What did Melody Sasser do? Tennessee woman arrested in bizarre murder-for-hire plot

Melody Sasser, a woman from Tennessee, has been accused of orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot targeting the wife of a hiking buddy she met on Match.com. According to recently unsealed court documents, Sasser allegedly paid and hired a hitman from the dark web to kill her while also stalking the intended victim's whereabouts through a fitness app.

On April 27, law enforcement agencies became aware of Melody Sasser's alleged plot when a foreign law enforcement agency notified the investigative division of the Department of Homeland Security about a planned assassination targeting Jennifer Wallace.

Sasser was subsequently arrested on May 18 and is currently being held in jail until her next court appearance, which is scheduled for Thursday, June 8. If convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

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Melody Sasser not only stalked her victim but used the dark web to hire a hitman

Melody Sasser, a former employee of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain, has been accused of a murder-for-hire plot targeting Jennifer Wallace, the wife of a retired Department of Energy emergency manager and Air Force veteran, David Wallace. David and Melody had initially connected on the dating website Match.com.

During their relationship, Melody Sasser had reportedly assisted David with his Appalachian Trail hike, making hostel and rest point reservations and even looking after his vehicle while he was away, according to the affidavit.

The disturbing saga began when David informed Melody Sasser of his upcoming marriage last fall. In reaction to this news, Sasser reportedly expressed her discontent by telling David, "I hope you both fall off a cliff and die," as detailed in an affidavit dated May 11.

Using the fitness app Strava, Sasser allegedly monitored Jennifer and provided real-time updates on her whereabouts, dates, and times of movement to a murder-for-hire service she discovered on the dark web.

According to the complaint, Melody Sasser placed an assassin order through the now-defunct "Online Killers Market," a fraudulent website that claimed to offer various criminal services, including kidnapping, extortion, disfigurement by acid attack, sexual violence, and murder.

The scheme came to light on April 27 when an unidentified foreign law enforcement agency informed the Department of Homeland Security's investigative division about the assassination plot targeting Jennifer Wallace, as reported by the Daily Beast.

The investigators were able to uncover a series of messages exchanged between a user named "Cattree" in the United States and the administrator of the Online Killers Market. In one message dated January 11, 2023, "Cattree" provided Jennifer's full name, address in Prattville, Alabama, and an escrow payment of 0.4179 Bitcoin (worth around $7,500 at the time).

The message included specific instructions for the murder, stating that it should appear random or accidental, and suggested planting drugs to avoid an extensive investigation. Additionally, the message also included descriptions of the couple's cars and license plate numbers. Screenshots from the messages revealed that "Cattree" was frustrated with the lack of progress in carrying out the hit and constantly questioned the delay in completing the job.

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Upon investigation, Law enforcement agents detected Melody Sasser's activities and discovered her involvement in the scheme. They analyzed automated license plate reader data, which showed Sasser's vehicle in close proximity to Jennifer's office on multiple occasions.

When federal agents informed Jennifer about the assassination plot, she identified Melody Sasser as the likely perpetrator, mentioning that Sasser and David were hiking friends before he moved to Alabama. Jennifer also reported receiving threatening phone calls, allegedly from an individual using untraceable computer-generated numbers.

The further investigation involved tracking the financial transactions associated with the murder-for-hire plot. Subpoenas were issued to Coinhub, a Bitcoin ATM operator, which provided transaction data and customer information linking Sasser to the pseudonymous account "Cattree." The evidence included photographs taken during the transactions, matching Sasser's Tennessee driver's license and her publicly available Facebook profile picture.

Despite attempts to set up a sting operation using an undercover agent, Sasser did not respond, and the murder-for-hire plot never materialized. In total, Sasser allegedly wired $9,750 to the Online Killers Market.

Melody Sasser is currently in custody and awaiting her court appearance. Pilot Flying J, her former employer, stated that Sasser is no longer working with the company and expressed their cooperation with law enforcement in the matter.