‘It needs to seem random’: Woman tried to hire hitman to kill wife of man she met on Match.com

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - A woman in Tennessee tried to hire an online hitman to kill the wife of a man she met on Match.com, according to authorities.

According to court documents, 48-year-old Melody Sasser paid almost $10,000 using a dark website known as ‘Online Killers Market’ to hire a hitman for a “job” in 2023.

That website allegedly offers hitman-for-hire services as well as hacking, kidnapping, extortion, disfigurement by acid attack, and sexual violence, WVLT reported.

Sasser, under the username “cattree,” messaged the website administrator about hiring someone to do a job, offering $9,750 in payment through Bitcoin.

“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 wrote.

The subject of the order, only identified as JW, lives in Prattville, Alabama, with her husband DW, who Sasser met on Match.com.

DW said Sasser helped him with a hike along the Appalachian Trail before he moved to Alabama and married his current wife.

Court documents said that Sasser had left threatening voicemails on JW’s phone using a device to disguise her voice.

According to the filing, Sasser spoke with the Online Killers Market administrator over two months, complaining about the “job” not being done.

“I have waited for 2 months and 11 days and the job is not completed. 2 weeks ago you said it was been worked on and would be done in a week. the job is still not done. does it need to be assigned to someone else? will it be done? what is the delay? when will it be done, [SIC]” “cattree” said in a message to the administrator.

Sasser was also reportedly able to track JW and DW by using an app called Strava, which connects to Garmin watched to share fitness data.

She even told the Online Killers Market administrator when JW had gone on a two-mile walk.

Ultimately, the plan was unsuccessful and Sasser was arrested and her home searched.

At her house, law enforcement uncovered a journal listing several other hitman websites, a handwritten account of communications with the Online Killers Market, and a stack of U.S. currency underneath a sticky note listing a Bitcoin address.

On June 7, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Sasser for the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

On Wednesday, Sasser entered a plea deal where she’ll face 100 months behind bars and pay over $5,000 in restitution.

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