The woman, Melody Sasser, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, according to prosecutors.
A 47-year-old woman from Tennessee has been charged with attempting to hire a hitman from the dark web for $10,000 to kill the fiancée of a man she met on Match.com
Sasser’s attorney, M. Jeffrey Whitt, stated that he has recently been retained as her legal counsel but refrained from commenting on the case until further investigation is conducted. The alleged crime took place between December 2022 and April 2023 when Sasser reportedly contacted a now-defunct dark website known as Online Killers Market (OKM) to hire a hitman.
In her communications with the site, Sasser allegedly provided photographs and the victim’s location, paying nearly $10,000 in Bitcoin to the administrators of OKM to secure the services of the hitman. The plot was uncovered when a foreign law enforcement agency alerted authorities about a murder-for-hire target.
OKM, a website claiming to offer various illicit services such as assassinations, hacking, and kidnapping, had over 12,000 registered members worldwide. It featured a public forum where users could openly ask questions of the administrators or alleged hitmen, and a private messaging system facilitated communication between users.
Screenshots from the website revealed Sasser’s order for the murder-for-hire, including detailed victim information and a requested method of execution
The victim, whose identity remains redacted, had previously experienced acts of vandalism and received threatening phone calls from an anonymous individual using voice-altering technology. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Birmingham was informed of the threat, and local police monitored the target’s residence. The victim later identified Sasser as a suspect, mentioning her unexpected visit following the revelation of her fiancé’s engagement. Agents believe Sasser had been monitoring the couple’s activities through their fitness app.
The evidence in court documents shows ongoing correspondence between Sasser, using the username “cattree,” and the OKM administrator, discussing the status of the hit and additional Bitcoin payments. Frustration is evident in some of the messages, with “cattree” questioning the delay and suggesting the job be assigned to someone else. As the investigation continues, Sasser faces serious charges related to her alleged murder-for-hire plot orchestrated through the dark web.
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