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In a crime scene that looked like a burglary gone wrong, Milton Sawyer was found lying facedown on the bathroom floor inside his bedroom. His wife, Angel Sawyer, who was present with him at the time of the incident, was also brutally attacked. However, she managed to alert neighbors who then called the cops.
An investigation revealed a murder plot to get the antique store owner out of the way, given that he got dragged into a love triangle. Sawyer's wife was having an affair with her physical therapist, Isaac Melcher. Both were convicted in connection to the case and are currently serving their respective prison-terms.
NBC's Dateline is slated to revisit the tragic murder of Milton Sawyer on Friday, October 21, 2022, at 9 pm ET.
Five significant points about antique store owner Milton Sawyer's murder case
1) Milton Sawyer was choked to death inside his Elizabeth City home
Isaac Melcher confessed to choking Milton Sawyer to death inside the bedroom bathroom of his Elizabeth City home on August 2, 2018. Isaac admitted to tying Sawyer up, dragging him from the bedroom to the bathroom, and attacking him with a "rear naked choke."
It was revealed that after Isaac tied up Milton, he choked him until the latter had passed away. Dr. Karen Kelly, the state medical examiner, reported that Milton suffocated to death as a result of serious neck injuries.
2) The attack on Sawyer was staged to look like a burglary-gone-wrong
Milton Sawyer's wife Angel and his attacker Melcher were having an affair and plotted to kill Sawyer to get him out of their way. They planned to stage the murder in a way that it looked like a robbery gone wrong.
When police arrived at the crime scene, they found the room ransacked, with clothes all over the floor and some valuables missing. Additionally, Anger was also attacked brutally and was covered in blood when she knocked on her neighbor's door, seeking help.
Prosecutor Kimberly Pellini said:
"He [Isaac Melcher] slapped her [Angel Sawyer], per her request. He didn’t hit her hard enough so he says she came and took her head and hit her head on the side table."
3) Authorities were tipped about Isaac Melcher's involvement by one of his friends
A friend of Isaac Melcher's from Oregon had taped their conversations that had Melcher confessing to the crime. The friend then tipped police about Isaac's involvement in the killing. The person also consented to having three of their conversations with Isaac recorded.
Melcher was overheard on camera talking about the death of Angel's husband and his relationship with Angel. This helped law enforcement gather evidence against the two conspirators and led to their ultimate arrest three weeks after the murder of Milton Sawyer.
4) Angel Sawyer tried to mislead authorities in her husband's murder case
Milton Sawer, the owner of a antique shop named Treasure Hunter in Elizabeth City, died of asphyxiation inside his home.
His wife Angel, who was present at the time of the crime, said that the Treasure Hunter frequently attracted sketchy people, wishing to sell stolen things. She alleged that a man had tried to sell them a seemingly stolen TV the same evening.
Angel said that the man knew that the couple had an antiques store that was also involved in trading gold. She pointed them towards a man who was known to the authorities. However, the man's alibi checked out as he was already detained on drug-related charges.
5) Milton Sawyer's wife Angel and her boyfriend Isaac convicted for the murder
While Isaac Melcher and Angel Sawyer initially denied their affair, Melcher, eventually broke down and confessed to it. He also confessed to conspiring to kill Milton and going through with it.
He detailed all the events that occurred on the day of the murder and entered a guilty plea in exchange for a lesser charge of second-degree murder. As part of the deal, he was asked to testify against Angel Sawyer in court, saying that she indirectly provoked him to murder her husband.
Angel was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Meanwhile, Melcher pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Milton Sawyer's case airs on NBC Dateline this Friday, October 21, 2022.
