Missouri Man Sentenced for Soliciting Hit Man to Murder Alleged Molestation Victim

A Missouri man who sought to arrange a murder for hire against his alleged victim in a pending statutory molestation case was sentenced to ten years in prison without parole by a federal judge, the Justice Department announced in a press release.

U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes’s sentence for 58-year-old Jon Mark Wilson of Sedalia came down on April 5 after Wilson previously “pleaded guilty to one count of the use of interstate facilities (the use of a cell phone and crossing state lines) in the commission of murder for hire” in September, according to the release.

Wilson has a pending case in Pettis County, Missouri, where he faces two counts of felony statutory sodomy in the first degree.

In January 2019, Wilson solicited an unnamed individual for the murder for hire of his alleged victim in the sodomy case in order to avoid prosecution, federal authorities said. Citing a criminal complaint, Law and Crime reported the target was his ex-wife’s son.

The individual notified law enforcement of Wilson’s solicitation during a meeting with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the outlet said.

“At the end of that meeting, the ATF agent gave the source a recording device,” according to Law and Crime. “The source agreed to record Wilson and then introduce him to an undercover agent who would agree to carry out the hit.”

The individual subsequently connected with Wilson minutes after meeting with authorities, and the 58-year-old spoke with him regarding the murder-for-hire scheme during their conversation, the outlet noted. The source told Wilson the assassin would be coming from Ohio, and it was at Wilson’s discretion as to how things unfolded following introductions with the hit man.

“It’s the only choice I got,” Wilson said, according to the recording. 

After some initial confusion regarding the target’s sex, Wilson confirmed that the individual was his ex-wife’s son, Law and Crime states. 

The outlet notes that during the interaction, Wilson fantasized about procuring his alleged victim’s Chevrolet Camaro following the intended murder: 

Another thing I thought of, if there is any way you can do like a carjacking, swipe his fucking car and part it out. He’s got a killer stereo in there, that’s what caught my attention was the stereo. I don’t hear cars like that driving down the street. I look out the window and this black Camaro drive by. As far as I know he’s got a pretty nice black Camaro, fancy wheels, swipe his fucking car, make it look like a carjacking and then part his car out for money. . . If you had a car hauler that you could just immediately dump his car into a car hauler and drive off…

Within a week, Wilson made contact with the undercover agent and asserted that the allegations against him were part of an extortion conspiracy his ex-wife and her son were conducting to obtain thousands of dollars from him, Law and Crime said. 

During the conversation, the agent asked for confirmation that Wilson wanted the target dead, and Wilson gave an affirmative response, adding that he was out of options and his faith in his lawyer was waning. Wilson noted that he would like for his ex-wife to be killed as well, but did not have the money, the Justice Department said. He expressed hope that she would be so devastated by her son’s death that she would take her own life. 

Wilson drove from Sedalia to Kansas City, Kansas, for a meeting with the undercover agent posing as a contract killer on January 22, 2019, the Justice Department said. 

Per the release, also shared by the ATF Kansas City Field Division: 

Wilson paid the undercover agent $2,000, made arrangements to pay another $5,000 after the murder, and gave him a photo of the intended victim. Wilson also went into the Cabela’s store and purchased 25 shotgun shells for the undercover agent to use in the murder. 

A Missouri State Highway Patrol agent then stopped and arrested the 58-year-old as he left the area. The Sedalia Police Department also assisted in the investigation.