A Tennessee woman was sentenced to 100 months in prison after hiring a contract killer to murder the wife of a man she met online. Melody Sasser, 48, allegedly paid nearly $10,000 in cryptocurrency to a hitman through the dark web site “Online Killers Market” in 2023. This site is known for offering various criminal services, including “hacking, kidnapping, extortion, disfigurement by acid attack, and sexual violence,” according to court documents.
Hiring Hitman
Using the username “cattree,” Sasser posted a request for a contract killing, specifying that the murder should appear random or accidental. She targeted the wife of a man she had met on Match.com, identifying the victim as a woman living in Prattville, Alabama. In her post, she stated, “It needs to seem random or accident, or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation. She recently moved in with her new husband.”
Sasser offered $9,750 in Bitcoin and provided the victim’s work and home addresses, as well as her car’s license plate number to assist the hitman. After placing her order, Sasser tracked the couple’s movements using a fitness app that logs their runs and walks, sharing this information with the contract killers to time the attack.
When her request went unanswered for two months, Sasser grew frustrated and left threatening voicemails on the woman’s phone, altering her voice with an app. In one voicemail, she complained, “I have waited for two months and 11 days and the job is not completed… What is the delay? When will it be done?”
Investigation And Arrest
Sasser had met the man, referred to as DW, on Match.com before he married his wife, JW. DW became suspicious of Sasser after receiving the threatening messages left on his wife’s phone. When law enforcement searched Sasser’s home, they discovered a list of hitman websites, a handwritten timeline of her communications with the “Online Killers Market,” a bundle of cash, and a Bitcoin address.
Sasser was convicted of using interstate commerce facilities in a murder-for-hire scheme on June 7, 2023. She was sentenced last week to 100 months in prison and ordered to pay over $5,000 in restitution to the victim’s wife.
