, he breaks in, he goes into the bedroom, forced Milton into the bathroom, put him in a chokehold until he stopped breathing.
Then he and Angel grabbed cash from Milton's nightstand, emptied her jewelry stand to make it look realistic.
And after that, Angel smacked her own head on the table to make it look like she'd been beaten up.
I just, OK, I think about this often when we cover cases where someone is staging and, like, has to hurt them.
Like, at some point, like, think.
She's standing there before she's about to swing her head.
Is there a part of her that's like, what am I doing?
No, I think there's so much adrenaline and just other emotions going on.
I bet you it doesn't even cross their mind.
Like, you're so far in deep that you're willingly going to smash your head into a table.
For sure, yeah.
You're playing the part at that point.
I think so.
I mean, it's wild.
I couldn't do it.
If I was there, I mean, I would never get to this point.
But if I was at that point before swinging my head into the table, I would probably laugh because I'd be like, how insane is this?
- This is actually crazy.
insane i'm just like oh my gosh you had every opportunity to just stop okay so she what idiot
smashes her head into the table apparently before that she actually had isaac hit her too
though she said it wasn't hard enough then she ran to the neighbor's house claimed an intruder
had robbed them hurt her husband you know where the story goes from there now when angel is
confronted with this entire thing she tells police yeah i did know about the plan she's like i did
know like isaac had told me he wanted to kill my husband but he also threatened to kill me if i
ever spoke about it and she's like so it's not really all it's claiming to be like isaac was
just really greedy he wanted me to himself i just don't believe it i don't believe it and so she's
not taking isaac's side on this she's kind of throwing him under the bus now ultimately isaac
agreed to a deal he was willing to testify against angel in court in exchange for a lesser sentence
he pleaded guilty to the lighter charge of second degree murder and was given 20 years
in prison
but angel would have her date in court also in september of 2021 now i'm i mean i'm glad he went
to jail obviously i'm really curious what happened to angel though here's the thing about these cases
that always shock me when it is like a love triangle case every time they go to trial
this love this relationship that they killed for falls apart they testify against each i'm like
was that really worth it i mean like it was it was enough to kill someone but
now at trial it makes sense like when push comes to shove can they actually handle it
no i'm like it really it obviously wasn't a love worth fighting for yeah yeah exactly so after
hearing isaac's testimony his relationship with angel how she'd given him her perfume lotion
jewelry the night of the murder and left a key the jury didn't need very long to decide her role
in it it took them just 20 minutes to come back with a verdict for trial thank goodness angel
was also guilty of first degree murder sentence to life behind bars and what became clear was
angel didn't just take milton's life she broke his heart for a time she stole his reputation i mean
no one ever confirmed the details angel shared with isaac about domestic abuse no one ever came
forward to say the threats he made against angel were valid that she you know he would kill them
dude they all have kids yeah like that is so messed up angel has
kids her kids don't have a mom now because her mom's evil um isaac has kids their kids together
their kids don't have a dad yeah they don't have a dad now because the dad's evil and isaac has a
wife milton had kids isaac has a wife who now has to raise her kids alone because her husband
killed his mistress's husband milton's kids grow up without a dad because someone decided to kill
him and here's the thing insane garrett said this earlier everyone has skeletons in their closet
yeah everyone has made mistakes milton made
mistakes everyone has made mistakes everyone has made mistakes everyone has made mistakes
and you know what this case did not only did they kill milton they put all of his mistakes on
display for people which sucks because we're all human right so people now don't remember
milton as this man who always said hello to you who asked how your family was how your kids were
doing who remembered little details of conversations the man who was always smiling who was in love
with his wife who would have done anything to make her happy they now have this tainted view of
him of this case that has spilled over but as we know none of this milton was enough for angel
sawyer she wanted it all so badly she ended up losing it all including a man that everyone
really did love and that is the murder story of milton sawyer once again like we always say
there's just so many people involved with cases like this like combined there's like
10 kids alone that are involved love triangle cases always just
i'm like dude if you had just taken like gone to therapy like this motive that seems so intense
in the moment leave your significant other instead of killing somebody literally would go away we
don't need to kill people you if you care about your affair that much just move on just leave
leave like if you want to be together just and i know that's easier said than done but like go for
it it's easier than killing someone in my opinion but i think they get to a point where it's like
they're delusional killing someone is
easier yeah and that's why i'm saying like these love affair things i'm like it is always so
pointless wow all right you guys that is our episode for today and we will see you next time
with another one i love it i hate it goodbye
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Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Milton Sawyer, a beloved community figure, was murdered in his home in 2018 by Isaac Melcher, who confessed to the crime after an affair with Angel Sawyer.
The murder was not a random robbery but a premeditated act, planned over months with Angel’s knowledge and participation, involving a staged robbery and false claims of assault.
Angel, Milton’s wife, was convicted of first-degree murder alongside Isaac, despite claims of abuse and coercion, as the evidence showed a deliberate, consensual plan to eliminate Milton.
The case revealed deep emotional and moral failures in a love triangle, with both Angel and Isaac abandoning their families and making choices driven by jealousy and desperation.
The crime exposed how personal relationships, especially in domestic affairs, can spiral into violence when trust, boundaries, and emotional needs go unmet.
Despite initial appearances of a robbery, forensic and testimonial evidence—including confessions, planned actions, and staged injuries—pointed to a calculated, intimate crime.
The case had a lasting impact on the community, tarnishing Milton’s legacy and highlighting how personal betrayals can destroy lives and reputations.
The story underscores the dangers of emotional manipulation, denial, and the belief that one can “escape” a troubled relationship through violence rather than communication or therapy.
Summary:
The 2018 murder of Milton Sawyer, a respected community figure in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, began as a reported burglary but was revealed to be a premeditated, intimate crime. The victim, a man known for his kindness and community involvement, was killed by Isaac Melcher, who confessed to strangling him during a home invasion. The attack was part of a longer plan orchestrated with Angel Sawyer, Milton’s wife, who had an affair with Isaac.
They had discussed killing Milton to escape their troubled marriage, with Angel initially agreeing to the plan despite fear. Evidence—including prepared tools, a key left at the door, and confessions during phone calls to Isaac’s pastor—confirmed the conspiracy. Angel, who claimed Milton was abusive, was later convicted of first-degree murder, while Isaac pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
The trial revealed that both had deeply flawed relationships, with emotional manipulation and denial fueling their decisions. The case shocked the community, not only due to the violence but because it exposed how personal betrayals—rooted in jealousy, insecurity, and unmet love—can escalate to fatal outcomes. It also highlighted the societal failure to recognize that emotional turmoil, not just criminal intent, drives such tragedies.
Ultimately, the story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unresolved domestic conflicts and the false belief that violence is a solution to emotional pain.
FAQs
The transcript highlights using camera doorbells, baby gates, kitchen cabinet locks, and outlet covers as home safety measures. It also emphasizes the importance of real-time security systems like SimpliSafe, which can detect and stop intruders before they enter a home.
Unlike traditional security cameras that only record after a break-in, SimpliSafe uses AI-powered cameras to detect threats in real time and alerts a live U.S.-based agent who can intervene to stop an intruder before they enter the home.
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Milton Sawyer, a 55-year-old man, was murdered in his home on August 2, 2018. He was found dead in the bathroom, strangled, after a masked intruder broke in, tied him up, and attacked him.
Isaac Melcher, a man with a history of criminal activity, confessed to murdering Milton Sawyer. His motive was to eliminate Milton after a long-term affair with Angel Sawyer, who had been threatened by Milton about the relationship.
Angel Sawyer was found guilty of first-degree murder alongside Isaac Melcher. She admitted to being aware of the plan to kill Milton and participated in staging the crime, including making false claims of being attacked.
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