Tenn. woman sentenced in murder-for-hire plot involving wife of man she met on Match.com

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (TCN) -- A 48-year-old woman will spend over eight years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to trying to hiring a hit man on the dark web to kill the wife of a man she met on a dating website.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced Wednesday, Sept. 18, that a judge sentenced Melody Sasser to 100 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release as part of an agreement where she pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

Sasser reportedly went to a site called Online Killers Market to hire a hit man to kill an Alabama woman. She reportedly asked that the killing look "random" or like an accident. The website Online Killers Market reportedly has over 12,000 members and "consists of a public forum whereby users are encouraged to openly, and publicly, ask any question of either the administration or the alleged hit man."

According to Sasser’s affidavit, Sasser and the victim’s husband met on Match.com, and the two were friends when he lived in Tennessee. Later, the man moved to Alabama and got engaged to the victim, who was identified by initials J.W.

In late 2022, Sasser traveled to Alabama. The man reportedly told her about his engagement, to which Sasser replied, "I hope you both fall off a cliff and die." Around the same time, J.W. found her car looked like it had been keyed. Then, J.W. reportedly received "unpleasant phone calls from a person utilizing an electronic device to disguise their voice."

On Jan. 11, 2023, Sasser sent a message on Online Killers Market providing details about J.W.’s car, her commute, and her home. Sasser paid nearly $10,000 in bitcoin for the hit. Three months later, she sent another message asking why the job had not been completed yet.

Sasser was ultimately arrested and charged in June 2023.