Oxygen’s Dateline: Unforgettable chronicles the case against Dalia Dippolito, who attempted to hire a hitman to kill her husband. The episode, titled “The Sting,” will air on the channel this Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET.
The official synopsis for the upcoming episode reads, “Newlywed Dalia Dippolito comes home from the gym to find out her husband has been killed; in a case Dennis Murphy will never forget, almost nothing is as it seems; he explores whether Dalia was a pawn in a hoax gone wrong or simply diabolical.”
In 2009, Dalia was actively planning to have her husband killed while also attempting to hire a hitman to carry out the crime. However, Boynton Beach police learned of her schemes and set an elaborate trap to catch her in the act. The sting operation was successful, and the subsequent case resulted in a conviction in 2017 after two failed trials. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison and is now serving time at Lowell Correctional Facility in Florida.
Dalia Dippolito’s murder-for-hire case & the sting operation, explained
Dalia Dippolito was a sex worker before becoming a notorious criminal. ABC News reported that in 2009, Florida’s Boynton Beach police recorded Dippolito camera as she discussed plans to hire a hit man to have her then-husband, Michael Dippolito, killed. Later, she unknowingly met an undercover police officer posing as a hitman to discuss the same plot.
The first time, Dippolito had discussed about her plans with a friend, Mohamed Shihadeh, who reported the same to police. She had reportedly sought Shihadeh’s help. However, he informed the police and worked with them in their sting operation against Dippolito as an informant, as per SunSentinel.
Moreover, the ABC report stated that on August 5, 2009, Dippolito returned home to find Michael dead in a fake crime scene created by the police. They recorded her emotional reaction as officers told her he was dead. By then, officers had already removed Mike Dippolito, who was alive, from the home. They then took her to the station under the pretense that they needed to tell her about the person behind the killing. Meanwhile, they removed Michael, who was also alive, from the staged crime scene.
At the station, the police told Dippolito that her husband was still alive. At the time, the couple were married for only six months. They also informed her of the taped conversations she had with Shihadeh and the undercover officer. After the revelation, authorities arrested her on a solicitation to commit first-degree murder charge.
The prosecution reportedly alleged that Dippolito wanted control of their Palm Beach County townhouse and her husband’s bank account. They also suggested that she wanted him out of way to be able to rekindle an old relationship. Nonetheless, she maintained her innocence.
In 2011, the accused stood trial for the first time when a jury found her guilty of solicitation to commit first-degree murder. The judge then sentenced her to 20 years in prison. However, an appeals court judge vacated her conviction in 2014, ruling improper jury selection as the reason. A second trial in 2016 ended with a hung jury.
A third trial in 2017 resulted in Dippolito’s ultimate conviction. A jury convicted her of solicitation to commit first-degree murder. She then received a 16-year prison sentence. Now a convict, she is serving her sentence at the Lowell Correctional Facility in Florida, as per the Department of Corrections. Her possible release date is February 21, 2031.
