A woman from US' Tennessee has been sentenced to 100 months in prison after attempting to hire a hitman on a dark website to kill the wife of a man she met on the dating website.
Melody Sasser, 48, paid $9,750 in Bitcoin for the "job" and stressed that it should look like an accident to avoid suspicion, Fox News reported.
The intended victim, identified as JW, lives in Prattville, Alabama, with her husband, DW, whom Sasser had met on Match.com before his marriage.
Sasser had previously assisted DW with a hike along the Appalachian Trail. Court documents also allege that Sasser left threatening voicemails on JW's phone using voice-disguising technology.
"It needs to seem random or an accident, or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation. She recently moved in with her new husband," Sasser wrote to the administrator.
Over two months, Sasser communicated with the "Online Killers Market" administrator, expressing frustration about the "job" not being completed. She provided photographs and location information of JW, even tracking the couple's whereabouts using a fitness app called Strava, which connects to Garmin watches. At one point, Sasser notified the administrator when JW had left her home for a two-mile walk.
The plot was ultimately unsuccessful, leading to Sasser's arrest and a search of her home. Law enforcement found a journal listing several other hitman websites, a handwritten account of communications with the "Online Killers Market," and a stack of cash underneath a sticky note with a Bitcoin address, according to Fox News.
Sasser entered a plea deal on Wednesday and was sentenced to 100 months in prison. In addition to her prison sentence, she must pay more than $5,300 in restitution to the victim.