Woman Receives Sentence in Sinister Murder-for-Hire Plot

A Knoxville woman, Melody Sasser, has been sentenced to prison for trying to have the wife of a man she met on a dating site killed.

At a Glance

Melody Sasser, a Tennessee woman, was sentenced to 100 months in prison for hiring a contract killer.
Sasser paid nearly $10,000 in cryptocurrency to an online hitman on the dark web site in 2023.
The website offers a number of disturbing services.
Sasser was convicted of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire on June 7, 2023.
She was sentenced to 100 months in prison and ordered to pay over $5,000 in restitution to the man’s wife.

The Sinister Plot

Melody Sasser, a Tennessee woman, was sentenced to 100 months in prison for hiring a contract killer. Sasser paid nearly $10,000 in cryptocurrency to an online hitman on the dark web site in 2023. Under the username “cattree,” Sasser sought a “random” or “accident” killing to eliminate the wife of a man she met on Match.com.

Sasser provided detailed information about the target, including work and home addresses, car license plate number, and fitness app data. She grew impatient after two months and left threatening voicemails using a voice distortion app. The man, identified as David Wallace (DW), suspected Sasser due to the threatening voicemails left on his wife’s phone. Law enforcement later found evidence at Sasser’s house, including a list of hitman websites, a timeline of her communications, US currency, and a Bitcoin address.

A woman in Tennessee tried to hire an online hitman to kill the wife of a man she met on https://t.co/ECAD5ueiPj, according to authorities. https://t.co/Q55YkFLM34

— WILX News 10 (@wilxTV) September 21, 2024

Conviction and Sentence

Sasser was convicted of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire on June 7, 2023. She was sentenced to 100 months in prison and ordered to pay over $5,000 in restitution to the man’s wife. Sasser accepted a plea deal for 100 months in prison for hiring an online hitman. She had requested the hit to appear as a random accident or drug planting to avoid a long investigation.

“It needs to seem random or accident, or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation. She recently moved in with her new husband,” Sasser said in her request.

The target, identified as JW, lives in Prattville, Alabama, with her husband, DW, whom Sasser met on Match.com. Sasser tracked the couple’s locations using the exercise app Strava and informed the hitman when JW would be on a walk. Sasser admitted to using interstate commerce facilities for murder-for-hire as part of a plea agreement. Sasser met David Wallace on Match.com in 2020, and they became “hiking friends.”

Unraveling the Scheme

Wallace moved to Alabama with his fiancée in the fall of 2022, which upset Sasser. She responded to Wallace’s engagement news with hostility and later traveled to Alabama unannounced. Wallace’s fiancée reported her vehicle being keyed and receiving threatening calls. Sasser stalked the couple using a fitness app on their Garmin watches. In January 2023, Sasser attempted to hire the hitman.

Sasser paid nearly $10,000 in cryptocurrency for the hit, but the website was a scam. She followed up in March 2023, frustrated with the delay in the attempted hit. As a result, she was eventually caught and is now serving time for her actions.