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NBC's true-crime show Dateline: Unforgettable captured the gripping murder-for-hire story of Christine Metter, who was accused of hiring a hitman to get her husband killed. She was convicted on charges of conspirising to murder her ex-husband David Metter.
Christine and her father reportedly offered a hefty sum of money to one of her school friends in exchange for killing David. However, their plan backfired thanks to a prompt sting operation by investigators, who were alerted about the plot by Christine's aforementioned friend.
Both Christine and her father were put behind bars for ten and nine years, respectively.
Here are some bite-sized facts about the murder-for-hire conspiracy
How it all started..
Christine Metter and David Metter were married for a couple of years before they decided to go their separate ways in 2009. The couple had four daughters together. According to a statement by David, Christine was a good mother, but things changed after their divorce.
When David learned that their 13-year-old had missed school for 30 days, he fought and defeated Christine in a custody battle for their daughter.
Christine did not take her defeat lightly and in an effort to keep her three other children with her, brought her childhood friend Patrick Sabo into the picture.
Thus began the murder-for-hire conspiracy.
A father-daughter duo planned the murder-for-hire
Around 2011, Christine got in touch with one of her school friends, Patrick Sabo, an ex-Army Ranger. When Christine shared stories about her divorce with Patrick, he joked about hiring a hitman to get her husband killed. Little did he know that Christine would take his bizarre suggestion seriously.
A few hours later, Christine’s father, Al Zombory, invited Sabo over to his place for dinner and offered him $50,000 to kill Christine’s ex-husband, David. Although, at the time he pretended to be on their side, Sabo rushed to the police soon after, and revealed the plot to them.
The police were quick to come up with a counter plan.
How a detective came to David's rescue
The police instructed Sabo to tell the father-daughter duo that he had found a more suitable man to carry out the murder. He did as he was told, and Detective Christopher Bowerstock, posing as the hitman, went to collect evidence against the duo.
Bowerstock even used a morphed photo of David with blood around him, which he showed to the duo as proof that he had been killed. The hitman was even heard saying in an audio-tape.
“I shot him in the head like you guys wanted me to do."
Christine's father accepted the evidence and audiotapes revealed that he and Bowerstock then proceeded to have a conversation about the payment.
Christine goes behind bars for planning the murder-for-hire
Christine was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment following the exposure, even though she pleaded not guilty to the murder-for-hire plot. She reportedly said:
“The past nine months have been a living nightmare with the girls and I separated. Please, your honor. Let me prove that I am still a valuable member of society."
In her testimony, Christine also added that her husband was abusive:
He shoved me into the door, he hit me in the head, he kneed me in the stomach.”
She even went to the extent of claiming that Sabo did all this just to gain “fame."
Currently, Christine is under the Adult Parole Authority's supervision and her probation is due to end in 2026.
Where is David Metter now?
David Metter has reportedly moved on, and lives with his second wife, Loni and his four daughters from Christine. The family lives in Georgia, Atlanta.
