Dateline Revisits the Milton Sawyer Murder in “Righteous Obsession”

On August 2, 2018, the peaceful calm of Elizabeth City, North Carolina—a sleepy waterfront community known for its manicured neighborhoods and small-town charm—was shattered by a brutal crime that seemed almost unthinkable.

That morning, just after midnight, residents were startled when Angel Sawyer, bloodied and frantic, rushed to a neighbor’s home screaming for help. She claimed a masked intruder had broken into her home, bound both her and her husband Milton, and attacked them in a robbery gone wrong.

Angel survived the ordeal. Milton, a beloved antique shop owner in town, did not.

The murder stunned the community and left investigators with a troubling question: had the quiet, tight-knit neighborhood fallen prey to random violence, or was there something darker at play behind closed doors?

NBC’s Dateline: Secrets Uncovered revisited the case in its episode Righteous Obsession, peeling back the layers of deceit, obsession, and betrayal that ultimately revealed a truth far more shocking than Angel’s original tale.

A Beloved Local Businessman

Milton Sawyer was a well-known and well-liked figure in Elizabeth City. He owned a small antique shop and had a reputation as a friendly, generous man who cared deeply for his family and neighbors.

His sudden death struck the community like a lightning bolt. “It was such a shock,” Milton’s brother Bill Jones said. “Nobody could believe something like this would happen here.”

At first, Angel’s story of a robbery gone wrong seemed plausible. Elizabeth City residents, rattled by the news, feared an intruder might still be at large. But as police began to investigate, the pieces of her story didn’t quite fit.

Cracks in Angel’s Story

Angel claimed that she and Milton had been tied up and attacked by a masked man, yet investigators quickly noticed inconsistencies. There was little evidence of forced entry, and her account of the attack shifted in minor but important ways with each retelling.

As detectives dug deeper, they uncovered troubling signs within the Sawyers’ marriage. Prosecutors later revealed that Milton had grown increasingly suspicious of Angel’s behavior. He had confided to friends that he believed she was being unfaithful.

Prosecutor Kimberly Pellini described the dynamic as a cycle of manipulation. Angel gaslighted Milton, telling him his suspicions were “all in his head” and that he was simply being “too jealous.” But behind the façade of a normal marriage, investigators uncovered what Dateline called a “dark tale of lust, obsession, and manipulation.”

A Web of Deceit

The truth, detectives discovered, was far more sinister than a home invasion. Angel was entangled in a secret relationship, and she and her lover had been plotting Milton’s murder.

In court, prosecutors laid out a chilling narrative: rather than face the fallout of divorce, Angel conspired to eliminate Milton entirely.

Dennis Murphy, the Dateline correspondent covering the case, described it bluntly: “There were shifting stories, lies piled upon lies, and an act of biblical betrayal that ended in murder.”

An Unlikely Ally

While police had their suspicions, it wasn’t until an unexpected figure entered the picture that the investigation truly broke open.

Louie Kazemier, a dairy farmer and volunteer youth pastor living thousands of miles away, suddenly found himself at the center of the case. He had struck up communication with one of the individuals involved in Milton’s death, and their exchanges ultimately led to a stunning revelation.

“The whole story was crazy to me,” Kazemier told Dateline. “It was surreal.”

Through his conversations, Kazemier managed to coax out a confession, directly asking the chilling question: “How did you kill him?”

That answer, authorities say, helped piece together the final missing details and secure the evidence needed to move forward with charges.

Justice for Milton

In the end, Angel Sawyer and her co-conspirator were brought to justice. Prosecutors painted Angel as a manipulative partner who lured Milton into a deadly trap. The courtroom drama revealed shocking details that echoed the twists and turns of a made-for-TV thriller.

“This sounds like a Lifetime movie,” Pellini said during the proceedings, emphasizing just how extraordinary and disturbing the betrayal was.

The jury agreed. Convictions followed, ensuring that those responsible for Milton’s death would face long prison sentences.

A Community Left Reeling

Elizabeth City, known for its quiet streets and friendly residents, was left to grapple with the shocking revelations. Neighbors who once believed their town to be a haven of safety now faced the sobering reality that evil can lurk even in the most idyllic settings.

Dennis Murphy captured the community’s dismay during the Dateline broadcast: “It shouldn’t have happened here. Not in this tidy, manicured subdivision that just seems to cry out: it’s a safe place.”

For Milton’s family, the trial brought some measure of justice but could never erase the pain of losing a man remembered for his kindness and warmth.

The Legacy of the Case

The murder of Milton Sawyer remains one of the most shocking crimes in Elizabeth City’s history. It has been featured not only on Dateline but also on Oxygen’s Snapped, underlining its impact as a cautionary tale of how lies, lust, and betrayal can culminate in tragedy.

For viewers of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, Righteous Obsession serves as both a retelling of the case and a deeper exploration of the human failings that led to Milton’s death.

And for Elizabeth City, the memory of Milton Sawyer lingers—a reminder of the fragility of trust, and the devastating consequences when that trust is broken in the most violent of ways.