Woman learns her fate after trying to hire 'Online Killers Market' hitmen on dark web to kill wife of man she met on Match.com



A Tennessee woman who tried to hire hitmen to kill the wife of a man she met on a dating website — and who reportedly was jilted by news of his engagement — learned her fate Wednesday.

Melody Sasser, 48, was arrested in June 2023 over allegations of a murder-for-hire plot. As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Sasser pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

'I hope you both fall off a cliff and die.'

U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan sentenced Sasser to eight years and four months in federal prison. Following her time behind bars, she will be on supervised release for three years.

Sasser, of Knoxville, also was ordered to pay $5,389 in restitution to the victim.

What's the background?

In 2020, Sasser met David Wallace on Match.com, according to People magazine.

Sasser and Wallace both were from Knoxville and were “hiking friends,” according to the criminal complaint. Wallace said Sasser had helped him on a hike along the Appalachian Trail.

However, in the fall of 2022, Wallace allegedly informed Sasser that he had gotten engaged and was moving with his fiancée to Prattville, Alabama — roughly 330 miles from Knoxville.

Sasser reportedly responded by saying, “I hope you both fall off a cliff and die.”

Not long after, Wallace's wife allegedly told police that her vehicle had been keyed and that she had started receiving threatening phone calls. Sasser used an app to disguise her voice, according to the complaint.

Wallace's wife — identified only by the initials JW — said she suffered trauma from the ordeal. Court docs said she moved out of her home and into a hotel because of the threats, bought a gun, and had her husband search every room of their home to ensure there were no intruders.

In January 2023, Sasser used a dark web-hosted site known as the "Online Killers Market" to hire hitmen to murder Wallace’s wife, according to court documents.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Tennessee said in a press release, "In exchange for the anticipated murder of the victim, Sasser used the internet to transmit nearly $10,000 in cryptocurrency to the would-be assassins."

Sasser also requested that the murder appear “to seem random or accident[al]" or to "plant drugs" on the victim, according to the release. Sasser reportedly stressed that she did "not want a long investigation."

Sasser became impatient two months after she paid for the assassination attempt.

“I have waited for 2 months and 11 days and the job is not completed. 2 weeks ago you said it was been worked on and would be done in a week. The job is still not done. Does it need to be assigned to someone else? Will it be done? What is the delay? When will it be done?” Sasser reportedly wrote in a message to the administrator of the online assassin website.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office release stated, “In her communications with the site, Sasser provided photographs and location information of the victim.”

The New York Post reported that Sasser tracked the couple’s locations using an exercise app called Strava that allows users to upload the mileage and routes of their past runs.

Ultimately, the murder-for-hire scheme was unsuccessful.

Sasser was arrested following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations Knoxville and Homeland Security Investigations Birmingham with the assistance of the Knoxville Police Department and the Prattville Police Department in Alabama.

During a search of her home, law enforcement uncovered a journal listing several other hitman websites, a handwritten account of communications with the Online Killers Market, and a stack of U.S. currency with a note attached highlighting a Bitcoin address.

Federal prosecutor Anne-Marie Svolto told the judge during the sentencing hearing that the journal “was a hidden rage that she kept secret for months," WBIR-TV reported.

Sasser's attorney, Jeff Whitt, told the judge that his client suffered a "breakdown of massive proportion," and she was deeply remorseful for her actions.

"She wants [the victim] to be able to move on with her life," Whitt said.

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Bernie bro with a van full of guns, explosives and $509K reportedly considered assassinating Joe Biden



A 19-year-old man with a van full of guns and explosives was arrested in North Carolina after he made threats online and contemplated assassinating Joe Biden, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Beast.

Around 11 a.m. on May 28, the Kannapolis Police Department was asked to tow an abandoned van from the parking lot of the Third Bank in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Through the window, officers spotted an AR-15 style rifle, a box for a .380-caliber handgun, a canister "of the explosive material Tannerite," and a box of 5.56-caliber ammunition, according to a police report.

The van, which reportedly belonged to Alexander Hillel Treisman, was towed away, and was later searched. Inside the vehicle police found about "$509,000 in U.S. currency (believed to be [Treisman's] inheritance), books (about survival, bomb making, improvised weapons and Islam), drawings of swastikas and planes crashing into buildings," and a Sig Sauer AR Rifle, a 9 mm Luger, a Kel-Tec Sub-2000, a .22-caliber rifle, and a Russian Mosin Nagant M91/30 bolt-action rifle, according to the search warrant application.

Later that day, Treisman arrived at the bank in a Honda Accord and asked about the towed van, according to court documents. Bank employees reportedly contacted police, and they took Treisman into custody.

Police searched Treisman's Honda Accord and discovered two more handguns, a .380-caliber, and a 9 mm Luger "found concealed in a clothes hamper," court papers stated.

Treisman, originally from Seattle, was allegedly carrying multiple driver's licenses from three states: Washington, California, and Florida.

Treisman was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, according to officials say. Local police contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A day after his arrest, the suspect reportedly called his mother, Kimberly Treisman. During the phone call, which was recorded, the mother suggested that he should "jump bail," according to a report from CNBC.

Local police and investigators from the Joint Terrorism Task Force reportedly asked Treisman about the disturbing materials found in his van. During the interview, Treisman "disclosed he has an interest in terrorist incidents and mass shootings," according to federal officials.

"Treisman conveyed to the interviewing officers that he had an interest in terrorist incidents and mass shootings, and that he watched YouTube videos and read Wikipedia articles about such incidents," the search warrant application states.

According to court documents, friends and family stopped speaking to him because of his "remarks and jokes" about mass shootings and the 9/11 terror attacks.

Treisman drove around the country, purchasing firearms in different states, authorities claim.

Law enforcement said they discovered an account on iFunny, a social media platform where users can post and comment on memes, alleged to belong to Treisman. The search-warrant application says Treisman posted a meme about killing Joe Biden.

On April 15, 2020, Treisman allegedly shared an image on iFunny with the caption, "Should I kill joe biden?"

In a conversation with another user on iFunny, Treisman reportedly said he "was going to do a columbine for a while." The other user condemned him for wanting to "harm the innocent."

Treisman responded, "My hatred is for the complacent American people who will turn u in for their own satisfaction. But aside from former goals, my eyes on the future. If anything I have to save bernie."

Investigators concluded the "bernie" mentioned in the alleged threat was a reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who dropped out of the presidential race on April 8, which paved the way for Joe Biden to get the Democratic presidential nomination.

On May 3, financial transactions and cellphone records show Treisman was within four miles of Biden's home in Delaware.

Court documents said between March and May, Treisman made internet searches regarding "information about Joe Biden's home address, state gun laws, rifle parts, and night vision goggles."

Investigators determined Treisman's activity "was consistent with a surveillance and attack plan connected to a possible threat against Joe Biden or other targeted act of violence," according to a search warrant.

The teenager allegedly wrote a note on his phone that outlined a plot for a mass shooting at a mall food court either on Christmas or Black Friday. The search warrant application states that he made a checklist that ended in "execute."

Treisman allegedly said he had not attempted to actually harm or murder anyone, telling authorities that his internet postings were "all online threats were part of a persona."

Investigators claim that they found a trove of "sexually explicit videos and images of minors" on Treisman's phone.

"Child pornography was found on eight of these devices (three laptops, three hard drives, an additional cellphone, and a flash drive)," an Oct. 6 detention memo states. "A total of 1,248 videos and 6,721 images of child pornography content were found on Defendant's devices, in addition to 637 videos and images of child pornography containing sadism and/or masochism content."

Treisman reportedly had no prior criminal history before his arrest. The federal magistrate judge justified Treisman's detention without bail on child pornography charges because of the other evidence against him.

"No combination of available release conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the community, and that a preponderance of evidence establishes that no conditions would ensure Defendant's presence in court," the judge said.

Treisman was denied bail on Oct. 6 pending trial and is currently being held in Durham County, North Carolina.

A lawyer for Treisman and the Secret Service did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Law enforcement intercepts package of deadly ricin poison mailed to President Trump



A package containing ricin that was mailed to President Donald Trump at the White House was intercepted by law enforcement. CNN reported that the package of deadly poison was intercepted at a mail facility earlier this week.

"The FBI and our U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service partners are investigating a suspicious letter received at a U.S. government mail facility. At this time, there is no known threat to public safety," the Washington field office of the FBI said in a statement.

The package was intercepted at a secure offsite facility, but it was addressed to Trump at the White House.

Sources say two tests were performed on the substance and confirm that it was ricin, a deadly toxin.

Ricin is a deadly toxin that is extracted from the seed of the castor plant, often called a "castor bean," despite not actually being a bean. "An average adult needs only 1.78 mg of ricin injected or inhaled to die; that's about the size of a few grains of table salt—which ricin resembles visually," according to the Popular Science.

In 2014, "The Walking Dead" actress Shannon Richardson was convicted of sending envelopes that contained highly toxic ricin to then-President Barack Obama and then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

She pleaded guilty to possession of a toxin for use as a weapon. Richardson was sentenced to 18 years in prison and ordered to pay $367,000 in restitution.