Upstate New York Man Admits to Murder-for-hire Scheme Involving Bourbon and a Bizarre Pig Plot

A bizarre murder-for-hire plan cooked up in Upstate New York came to light this week as 57-year-old Jeal Sutherland pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a foiled assassination attempt on his girlfriend’s former partner.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Sutherland devised an elaborate plan to have the man killed shortly after his release from prison in January 2025. But what Sutherland didn’t realize was that both his would-be hitman and a supposed pig farmer he enlisted to help dispose of the body were working undercover for federal authorities.

Prosecutors said Sutherland offered $1,000 and a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon to a man he believed could dispose of a body by feeding it to pigs on a Pennsylvania farm. That man turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. The person he hired for the actual killing was also an informant. He was a convicted murderer on lifetime parole cooperating with authorities in exchange for potential leniency.

Court documents detail how Sutherland wanted the victim - his girlfriend’s ex and the father of her child - killed and made to disappear soon after his return home from prison. At one point, Sutherland sent a gruesome warning: a dead Canada goose left on the doorstep of the man’s mother and its beak stuffed with a threatening note.

The plot became even more elaborate over the course of several months. Sutherland and the informant met in person at local diners and bowling alleys to discuss logistics. Their conversations, recorded by federal agents, revealed a plan involving a rented van (supposedly from a nun), an EZPass for toll travel, and a ruse involving a fake job opportunity to lure the victim to a parole office.

From there, the scheme called for transporting the body across state lines to a pig farm where the remains would be consumed, eliminating all evidence. The cost of the operation was set at $1,450, which included $1,000 for the pig disposal, $450 for the van rental and gas, and a bottle of bourbon as a sweetener.

In recorded conversations, Sutherland showed a chilling eagerness for confirmation. He asked for photographic evidence of the victim’s death, prompting the informant to reply, “You want to see the proof he’s dead," to which Sutherland answered, “Of course.”

At one point, Sutherland questioned the feasibility of transporting a 200-pound body. The informant calmly reassured him, saying, “Dude, when he’s got a bullet in his head, it’s not hard to pick up nobody.”

Thanks to coordinated efforts by the FBI, the plan was stopped before it could be executed. Sutherland was arrested and charged with using interstate facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, which is a federal felony.

He is now facing a recommended sentence of 7 to 9 years behind bars. However, U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino retains discretion to issue a lesser sentence when Sutherland appears for sentencing in September.

Upstate New York Man Admits to Murder-for-hire Scheme Involving Bourbon and a Bizarre Pig Plot