Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline Extra 20201213

Im positive like 5,000 sure. This guy was going to be killed. Then it happened. Her new husband, police said, murdered in their town house. Something happened at her house and she needs to get to the house fast. No, no. Was this crime all that it seemed . She played such a good game that people didnt know. A surprise was coming. You dont know what to think. And it would arrive from beyond the grave. Oh, my god. There has not been a story like this ever in Palm Beach County history. Is she the villain . Is she the victim . Who knows . That is what makes her riveting and she is infamous and probably will be forever. The sting. Hello and welcome to dateline extra. Im craig melvin. What started as an instant attraction transformed into a fatal attraction. In the beginning dahlia and Mike Dippolito seemed madly in love. Then dahlia was told mike had been shot dead. There was more than one twist in this case, and it would take investigators nearly a decade to unravel the tale of sex, lies, and videotape. Heres Dennis Murphy. Reporter the mesmerizing story of Dalia Dippolito with a fittingly preposterous ending begins in a place where conspicuous consumption and the envy index are as high as the humidity. Palm beach, florida. It is the Winter Wonderland of the wealthy. You can drive over the bridge and immediately feel the rarified air, the mansions and the hedges that hide the mansions. Reporter Palm Beach Post Senior Editor jan tuckwood, says some mainlanders cant resist the wannabe allure of palm beach. Most people on the mainland are influenced. That richness is right there. And how can they get a piece of it . Reporter over the bridge, past the interstate, newlyweds dalia and Mike Dippolito, lived in a quartermilliondollar condo in high and dry Boynton Beach. Not exactly the same zip code as palm beach but perfectly fine for two upandcomers. Dalia and mike had big dreams like any couple young and in love. Aspirational, at the very least. She had a 20,000 diamond engagement ring. He had a porsche in the garage. Their story for public consumption, the grated version, was love at first sight. Mike was an internet entrepreneur and dalia the businesswoman he fell head over heels for. Three months after their first meeting, marriage was inevitable. There was a teency problem in their paradise. Mike dippolito was married. Lawyers jason brodie and Josh Friedman arranged a Quickie Divorce so the ballad of mike and dalia could begin. He fell in love with her. He thought she was the endall, beall. He felt as though this was it and im going to have a family with her and were going to grow old together. He thought she was the real deal . They hit it off right away. They had a lot of things in common. They enjoyed the same things. Dalia is a Real Estate Agent . Yes. And thats what attracted him to her. Was that she was successful on her own and didnt need him. Are we talking about sexual attraction, or is there more going on here . Oh, theres sexual attraction. Yeah, absolutely. Reporter with the divorce in hand, mike and dalia dashed to the courthouse to marry, and soon fell into comfortable routines. Morning workouts at the gym, steamy date nights at fivestar hotels, and love notes on the fridge. He seemed to be dalias dream guy. And three months into the marriage, according to michael, she told him she was pregnant. He was thrilled. Life was good. But early one morning in august 2009, it all came to an end for the two, with a finality as certain as crime scene tape strung across the front of the condo. Dalia had been located at her 6 00am workout by the Boynton Beach police. This is Sergeant Frank ramsey, Boynton Beach, Police Department. Is everything okay . Maam, i need to talk to you. Its very urgent. When you come home, it involves your husband. Theres been an incident. Reporter she was instructed to get home right away. When she arrived, she saw police cars out front, everything that spells disaster just ahead. It just so happened a camera crew from the tv show cops was there, filming an episode with Boynton Beach police, when dalia got the awful news. Ms. Dippolito . Im sgt. Ranzie. Im the one that called you. Thank you for coming. Im sorry to call you. Listen, we had a report of a disturbance at your house. Reporter the officer was direct with dalia. He said thered been an intruder in the house and several shots were fired. Is your husband michael . Okay, im sorry to tell you, maam, hes been killed. Hes been killed, maam. No no oh, no i want to see him. I cant let you see him, maam. We have to do our job. Reporter Michael Dippolito, her husband of six months, gunned down in their townhouse. The cops were telling her, but she would not be allowed to go inside to see the body. I need you to go with these detectives, okay . Oh no. No. Does he have enemies . Is there anyone who would want to hurt him . Oh no. No, no. If you want to help out your husband you need to go to the station and tell these gentlemen and tell us everything you know about who he knows and who hes connected to. Reporter the investigation was only minutes old and the officers told dalia theyd need her cooperation in understanding what had happened. Were going to do everything we can, okay . So we need your help. We need to get your husbands killer, maam. Reporter dalia was whisked off to the Police Station where shed soon find out that the detectives thought they knew much more about the details of the crime than they were letting on. This case was about to get very complicated. Oh, yes. Coming up the questions begin. It seems that undercover agents have their eyes and hidden cameras trained on mrs. Dippolito. When the sting continues. My husband would have been on the sidelines. 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Heres Dennis Murphy with more. Reporter Dalia Dippolito had been called home from the gym to be told by police out front that an intruder had murdered her husband, michael. Is your husband michael . Okay, im sorry to tell you, maam, hes been killed. Hes been killed maam. Oh, no no reporter dalia was rushed to the Boynton Beach Police Department for the start of interviews. She began by telling the detectives that michael, her deceased husband, wasnt exactly squeaky clean. Hes been trying to get off probation. Uhhuh. And its just been nothing but problems the whole time that hes been trying to get off. Reporter Mike Dippolito, she said, was a convicted felon, a swindler whod bilked thousands of dollars from gullible investors by selling them phony currency securities. It was for taking money of like, he explained like boiler room kind of where they would take money from people. Reporter in other words, her murdered husband was a guy with enemies. When he was released from prison after seven months, he was still looking at more than twentyfive years of probation. Hed been ordered to make restitution to the victims hed fleeced, an outstanding i. O. U. Of 191,000. People werent happy that he was getting off probation, because its a lot of money hes got to pay back. Reporter find out who he owed, suggested dalia, and youll find the killer. The cops listened, but changed the focus of their questioning to the couple themselves, dalia and michael, the newlyweds of six months. Were fine, like theres nothing, you know theres no problems between you guys, no financial problems . I mean with your family you and him. No, theres nothing. I mean, we you know, were going through his business has slowed down like anything, you know. Reporter but the cops were toying with dalia, holding back their best cards. They thought they knew so much more about the newlyweds. Did they ever. Lets freeze the action in the Interview Room for a sec and roll everything back a few days. Thats when a man walked into the Boynton Beach p. D. With a lurid story to tell. His married lover, he said, was shopping for a hit man. Alex moreno, a detective at the time, didnt know what to make of this walkin. At first, when hes giving you this information, you dont know what to think, you know. Heres a guy whos claiming that hes sleeping with a guys wife. And now shes trying to get somebody to kill him. Its a pretty juicy story. Exactly. Reporter detective moreno had the tipster run his story down from the top. The man was named mohamed and he said he was a parttime actor who worked at a convenience store. As he told it, hed been friends with benefits with a woman for years. Theyd met for the occasional casual sex. Then she asked him for help in finding a hit man to kill her husband. He says, you know what, yeah. Im sleeping with this guys wife. But at the same time, i didnt want this guy to be killed. And that was his concern. He couldnt sleep with that whole idea that this guy was going to get killed. Reporter but the detective wondered if he was being sold a cock and bull story since this mohamed guy didnt seem to even know very much about the woman he claimed to be sleeping with. The detective challenged him. All the information he had was her first name. He didnt know where she lived. He didnt even know who her husband was. Reporter while they debated whether or not the tipsters story was credible, they knew that a life may be on the line. So the detectives took it to the next level. They enlisted mohamed as a confidential informant, and gave him a story to tell his parttime lover, that hed found her a hit man who could pull off the job. Two things could have happened. Either this guy was lying to us or it was true. We hadnt validated the information yet until he actually makes contact. Reporter mohamed, the tipster, set up an assignation with the woman for the very next day. The car that he drove to the gas station Meeting Point had been rigged by Police Technicians for pictures and sound. Undercover agents nearby would be watching the whole time to find out who this woman was, where she lived, who her husband was and just what the heck was going on. She came down the street. Came into the gas station. Immediately, we picked up the car. And not only are we watching her, were also hearing whats going on in the informants car, live. Hey, whats up . I love you. I love you, too. Reporter running down the license plates and registration yielded the name of a 26yearold woman, Dalia Dippolito, the same woman who would later be seen on that videotape as the grieving widow. Police officers didnt have to wait long before the informants story was confirmed. This woman in the car really appeared to be in the market for a trigger man. Less than a minute or so, she begins talking about hiring somebody to kill her husband. Unprompted. Hes not doing dental work to get this story out of her. No. Which, you know, which shocked us. Honestly, you think its worth you know killing over that much money . Its not even over the [ bleep ] money. Like you dont [ bleep ] get it . Like its not even about the [ bleep ] money. Like, you know that money, well spend it, like, in the [ bleep ] blink of an eye. Reporter the meeting seemed to be all business. Dalia produced photos of her husband for mohamed to hand over to the hit man. I brought pictures. No, just give me one picture of him. I dont want to carry too much paper. Reporter dalia brought Something Else the hit man had requested cash to buy the gun that would be used. I brought 1200. Hes asking for 1200 . Yes. When are you going to give him the money and [ bleep ] . Today. Hes coming by the store. She turns the money over . Yes. Is that a crime, detective, at that moment . Its not enough yet. We didnt have enough yet. We wanted to go a little bit further with this case. The police were about to test dalia and try to get their evidence on camera. Coming up our undercover agent tells her hey, im going to put two shots to the head and it doesnt even faze her. No remorse. You definitely want to do this . Im positive, like 5,000 percent sure. Another undercover sting. And a plan is set in motion for a deadly house call. When the sting continues. T lit with free curbside pickup, fast delivery from your walmart store, or gifts shipped right to your door. Lets end the year celebrating. Lets end the year celebrating. We try to soothe it with this. Cool it with this. And relieve it with this. But new preparation h soothing relief is the 21st century way to do all three. Everyday. Preparation h. Get comfortable with it. Sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables and through the woods this holiday season. Remember, safe drivers save 40 with allstate. Saving is easy when youre in good hands. Call a local agent, or 1800allstate for a quote today. Walmart makes it easy with groceries, gadgets, and soo much icing. Lets end the year deliciously. In the Interview Room after shed just been told that her husband was dead. With cameras rolling the scene was remarkable. Not for what was being said but for what both sides were holding back. Dalia thought she was playing the cops but did not know that they had recorded Something Else which would prove quite damning for dalia. Here again is Dennis Murphy. Reporter with the help of a confidential informant, the Boynton Beach Police Department had apparently confirmed that a woman named Dalia Dippolito wanted to hire a hit man to kill her husband. And it all seemed to be caught on tape. Youre sure, though, that this [ bleep ], like, its solid . Yo, this guys a professional. Its not [ bleep ]. All he does is get it done and thats it, you know . Right. All right, good. Reporter so the police instructed their informant, a man named mohamed, to help set up another meeting with dalia. This time it would be with the hit man who would be, of course, an Undercover Police officer an agent. Same drill again. A Meeting Place outside a store. And a car wired for video and audio. Hey . Hey. Were staying in here, right . All right, yeah, yeah. Okay. Man, you look good. Thank you. Reporter in that meeting they began making plans. She also tells our hit man where they live. She provides a schedule where her husband goes comes and goes in the morning, where hes going to be the next day. It shows her intent. And the fact that here she is meeting with a complete stranger who she believes its a hit man. She actually goes as far as saying, hey, id rather if it happened here. How are we gonna do it successfully if we go ahead and do it at, like, at the house, like, how do we how do we how soon could you do it . She just wants it done and the sooner the better. Reporter does your agent give her a door out at this point . Yes. He asked her more than once if she was sure if this is what she wanted done. She laughs about it and says, yeah, once i set my mind to do something, i do it. You definitely want to do this . Im positive, like, 5,000 sure. Reporter the pretend hit man told her hed use a gun. Give him a taptap. He gets two in the head. Thats it. You know . Our undercover agent tells her, hey, im going put two in his head, meaning two shots to the head, and it doesnt even faze her. No remorse. Reporter dalia and the hit man, who was really an undercover cop, seemed to agree that he would kill her husband in two days time. He told her to be prepared to go to the gym early that morning. By the time you get back from the gym, you are going to find two things his dead body in the house, all right . Or nothing. All right. Reporter the day before, he called dalia with further instructions. Tomorrow morning, youve got be out by 6 00. Okay. Doesnt hesitate, doesnt change her mind, none of that. She just says, okay. And thats it. Reporter the next morning, everything was going according to plan. Dalia left for the gym. Undercover cops tailing her. One of our sergeants makes a phone call while shes at the gym. And then we inform her that something happened at her house and she needs to get to the house fast. She doesnt know details. She just knows something has happened, get home quickly. Yes. And she shows up at the house, and once again, she makes contact with our sergeant. And shes informed of her husbands death, that hes been killed. Im sorry to tell you, maam. Hes been killed. Hes been killed, maam. Oh, no no if you look at that video, she begins to react before shes even told the whole story. According to that sergeant who was actually making contact with her, he didnt see any tears. Reporter and when they brought her to the Police Station, investigators were curious to see how far dalia would push her scenario blaming the murder on one of her husbands former enemies. The detectives were carefully watching her interview on a tv monitor in a nearby room. People werent happy that he was getting on probation because its a lot of money hes got to pay back. She mentioned how he had enemies, he was on probation. She didnt even bother to ask how it happened. Reporter to their experienced eyes and ears, dalia was making a few mistakes in how she was telling her theory of the crime. But they wanted to push her some more, see if they could get her to confess to her suspected murder plot then and there. Would she be obviously rattled when they led in a familiar face, the person she believed to be the hit man . Bring this guy in here. Get over here. Get over here. You know who this guy is . No. Youve never seen him before . Ive never seen him before, ever. Reporter the man before her, actually the Undercover Police officer, was presented to dalia here as someone theyd just nabbed for the killing of her husband. Do you know her . Mm. Put your head up and look at her. Put your head up. Ive never seen him. Reporter the detectives finally put their cards on the table. They told dalia that they knew this was the supposed hit man. And that the meeting where they planned to kill her husband . All recorded on tape. Thats an Undercover Police officer. We filmed everything that you did. We recorded everything that you did. Youre going to jail for solicitation of firstdegree murder of your husband. I didnt do anything. Did you hear what i just told you . I heard what you said, but i didnt do anything. Everything you listen to me. Everything has been recorded. You were photographed in the convertible when you sat in his car in the front of cvs. What do you want to do . Oh, my god. Reporter rock steady to all appearances, dalia swore up and down she had nothing to do with the death of her husband. But the police had another surprise for her, truly a humdinger. They were about to walk a ghost to the doorway of the Interview Room. Coming up. Oh, my god hes alive. Someone is back from the grave. When the sting continues. Whens birds flyin high you know how i feel breeze drifting on by you know how i feel [man coughing] its a new dawn, its a new day. No matter how you got copd its time to make a stand. And im feelin good start a new day with trelegy. No oncedaily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. 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Nearly 3 million doses could be shipped in the first week. The fda authorized pfizers vaccine for emergency use late friday night. Now back to dateline. Welcome back to dateline extra. Im craig melvin. To investigators it looked very much like they had caught Dahlia Dippolito on camera orchestrating a plot to kill her husband, mike. Yet she was telling them that she was innocent. Was it possible that police somehow had it wrong . It was time for detectives to see if the other half of the dippolito marriage could provide any explanation. Once again, heres Dennis Murphy. Reporter imagine for a minute youre Dalia Dippolito. Homicide detectives in a Police Interrogation room are accusing you of plotting your husbands murder. Dalia didnt know it then, but her husband Michael Dippolito was still very much alive, and was about to come face to face with his wife of six months, who seemed to want him dead. Im thinkin in my head, im lucky. Im lucky. But im like, im so screwed right now. The worst day in the world. Reporter before waking up that day, Michael Dippolito was Clueless Police thought his wife of six months had hired a hit man to kill him. Instead, he believed he and dalia had begun a loving new chapter together. They were about to start a family. She told him she was pregnant. Dalia was at the gym when those tv cameras from the reality show cops captured the Moment Police knocked on mikes front door. Police Department Open your door sorry, im srgt. Sheridan from the boynton Police Department. Yes, hi. Can i talk to you . Yes, for sure. We say, hey, listen, this is what were doing. Weve been conducting an investigation. He says, your wife is going have you killed today. You have to come with us. And i just looked at him. And im like i mean, it hit me. You dont hear those words every day. No. Reporter the officers told michael he had to come with them right away to the Boynton Beach Police Station before his wife got back from the gym. So, grab your stuff, get in the car. Were outta here. Yes. Reporter meanwhile, outside his townhouse, the police were starting to stagedress a phony murder scene, all to trick dalia into thinking the hit man she had apparently hired had successfully completed the job. Reporter Boynton Beach police recorded those moments, as did the crew from the cops tv show. But the murky involvement of a tv show would later complicate accusations against dalia. At the station, the detectives cued up their own Surveillance Videos showing mike the husband dalias two meetings as she seemed to shop for a hit man. Im positive, like five thousand percent sure. Reporter then the police allowed michael to watch his wifes realtime Police Interrogation going on in another room. Dalia, who had no idea her husband was alive, told her police interviewer she had nothing to do with whatever had happened to him even after they brought in the undercover cop who posed as her hit man. Put your head up and look at her. Put your head up. Ive never seen him. Im watching. Im just watching. And im waiting for her to give it up. And you know what . The girl never gave it up. Reporter dalia was arrested and handcuffed. And cameras were still rolling when Police Walked a very much alive michael into the doorway of the interrogation room. Oh, my god hes alive. And they say, you know this guy . And im standing there probably from twice the distance of us. Come here please. Come here. I cant. You cant fix this. Why not . I didnt do anything to you. I heard you. Mike, come here please. Come here. Come here. I love you. I love you. And i told her. I said, look, i cant. You know, i said you cant fix this. Reporter now it was michaels turn to tell the police his story, warts and all, correcting for the record that love at first sight fairytale. I i can tell you i didnt meet her in a church. Shes actually an escort. Thats how i met her. She came to my office one day. Reporter dalia denies she was an escort. And though mike describes ordering her up from an escort service, he claims even now there was a mutual attraction that went far beyond that initial transaction. When i met dalia we seemed to connect instantly. We hit it off right away. It wasnt just bed . No. It was everything about it. We just clicked, you know, be it our sex life, be it just our spare time, be it the things we liked, all that. And it just happened. Reporter threemonths after they met, michael divorced his first wife and married dalia that same week. I had just purchased a home, and we were going to start a life together. And we talked about traveling and doing things, you know, and we had like a future planned. Reporter but there was a hitch to michaels future, the terms of his probation prevented him from leaving south florida. So the couple consulted a lawyer and his advice was pay off that 191,000 you owe in restitution and you have a fair chance of getting the probation lifted. So that was your ticket to freedom . Pay back the money and yeah. And get my freedom. You know, and dalia said she would help me with some of the money, about 90,000. And im like, absolutely, lets do it. Reporter michael says he and dalia agreed that they would pool their money to pay off dippolitos debt. This is great. You know, shes pushing me forward, too. I thought, like, okay, im going to get off probation. Its very exciting for me. Then the plan to get michael out of hock changed again. According to michael, another lawyer said to him, look, you own your townhouse free and clear, why not just turn the title over to dalia . Then she can do money things for you, no problem. So michael gave her the deed to the town house as well as 100,000 cash. His part of the payback of the restitution debt. The money was supposed to go to his attorney but it never got there. Ill tell you where it unraveled. As soon as i got dalia that 100,000 is where it went downhill. Reporter and he says, after dalia got that nice sized chunk of change, he started to have a string of runins with the police, including one night after dinner out with dalia. They left the restaurant to find the police swarming michaels vehicle. After a search they found cocaine stashed beneath a spare tire. I actually started crying to this cop. And im like look, man, i havent done anything in five and a half years. I dont know how, why or what happened. They let me go. I couldnt even believe it. And you would have gone back to prison because you violated probation . Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Reporter now, he didnt want to think that light of his life could be behind something as nefarious as getting him thrown back in prison but the idea was there, maybe dalia. I said to her, i said you know, only when im with you. My life isnt this exciting. In 5 1 2 years on probation i didnt have one runin with the police. Im with this girl six months and the whole Police Department knows me. I might as well glow fluorescent. So, youre looking at her sideways . Im just like, im doing the best i can to be a good husband, give her a chance. No reason to believe shes faking it with you . No. I mean, she may have been a bad actress the day they caught her on camera, but as far as with me, she was an Academy Award winner. Reporter he says dalia also seemed to be playing the role as an expectant mother. There never was a baby, was there, mike . Never was a baby. Reporter another thing dalia was not expecting was the formal charge being filed against her, solicitation to commit firstdegree murder with a firearm. Hello. Hello. Hey, its me. Reporter but even after her arrest, dalia phoned michael from jail, pleading with him to get her an attorney, claiming the cops had gotten it all wrong. What theyre saying is not true. You said you wanted to have me killed. I heard that. Whats your problem . Thats not true. That is not true. How is it not true . Theyre charging your [ bleep ]. Dont you get it . Mike, i didnt do anything. She wont give it up. I didnt do it. I didnt do it. Why arent you helping me. You know, i love you, and over and over. And im like, are you kidding . I said, well what do you want me to do . Youre supposed to get me an attorney please so i can talk to you. Reporter even though she would later be released under house arrest, while still in jail dalia begged the guy she was accused of trying to kill to help her find a lawyer to beat the charge. Michael saw the phone call as an opportunity to play lets make a deal. I said, get me my house back, less of all the problems and legal bills. I said, and ill get you a lawyer. So listen, sign my property back to me and ill help you. Ok . Im not signing anything. So i cant help you. Reporter and because of floridas strong open records laws, her jail house phone calls and all the Police Surveillance tapes made by the Boynton Beach cops would become public. They were out there, viral, on youtube. Reporter those images of dalia boohooing online would be seen by thousands of viewers who lambasted her in the comments section. But the people with the only opinion that mattered werent convened on youtube. They were in a West Palm Beach, florida courtroom. What would a jury of her peers make of dalia and michael . Coming up the case heads into court and out come more secrets. It was like something out of a movie. It was unreal. People seeking their 15 minutes of fame lose all sense of judgment and common sense. Was this whole thing a hoax . When the sting continues. So shark replaced them with flexible power fins to directly engage floors and dig deep into carpets. Pick up more on every pass with no hair wrap. Shark vertex with duoclean power fins. To syour body needs routine. System, centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc. Season, after season. Ace your immune support, with centrum. And im still going for my best. 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And if your ability to afford your medication has changed, we want to help. Still warm. Thanks, maggie. Oh, alice says hi. For some of us, our daily journey is a short one. Save 50 when you pay per mile with allstate. Pay less when you drive less. Youve never been in better hands. Allstate. Click or call for a quote today. Youve never been in better hands. Vicks vapopatch. Easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. Trusted soothing vapors, from vicks what started as a tentative police sting operation was now being argued in front of a jury in the West Palm Beach courthouse. 28yearold Dalia Dippolito was accused of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree. Conviction could get her up to 30 years in prison. She pleaded not guilty. Lead prosecutor liz parker would introduce a trove of evidence. Photo evidence, audio recordings, and videos including that sting in which dalia tells an undercover cop posing as a hit man that she wanted her husband, Mike Dippolito, dead asap. Im positive, like 5,000 sure. It was unreal. It was like something out of a movie. Reporter dalia had already spent almost two years under house arrest in her mothers home by the time the trial began in april of 2011. She say love is blind. In this case love was blind, deaf and dumb. Reporter the jury would hear the prosecution argue that the sixmonth marriage of michael and dalia was a fraud from the beginning. She made him believe that this was an amazing marriage. He never wanted to believe that his wife, the person that he loved more than anything, wanted to have him killed. Reporter the prosecutor said dalia was juggling two lovers on the side and was trying to enlist each of them in getting her husband bumped off. Shes playing all of these guys. Theyre all thinking theyre the one. And the only person that she cared about was herself. Reporter detective alex moreno read back Text Messages dalia wrote about her husband to her lovers. I really hate him and want to see him rot. Just want my life w. U. Lets get this [ bleep ] arrested. Reporter to the prosecution, her scheme was apparent plant drugs on michael, tip the cops and get him busted back to prison on a parole violation. She tries for months to have him arrested. Reporter the alleged motive greed. Prosecutors said she wanted to keep michaels condo and his money all for herself. But when the schemes didnt work out, argued the prosecution, dalia settled on the fatal solution. Shed simply have michael killed so everything would be hers. Sure you want to kill this dude . Reporter the prosecutions case looked airtight with all those mesmerizing tapes of dalia plotting out a murder, and also that video from the cops tv show with her looking unglued as she learned of her husbands murder. What no one could have predicted, though, was dalias defense. We live in a world where people seeking their 15 minutes of fame lose all sense of judgment and common sense. Reporter dalias defense attorney Michael Salnick said this whole crazy story was in fact all about dalias husbands vanity and his thirst for fame. It was mike who was really behind the faked murder, its mastermind, just so he could be known beyond Boynton Beach. Mike dippolitos hoax to orchestrate his own murder to achieve fame and fortune was a bad prank. It was never anyones intention to harm anyone. Reporter the defense argued it was all a tv pitch, michael auditioning for his big break. The evidence will show that the plot for the contract killing of Mike Dippolito was never real. Mike dippolito hoped to capture the attention of someone in reality tv. Reporter the defense attorney argued that dalia was in on the reality show idea the whole time. That scene out front of dalia wailing . Acting, said the defense. Dalia knew that mike wasnt harmed and hers is a fake reaction to a fake event. Reporter the defense pushed Michael Dippolito hard on crossexamination, accusing him of dragging dalia down with his stupid idea of being a tv star. This whole reality thing was actually orchestrated by you, wasnt it . I dont know what youre talking about. The silliest thing ive ever heard. I mean, completely made up. All right, lets bring in our jury, please. Reporter and after two weeks of trial testimony, the jury agreed. We find the defendant guilty of solicitation to commit firstdegree murder. Reporter in the end the judge sentenced her to 20 years, and gave dalia a piece of his mind before sending her behind bars. It was weeks and months that you continued with these different schemes to try to rid yourself of your husband. It was pure evil. Reporter but that wasnt the final note in the ballad of mike and dalia. In a move that surprised the prosecution, just three months after sentencing, the judge who called dalia pure evil allowed her to post a 500,000 bond. She was released from jail and was again placed under house arrest while she appealed her conviction. Fast forward three years, and dalia won her appeal for a new trial. The judge in her first trial failed to properly filter jurors for potential bias and exposure to pretrial publicity. Reporter Brian Claypool is one of dalias new lawyers. Some of the jurors said she was guilty in front of the entire jury pool, which contaminated the jury pool. Reporter and so more than seven years after Dalia Dippolito was charged with hiring a hit man to kill her husband, she would go on trial again. When she heard the news that she had been granted a retrial, she was extremely overjoyed because she felt like she would have a Second Chance to have the truth be told. Reporter she would speak exclsively to dateline. And oh, what a story shed tell, this real housewife of Boynton Beach. So much better than reality tv. Coming up i just started manufacturing all of these things. Did you want to have your husband, mike, dead . No. S. Murder for hire or audition for television . Dalia dippolito was used as a pawn by the Boynton Beach Police Department to manufacture good tv. A cliffhanger of an episode is coming up. When the sting continues. customer hi . burke happy anniversary. customer for what . burke every year youre with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. Its a policy perk for being a farmers customer. customer do i have to do anything . burke nothing. customer nothing . burke nothing. customer nothing . burke nothing. customer hmm, that is really something. burke you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. See ya. kid may i have a balloon, too . burke sure. Your parents have maintained a farmers home policy for twelve consecutive months, right . We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum burke start with a quote at 1800farmers. One ups the cleaning power of liquid. Can it one up whatever theyre doing . For sure. Seriously . One up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. Any further questions . Uh uh one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. Listen to what every strain. Every twistoof and every backache is telling you you cannot do this. Pain says you cant. Advil says you can. Welcome back. The sensational case against Dalia Dippolito had taken several turns in the years since she was captured on videotape appearing to arrange her husband mikes murder. She had been charged for the crime, found guilty, and then the verdict was overturned. But before her second trial could even begin, hoping to avoid trial altogether, dalias legal team would double down on their stranger than fiction reality tv defense. And dalia would speak to us with more bold claims. With the conclusion of our story heres Dennis Murphy. Reporter and now the Season Finale of the dalia and Michael Dippolito show. More than seven years after dalias outburst went viral no reporter and five years after dalia was sentenced to 20 years for hiring a hit man to kill her husband, she was back again in court on the same charge facing a possible 30year stretch. Good afternoon, ms. Dippolito. Good afternoon. Reporter first at a Pretrial Hearing as they tried to get the entire case dismissed, dalias new team roadtested a new reality tv defense. That she and her former lover, the sometime tv extra mohamed, had been planning a tv presentation to be posted on social media. Those incar meetings she said werent about arranging a hit. They were all about that tv presentation. The purpose of meeting him was to discuss the presentation and, you know, taping what was going to be on there. Reporter she claims shed wanted to back out of the purported tv project but she insisted mohamed was having none of that. And at that point he lifted his shirt and showed me his gun and he threatened me. He threatened to hurt me. He threatened to hurt my family. Reporter mohamed the informant denied threatening her or participating in a reality tv production. The reality tv defense seems to play into this whole story. Reporter Palm Beach Post Senior Editor jan tuckwood says dalias defense was weirdly appropriate. It just seems to make total sense because the whole story doesnt make sense. So, you just throw in that angle. I want to be famous. So lets do this stunt, if it was a stunt. It just adds to the weirdness. Reporter the story didnt fly with the new judge, and the motion to dismiss was thrown out. And so in december 2016 dalia showed up at the Palm Beach County courthouse once again. New trial, new jury. Were going to have the Opening Statements by the attorneys. Reporter prosecutor Craig Williams version of the 20 events was the same. Her actions. Her intent. 100 . Reporter we have it all on tape, he said. Dalia hiring a hit man to kill her husband. For 4,700 bucks she wanted two bullets put in her husbands head. Or nothing. Reporter then it was dalias turn with her defense presented by los angeles attorney Brian Claypool. Saying the police entrapped dalia in a reality tv production for their own 15 minutes of fame on the cops tv show. You cant break the rules and then be rewarded by breaking the rules. And thats really what this case is about. Everybody is entitled to a Police Investigation that has integrity. This never really was a credible Police Investigation. Rather Dalia Dippolito was used as a pawn by the Boynton Beach Police Department to manufacture good tv for the cops tv show. Reporter dalias attorney say Boynton Beach police undermined its own investigation when the Public Information officer had the video posted online. Within several hours video footage by cops and Boynton Beach pd, you went over back to the Police Department and you posted this on youtube. Correct . Correct. And you knew at that time that there was a pending criminal investigation of Dalia Dippolito, correct . The correct. Reporter in the end dalias team contended Boynton Beach pd had violated dalias Constitutional Rights. Jurors, they said, look at the motives of the men running the Surveillance Video and find their target, dalia, not guilty. This was a Police Department in love with publicity. And by virtue of that they tossed Dalia Dippolito under the bus. A Police Department cant toss a clients Constitutional Rights under the bus to make good television. Reporter as dalia waited for a jury of six to decide her fate, flanked by her attorneys, she spoke exclusively to dateline. For the past seven years this has been a complete nightmare. Reporter she told us her nightmare began after she complained that shed been the victim of Domestic Abuse, an accusation her now exhusband michael strongly denies. She said she was used by the Boynton Beach police. Were here because they turned what should have been a complaint and getting me help and questioning me and stuff into this big production for a cops, you know, tv show deadline that they had. And they just started manufacturing all of these things and creating these scenarios and putting me in these situations that look horrible. Reporter the police say they did not ignore a Domestic Abuse case. They were trying to stop a murder for hire plot. And those cops tv cameras didnt change the substance of their investigation into dalia. Did you want to have your husband mike dead . No. Reporter were you soliciting his murder no. Reporter after nearly ten hours of deliberation half of the jury seemed to agree. To the judge, we the jury after further deliberation still cannot reach a unanimous verdict. Reporter the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. Meanwhile, Mike Dippolito was glued to the tv. Beside himself. Ill be honest, i was watching. I was like, what . And im thinking to myself, what do these people need to see . You know, shes on video saying she wants to have me killed to two different people, one being a police officer. Reporter he said he believed the jury was distracted by defense team hocuspocus. So what im saying to you is everybody in the world, sad to say, shes basically beat the legal system twice now. Reporter do you think she should do hard time . Honest answer, id like to see her go and taste it. Reporter under house arrest dalia went home again to her new baby boy. A child fathered by a man with an extensive rap sheet. And so on june 2nd, 2017 she went on trial again for the third time. This time the prosecutors whod come up short in the previous trial with their shorthand account of the case presented the full shakespearean version of dalias story. The murder of her husband in cold blood and two bullets put in his head. Reporter and this time the judge admitted testimony previously not presented. That dalia had once tried to poison her husband. She told you that she reached something on the internet about some kind of antifreeze thats odorless, doesnt have a smell, doesnt have a color and she put it in his tea. Reporter and that she had previously tried to hire a hit man to kill her husband before the murder for hir ple plot tha was caught on type. Im so horny for you. Reporter and lushid Text Messages were read out between dalia and her lover in which dalia discussed framing mike by planting cocaine in his car and then alerting police. We need drugs in the car and it will put him away for a while. Reporter this time dalias defense wasnt Strong Enough for that onslaught of evidence. After just 90 minutes of deliberation the jury returned its verdict. We find the defendant guilty of solicitation to commit firstdegree murder. Reporter dalia was taken away. Her family sobbing. And the following month after a crushing victim impact statement from Mike Dippolito the girl tried killing me probably three or four times. Handed me an iced tea with antifreeze in it. Smiled at me. Reporter the judge sentenced dalia to 16 years in state prison. A month later she was back in court again. Her lawyers arguing the trial wasnt valid because the testimony about dalia trying to poison her husband should never have been allowed. But by now she was cooked. Perhaps her last ray of hope for freedom will come in her latest petition to the Supreme Court of the united states. But for now Dalia Dippolito, the real housewife of Boynton Beach who became a worldwide reality tv sensation, is now simply florida inmate w4222222. Yes, really. And thats all for this edition of dateline extra. Im craig melvin. Thank you for watching. Im craig melvin. Im natalie morales. And this is dateline. In the pit of my stomach i just knew somethings not right here. I just felt something bad had happened. He must have been so, so scared. They were so happy at first. Kevin just felt morgan was very, very charming. But when the marriage went bad, he went missing. He just disappeared. Was this a husband who didnt want to be found . Was this a wife who had something to hide . Theyre getting in the truck. Theyre leaving