Melody Sasser, an environmental compliance specialist allegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill the wife of a hiking buddy she met on an online dating app, Match.com.
According to a report by the Daily Beast report, the 47-year-old woman is accused of threatening David Wallace and his wife, Jennifer, allegedly tracking her rival using a fitness app to send real-time updates and information to a fake assassination website that eventually tipped off police.
"I hope you fall off a cliff and die," Melody Sasser blurted out when retired Department of Energy emergency manager and Air Force vet David Wallace told her last fall that he was engaged to another woman. The Daily Beast obtained the criminal complaint unsealed last week in Knoxville, Tennessee federal court.
The complaint states that Ms Sasser placed an order via the "Online Killers Market," a now-defunct scam site that purported to provide services such as "kidnapping, extortion, disfigurement by acid attack, and sexual violence," in addition to straight-forward killing. Ms Sasser worked for the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain.
"This is a personal matter unrelated in any way to Pilot Company's business," company spokeswoman Stephanie Myers said in an email to Daily Beast. "We are taking all appropriate measures and cooperating fully to assist law enforcement with this matter. All further inquiries should be directed to the proper authorities."
Ms Sasser is no longer employed at Pilot Flying J.
David Wallace and Ms Sasser matched on the dating site sometime in 2020. The two were close and hiked together in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, southeast of Knoxville. But their relationship soured in 2022 when Mr Wallace left for Prattville, Alabama, with his then-fiance, Jennifer.
According to New York Post, Ms Sasser tracked down the couple to confront them. Mr Wallace then told Ms Sasser that he was getting married to Jennifer.
In December, Ms Sasser became active on the Online Killer market website. She even took her complaints to the site administrator.
"Waiting for 2 months and 11 days and the work is not done. 2 weeks ago you said that on this The work has been done and will be completed in a week," the user Cattree wrote on March 22. "The work is still not completed. Does it need to be assigned to someone else? Will it be done? What is the delay, when will it be done."
She was told that the hitman declined the job because it was "too risky." Ms Sasser started posting Jennifer's information from the Strava workout app, including her hiking routes and routine.
Ms Sasser was tracked down on May 18 and arrested after the Department of Homeland Security was notified about the hit placed on Jennifer, with investigators working with the couple to provide protection.
She remains in custody pending a court appearance on Thursday. If convicted of the murder-for-hire charge, she could face up to 10 years in jail.
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