They say you can’t help who you fall in love with, and that’s true. However, sometimes it’s important to accept that you’re just not meant to be with someone, no matter how strong your feelings for them might be. Melody Sasser didn’t get the memo on that one, it seems. The 47-year-old Tennessee woman as recently indicted for trying to hire a hitman she found on the dark web $10,000 to kill the fiancee of a man she met on Match.com. She’s been charged with one count of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, the US Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Tennessee said in a statement on June 7.
The charge dates back to December 31, 2022, when Sasser allegedly hit up (no pun intended) Online Killers Market (OKM), a dark website that no longer exists. There, she hoped to find someone willing to kill an Alabama resident. Sasser is said to have sent photos of the would-be victim as well as info on where to find her. She even handed over roughly $10,000 in Bitcoin to secure the murder.
A foreign law enforcement agency somehow became aware of the plot, which identified the target of the murder-for-hire. Local authorities were then contacted in April 2023. They also handed over messages between an OKM site admin and Melody Sasser, who used the name “cattree.”
Melody Sasser wanted the man’s wife dead
“Description: it needs to seem random or accident. or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation. she recently moved in with her new husband. she works at home and in office in birmingham. she works at wide orbit office [redacted] hoover, al when she works in office she works later she drives a blue subaru outback with alabama license plate [redacted] her husband drives a maroon jeep grand cherokee alabama license plate [redacted] her husband works at publix part time they have three dogs that bark and jump but nice dogs,” Sasser’s order request, placed on January 11, 2023, read, per Law & Crime.
While the order wasn’t placed until January, Sasser first contacted OKM on December 31 and made an initial payment via a Coinhub Bitcoin ATM machine.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Birmingham worked with the Pratville, Alabama Police Department to ensure the intended target was safe. During an interview, she mentioned that Melody Sasser should be considered as a suspect since she’d shown up at the home she shared with her husband the previous autumn after finding out they were engaged.
According to court documents, Sasser’s reaction to the news wasn’t great. “Sasser responded to this news by stating, ‘I hope you both fall off a cliff and die,’” she reportedly said. Later that fall, the woman found her car had been keyed, and she soon started getting harassing phone calls from someone who disguised their voice.
The would-be victim’s husband told authorities that he met Melody Sasser on Match.com and she helped him make reservations at hotels for his planned hike along the Appalachian Trail. She also reportedly looked after his car while he was on the trip. It’s unclear when exactly their relationship took place and what the extent of it was, but something doesn’t seem quite right…
