ms. dippolito, is your husband michael? >> reporter: newlywed dalia dippolito, getting the worst news ever. >> i'm sorry to tell you, ma'am, he's been killed. >> reporter: there's wailing, hysteria. but are those tears as fake as the crime scene? staged by police, but filmed by, "cops." literally, the tv show! the police say she wanted him dead. >> i didn't plot anything! >> reporter: that they have proof, caught on hidden camera, hiring a hit man. >> nobody is going to be able to point a finger at me. like 5,000% sure. >> she wasn't just 100% sure. she was 5000% sure that she wanted her husband killed. but dalia says the only "reality" was getting herself and her husband on reality tv.

>> if they could do it, there's no reason why we can't do it. >> they wanted to submit that, post it on youtube, to try to get acting parts. >> reporter: so the goal here was to be famous? >> she got what she wanted. >> work it! work it! >> reporter: the outrageous story that made national headlines. >> one of the wildest and one of the craziest -- >> this story just got huger and huge. >> reporter: but tonight, she's finally telling her version. this is the first time you have ever talked about this case. correct? how do you explain what we have all seen and heard on those videotapes? with one trial behind her, and a new one coming up -- >> trying to cope with everything. >> reporter: get ready for a "he said/she said" scandal of sex, lies, and videotape. >> how do i describe dalia? liar, liar, liar! >> is the real you the person in those tapes or the person sitting here today? who is "the woman in the video?" >> reporter: palm beach,

i'm good evening, i'm elizabeth vargas, david is away on assignment. tonight, the jaw-dropping story that seemed to go from just married to a murder for hire plot in just six months. but now that the woman on trial is speaking out only to "20/20," things aren't so open and shut. instead of asking how much did she want to get rid of her husband, her lawyers say you should ask, how far did she go to get on reality tv? here's amy robach. >> reporter: palm beach, florida. mansions face the shoreline. pricey. jewels fill the store windows. bentleys dot the boulevards, but just down the road, the bling disappears as if a wave swept it away. >> if palm beach is high end, top chef boynton beach is meat loaf. >> reporter: a tropical blend of strip malls side by side with palm trees, retirees, and young folks just starting out. it's home to petite, soft spoken dalia dippolito.

she is boynton beach's most unlikely and notorious celebrity. >> i didn't do anything. >> reporter: the wrong kind. >> mrs. dippolito? is your husband michael? >> reporter: her road to infamy began with this video. >> reporter: it looks like police telling dalia her husband of just six months was murdered, but watch closely. >> okay. i'm sorry to tell you, he's been killed. >> reporter: but watch closely, because nothing in this case is what it seems. >> try to calm down. >> reporter: turns out police are duping dalia. that whole crime scene? its fake. police claim dalia ordered a hit on her husband and that they have hidden camera video to prove it. >> nobody's going to be able to point a finger at me. >> reporter: first comes love, then comes marriage, then murder? this story was on newscasts everywhere. >> dalia dippolito. she is the boynton beach newlywed caught on tape taking a contract out on her husband. >> the hit man turned out to be an undercover cop.

of police staged a fake murder scene. >> reporter: for six years hounded by the press, but never saying a word. until now. >> reporter: walking on the sidewalk right now, this doesn't happen very often? >> no, this doesn't happen at all. this is the first time i've had a walk in a, a long time. >> reporter: yeah, your every move is monitored. she's under house arrest accused of solicitation to commit murder. tethered to an ankle bracelet. >> this is what it looks like and it doesn't come off at all. >> reporter: she says she's on medication for what is unsurprising. depression and anxiety and that faith is what gets her through each day. her favorite escape, listening to worship music. her favorite band, hillsong. ♪ >> all those songs are about people going through struggles. i feel like i'm casting away the negativity and just really bringing in light. >> reporter: what's been the hardest part? >> not knowing when it's over. not being able to leave. watching everybody around me being able to come and go as they want, and i can't.

i can't do that. just trying to be happy for them as they're coming back and forth and stuff. >> reporter: her downfall began, she says, the day she met what she thought was her dream man. what was your initial impression of mike dippolito? >> charming. >> reporter: he was a workout fanatic and self-employed marketer. and more than a decade older, but no matter. they had instant chemistry. what drew you to him? >> he was really engaging. i felt a really strong connection. >> we seemed to hit it off real quick. >> reporter: what do you think michael saw in you? >> my personality. >> i guess we were active sexually, you know, that seemed to be on point. >> reporter: well, there was that and of course mike had a porsche. seemed to have plenty of money. and a nice new condo in this complex: "renaissance commons," what better set up to start a new life? >> i would say i was naïve in that i just never imagined

something as crazy as what would have happened would happen. you know, you never see that coming. >> reporter: indeed. who would've imagined that the dippolitos would be a duo on the tip of so many tongues. >> when people hear the name dalia dippolito, what do you think comes to mind? >> everything negative. all the headlines. the person they're describing, it's definitely not me. >> reporter: when dalia sat down with us for her first television interview, she wanted to talk about a very different dalia. a girl with a normal upbringing, who danced, played sports. >> i had a really great childhood. happy. had a lot of friends. >> reporter: she went to catholic high school, then on to college. and soon after got a real estate license, a career choice as natural in south florida as sunscreen at the beach for someone with a personality like she describes. >> i didn't have a hard time getting along with people. >> reporter: surely didn't have trouble getting along with mike. the two lovebirds were so happy dating it was only a small issue

that he was, well, married to someone else. >> i was told that he was going through the divorce proceedings. >> reporter: would you have had a problem had that not been the case? if he just was a married guy who was looking for some fun on the side? >> absolutely. yes. >> reporter: mike had a past, but he says, so did dalia. mike says dalia wasn't just selling real estate, she was selling herself as an escort. >> well i didn't meet her in church, that's obvious. needless to say, you know, i was married. i made a bad decision. i called an escort and she came. >> reporter: ok, so it may not have been exactly a fairy tale romance, but mike says he fell for her regardless. and just a few months later he got divorced and they wasted no time. five days later, they were married. why rush into the marriage? why say, "okay. your divorce is final. let's run to the courthouse and get married. >> it clearly wasn't well thought out. >> reporter: but from all

appearances it was working out. by day the newlyweds exchanging love notes. >> we weren't like the party type or anything like that so i liked the homey type of environment. >> reporter: their nights, dalia says, often spent snuggling at home watching reality tv. shows like "cheaters" and "real housewives of new york." >> no, no, no! it's not right! >> reporter: did mike love it? did you love it? did you love it together? >> he liked the fact that people would be on these shows and essentially get paid to do nothing. it's just watching them at home or on their couch. >> reporter: back then it was all innocent fun. she says two people just dreaming together of being on tv. >> he said you know, "if they could do it, if you're watching these people do it, there's no reason why we can't do it. we look better than those people. and why not?" >> reporter: but dalia says there was a darker side to mike, something he was hiding, something big. >> after months of being together, his probation officer showed up at our home. i had no idea who it was. when he told me he just completely downplayed everything.

>> reporter: she says mike failed to mention he was a convicted felon. years ago, he'd been to prison for fraud, after scamming investors out of tens of thousands of dollars. probation until 2032. >> right. and that was something else i didn't know either. i wouldn't have dated him if i had known. >> that's just silly. that's a lie. she's lying. >> reporter: mike says he was trying to live a very clean life to be sure he didn't violate his parole, which was why he got worried a couple months into the marriage, when strange things started happening. >> seven years, i guess, prior, i had no run-ins with the police. i meet dalia, and then within six months, i'm probably, pulled over, had my house searched, and, grabbed at every other area in palm beach, probably, eight times. >> reporter: the cops say there's a reason they keep pulling him over. they are getting anonymous tips that he's dealing drugs. >> and i'm like, well, how's this happening? >> reporter: strange things going on in his life and in

dalia's too. police say after just six months of marriage, she has other men in her life. men who are helping her with a secret plan to get mike's money, his condo, and get him out of the way. >> hey what's up? >> reporter: one of those men is in the front seat of this car. >> try getting your life straight after this, seriously. don't ever do this again. you know? >> reporter: and they're not talking about the weather. >> reporter: killing somebody, come on. i mean, that's, you know, no one is going to be able to point a finger at me. >> reporter: next. the honeymoon is over. >> i was a little surprised. it wasn't like, you know, kill him nicely. it wasn't even like, do it nice, don't hurt him. >> reporter: dalia's alleged scheming is about to become a video sensation. >> i'm a lot tougher than what i look, i know you came here, and you're like oh, what a cute little girl or whatever but you know, i'm not, i'm not. >> i could just watch the video over and over. it just is one of those clips that never gets old. >> reporter: stay with us. who wants to try? before earning enough cash back from bank of america to stir up the holidays,

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"20/20" continues, with the woman in the video. >> reporter: the boynton beach police department. a small building in a quiet south florida town. but what came out of here could hardly have been any bigger or louder. terri parker, investigative reporter for wpbf 25 news, covered the story. >> so this guy mohammed walks into the boynton beach police station, and he says, "know a woman who's trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband?" >> she asked if i knew someone who could kill her husband for her.

>> reporter: the man, mohammed shehadi, was recorded as he talked to detectives about his one time lover, dalia dippolito. he tells police he's speaking out to save the man's life. >> are you scared for the guy? >> yes. because she's really i mean dead serious on getting this done. >> reporter: it's quite a story. if true, because while he can describe dalia. >> she's maybe 5'6, 5'7. dark black hair. she's a good looking girl, really good looking girl actually. >> reporter: he can't even tell cops her last name or her address. >> well at the time, we didn't know what to believe. we were kind of -- you know, weren't sure what we had. >> reporter: they had their reservations. they had to say, "lets see some proof." to get proof, the cops make mohammed a confidential informant. he arranges to meet dalia at this gas station. cops are staked out as their mystery woman arrives. >> and she actually stepped out of the car. we were surprised, because she didn't look like the type. >> reporter: she didn't look like a killer, but detective alex moreno says she's about to show her true colors. >> hey, what's up?

>> reporter: she gets into mohammed's silver lexus. while you can't quite see them on the hidden camera cops had installed, you can sure hear them talking about a hit man. >> this guy is a professional, this no -- once she got -- she gets in the car and she meets up with the informant, we realized that this guy was credible. >> his mom, is not gonna get suspicious of you? or anything like that? >> why me? like do i know what [ bleep ] killing somebody is? nobody's going to be able to point a finger at me. >> she's just talking about it like she's ordering lunch! >> reporter: randy schultz is a column inconsiste columnist for the "sun sentinel" newspaper. >> you just think this is so cold. she's not acting like the typical newlywed shall we say? >> reporter: mohammed tells dalia the hit man wants $1,200 to buy a gun. she comes prepared. she has a wad of cash in her bag and counts it out. hands it over, and shortly afterward, gives him a photo of mike. >> wipe my [ bleep ] prints off those [ bleep ] pictures. really? you're gonna give him something with my [ bleep ] fingerprints all over! >> at that moment, the detectives realized, "ah, we've got her. this is real."

she just handed him $1,200 and a picture of the husband she wants murdered. >> we were shocked how easily she talked about killing her -- getting her husband killed. >> reporter: two days later, the talk turns to action in this cvs parking lot. she's not there to pick up a prescription. >> i came here i pretty much park in this exact spot right here. >> reporter: this is widy jean, an undercover police officer. >> she parked one, two, the third space from here. >> reporter: police say dalia thinks she is meeting an actual hit man in his cherry-red convertib convertible. >> we're staying in here, right? >> alright yeah, yeah. >> reporter: he makes his plan crystal clear. >> i'm gonna tell you how i'm gonna do it and what exactly is gonna be done. >> reporter: a burglary gone wrong that leaves mike dead. >> everyone works in the daytime, and then he's not at work and then he gets two in the head. >> the undercover detective, he really wants to nail dalia and make sure he's got it on tape and on camera that she is really going to pay him to kill her

husband and he says, "are you sure, dalia?" >> between now and when it's done you're not gonna have an opportunity to change your mind, even if you change your mind. >> there's no changing, no, like there's no changing. i'm positive, like 5,000% sure. >> reporter: there it is, the press would have a field day with this line. listen again. she's 5,000% sure. >> i'm positive. like 5000% sure. but no, like when i say i'm gonna do something, i'm gonna do it. >> she wasn't just 100% sure. she was 5,000% sure that she wanted her husband killed. >> i was a little shocked because i didn't think she was going to be, ah, that open. >> reporter: dalia never backs off. >> no, i'm not gonna, you know, i'm a lot tougher than what i look, i know you came here, and you're like, oh, what a cute little girl, or whatever but you know, i'm not, i'm not. >> well you are, you are absolutely beautiful. >> thank you, but i just need to make sure everything is gonna get taken care of. >> reporter: the not so cute little girl agrees to a plan. she will leave the house early wednesday morning. >> i'll be at the house 6:30 wednesday morning, 6:00 you hit the gym. >> reporter: sure enough, she's

at this gym around 6:00 a.m. wednesday, leaving mike dippolito home alone in bed, still recovering from liposuction from two weeks before. >> at this point, they have all the evidence they need. these are experienced officers. you know you have enough, you have a case. done. end of story. but not end of a television show. >> reporter: television show? ♪ bad boys bad boys ♪ what ya gonna do when they come for you ♪ that's right. turns out a reality show has come to boynton beach. >> got the video? >> yup. >> reporter: and the timing couldn't be better. they'll be able to film the last part of the police investigation. >> detectives, they were going to stage this fake crime scene. >> i hear a banging on the door. >> sergeant with the boynton police department. >> are you mike dippolito? >> reporter: the tv show cameras are rolling when police wake up mike. that's officer moreno at the door. >> your wife has hired a person to kill you. >> relax, take it easy.

>> take a deep breath. >> sit down. >> the guy was totally in shock that this was going on. >> i was very surprised. i was like, oof! because it hit me. this is a mess. >> reporter: they drive him away and transform the street to make it appear they're really investigating mike's murder. the tv show "cops" along with boyton beach police have cameras rolling when a detective calls dalia at the gym. >> we're at your residence ma'am >> is everything okay? >> can you come right back to your residence please? >> reporter: she's back in a flash, and now watch carefully. you be the judge of what happens next. >> is your husband michael? okay. i'm sorry to tell you, he's been killed. he's been killed, man. try to calm down. >> reporter: we know the cops are acting. >> i can't let you see him. >> what about dalia? >> i need you to take her to the station. >> in the midst of all of that tremors and shaking of her body, there wasn't any real tears coming out of her eyes.

>> the crying. the screaming. the bending over. meryl streep, wherever you are tonight, don't worry, you're safe. >> reporter: they hustle dalia off to this interrogation room for questioning, another recorded moment. >> are you sure you don't know anybody who would want to kill your husband? you wouldn't want to kill him, i hope. not at all. >> it's almost like something out of "law and order." >> there's no more games with you and i. now we're going to get down to serious business. i wanna know if you know this guy. come here. >> reporter: they bring in officer widy jean, the supposed hit man from the car. >> get over here. you know who this guy is? >> no. >> you never seen him before? >> i've never seen him before. >> she just stared at him. she says she doesn't know him. >> reporter: and then, call it a resurrection. >> oh my god! >> he's alive. >> reporter: police have another surprise for dalia dippolito. >> come here, please! come here. mike, come here! >> and she sees her husband and

he's alive. >> reporter: the show "cops" captures the moment . >> come here, please! come here. >> i can't. i can't fix this. >> why not? i didn't do anything to you. >> i heard you. >> mike, come here, please! >> what? you're alive? i love that moment and i'm sure a jury will too. >> you're going to jail today for solicitation of murder. you're under arrest. >> i didn't do anything. >> did you hear what i just told you? >> you kept saying "i didn't do anything." >> please, i didn't do anything. >> was that all you could think of to say? >> they were accusing me of trying to have my husband killed, and i didn't, so that's -- >> reporter: didn't do anything? what about the hit man? what about all those tapes? dalia's never answered questions about her version. >> how do you explain what we all have seen and heard on those videotapes? >> reporter: for the first time, she will. stay with us. this is iphone 6s. not much has changed. except it's ridiculously powerful... which makes everything faster. maps... shopping stuff...

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woman in the video." >> i didn't do anything, i didn't do anything! >> police say she thought she'd gotten away with it. >> reporter: not even a few hours after dalia dippolito was caught on camera. the story went viral. >> it's an unbelievable case. >> caught on camera trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband. >> a newly wed in boynton beach, florida. >> work it, work it! cry! problem! ruh-ro! the hitman is a cop. >> ill never forget it because we just stood around the newsroom "what is this? >> i could just watch the video over and over. it just is one of those clips that never gets old. >> reporter: in an unusual move, the boynton beach police released the video of the fake crime scene on youtube the same day. and the public couldn't get enough. >> so the story just got huger and huger and it was like a reporter's dream come true. they got played and replayed over and over.

>> reporter: fast forward two years and cameras are all over dalia once again. this time out in the open as she finally gets her day in court charged with solicitation to commit murder facing up to 30 years in prison. >> your trial. can you describe what that experience was like for you? >> confusing. really difficult. >> you will see how determined she was to have mike dippolito, her husband killed. >> reporter: prosecutor elizabeth parker tells the jury don't be fooled by the petite now demure looking defendant dalia is a scheming plotting would-be murderer. >> no guilt, no remorse, no concern for the safety of others. >> really, really strong evidence. it's, it's not often that you get the crime actually caught on tape. >> every morning he's walking the dog at a certain time. >> reporter: but what was her motive? >> you know, here's a, a, a new bride. they'd just been married. why?" >> they say love is blind.

>> reporter: the motive, according to parker, is simple. she wanted his money. she even convinced him to transfer the title to his quarter million dollar condo into her name and she wanted another man, a former boyfriend named mike stanley. he's in construction. dalia's been texting with him, parker says and the texts seem damning. boynton beach detective alex moreno reads their x-rated conversation on the stand. >> do you want my hot, tight body all over you? >> reporter: his monotone hardly matching the steamy words. i love you so much. i'm so horny for you. >> some of the stuff was kinda cheesy. i mean, i had to read it up on the stand. it was not my best moment. baby i love you and i only want to -- you. >> the evidence with, with mike stanley, huge motive for why she wanted her husband out of the picture. 893 text messages between the two of them. >> she's shameless about the way she uses her sexual power to get what she wants. >> reporter: and what she

wanted, parker says, is to get her husband out of the way by planting drugs on him and calling the cops. that's why mike dippolito kept getting pulled over by police. >> she was trying to set him up to have his, his probation violated, to have him arrested. >> the sooner he gets jammed up the sooner we can be in paradise island baby. >> there were text messages presented at your first trial, sexually graphic messages between you and a man named michael stanley. do you have any explanation about what happened? >> i didn't send those messages from my phone. mike actually sent those text messages. >> reporter: mike dippolito, her husband, sent them? dalia claims her husband was playing games with her former boyfriend. mike dippolito denies it. but parker says when dalia's plan to get her husband put into prison failed she took it a step further if she couldn't send him to the big house, she'd get rid of him altogether. >> yeah but killing somebody come on nobody's going to be able to point a finger at me. >> reporter: but as damning as those tapes may seem dalia's

trial lawyer, michael salnick has a defense and it's unforgettable. >> it was never anyone's intention to harm anyone. >> reporter: it wasn't a murder plot, he says. >> it was a stunt. it was a hoax. >> reporter: it was a plot to get on television, a reality tv defense. >> the plot seems to thicken and thicken and then thicken again. i've seen a lot of wild and crazy defenses in my day this is surely one of the wildest and one of the craziest. >> reality tv has become a way to launch a center stage career. >> reporter: salnick tells the jury michael dippolito wasn't a victim, he was an accomplice. that dalia, mohammed and michael were working together to create some kind of video tape. to try to land themselves as stars in reality tv. >> the website name says "welcome to realitytvcastingcall.com" >> reporter: salnick presents a computer forensic expert who found that dalia had searched reality shows on her computer. >> the thing about reality tv is anybody can become famous.

>> reporter: and a professor and expert in reality tv who explains how alluring it is to many people. >> if there's any way the defense is going to win here i think she needs to take the stand. >> reporter: but she didn't. >> why didn't you testify? >> it was a daily yes, you're going to testify, no, you're not going to testify. >> reporter: did you want to testify? >> yes, i did. >> you regret not testifying. >> absolutely. >> judge, the defense is going to rest. >> reporter: still, as the jury goes to deliberate dalia tells us her side was confident. >> i never had the impression or the understanding from my attorney that losing was a possibility. everything was always, you know what, we got this. >> wow. >> we have really good poker faces. >> reporter: these jurors say they considered the trial a disaster for dalia. >> i'm really surprised to hear that she thought it was going well. >> reporter: in fact, it took just three hours to reach a verdict. >> has our jury reached a verdict? >> we all just said, "well, she's guilty."

i'm-- it was just kind of unanimous. >> we find the defendant guilty of solicitation to commit first degree murder. >> reporter: as far the reality tv defense? >> and the defense didn't present anything that really represented this was for a reality tv show. there was nothing. >> reporter: for them the tapes told all. >> she said i am 5000% sure and that did it for me. >> i ask you to have some mercy. >> reporter: at her sentencing, dalia's mother, brother and sister beg the judge for leniency. >> i need her here. >> why did you get so emotional? >> hearing my sister talk about how she's looked up to me and she wished i could go and watch her get ready for prom. it was really emotional, because i really value my family. >> your web of deception. >> reporter: the judge is unmoved. >> there is absolutely moral justification for your conduct it was pure evil.

i'm sentencing you to 20 years in the department of corrections. >> when he said 20, it was just all -- it was numb. >> reporter: but when we return a courtroom bombshell -- >> she's getting a new trial? >> exactly! >> were you surprised? >> reporter: a new trial with two new lawyers and guess where she found them? on tv. >> mark eiglarsh. >> here's the good news. >> reporter: they say they've got a winning strategy. >> i am 5,000% dalia dippolito is innocent. >> reporter: and it comes from yet another tv show. "burn notice." >> i want to pay you a lot of money to kill a lady this >> reporter: this episode has a plot twist that sounds familiar. >> i'm here because someone was hired to kill you. >> reporter: is a tv crime drama the key to the case? stay with us. just jewelry. ora jewelry isn't

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>> reporter: they are newlyweds like none other.

just six months after wedding vows with the justice of the peace, dalia had to face a different kind of justice. >> pure evil. >> reporter: the result? 20 years in prison for solicitation of murder. that seemed to be the end of the sordid story. her husband mike even had some pity for the woman convicted of plotting his death. >> for a second i, look, i felt a little bad for her. i mean, it's no fun. nobody wants to go to jail. i know that for sure. >> reporter: but then, dalia's hail mary prayer for an appeal was answered. >> in the last hours, the black widow, dalia dippolito, is set to walk free? >> reporter: a florida judge ruled the jury wasn't selected properly and ordered a new trial. >> the appeals court tosses out the conviction. >> were you surprised? >> it was the first piece of good news throughout the whole process that i received. >> reporter: so now dalia is anxiously awaiting a new trial. she is out of prison and under house arrest at her mother's home, finally ready to talk to 20/20 about the charges against her.

>> did you want your husband dead? >> no, absolutely not. >> did you hire a hit man to kill your husband? >> no. >> reporter: because it is a pre-trial interview, her newly hired high profile lawyers, mark eiglarsh and brian claypool, wouldn't let her talk about certain parts of the case, in particular, those seemingly damning videotapes. >> wipe my -- prints off those -- pictures. >> how do you explain what we have all seen and heard on those videotapes? >> i'd like to be able to explain that to you right now, but i can't because the attorneys legally have told me that we're saving that for our day in court. >> how damaging are these tapes to your client? >> they are damaging, because people have formed opinions. >> reporter: her lawyers have an explanation for those tapes. >> our job in the second trial is to provide the proper context for the jury to see that this is not really what it looks like. >> reporter: he says you can't understand the tapes without understanding everything that came before.

here's a plot twist no one saw coming. he says it goes back to, of all things, another television show, the tv show "burn notice." usa's long running crime drama. on this episode, the plot is about hiring a hit man. >> i want to pay you a lot of money to kill a lady. >> reporter: and guess who had been an extra on the show? >> you appeared in the television show "burn notice." is that correct? >> yes. >> reporter: mohammed shehadi, dalia's one time lover, part-time actor and the confidential informant for the boynton beach police. the lawyers say mohammed, dalia and michael wanted to mimic the episode in their own fake hit man video. >> they wanted to submit that, post it on youtube, to try to get acting parts. that was the plan. >> so the goal here was to be famous? >> i'm not here to tell you that what these three folks did was smart. >> reporter: no, not so smart. but whatever it was, claypool says mohammed figured it would be even better if it was recorded on real undercover cameras planted by real cops.

>> you're sure everything else is okay? >> yo, what more sure can you want? you're planning a murder, come on, stop. >> mohammed is an actor in this video. >> you know, nobody is gonna be able to point a finger at me. >> more acting? >> right, exactly. it's all part of it. >> reporter: and believe it or not, he says they're not just acting. they've become real life victims. >> dalia is a victim? >> oh, i believe that, absolutely. >> reporter: claypool claims the real wrongdoers in this story are the detectives themselves. how? >> this special edition of "cops" is filmed on location with the men and women. >> reporter: remember the tv show "cops?" they'd been planning to film with the boynton beach police for months. when mohammed walked in with the story about a hit man, claypool claims detectives thought they had struck gold. >> what the police department did is they found out she's an attractive woman. in their minds they're, they're like ching, ching, ching, this is a perfect skit to get on tape. >> got the video? >> she just got in the car.

>> he gets two in the head. >> get out -- gets two in the head. >> reporter: this is where the explanation gets tricky. claypool claims mohammed realized his plans that sounded so good for a fake you tube video were spinning out of control in real life. he wanted out, but detectives threatened him to make him continue as a confidential informant. >> he wanted zero part of that. detective marino was calling him ten times a day, dude, you gotta do it, you gotta do it, you gotta call her. >> reporter: mohammed acknowledges he felt pressured by police in this deposition. >> why did you believe that you could get prosecuted for this if you didn't continue to work with them? >> cause they told me i could. >> okay. >> reporter: why would the police put pressure on mohammed? claypool says they wanted to make sure nothing stopped the "cops" tv show from going forward. and under all that pressure, claypool says mohammed freaked out when dalia told him she didn't want to meet with the supposed hit man. >> dalia starts backing out. she didn't want to have any part of this anymore. >> hey. we're staying in here, right?

>> reporter: claypool claims she only kept up the act because mohammed threatened her with a gun. >> he threatened to hurt me and to hurt my family. >> did you believe he would? >> absolutely, yes. >> so she was threatened to act out a hoax on a videotape? i mean, do you understand how ridiculous that sounds to a lot of people watching this? >> no, that's not ridiculous. you've got a 6'2", 230 pound man with a gun. >> reporter: saying you will do this -- >> absolutely. >> reporter: or else? >> right. >> so that's how i'm going to do it, robbery went bad. >> reporter: all that leading to the famous "5000%, sure" moment. >> i'm positive, like 5000% sure. >> reporter: 5,000% sure, not 100% sure, not 1,000% sure, but 5,000% sure. how do you explain that? >> i look at that video and i see somebody who's struggling with whether she's really sure. >> she's struggling, with -- >> why, well -- >> how is she struggling if

she's 5,000% sure? >> well, you might find that humorous, but when i hear people say they're sure, i'm 110% sure. she's trying to, people are trying to overcompensate. >> reporter: when she's 10, 100 or 5,000% sure, dalia's lawyers believe the whole case against dalia doesn't add up to anything. that she was framed by the police. >> so are you saying that dalia was enticed, entrapped into soliciting a murder for hire? >> there's no question about it. that the boynton beach police department was dead set on manufacturing a crime here. >> reporter: they've filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming police violated her constitutional rights. the police deny any wrongdoing in a skype interview. >> the "cops" show just happened to be that they were here at the time of this investigation. we're not in the business of producing television, were in the business of saving lives and we believe we did that in this case. we believe that the merits of the case, the evidence collected, will stand, and we

believe we have a solid case going forward. >> reporter: and what about when dalia was arrested? >> please, i didn't do anything. >> don't tell me you didn't do anything. >> why didn't she just tell police her version of what happened? >> i've asked her that question too. yeah, everybody. hey, sergeant, this was just a youtube thing we were putting together. she was in a state of shock. >> i couldn't react. i just completely froze. i wanted to get out of there, and i felt just paralyzed. >> what do you say to people who say you're just denying the undeniable? that this is an open and shut case. >> that now with the attorneys that i have, so much is coming to light to where it would just be insane to not believe me. >> reporter: so who to believe? is dalia the soft spoken, wholesome woman at our interview or a cold blooded killer? >> is the real you the person in those tapes or the person sitting here today? >> the person sitting here.

the tape, it was a show, it was a tape. that was the purpose of it. >> you were acting in those tapes? >> yes. >> but you're telling the truth now? >> yes. >> why should we believe you? >> if it's what happened, it's the truth. >> reporter: next, mike's final conversation with dalia. >> give me my house back. >> i'll help you. >> reporter: could they be in cahoots? >> that doesn't sound to me like it's coming from a person who thought his wife was going to have him shot twice in the head. >> reporter: stay with us. ♪ one, two, t , four, ♪ ♪ can i have a little more? ♪ ♪ five, six, seven, eight, ♪ nine, ten, i love you ♪ ♪ sail the ship ♪ chop the tree ♪ skip the rope ♪ look at me ♪ all together now ♪ all together now ♪ all together now ♪ all together now everything nike for everyone. kohl's.

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>> "20/20" continues with amy robach and "the woman in the video." >> reporter: she's been called a black widow. a stone cold murderer. and she knows it. >> do you care what people think of you? >> i know i'm supposed to say no, and that's probably the right healthy answer is no, but

it, it's hard not to. >> reporter: dalia dippolito is facing a new trial - and her life, her freedom and her reputation hang in the balance. >> i have -- going through depression. i'm in intensive therapy now just trying to cope with everything that's happened. and the unknown, because it's hard. >> reporter: but if she is hoping for sympathy - there has been none. in fact, her image took another hit with the publication of the book "poison candy," written by the former prosecutor who convicted her, elizabeth parker. >> as if she had ice running through her veins. >> reporter: now the lawyer for mike dippolito. >> this is what she wrote about you. she was poison candy, sweet, delicious, mouthwatering on the outside, but deadly within and designed to cripple the innocent. what's it like hearing those words? >> it's hurtful.

when i found out that the book was out, i was suicidal. >> reporter: dalia says six years after those videos made her the poster woman for how "not" to hire a hitman. she is still completely misunderstood. >> give me three words to describe yourself. who is dalia dippolito? >> understanding, sweet, and compassionate. >> reporter: mike dippolito - now happily divorced from dalia has his own set of choice words. >> what three words to describe dalia? manipulative, conniving, i got more than three. malicious. liar, liar, liar! >> reporter: we asked him about dalia's version of what happened -- that he and mohamed were making a youtube video with her. >> absolutely not. that's a lie. that's a such a -- i -- that's my reaction. >> reporter: he says he never even knew mohammed. no less planned a youtube video with him. >> i've never met him. ever.

>> reporter: mike's last conversation with dalia was a phone call she made from jail, the night she was arrested. >> mike, please, i need an attorney. can you please help me? it's not true. >> dalia, seriously, how do you explain what i saw and heard? >> daia's lawyer, brian claypool thinks mike seems to offer a tit for tat that doesn't seem to pass the smell test. >> you know what i'll do for you? >> what? >> you sign my house back over to me. i'll help your mom immensely. give me my house back. that's it. >> that's it what? >> i'll help you. >> that doesn't sound to me like it's coming from a person who thought his wife was going to have him shot twice in the head. >> reporter: as for the mysterious mohammed shihaded - what does he make of all this? he declined to do an interview with us. he has denied working on a video with dalia and mike - and ever threatening her. but claypool claims these phone records show otherwise -

500 calls between dalia and mohammed in the days leading up to dalia's arrest. >> she was baited, enticed, and entrapped. >> reporter: at her new trial, dalia says there will be one radical change. >> you're prepared to take the witness stand? >> i am. >> and testify in your own defense? >> mm-hmm. >> and to handle all that cross-examination? >> i am. >> let me know when she's going. i'll be sitting in the back with popcorn. i'd love to see this. >> did you ever love mike dippolito? >> i married him because i loved him. >> and now? >> now i wish i never would have met him. >> oh, i feel the same way. i wish -- i wish i would have made a left, not a right. trust me. >> dalia dippolito's new trial is scheduled to begin this may. so put yourself in that jury. do you buy her explanation that the tape was essentially an acting reel or a murder plot

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the woman involved in the kil killing spree and is that the the woman involved in the kil killing spree and is that the next. with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. and right now, you'll get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for 79.99 a month online for your first year. and with a 2 year agreement, we'll give you all the premium movie channels for a year. plus, 400 dollars back. so go online or call now. get out of the past. get fios. >> the fbi left no doubt. it is investigating the mass murders in san bernardino, california as an act of terrorism. and assuming that is true, what happened wednesday would be the deadliest