DATELINE ‘Righteous Obsession’ Who killed Milton H. Sawyer Jr. ?

On August 2, 2018, in Elizabeth City, NC antique shop owner Milton H. Sawyer Jr. was found dead in his bathroom. Milton and his wife Angel ran The Treasure Hunter, which dealt in not only antiques, but gold, coins, and jewelry as well. The morning he was murdered Angel showed up at a neighbor’s house covered in blood. Did she have something to do with his brutal demise?

Tonight’s episode of Dateline “Righteous Obsession” investigates what happened to Milton Sawyer on the night of his death.

Milton had met Angel seven years prior at his kids’ school and the pair bonded over being divorced parents. They married in 2012, and Angel dove headfirst into helping Milton run his shop. She helped stage items to make them look more enticing.

The couple lived happily with their blended family until that horrific night. Angel claimed that their house had been broken into and the intruders killed her husband. Police found the doors unlocked and the house in disarray.

Investigators found something odd during their investigation: the key that the intruders used to get into the house was found on a table.

Angel said that Milton dealt with a lot of suspicious people in his line of work and that earlier in the evening of his death they had been visited by a man named Dylan who wanted to see him a TV.

Meanwhile, Milton’s siblings didn’t speak very highly of their brother’s wife. They said that Angel was a “narcissist” who was having an affair with Isaac Melcher, her physical therapist.

Investigators spoke with Isaac immediately after they learned of the alleged affair, which was just hours after Milton’s death. Isaac denied being romantically linked with Angel and told the detectives that his phone was unavailable to search through because he had spilled water on it. This was a major red flag.

Just a few days later Isaac’s friend called the police to tell them that Isaac had confessed to Milton Sawyer’s murder. They said that he had been having an affair with Angel, and that she convinced Isaac she could never leave Milton “unless he was dead.”

Together they planned Milton’s murder for a night when Angel’s teenage daughters wouldn’t be in the house. Isaac came up from behind Milton and choked him until he passed out.

He then slapped Angel to make it look like she was attacked, but didn’t leave a mark. Unsatisfied, she hit her head on the side of a table. Isaac fled and left his clothing in trashcans around the town. Isaac’s confession was later caught on tape.

Three weeks after Milton’s death, on August 21, 2018 Isaac and Angel were arrested and charged with Milton’s death.

Angel Sawyer was found guilty of both first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She’s serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Isaac testified against her and took a plea deal that gives him a lesser charge of second-degree murder. He’s sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Violeta Idyll can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrXfMhWGyRrW4Q0qAmwfTTQ and Twitter https://twitter.com/IdyllVioleta