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Tonight's Dateline: Unforgettable episode of Murder-for-Hire followed the conviction of Christine Metter in 2012. Christine, who had plotted to hire a hitman to kill her ex-husband, David Metter, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit aggravated murder.
The official synopsis of the Dateline: Unforgettable episode that aired yesterday on NBC reads:
"Andrea Canning recalls a case in which investigators set up an elaborate sting operation to stop a murder-for-hire plot."
The show delved into details about how Christine schemed with her father to hire one of her high school friends, Patrick Sabo, to shoot her ex-husband to death. However, a sting operation by investigators stopped the plan from being executed.
Who was Christine Metter and why did she try to hire a hitman?
Christine Metter was a divorced mother-of-four who, at the time of the incident, had already lost a custody battle for one of her daughters to her former husband.
Following their divorce, David Metter, Christine's ex-husband, claimed custody of their daughter by testifying that their 13-year-old daughter was doing poorly under Christine's care, as she had missed school for 30 days. Their 16-year-old daughter also refused to return to her mother after Christine had allegedly called the cops on her on 10 different occasions.
Sometime in May 2011, Christine came into contact with one of her old school friends, Patrick Sabo. Upon complaining to Sabo about her ex-husband, he humorously said, "Save your money and hire a hitman! LMAO."
While Sabo said this in jest, Christine later invited him for dinner, where her father presented him with a proposal to kill David Metter, and offered him $50,000 same, along with a picture of David and his address.
When Sabo explained the matter to the police, they decided to play along. Accordingly, on June 3, 2011, detective Christopher Bower, under the guise of being a hitman, pretended to kill David Metter. He provided Christine's father, Al Zombory, with fake image proof. A fake audio tape of Bower admitting to the killing was also shown. A different section of the audio also revealed a conversation between Bower and Zombory about the payment.
The father-daughter duo were then arrested.
Initially, Christine pleaded not guilty in her statement to Lake County Judge Eugene Lucci:
“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.”
According to information collected by News Herald, despite the plea, both Christine and her father were sentenced to 10 years and nine years in prison, respectively. As opposed to his daughter, Zombory had pleaded guilty in court.
What is Christine Metter doing now?
Metter was released on March 25, 2021 at the age of 50 and is currently serving her 5 years of probation. Christine's father, Zombory, died before the completion of his sentence.
While serving her sentence in prison, Metter lost the parental rights to three of her daughters, who were the soul reason for her revenge. David Metter and his new wife Loni got custody of all four of his daughters.
