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tv   Dateline  MSNBC  August 18, 2024 1:00am-2:00am PDT

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well, she and her kids do their best to carry on without jamie or sandra. my daughter just loves her nana so much. and it was so heartbreaking to tell her that nana wasn't coming home. when do you miss your dad the most? every day when i look at my kids because i know what a wonderful grandfather he would have been and the jokes and the games and probably the toys they would have made for them. they never got a chance to roll their eyes at a jim joke. [laughs] yeah. yeah. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] in this is "dateline". her husband michael. i'm
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sorry, he has been killed. >> she is like poison candy. >> she is pure evil. >> he fell in love with her and thought she was the end all and be all. >> reporter: she had everything she wanted. but she longed for one thing more. >> this guy was want to killed. >> reporter: it happened. her new husband, murdered in their townhouse. >> something happened at the house and she needs to get to the house fast. >> reporter: was this crime all it seemed? >> she played such a good game that people did not now. >> reporter: a surprise was coming. >> you don't know what you think. >> reporter: it arrives from beyond the grave.
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>> there have not been a story like this, ever in this county's history. >> issue the villain or the victim? who knows? that is what makes a riveting and she is infamous and probably will be forever. ♪ welcome to "dateline". when they first met, it was instant fireworks. an immediate attraction that turned into a fatal attraction. to crack the case, investigators need to know was dalia diabolical clocks or and unwitting hoax in a. the story begins in a place
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where conspicuous consumption in the in the 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 air and then mansions. >> reporter: the senior editor for the palm beach post at the time, said some mainlanders cannot resist the floor of palm beach. >> most people are influence that richness is there and how can they get a piece of it. >> reporter: over the bridge, newlyweds dalia and michael dippoloto lived in a condo. important beach. not the same zip code as palm beach but just fine for two up and comers. dalia and mike had big dreams like any young couple. she had a $20,000 diamond
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engagement ring. he had a porsche in the garage. there story for public consumption, was love at first sight. mike was an internet entrepreneur and dalia the businesswoman he fell head over years four. three months after their first meeting, marriage was inevitable. it was a small problem in their paradise. mike dippoloto was married. lawyers arranged divorce so that story could begin. >> he fell in love with her and thought she was the and all, be all and felt as though this was it and i will have a family with her and we will grow old together. >> thought she was the real deal. >> they hit it off right away. they enjoy the same things. >> dalia was a real estate agent. >> she was a successful person on her own and did not eat him.>> sexual attraction or
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more? >> sexual attraction, absolutely. >> reporter: with the divorce and hand, they went to the courthouse to get married and soon fell into comfortable routines. morning workouts. steamy date might at five star hotels and love notes on the refrigerator. he seemed to be dalia stream guy. 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 came to a end for them with a finality a certain as crime scene tape. dalia had been located at her 6:00 a.m. by the boynton beach police. 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
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a camera crew from the tv show cops was filming an episode with pointed beach police when dalia got the news. >> i'm sorry. i'm sorry to call you. we had a report of a disturbance at your house. >> reporter: the officer was direct with dalia and said there had been an intruder in the house and several shots were fired .>> is your husband michael? i'm sorry to tell you but he has been killed. her husband was gunned down in the townhouse. but she would not be allowed to go inside to see the body. alia theed her cooperation in understanding >> reporter: the investigation was only minutes old and the officers told dalia they would need your cooperation and
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understanding what had happened. dalia was taken to the police station where she would find out that the detectives thought they knew much more about the details of the crime then they were voting on. this case was about to get very complicated. coming up. the question began, it seems that undercover agents had their eyes and hitting cameras trained on this is dippoloto . when "dateline" continues. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin,
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ms. dippolito? dennis murphy (voiceover): dalia dippolito had been called home from the gym to be told by police out front that an intruder had murdered 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? i'm sorry to tell you that he has been killed. >> reporter: dalia was taken to the police department for the start of interviews. she began by telling the detectives that michael, her deceased husband, was not exactly clean. she said michael was a convicted felon, a swindler thousands from gullible investors by selling them phony currency securities.
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>> 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 25 years of probation. he had been ordered to make restitution to the victims he had fleeced. and outstanding i you of $191,000. find out who he owed, suggested dalia and you will find the killer. the cops listen but change the focus of the questioning to the couple themselves. the newlyweds of six months. were toying with dalia, holding back their best cards. >> reporter: they were playing with her, holding back the best
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cards. they thought they knew so much more about the newlyweds. let's freeze the action in interview room for a second and roll everything back a few days. that is when a man walked into the boynton beach pd with a story to tell. his married lover, he said was shopping for a hitman. the detective did not know what to make of this. >> at first when he gives the information you don't know what you think. here is a guy who is claiming he is sleeping with a guys wife and now she's trying to get somebody to kill him. >> reporter: he had the tipster run his story down from the top. a man was named mohamed and said he was a part-time actor who worked at a convenience store. as he told the, he had been friends with benefits with the woman for years . they had met for the occasional casual encounter. then she asked him for help in finding a hitman to kill her husband. >> he said, i am sleeping with this guys wife, but at the same
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time i don't want this guy to be killed and that was his concern. he cannot sleep with that idea that this guy would be killed. >> reporter: the detective ordered if he was being sold a story, since this mohamed guy did not even know very much about the woman he claimed to be sleeping with . the detective challenged him. >> all the information had was her first name. he did not know where she lived her husband was. >> reporter: while they debated whether or not the story was credible, they knew that a life may be on the line. the detectives to get to the next level. they are listed mohamed as a confidential informant and gave him a story to tell his part-time lover. that he found her a hitman who could pull off the job. >> two things will happen. if it was lying or it was true. >> reporter: mohamed set it up
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for the next day. the car 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 was going on. >> she came down the street and came into the gas station and we picked up the car and not only are we watching, we are hearing what is going on. in the informants car. live. >> reporter: running down the license plates and registration yielded the name of the 26-year- old woman. dalia dippolito. the same woman who would later would be seen on the videotape as the grieving widow. police officers did not 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. >> in less than a minute she begins talking about hiring somebody to kill her husband. which shocked us. dennis m
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(voiceover): the meeting seemed to be all business. dalia produced photos of her husband >> reporter: the meeting seem to be all business. dalia produced photos of her husband for mohamed to hand over to the hitman. dalia brought something else the hitman had requested. cash to buy the gun that would be used. >> he turns the money over. is that a crime? >> not enough, yet. wanted to go further with the case. the police were about to test dalia to see if she was determined to have her new husband killed. coming up. >> the undercover agent says i will put two shots to the head and it does not faze her. no remorse.
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another undercover sting and a plan is set in motion for a deadly house call. when "dateline" continues. got t. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
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dennis murphy (voiceover): 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 hitman to kill her husband. 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 hitman to kill her husband. and it all seemed to be caught on tape.
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the police instructed the informant, unmanned named mohamed, to set up another meeting with dalia. this time it would be with the hitman be an undercover police officer. and agent. same drill again. a meeting place outside a store and a car wired for video and audio. >> at that meeting made plans and she tells a hitman where they live, and provides a schedule where her husband goes and comes and goes in the morning and where he will be the next day. shows intent. and the fact he or she is, with a complete stranger who she believes is a hitman, she goes as far as saying, i would rather, it happen here.
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she just wants it done and the sooner, the better. >> reporter: does your agent give her a door out? >> yes. he asked more than once if she was sure if this is what she wanted. and she laughs about it and says, yeah. once i set my mind to do something i do it. >> reporter: the pretend hitman told her he would use a gun, -- >> he said it will put two in his head. meaning two shots to the head. and it does not faze her. no remorse. >> reporter: dalia and the hitman, who is an undercover cop, agreed he would kill her husband in two days time. he told her to be prepared to go to the gym early that morning. the day before he called dalia
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with further instructions. >> tomorrow morning. the up by 6:00. >> does not hesitate or change your mind. none of that. she says, okay and that is it. >> reporter: the next morning everything was going according to plan. dalia left for the gym, undercover cops telling her. >> one of the sergeants makes a phone call, while she is at the gym and inform her that something happened at her house and she needs to get to the house, fast. >> reporter: she does not know details but something has happened. get home quickly. >> she shows up and once again she makes contact with our sergeant. and she is informed of her husband's death that he is been killed. if you look at the video she begins to react before she is even told the whole story. according to that sergeant, who was making contact with her, he did not see any tears.
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>> reporter: when they brought her to the police station, investigators were curious to see how far dalia would push her scenario, blaming the murder of one of her husband's former enemies . the detectives are carefully watching her interview on a tv monitor in a nearby room. >> she mentions how he had enemies and on probation. did not bother to ask him what happened. >> reporter: to their experienced eyes and ears, dalia was making a few mistakes and how she was doing a theory of the crime. but they wanted to push or more. see if they could get her to confess to her suspected murder plot . would she be obviously rattled when they let in a familiar face? the person she believed to be the hitman. the man before, the undercover police officer, was presented to dalia as someone they just
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got for the killing of her husband. the detectives finally put their cards on the table. they told dalia that they knew this was the supposed hitman. and the meeting with a plan to kill her husband are recorded on tape. >> reporter: rocksteady, dalia swore up and down she has nothing to do with the death of her husband. but the police had another surprise for her. they were about to walk a ghost to the doorway of the interview
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room. coming up. someone is back from the grave. when "dateline" continues. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪
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israel attacked southern lebanon saturday, killing at least 10 people according to lebanon's health ministry. it is among the deadliest in lebanon since hezbollah and israel's military began treating strikes on october 8th. strike the latest search for remains from the 1921 tulsa race massacre ended with three additional victims found with visible gunshot wounds. more than 120 graves were discovered since the search launched in 2018. back to "dateline". imagine for a man you are dalia dippolito. homicide detectives are accusing you of plotting your
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husband's murder. dalia did not know what about her husband michael dippolito was very much alive and was about to come face-to-face with his wife of six months, who seemed to want him dead. >> i am thinking i am lucky but i am like i am so screwed right now. the first day in the world. >> reporter: before waking up the day, michael was clueless. that police thought his wife had a hitman to kill him. instead, he believed they had begun a loving the chapter together. they were about to start a family. she told him that she was pregnant. dalia was at the gym or the tv cameras from the reality show cops capture the moment police knocked on his front door. >> this is what were doing and conducting an investigation.
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>> your wife is going to have you killed today. you have to come with us. i looked at him and i am like, i mean, it hit me. >> reporter: you don't hear those words every day. 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. get in the car and we are out. meanwhile, outside his townhouse, the police are starting to stage a phony addressing, to trick dalia into thinking the hitman she had apparently hired had successfully completed the job. boynton beach police recorded this moments, as to the crew from the cops tv show. but the involvement of a tv show would later complicate accusations against dalia. at the station the detectives queued up their own surveillance videos. showing michael the husband, and the meetings as she seemed to shop for a hitman. than the police allowed michael to watch his wife's real-time police interrogation:on in
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another room. dalia, had no idea that her husband was alive told her police interviewer she had nothing to do with whatever had happened . even after they brought in the undercover cop who posed as a hitman. >> i am watching and i'm waiting for her to give it up and the girl never gave it up. >> reporter: dalia was arrested and handcuffed and cameras were still rolling when police walk a very much a live michael into the interrogation room. >> they say, do you know him? i am standing there. twice the distance of us. >> that is when she says, come here, i love you. i told her, i cannot. you cannot fix this. >> reporter: it was michael's turn to tell the police his story. correcting for the record that
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love at first sight fairytale. >> i did not meet her in church. she is actually an escort in that is how i met her. she came into my office. >> reporter: dalia denies she was an escort and although he describes ordering her from an escort service, he claims even now there was a mutual attraction that went beyond the initial transaction. >> when i met dalia, we seemed to connect instantly. we hit it off right away. everything about it, we clicked. the at our sexual life for the spare time or the things we liked. all of that. it just happened. >> reporter: three months after they met, he divorced his first wife and married dalia that week. >> i purchased the home and we were starting a life together. we talked about traveling and we had a future planned. >> reporter: there was a hitch. the terms of his probation
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prevented him from leaving south florida. so the couple consulted a lawyer and his advice was, pay up to $101,000 you owe in restitution and you have a fair chance of getting the probation lifted. that was your ticket to freedom. >> pay back the money and get my freedom. and dalia said she would help me with some of the money , about $90,000. i said, absolutely. >> reporter: he said they agreed they would pay off the debt. >> this is great. she is pushing me forward also. i thought, okay i will get off probation. very exciting for me. >> reporter: the plan to get michael out of , changed again. another lawyer said, you own your townhouse free and clear, why not turn the title over to dalia and she can do things for you. michael gave her the deed to the townhouse, as well as $100,000 cash. his part of the payback of the restitution. the money was supposed to go to his attorney but it never got
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there. >> out tell you where it unraveled. as soon as i gave her the $100,000 is where it went downhill. >> reporter: he said after dalia got that nice chunk of change, he started to have a string of run-ins with the police, including one night after dinner out with dalia. left the restaurant to find the police swarming michael's vehicle. after a, they found cocaine stashed beneath a spare tire. >> i actually started crying. i said, i have not done anything in 5 1/2 years and i don't know how, why or what happened. they let me go. i cannot believe it. >> reporter: you would have gone back to prison because he violated probation. >> absolutely. >> reporter: he did not want to think that the light of his life to be behind something as nefarious as something like getting him go back in prison, but the idea was there. maybe dalia. >> i said only when i am with
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you. my life is not this exciting. five and half years on probation i did not have one run in with the police. him with her six months in the whole police department knows me. i might as well glow fluorescent. i am doing the best i can. to be a good husband. she may have been a bad actors the day they caught on camera, but as far as with me she was an academy award winner. >> reporter: he said dalia seem to be playing the role as an expected to mother. and there never was a baby. and another thing dalia was not expecting the formal charge being filed against her. solicitation to commit first- degree murder with a firearm. even after her rest, dalia phoned michael from jail, pleading with him to get her an attorney, claiming the cops had gotten it wrong. >> she will not give it up. i do not do it. i did not do it why aren't you
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helping me. i love you and over and over. are you kidding? what do you want me to do? >> reporter: even though she would later be released under house arrest, while still in jail, dalia begged the guys 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, let's make a deal. >> i said get me my house back, minus the legal bills and i will get to a lawyer. >> reporter: because of florida's strong open records law, her jailhouse phone calls and all the police surveillance tapes made by the boynton beach police would become a public. they were viral on youtube. the images of dalia crying
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online would be seen by thousands of viewers who lambasted her in the comment section. but the people with the only opinion that mattered were not convened on youtube, they were in a west palm beach, florida, courtroom. what would a jury make of dalia and michael? coming up. the case is to court and an outcome more secret. >> it was unreal.>> people seeking their 15 minutes of fame. lose all sense of judgment. and common sense. >> reporter: was this a hoax? when "dateline" continues. rinvoq works differently and it's a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. when flares tried to slow me down, i got lasting steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my doctor saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission.
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fodennis murphyrs o(voiceover): what. started as a tentative police sting operation-- [crying] what started as cea tentati police sting operation, was now being argued in front of the jury in the west palm beach, florida, courthouse. 28-year-old dalia dippolito was accused of solicitation to commit murder in the 1st degree. conviction could get her up to 30 years in prison and she pleaded not guilty. the lead prosecutor would introduce a trove of evidence, photographs, audio recordings and videos, including that sting in which dalia tells an undercover cop posing as a hitman that she wanted her husband dead asap. >> it was unreal. like out of a movie. >> reporter: dalia had already spent almost 2 years under house arrest in her mother's home by the time the trial began in april of 2011.
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the jury would hear the prosecution argued that the six- month marriage of michael and dalia was a fraud from the beginning. >> she made him believe this was an amazing marriage . you never wanted to believe that his wife, the person he loved more than anything, wanted to have been 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 . >> she is playing all of these guys and they are all thinking they are the one and the only person she cared about was herself. >> reporter: the detective readback text messages dalia wrote about her husband to her lovers. >> a billy hate him and want to see him rot. i just want my life. >> reporter: to the prosecution, plant drugs, tip the cops and get him busted to
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prison on a parole violation. >> she tries for months to have him arrested. >> reporter: the alleged motive is greed. prosecutors said she wanted to keep the condo and the money for herself. but when it did not work out, argue the prosecution, dalia settled on the fatal solution. she simply would have michael killed so everything would be hers . the prosecution's case looked airtight with all the mesmerizing tapes of dalia plotting out a murder and also the video from the cops tv show with her looking unglued as she learned of her husband's murder. what no one could have predicted was dalia's defense. >> we live in a world where people seeking their 15 minutes of fame , lose all sense of judgment. and common sense. >> reporter: dalia's defense attorney, said this whole crazy story was in fact, all about dalia husband's vanity and his thirst for fame. it was michael who was behind the fake murder, it's
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mastermind. just so he could be known beyond boynton beach. >> the hoax to orchestrate his own murder, to achieve fame and fortune, was a bad prank. it was never anyone's 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's dippolito was never real. mike dippolito hope 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. the scene outside -- up front of her, acting. >> dalia knew that michael was not harm and hers was a fake reaction to a fake event. >> reporter: the defense pushed
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michael hard on cross- examination, accusing him of dragging dalia down with his stupid idea of being a tv star. >> this whole reality thing was actually orchestrated by you, wasn't it? >> i don't know what you're talking about. the silliest thing i have ever heard. completely made up. >> reporter: after two weeks of trial testimony, the jury agreed. >> we find the defendant guilty of solicitation to commit first- degree murder. >> reporter: 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: that was not the final note in the ballad of mike and dalia. in a move that surprised the prosecution, 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 place under house arrest was she appealed her conviction.
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fast-forward three years, and dalia one of her appeal for a new trial. >> the judge and her first trial failed to properly filter jurors for potential bias and exposure to pretrial publicity. >> reporter: this was one of the new lawyers. >> some of the jurors said she was guilty, in front of the entire jury pool which contaminated the jury pool. >> reporter: more than seven years after dalia dippolito was charged with hire a hitman 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 exclusively to dateline and what a story she would tell. this real housewife of boynton beach. so much better than reality tv. coming up.
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>> he started manufacturing these things. >> did you want to have your husband dead? >> no. >> reporter: murder for hire or audition for television? >> dalia was used as a pawn by the boynton beach police department to manufacture good tv. >> reporter: a cliffhanger of an episode is coming up. when dateline continues. choose advil liqui-gels for faster, stronger and longer-lasting relief than tylenol rapid release gels. because advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. so for faster pain relief, advil the pain away.
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show me paris. xfinity internet customers can enjoy the ultimate entertainment experience and save on some of the biggest names in streaming, all for just $15 a month. get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity. welcome back. i'm andrea canning. dalia dippolito was caught on tape plotting to have dalia dippolito was caught
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on tape plotting to have her husband michael killed. a trial she mounted a defense that no one saw coming. claiming that it was all a publicity stunt engineered by michael. the jury did not buy it and she was found guilty. but indicates filled with us, the verdict was overturned. it is now time for the retrial and dalia's defense team had more tricks and store. here is dennis murphy with the conclusion. >> reporter: the season finale of the dalia and michael show. five years after dalia was sentenced to 20 years for hiring a hitman to kill her husband, she was back in court on the same charge, facing a possible 30 year stretch. >> good afternoon. >> reporter: at a pretrial hearing as they tried to get the entire case dismissed, dalia's new team put out a new
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tv reality defense. that she and her former lover, mohamed, had been planning a tv presentation to be posted on social media. those in car meetings were not about arranging a hit, they were about the tv presentation. >> the purpose of meeting him was to discuss the presentation and taping what was going to be on pier 3 she claimed she wanted to back out of the purported tv project but she insisted that mohamed was having none of that. >> at that point, he lifted his shirt and showed me his gun and threatened me and threatened to hurt me and 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 the story. >> reporter: the senior editor for the palm beach post said the defense was weirdly appropriate. >> it seems to make sense because the story does not make sense. you throw in that angle. i want to be famous.
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let's do this. if it was a start, it adds to the goodness. >> reporter: of the story did not fly with a new judge and the motion to dismiss was now. in december, 2016, dalia showed up at the palm beach county courthouse again. new trial, new jury. >> we are going to have opening statements by attorneys. >> reporter: the prosecutor's version of the 2009 events was the same. there was skeleton of the full story.>> it is based 100% on her words, her actions, her intent. 100%. >> reporter: we have it on tape. dalia hiring a hitman to kill her husband. >> she wanted two bullets put in her husband's head. >> reporter: than it was dalia's turn, with heard offense presented by brian claypool. saying the police and chop
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dalia in a reality tv production for their own 15 minutes of fame on the cops tv show. >> 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: dalia attorney said boynton beach police undermined its own investigation with the public information officer for the video posted online. >> you went to the police department and posted this on youtube. >> correct. >> you knew at that time there was a pending, criminal investigation, of dalia dippolito . correct?
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>> correct. >> reporter: in the end, they contain important beach pd add violated her constitutional rights. look at the motives of the men running the surveillance video and find 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 cannot toss a clients constitutional rights under the bus to make good television. >> reporter: as dalia waited for a jury to decide her fate, she spoke exclusively to dateline. >> for the past seven years this has been a nightmare. >> reporter: she told us a nightmare began after she complained that she had been the victim of domestic abuse, an accusation her now ex- husband michael strongly denies. usage was used by the boynton beach police. >> we are here because they turned what should have been a complaint in getting the help
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and questioning me, into this a big production. for a cops tv show deadline they had and they started manufacturing all of these things and creating these scenarios and putting me in the situations that look horrible. >> reporter: the police say a did not ignore a domestic abuse case, they were trying to stop a murder for hire plot and those cops tv cameras did not change the substance of their investigation into dalia. did you want to have your husband dead? >> no. >> reporter: were you soliciting his murder? >> no. >> reporter: after nearly 10 hours of deliberation, half of the jury seem to agree.>> we the jury after deliberation, cannot reach a unanimous verdict. >> reporter: the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. the well dippolito dippolito was glued to the tv and beside himself . >> i was watching.
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what? i am thinking, what do these people need to see? she is on video saying she wants to have me killed to two different people. one is a police officer. >> reporter: he said he believed the jury was distracted by the defense team. >> what i'm saying to you is everybody in the world, sad to say, she is basically the the legal system twice. >> reporter: do you think she should do hard time? >> honest answer of would like to see her taste it. >> reporter: under house arrest dalia went to her new baby boy, child fathered with a man by an extensive rap sheet. on june 2nd, 2017, she went on trial again for the third time. this time the prosecutors who would come up short in the previous trial with their shorthand account of the case, presented the full shakespearean version of dalia story. >> and this time the judge admitted testimony previously not presented. >> reporter: that dalia had once tried to poison husband.
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>> researching antifreeze. go to this, does not have a smell, does not have a color. and she put it in his tea. >> reporter: and she previously tried to hire a hitman to kill her husband for the murder for hire plot that was caught on tape. and text messages were read between dalia and her lover. in which, dalia discussed framing michael by planting cocaine in his car and alerting the police. >> we need drugs in the car and will put them away for a while. >> reporter: this time dalia's defense was not strong enough for the onslaught of evidence. after just 90 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned its verdict. >> we find the defendant guilty of solicitation to commit first- degree murder. >> reporter: dalia was taken away and her family was sobbing. the following month after the crushing victim impact statement from mike dippolito -- >> the girl tried killing me three or four times.
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>> reporter: the judge sentenced dalia to 16 years in state prison. a month later she was back in court again. lawyers are doing the trial was not valid because the testimony about dalia trying to poison husband should never have been allowed. by now she was caught. perhaps her last hope for freedom came in a petition to the supreme court of the united states. that her case was denied. and so the real housewife of britain beach he became a worldwide reality tv sensation is now simply florida inmate. fle i'm andrea canning. is now simply florida inmate w 42222. yes, really. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. ng. thanks for watching. ack ops. hello. i'm andrea canning and

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