Chandler man accused of conspiring to kill his ex-wife

MESA, AZ - Mesa police arrested a Chandler man for allegedly hiring another man to kill his ex-wife for an insurance payout.

Stephen Sawins, 33, was taken into custody Tuesday and booked on suspicion of solicitation and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Despite initially denying having hired a man to kill the woman, court documents state Sawins later revealed he wished the woman “would die or be killed."

Sawins allegedly hired a female co-worker’s son who later told police he was offered $50,000 to kill Sawins’s ex-wife.

According to  police, Sawins sent a pistol to the co-worker’s house for her son, requesting the son use to shoot his ex-wife in the back of the head.

"The suspect contacted his friend, which is the son of one of his co-workers and provided him with a small, .22 caliber handgun and told him he would pay him with money that he would get from an insurance policy on his ex-wife to kill his ex-wife," Mesa Police Department Detective Michael Melendez said.

The son reportedly told Sawins he no longer wanted to be involved in an attempt to kill his ex-wife.

Det. Mike Melendez said the pistol was taken to Tempe police Monday by two of Sawins’s co-workers, including the mother of the man he hired as an assassin. They reportedly told police Sawins planned to collect a $400,000 insurance payout as a result of his ex-wife’s death.

Tempe police passed the information regarding Sawin’s alleged assassination plan and the weapon to the Mesa police to investigate further as Sawins’s ex-wife is from Mesa. She has since relocated.

"When we contacted the [ex-wife], obviously she was upset about the situation, but she stated that she was not surprised that he [Sawin] would do something like that."

The woman was not harmed and she currently has an order of protection against Sawins, who has also been convicted of assault and battery, weapons violations, and disorderly conduct.