Discussions and quarrels between couples are not unusual. Sometimes, they can even be helpful for growing their relationship. However, rarely does it direct to one partner hiring a hitman for their spouse to get them killed. That is exactly what occurred with Dalia Dippolito’s life story.
Dalia Dippolito’s story succeeded in reaching headlines for days as her case exposed one plot twist after the other. So, in this article, we will let you know more about the life story of a Florida woman, Dalia Dippolito, whose life got changed completely.
How Dalia Dippolito met Michael Dippolito?
On the outside scenario, it appears that Dalia is a normal Florida woman. She had a typical childhood growing up as she went to catholic school, then high school, and even went on to get her real estate license. In 2008, Dalia met Michael. They attracted instantly and soon tied a knot of marriage. It all seems simple enough. But then, what happened to make Dalia hire a hitman to get her husband killed?
It seems there is a lot more to the story than what it appears in front. For starters, both Michael and Dalia were not perfect citizens. Michael was a convicted conman who had been getting money from investors fraudulently. Supposedly, Dalia did not know this about Michael and only found out when Michael’s parole officer visited them. Although, Michael claims Dalia was utterly informed of his past.
Moreover, Michael was also married at the time he coincided with Dalia. However, according to Dalia, he was in the midst of divorce proceedings, or else she would not have begun anything with him. None of these were notable enough scandals to justify hiring an assassin to get Michael murdered. Now, even though Dalia had a real estate license, her meeting with Michael was anything but natural.
At the time, Dalia was also working as an escort and met Michael when he requested an escort service one night. Nevertheless, despite both of their pasts, the two fell in love immediately. Dalia claimed she found Michael attractive and that they loved to cuddle together in bed. Michael divorced his then-wife and married Dalia five days later. The couple lived peacefully, or so it appears because just after six months, the police discovered Dalia hiring a killer to murder her husband.
Hiring a killer
After getting married, Dalia sometimes got in contact with her former lover, Mohammed Shihadeh. At first, Dalia would interact with Mohammed and talk about getting back together. During this time, she purportedly set drugs on Michael to get him caught and sent to prison.
Michael reported that after meeting Dalia, he suddenly started undergoing frequent encounters with the police. They would often pull him over because of unknown points that claimed Michael was dealing with drugs. Furthermore, Michael also claimed that Dalia once attempted to spike his drink with antifreeze.
It seems that at this point, Dalia was determined to take things further to get rid of her husband. She started planning with Mohammed to exclude her husband from the picture and settled on hiring an assassin. She created the whole crime with Mohammed. At first, Mohammed did not think Dalia was serious.
However, luckily for Michael, Mohammed chose to tip off the police about Dalia’s intentions for her husband when he realized Dalia was determined and even tried to poison her husband’s drink. Mohammed approached the Boynton Beach police with the information that Dalia was planning to hire an assassin to murder her husband.
The police were reluctant at first, but they assured Mohammed to work with a secret agent to get the proof they require. Accordingly, the law fitted Mohammed’s car with cameras to record his communication with Dalia. This recording, which the police department has since then issued to the public, shows Dalia planning the crime with Mohammed. He tells her that the hitman wants $7,000 for the job along with a $1,200 deposit.
Dalia agrees to give it all. The video also gave the police enough evidence to proceed with the case further. Therefore, they decided to send in another police office undercover, pretending to be the hitman. This police officer, Widy Jean, decided to meet with Dalia. Again, the police department fitted him with cameras and microphones to record their whole conversation. In this meeting, the video shows Dalia accepting to hire him as a hitman to murder her husband.
As part of his role, the police officer explains how he plans to carry out the whole crime, making it look like a robbery and shooting Michael twice. He even asks for the deposit, and the video shows Dalia handing over a wad of cash. Finally, to make sure that Dalia really planned to murder her husband and get their definitive proof, the police officer asks Dalia if she is going to change because it will be impossible to change their actions once the job is finished.
This point is where it can be heard Dalia’s famous words, which show her wicked intent and confidence to the crime. She replied that she was ‘5000% sure‘ that she wanted her husband dead. The story of Dalia Dippolito does not finish here, though. The police did not arrest her just yet. The undercover officer told her when he would perform the act and told Dalia to stay away during that time.
On August 5th, 2009, Dalia dutifully went to her gym to remain absent during the crime. Meanwhile, the police reached to Michael, described him everything, and whisked him away to a secure location. Then, they proceeded to stage a fake crime scene outside of Michael and Dalia’s house and set other cameras to record the whole proceedings.
The policeman in charge called Dalia at the gym and quickly told her to come back to her home. Then, Dalia returns to the house, where the police tell her that her husband is dead. In this video which the police uploaded on YouTube the same day, Dalia is seen crying and seemingly crushed by the news. The officer then took her to the station and sat her in one of the investigation rooms.
They asked her about any possible enemies that Michael may have had or if Dalia had done this herself. At that time, she insisted on knowing nothing. However, ultimately, the police declared that they knew everything and charged her with the crime of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
During all this, Dalia continued to claim that she did not do anything. When the police brought out the secret officer pretending to be the hitman, Dalia acted she had never met the man before in her life.
The trials
The story of Dalia Dippolito comprises three trials and two convictions. In the first trial in 2011, the prosecutors showed the recordings as proof. They argued that Dalia wanted to kill her husband so that she could take possession of all his wealth and get back together with her former boyfriend.
They even read out clear and graphical text messages between Dalia and her ex-lover. However, Dalia later declared that she never sent those messages, and Michael sent them. Consequently, the judge termed Dalia guilty, calling her plan pure evil, and sentenced her to twenty years in prison.
However, in 2014, the guilty conviction was tossed by an appeals court because the jury for the first trial was not properly selected. After that, Dalia was on house arrest, during which she got pregnant and had a son.
This part is where the plot sets. In 2017, in the third trial, Dalia’s attorneys presented the defense that the entire performance was just a performance to get famous on reality TV. Supposedly, Dalia, Michael, and Mohammed were all in on it and followed a story from Burn Notice. Michael refused any such participation.
Furthermore, Dalia’s side also accused the Boynton Beach police department of pressurizing Mohammed and blowing events out of proportion, only for the sake of the TV show, Cops, which was present the day of Dalia’s arrest. Nevertheless, she was still found guilty yet again and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Where is Dalia Dippolito now?
In 2019, Dalia’s attorneys tried to get her 2017 conviction reviewed again, but the court refused it. Dalia is still in prison, serving her sentence at Lowell Correctional Facility in Marion County, Florida, where she will remain to stay till 2032.
Dalia still has not lost confidence and continues to try to get her verdict reversed. Besides that, since then, Michael has got another partner and proceeds to live his life.
Final Verdict
The life story of Dalia Dippolito is not difficult to be judged. The videos of her meeting with Mohammed and then the undercover officer depict her as a patient and calculating woman, fully prepared to murder her husband just for the sake of his property and the love of money.
