A Tennessee woman, Melody Sasser, 48, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of murder-for-hire.
The case involved an elaborate plot to kill Jennifer Wallace, the wife of Sasser’s former hiking partner, David Wallace.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan sentenced Sasser to 100 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release.
Murder-for-hire plot started on the dark web
The sentence stems from a disturbing scheme in which Sasser used a dark web site, Online Killers Market, to hire a hitman to murder Jennifer Wallace.
Sasser’s motivation appears to have been rooted in jealousy after her relationship with David Wallace soured, leading him to marry Jennifer.
According to court documents, Sasser’s plan to kill Jennifer Wallace began in January 2023 when she placed an order on the dark web site, paying nearly $10,000 in Bitcoin to hire a hitman.
Using the username “cattree,” Sasser provided extensive details about Jennifer Wallace’s daily routines, including where she lived and worked, the cars she and her husband drove, and their pet dogs.
“It needs to seem random or accident, or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation,” Sasser wrote to the site’s administrator in January, according to federal complaints.
In another chilling message, she noted, “She recently moved in with her new husband, she works at home and in office in Birmingham. She drives a blue Subaru Outback, her husband drives a maroon Jeep Grand Cherokee.”
Sasser went so far as to upload a photograph of Jennifer Wallace to the site, ensuring the hitman would be able to identify her target.
However, after waiting for months with no apparent action taken, Sasser grew impatient.
In a follow-up message in March, she expressed her frustration: “I have waited for 2 months and 11 days and the job is not completed… Will it be done? What is the delay?”
Murder-for-hire plot falls apart
The plot began to unravel in April 2023 when a foreign law enforcement agency tipped off U.S. Homeland Security about the assassination plan targeting Jennifer Wallace.
The agency had become aware of the Online Killers Market site and notified American authorities, who quickly launched an investigation into the threat.
Federal investigators were able to trace the Bitcoin payments Sasser had made to the website by subpoenaing Coinhub, a company that operates Bitcoin ATMs.
Sasser had purchased Bitcoin on at least four occasions from Coinhub ATMs in Knoxville, Tennessee, using cash to conceal her identity.
However, the transaction records, combined with her online activity, linked her to the “cattree” username on the dark web site.
A search of Sasser’s home further confirmed her involvement.
Investigators uncovered a journal in which Sasser had meticulously detailed her conversations with the Online Killers Market administrators, a list of other websites she had considered using for her plot, and stacks of U.S. currency.
A sticky note with a Bitcoin wallet address was also found during the search.
Murder-for-hire victim new exactly who was after her
Once the authorities informed Jennifer and David Wallace of the murder-for-hire plot, the couple immediately pointed to Sasser as the likely suspect.
David Wallace told police that he had met Sasser on the dating site Match.com, and the two had become hiking companions.
Their friendship, however, began to deteriorate when David became romantically involved with Jennifer.
Jennifer Wallace later revealed that Sasser had displayed erratic and threatening behavior toward the couple.
Sasser once showed up unannounced at their home in Alabama and ominously told them, “I hope you both fall off a cliff and die.”
Jennifer also reported that her vehicle had been vandalized, and the couple had received threatening phone calls from a person using a voice-disguising device.
What made the situation even more alarming was Sasser’s use of the fitness app Strava to track the couple’s movements.
The app, which allows users to share their hiking and running routes, enabled Sasser to monitor the Wallaces’ whereabouts.
She allegedly relayed this information back to the hitman marketplace, ensuring that she could provide the would-be assassin with up-to-date intelligence on their location.
Sasser was arrested on June 7, 2023 and charged with one-count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Sasser’s lawyers plea for a light sentence
During Wednesday’s sentencing, Sasser’s defense attorney, Jeff Whitt, argued for leniency, citing his client’s lack of prior criminal history and her record of community service.
Whitt portrayed Sasser as a woman who had suffered a psychological breakdown in the wake of personal hardships, including the death of her parents and struggles with alcohol abuse.
“She wants her to be able to move on with her life,” Whitt said, noting that at 48 years old, Sasser was unlikely to reoffend.
Despite these pleas for mercy, the prosecution pushed for a harsher sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne-Marie Svolto pointing out that
Sasser’s murder-for-hire plot was not a momentary lapse in judgment, but rather a prolonged and calculated effort to cause harm to another person.
Svolto argued that Sasser had stalked, harassed, and endangered Jennifer Wallace for months, all while actively plotting her murder.
As a result of Sasser’s actions, Svolto said, Jennifer Wallace had been living in constant fear for her life.
She and her husband had temporarily moved out of their home, purchased a firearm for self-defense, and checked every room of their home daily to ensure no attacker was lying in wait.
The judge sentenced Sasser to 100 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
She was also ordered her to pay more than $5,000 in restitution to the Wallaces for the emotional trauma they endured.
