Melody Sasser, a Tennessee woman, has been sentenced to over eight years in prison.
She was found guilty of planning a murder-for-hire scheme against the fiancée of a man she liked.
Melody Sasser’s plot was exposed in April 2023 when federal authorities received a tip from a foreign law enforcement agency.
The agency informed them about a potential murder-for-hire case involving Sasser.
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| Melody Sasser |
Investigators were alerted to suspicious activity on a dark web site called the "Online Killers Market" (OKM).
The site advertised itself as a platform where users could hire hitmen.
According to court documents, Melody Sasser used the alias "cattree" on the website.
She solicited the murder of a woman who was married to a retired Air Force veteran.
The victim’s name has been redacted from court records.
Melody Sasser became fixated on her intended victim after starting a relationship with the woman's husband.
She met him on a dating site called Match.com.
The two initially bonded over their shared love of hiking while in Tennessee.
However, Melody Sasser reportedly became angry when the man informed her that he was engaged to another woman.
He also told her that they were moving to Alabama to start a new life.
This triggered a series of disturbing actions that eventually led to the murder plot.
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| Melody Sasser |
Investigators revealed that Melody Sasser placed an order for the murder on January 11, 2023.
Her target was the man's fiancée who lived in Prattville, Alabama.
She provided the hitman with an extensive amount of personal information about the woman.
This included her home address, office location, car details, license plate number, and even photographs.
She also added a comment about the couple’s three dogs in the order for the hit.
Melody Sasser said that they barked and jumped but were "nice dogs."
She likely did this to reassure the hitman not to worry about the pets.
Melody Sasser’s instructions were chillingly specific.
She requested that the murder be made to look like an accident or that drugs be planted to avoid drawing too much attention.
"I do not want a long investigation," she allegedly wrote to the hitman.
Despite the detailed plan, by March 2023, the hit had not been carried out.
Melody Sasser grew increasingly frustrated with the delay and sent several follow-up messages.
In one message, she complained, "I have waited for 2 months and 11 days and the job is not completed... you said it was being worked on and would be done in a week. The job is still not done. Does it need to be assigned to someone else? What is the delay?"
Authorities traced Melody Sasser’s involvement through a trail of Bitcoin payments.
She already made an initial payment to the hitman using Bitcoin even before officially placing the order for the hit.
Financial investigators tracked these cryptocurrency transactions back to Melody Sasser.
They used this evidence of payment to connect her to OKM, which was later found to be a scam site.
As the investigation deepened, federal agents reached out to the victim, who immediately suspected Melody Sasser.
The victim informed authorities that she and her husband believed Sasser was responsible for several other threatening incidents.
This included keying her car and making disturbing anonymous phone calls in the months leading up to the discovery of the murder plot.
Melody Sasser allegedly showed up uninvited at the couple’s home in late 2022, making threats such as, "I hope you both fall off a cliff and die."
The victim said that Sasser’s jealousy and resentment had escalated after learning about their engagement.
Adding to the chilling nature of the case, authorities discovered that Sasser had likely been stalking her intended victim.
She used the fitness app Strava, which both women had been using.
The app allowed users to track and share their physical activity in real-time.
Investigators believe Sasser used the app to monitor the fiancée’s location and provide this information to the would-be hitman.
This included specific times and places where she could be found.
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| Melody Sasser |
A search of Melody Sasser’s home yielded further incriminating evidence.
Authorities found a journal where she had detailed other websites that offered hitman services.
They also found handwritten notes of her communications with OKM.
OKM, the website Melody Sasser had used to orchestrate the murder plot, claimed to have over 12,000 registered users from around the world.
However, it was ultimately exposed as a scam site that defrauded users rather than facilitating actual murders.
Federal investigators say the site allowed users to submit detailed "orders" for murders.
It also provided quotes from supposed hitmen, who could be contacted directly through the site.
Melody Sasser's interactions with the site ultimately led to her downfall.
Her digital footprint enabled authorities to trace her communications and payments.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced that 48-year-old Melody Sasser pleaded guilty to the charge of using interstate commerce facilities to commit murder-for-hire.
Along with her prison sentence, Melody Sasser has been ordered to pay over $5,300 in restitution to the intended victim.
Additionally, she will serve three years of probation following her release.
Fortunately, Melody Sasser’s plan was foiled before it could be executed.
However, this case remains a disturbing example of how far someone might go when consumed by jealousy.
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In a separate case, a woman was tragically murdered by her ex-husband outside a courthouse.
Click here for more details on that developing incident.
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