A woman in Tennessee has been arrested by authorities for allegedly attempting to hire a hitman to kill the wife of a man she met on the dating website Match.com. Melody Sasser, the accused, reportedly used a fitness app to track the woman and provided real-time information to a fake assassination website, which may have raised suspicion and alerted investigators. Court documents reveal that Sasser paid over $9,700 worth of Bitcoin to the website for the proposed “job.”
The criminal complaint, obtained by The Daily Beast, states that Sasser made her request through an online platform called the “Online Killers Market,” which offered services for hiring hitmen. The user account “cattree,” believed to belong to Sasser, posted a message on the site in January, stating that the murder should appear random or accidental, or involve planted drugs. The user explicitly expressed a desire to avoid a lengthy investigation.
According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, “cattree” had ongoing communication with the administrator of the now-defunct website for several months, providing detailed information about the intended victim, including a photo. In one message, the user expressed frustration that the job had not been completed, inquiring about the delay and suggesting the assignment be given to someone else. Another message mentioned the victim’s recent activity, indicating that she had gone for a two-mile walk alone while working from home.
Investigators suspect that Sasser monitored the couple’s activities using the fitness app Strava. The victim’s husband had met Sasser on Match.com, and they were reportedly “hiking friends” in East Tennessee before he relocated to Alabama. Sasser allegedly showed up unannounced at his new home after he informed her about his engagement. In response, Sasser reportedly replied, “I hope you both fall off a cliff and die.” The victim subsequently experienced damage to her vehicle and began receiving unpleasant and untraceable phone calls from someone disguising their voice using a device.
The arrest of Melody Sasser highlights the serious nature of the alleged murder-for-hire plot and the potential risks associated with online interactions. Source.
