KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A woman is facing murder-for-hire charges in Knox County after a law enforcement agent said she tried to hire a hitman to kill a man's wife.
According to court documents filed in May, Melody Sasser of Knoxville tried to find a hitman by using a "dark web" website. Court documents state the website "purports to offer 'hitman for hire' type services as well as associated services at the would-be customer's request, such as hacking, kidnapping, extortion, disfigurement by acid attack, and sexual violence."
They also showed an order was placed to hire someone to kill the woman on Jan. 11, from a user identified as "cattree." The targeted woman lives in the Birmingham, Ala., area with her husband.
"It needs to seem random or accident. or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation," the order said.
It was placed for 0.4179 Bitcoin and included identifying information about the victim, as well as a photo of her. An Alabama police department was alerted about the murder-for-hire order and officers went to interview the woman and tell her about the threat to her life.
"If she's looking online for a hitman, the FBI would say, 'Yeah, what do you want?' And then allow her to lead them through the steps of what she provided," said M. Quentin Williams, a former FBI agent. "When they get caught, it's indisputable because it's in writing, and it traces back to them."
They said while speaking with the woman, she mentioned Sasser as a suspect. She said that Sasser and her husband were hiking friends in Knoxville before he moved to Alabama, and Sasser had gone to Alabama in the fall of 2022 unannounced, after learning about the man's and woman's engagement.
The woman said the couple then started getting "unpleasant phone calls from a person utilizing an electronic device to disguise their voice." She also told police that her and husband use a fitness tracking app when they hike, which is connected to their smartwatches.
"They begin to build a profile and a pattern of when you spend your time there, so you can imagine that's pretty easy. Wouldn't be that hard," said Paul Sponcia, who leads an IT business in Knoxville.
According to the court documents, "cattree" messaged the website when the woman took a two-mile hike by herself, which was verified on the fitness tracking app. Authorities said they believed Sasser was monitoring the husband and wife through the app.
Authorities also said they found Sasser's cell phone made three calls to the woman's phone in Nov. 2022, and six calls to the woman's phone a week later.
The man said he met Sasser through Match.com, and she helped him plan his Appalachian Trail hike by making reservations at hostels and rest points. He said she also took care of his care for him while he was gone.
According to the court documents, "cattree" and the site administrator messaged back and forth several times after she initially placed the order to kill the woman on Jan. 11. They said the most recent message was on April 3, and most messages discussed the status of the "job" and payment for it.
In one message "cattree" said she would give more Bitcoin, totaling 0.485, to reassign the job. Authorities said wallet addresses used by "cattree" matched those used in Knoxville Bitcoin ATM purchases. It also said Coinhub transactions linked Sasser to the "cattree" username.
The documents said she tried to hire a hitman for around $9,750.
The Department of Justice said that a federal grand jury in Knoxville returned a one-count indictment against Sasser on June 7, for using interstate commerce facilities while trying to organize a murder-for-hire.
She is expected in court on June 21 and faces up to ten years in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine.