Woman hired hitman to take out new wife of ‘hiking friend’ she met online: Authorities

A Tennessee woman, Melody Sasser, 48, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for hiring a hitman to murder her desired boyfriend’s fiancée.

Sasser pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire plot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

In addition to her prison term, she was ordered to pay over $5,300 to the victim and will serve three years of probation upon release.

Prosecutors said Sasser used a dark web site known as the Online Killers Market (OKM) to hire a hitman. The now-defunct site, which was part of a scam operation, claimed to have over 12,000 members who could submit “orders” for murders and receive quotes from supposed hitmen.

The investigation began in April 2023, when authorities were alerted by a foreign law enforcement agency to a murder plot involving a woman in Alabama. Using the screen name “cattree,” Sasser allegedly placed the order on January 11, 2023, asking for the murder of her romantic interest’s fiancée.

She provided detailed information, including a photo of the target, the location of her office, her car and license plate, and even details about the couple’s home and dogs. Sasser instructed that the murder should appear random or accidental, or be staged as a drug-related incident to avoid a lengthy investigation.

Sasser became frustrated when the hitman did not complete the job within two months, sending messages demanding updates and asking if the task should be reassigned. She had paid the hitman in Bitcoin, and authorities were able to trace the cryptocurrency transactions back to her.

The victim, whose name was redacted in court documents, identified Sasser as a potential threat after authorities warned her about the plot. She explained that her husband, a retired Air Force veteran, had met Sasser on the dating site Match while they both lived in Tennessee.

They became “hiking friends,” but Sasser became enraged when he announced his engagement and subsequent move to Alabama.

Sasser’s hostility escalated after the move, with her showing up uninvited at the couple’s home in the fall of 2022 and issuing threats, including, “I hope you both fall off a cliff and die.”

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The fiancée also reported that her car was vandalized, and she received harassing phone calls with a disguised voice around the same time.