Inside Milton Sawyer's brutal death & haunting clues exposing businessman's murder by wife Angel's lover Isaac Melcher

AN UNLIKELY witness has come forward with details about a deadly home invasion, turning the investigation upside down.

Angel Marie Sawyer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in September of 2021 after being convicted by a jury of first-degree murder for killing her husband.

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Neighbors said they were shocked such a beloved businessman, Milton Henry Sawyer Jr., and his wife could be tied up in such a dark tale.

The scandal happened in a quiet North Carolina waterfront community named Elizabeth City.

Milton was a family man who picked up the collectibles trade from his father, Oxygen reported.

And the area he was killed in has been described as "tidy and manicured," by Dennis Murphy, who is diving into the unexpected witness' details about the dark case on Friday's NBC Dateline.

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According to Murphy, the show the murder stemmed from shifting stories, lies and an act of "Biblical betrayal".

As a divorcée with three young children, Milton met who was then Angel Kesinger, who was 38 at the time, at his kids' school, in 2011.

She had four children of her own and was reportedly in the middle of separating from her husband but Angel and Milton got married in 2012.

"When she came on the scene she started to spend time organizing, staging the items so that the shop looked a little better," Milton's half-brother David Carpenter told Snapped.

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"Milton appreciated that."

The couple's blended family appeared to be thriving until Angel showed up at her neighbor’s front door, bloodied and hysterical in the early morning of August 2, 2018.

When she claimed someone broke into her home and killed Milton, the neighbor called the police and investigators found the crime scene to be a robbery-gone-wrong.

They reportedly saw obvious signs of a struggle and even ruled that the intruder must've gotten in through their back door using a key left on a table.

Angel even said the intruder knew they Milton had collectibles and traded in gold.

But North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Steven Norman told 'Snapped' that aspect of the crime was "unusual."

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen a key that was just openly available," he said.

Meanwhile, Angel told authorities the assailant pistol-whipped her and she became disoriented, so she didn’t know how long she was on the floor tied up, according to Oxygen.

When she finally got free, she said she was unable to revive Milton.  

Milton suspected Angel was having an affair with a physical therapist named Isaac Melcher, who she started seeing after a car accident, according to Elizabeth City’s Daily Advance newspaper.

The businessman reportedly confronted Isaac at his job but he denied the relationship with Angel. The physical therapist also denied any romance with Angel when questioned by investigators.

“Any time that you kind of miraculously don’t have your phone 12 hours after a murder is committed in which you are alleged to have an affair with the surviving person, that’s just a super red flag,” Norman said.

The Daily Advance said Milton’s siblings told investigators that Angel was a narcissist who demanded constant attention. 

And in Murphy's report, someone said Angel told him "it’s all in your head, you’re just very jealous".

When investigators received a phone call from Isaac's friend in Oregon, they learned that he told his friend that he and Angel planned Milton’s murder together.

After learning the Sawyers were alone without their kids on August 2, he put the plan into action.

Isaac claimed Angel was an active participant in the murder and left the key in the back for him.

After the friend agreed to record three conversations with Isaac to help gather evidence against him, deputies arrested Angel and Isaac on August 21, 2018.

Angel eventually admitted to the affair with Isaac but claimed the murder was his idea.

She said that he was obsessed with her and she didn’t notify the police sooner because she was scared. 

"Oh, the town will remember it forever," someone said in Murphy's report.

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Another added: "It was such... a shock."

"I remember instantly losing — like just crying," someone else recalled about the incident."