Sedalia man pleads guilty to murder-for-hire plot involving sex crime case: prosecutors

A Sedalia man has pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire plot he created to avoid jail time for a separate sex crime case, according to federal prosecutors.

Jon M. Wilson, 57, entered a guilty plea Tuesday in federal court on one count of using interstate facilities — using a cellphone and crossing state lines — in order to carry out the killing. Prosecutors say he paid $2,000 to an undercover federal agent and promised to pay $5,000 more once the job was done.

According to court records, Wilson wanted to have the victim in an alleged sex crimes case killed because he was facing prison time. Wilson is accused of two counts of having sex with a minor under age 14 in Pettis County, a case that remains pending.

Federal agents were contacted by a confidential informant with information that Wilson had asked for help arranging a murder in 2019, according to an affidavit. Wilson was introduced to an undercover agent by the informant.

In a recorded conversation with an undercover agent, Wilson discussed money troubles associated with his criminal defense. And he said he feared spending the rest of his life behind bars.

“You want him dead?” an agent asked Wilson.

“Yeah. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t have any other choice,” Wilson replied.

The agent asked for a down payment and a photograph of the victim to be brought to him in Kansas City, Kansas. On Jan. 22, 2019, Wilson met with the agent there in the parking lot of a Cabela’s store and later went inside to purchase shotgun shells to be used in the shooting, according to court records.

Wilson faces a sentence of up to 10 years without the possibility of parole under federal sentencing guidelines, according to prosecutors.