Tennessee woman accused of hiring hitman on dark web to kill her hiking buddy's wife
Share this @internewscast.com

A Tennessee woman is accused of paying a hitman from the dark web to kill the wife of a hiking buddy she met on Match.com and stalking the woman’s whereabouts on a fitness app, court documents reveal. 

Melody Sasser apparently didn’t like it when her friend, identified in recently unsealed court documents by the initials D.W., told her he was getting married last fall.

“I hope you both fall off a cliff and die,” she told the man, according to an affidavit dated May 11.

Melody Sasser.
Melody Sasser.Melody Sasser / via Facebook

Sasser was charged with murder for hire in U.S. District Court for Eastern Tennessee last month and faces up to 10 years in prison if she is convicted.

According to the affidavit, an outside law enforcement agency tipped off the Homeland Security Investigations unit in Birmingham, Alabama, about the alleged plot in April.

Investigators were given messages between an online user, “cattree,” and the administrator of the dark web site Online Killers Market, which offers hitmen for hire, court documents say.

Screenshots from the site showed that “cattree” ordered a murder for hire on Jan. 11, according to the criminal complaint.

Officials say she shared the name of the target, an address, the equivalent of $9,750 in bitcoin and a description saying: “it needs to seem random or accident. Or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation. She recently moved in with her new husband.”

“Cattree” also uploaded a photo of the target, identified by the initials J.W., the documents say.

Investigators alerted police in Prattville, Alabama, where the target lived, and sent patrols to the victim’s home. 

When J.W. was notified of the alleged threat, she named “Sasser as a suspect” and said Sasser and her husband were hiking friends before he moved to Alabama, the document says.

D.W. told investigators that he and Sasser met on the dating website Match.com and that she helped him with his Appalachian Trail hike by making reservations at hostels and rest points and watching his vehicle when he was gone, according to the affidavit.

After D.W. told Sasser last fall that he was engaged to J.W., Sasser traveled to his Alabama residence, it says.

J.W. reported that her car appeared to have been keyed and that she received “unpleasant phone calls” from a person using an electronic device to disguise their voice. The affidavit said the “threatening” calls came from untraceable computer-generated phone numbers and internet calls.  

Sasser is accused of monitoring the couple’s whereabouts and activities on the fitness app Strava, which was connected to their smartwatches and shared location data.

The criminal complaint alleges that Sasser as “cattree” had messaged Online Killers Market several times, expressing frustration that the job hadn’t yet been completed.

On March 22, “cattree” sent a message saying, “I have waited for 2 months and 11 days and the job is not completed,” according to the court document.

“2 weeks ago you said it was been worked on and would be done in a week. The job is still not done. Does it need to be assigned to someone else. Will it be done. What is the delay. When will it be done,” she added, according to the criminal complaint.

After some back and forth, the affidavit says, she agreed to pay more.

Sasser was arrested May 18 and is being held in jail pending her next court appearance Thursday.

Her attorney has not replied to requests for comment.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like
Brazil slows Amazon deforestation, but in Chico Mendes' homeland, it risks being too late

Brazilian Deforestation Pace in Chico Mendes’ Homeland Raises Concerns About Delayed Response

BRASILIA – Luzineide Marques da Silva knows the location of each of…
Azalea Rivas, right, and daughter Azaria, behind, were found dead in their Brooklyn apartment on September 25

EXCLUSIVE: Mom, 37, and daughter, 14, found dead in ‘murder-suicide’ in their Brooklyn apartment are pictured – as neighbor says woman appeared agitated less than an hour before residents heard screams

A mother and daughter found dead in a suspected murder-suicide in their…
San Antonio police seek information in slaying of 28-year-old man

Authorities in San Antonio are appealing for information regarding the killing of a 28-year-old man

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police continue to search for information in…
WATCH: Jack-In-The-Box employee shot at Florida family in drive-thru over curly fries, according to court docs

WATCH: Jack-In-The-Box employee shot at Florida family in drive-thru over curly fries, according to court docs

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A newly released video shows a Jack-In-The-Box employee…
SBF prosecutors may show jury evidence of political donations: judge

SBF prosecutors may show jury evidence of political donations: judge

Prosecutors may show the jury at Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial starting next week…
Chicago Winery: Behind the scenes look at how to make wine

Chicago Winery: Behind the scenes look at how to make wine

CHICAGO (WLS) — This time of year is known as “crush season,”…
Ex-ABC News reporter should get up to 15 years for child porn: feds

Ex-ABC News reporter should get up to 15 years for child porn: feds

Disgraced former ABC News reporter James Gordon Meek – who traded “sadistic” child pornography…
The knives are out between Congress and the White House four days before a government shutdown, as Speaker McCarthy lays blame on Joe Biden 's border policies and tears into right-wing Republicans who 'side' with the president

Kevin McCarthy goes nuclear: Republican Speaker says there would be no spending mess if Biden fixed the border and claims his critics are siding WITH the president – as Senate releases its own stopgap funding bill

Kevin McCarthy goes nuclear: Republican Speaker says there would be no spending…
Hilarious: Trump Flips the Script, Makes CNN's Worst Fears About Mugshot Come True

Judge Finds Former President Trump Engaged in Fraud; Orders Trump Organization Dissolved

A New York court ruled Tuesday that former president Donald Trump had…
Biden admin announces Israel's entry into the Visa Waiver Program

Biden admin announces Israel’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program

WASHINGTON — Israeli citizens have joined an exclusive club that allows visa-free…
Stop overprotecting your children — coddling kills their exercise: study

Stop overprotecting your children — coddling kills their exercise: study

Helicopter parenting didn’t fly for this study. New research out of Australia…
Christian Thielemann chosen to succeed Daniel Barenboim as music director of Berlin's Staatsoper

Christian Thielemann selected as the next music director of Berlin’s Staatsoper, replacing Daniel Barenboim

BERLIN – Christian Thielemann has been chosen as the new general music…