He Got Engaged. Cops Say She Went to 'Online Killers Market'

Tennessee woman accused of hiring hit man to take out wife of man she'd met on Match.com
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 5, 2023 7:33 AM CDT
He Got Engaged. Cops Say She Went to 'Online Killers Market'
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Marina Demidiuk)

A Tennessee woman has been arrested after cops say she tried to hire a hit man to take out the wife of a guy she'd met through a dating site. ABC News reports that 47-year-old Melody Sasser allegedly sent about $10,000 in bitcoin to a dark web site called "Online Killers Market," with instructions to kill the wife of a man she'd met via Match.com and become hiking buddies with, per a complaint dated May 11. After Sasser, an environmental compliance specialist, met retired Department of Energy emergency manager David Wallace, the two Knoxville natives began going on hikes together throughout 2020, per social media posts reviewed by the Daily Beast.

It's not clear if the relationship was a romantic one, but at some point, Wallace moved to Alabama and got engaged to his now-wife, Jennifer Wallace—and in the fall of 2022, when Sasser traveled to his Prattville home and he told her of his wedding plans, she didn't take it well, per the complaint. "I hope you both fall off a cliff and die," Sasser allegedly said. Jennifer Wallace also reported that around that time, someone keyed her car, and she began receiving untraceable threatening phone calls. In January, under the name "cattree," Sasser placed an "order" on the Online Killers Market—which the Daily Beast notes is a "now-defunct scam site"—requesting a hit against Jennifer Wallace, per the complaint.

Sasser's request said the murder "needs to seem random or [an] accident," states the complaint, which adds that Sasser kept tabs on both the Wallaces' activities via the GPS-enabled app Strava, which the couple used to track their hikes. Investigators say Sasser wired a total of $9,750 to the site, and that she became increasingly frustrated as the weeks went by with no hit, writing in a March message "what is the delay. when will it be done." Sasser was arrested May 18. Sasser's attorney says in a statement, "I find it premature to comment on the facts of this case until such time as each of the allegations have been vetted." Sasser, who's next due in federal court on Thursday, could see up to 10 years behind bars if convicted of the murder-for-hire charges. More here on how she was nabbed. (More hit man stories.)

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