A 52-year-old Missouri man has pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire after the FBI caught him providing an undercover officer with a rifle, a map of his wife’s Ohio home, and a $1,720 advance — with an offer of extra payment if the mother-in-law was also killed.
A Missouri man who feared his wife was about to file for divorce decided murder was the answer — and the FBI was listening the whole time.
Matthew R. Alsup, 52, of Dexter, Missouri, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to a federal murder-for-hire charge, admitting he twice travelled to Mississippi in early August 2025 to recruit a former tenant of his RV park to kill his estranged wife.
Peoples Gazette reports that when that recruitment effort failed, the FBI had already learned of the plot. An undercover officer met with Alsup on August 14, during which Alsup laid out his plan in chilling detail — providing a map of his wife’s Ohio property, advising the best approach route to avoid detection, handing over a .22 Magnum rifle, and paying a $1,720 advance.
The agreed total price for his wife’s murder was $5,000. Alsup also offered “a couple extra grand” to eliminate his mother-in-law if she happened to be present.
His stated motive was straightforward: he wanted his wife dead because she planned to file for divorce.
Alsup is scheduled for sentencing on October 19. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
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