The voicemail that led to a devastating discovery | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support
please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show
notes for this episode on your app or on our website newlyweds dahlia and michael dippolito
lived in the newly developed community of renaissance commons in boynton beach a coastal city in palm beach county
florida they had recently purchased a modern three-story townhouse on a palm tree-lined street
named via de pepe which overlooked several canals and waterways the beach was just a 10 minute drive
away and there were a number of restaurants shops and cafes nearby making the location well suited to the couple's
active cosmopolitan lifestyle twenty-six-year-old dahlia had recently announced she was pregnant with their
first baby and the area was ideal for raising a child on the morning of august five 5 2009
dahlia arose early to start her day with a workout at the local gym 38 year old michael usually joined her
as dahlia didn't like going alone but two weeks earlier he had undergone liposuction on his lower back
and was experiencing complications from the procedure that left him mostly bedridden
dalia promised to stop at starbucks to pick up a coffee for michael on her way home
just before 6am she left the house in her husband's chevy tahoe suv and drove to the la fitness gym one mile
from their home at 6 33 am while at the gym dalia noticed a missed call on her mobile phone from an unknown
number the caller had left a voice message 12 minutes earlier stating this is sergeant frank ramsey
boynton beach police department detective division i need you to call me as soon as you can
ma'am it's urgent thank you dahlia called sergeant ramsey back and he instructed
her to return to her residence immediately saying it involves your husband there's been an incident i'll tell you
everything you need to know when you get here dahlia quickly left the gym and made her
way home as she turned into via de pepe she found the street was a buzz with police cars
and camera crews her property was cordoned off with crime scene tape and its front door was wide open and
covered with fingerprint powder as forensic investigators milled about taking photographs
sergeant ramsey informed adalia that there had been reports of a disturbance with shots being fired
entered that her husband michael had been killed dahlia burst into tears and cried out no
repeatedly collapsing into sergeant ramsay's arms as he attempted to calm her down she
begged to be taken to michael's body another officer escorted the distraught dahlia
into a police vehicle to be taken to the station so that she could assist with their
investigation [Music] [Music] michael dippolito was born in philadelphia pennsylvania
on december 18 1970. both of his parents struggled with the drug addiction which
led to michael being raised by his grandparents michael developed his own substance
abuse problems during early adolescence and at the age of 15 he was admitted to a rehab facility
following his release he maintained sobriety for five and a half years and worked as a night counsellor at the
same treatment center where he'd received help he relapsed in his early twenties and
spent the next few years in and out of rehab and began dealing crack cocaine michael eventually relocated to
florida and began working as a telemarketer for several different companies his job involved cold calling potential
investors to sell gold coins and foreign currency a natural salesman michael thrived in
this line of work at one point earning around two hundred thousand dollars in an eighteen month
period however the sales were a scam in which the telemarketing companies were keeping
their clients investment money when the scams inevitably fell apart michael set up a cold calling scheme of
his own in 2002 he was arrested and later convicted of unlicensed telemarketing communications fraud and
grand theft and was sentenced to two years in prison he was released in 2005 with an extended
probationary period of 28 years and ordered to pay a total of 219 000 in restitution to his victims
a payment schedule was set up in which michael would contribute monthly installments
over the course of his 28-year probation he was also required to report to his parole officer once a month to provide
details regarding where he was living who he was living with what car he was driving
and how much income he'd made his home and vehicle could be searched without prior warning
at any time and he was forbidden from leaving palm beach county in southeastern florida without
obtaining prior approval from the parole office upon his release from prison michael
moved in with his girlfriend maria he immediately started using drugs again which prompted maria to end their
relationship determined to get sober once and for all michael stopped using and began
attending support meetings and counselling he secured a job at an online marketing
company and reconciled with maria and the two were married in july of 2007 afraid of ever returning to prison
michael cooperated with his parole conditions and maintained his sobriety he developed
a stable routine starting each morning with an early session at the gym before heading off to work
in late 2007 he started his own online marketing company mad media which sold ad banners and
search engine optimization services to help clients direct more traffic to their websites
the company's initial success was hindered by the global financial crisis of 2008
but mad media turned a decent profit regardless and afforded michael a comfortable
lifestyle dedicated to his expensive tastes by october of 2008 his marriage had started crumbling
maria was out of town when a colleague introduced him to eros.com a website that advertised sex work
services as detailed in the book poison candy by elizabeth parker michael contacted a sex worker named
dalia muhammad and to the two organized to meet that evening michael was immediately attracted to
dahlia who was the daughter of peruvian and egyptian parents she was born in new york but raised in
boynton beach along with her younger brother and sister her parents had divorced when she was 17
after which she lost contact with her father but maintained a close relationship with
her mother two siblings and her mother's extended family at the age of 19 dahlia started sex work
and spent several years running massage parlors in south florida and california she was also a licensed real estate
agent and worked part-time as a realtor michael and dahlia had a lot in common and instantly hit it off
michael employed her services again the following day and to dahlia chose to spend the night
free of charge the pair commenced a whirlwind romance and at the end of october michael filed to divorce maria
two months later he spontaneously proposed to dahlia she happily accepted and michael bought her a 26 000
diamond engagement ring to make it official michael's divorce from maria was finalized on january 28
2009 that same day he withdrew 238 thousand dollars in cash from his safety deposit box
and used it to purchase the renaissance commons townhouse for himself dahlia and their two dogs
dahlia was the realtor responsible for the transaction and also received the commission for the
sale five days later the couple were married in a registry office ceremony michael started running his business
from home while dahlia mostly lived the life of leisure leaving to show houses a few times a
week the dippolitos spent weekends visiting one another's families watching movies and going to the beach
they dreamed of traveling but were restricted by the terms of michael's probation
which became a source of much frustration in early 2009 the couple began having a
number of brushes with the law which added to their grievances in early march michael's probation
officer received three anonymous phone calls from a concerned neighbour who claimed that michael was dealing
steroids and ecstasy from his townhouse a team of 10 officers searched the dippolito's home
but found nothing to support the claim on march 16 police received an anonymous phone call from a woman who reported
someone was stealing drugs out of a grey chevy tahoe suv in the parking lot of the ritz carlton hotel in manilapan
roughly six miles from the dippolito's home police were dispatched to the area where
they learned that the vehicle belonged to michael dippolito who had spent the weekend at the hotel
with dahlia michael insisted he had nothing to hide and permitted the police to search his car
where they found nothing of interest on march 29 a specialist narcotics team was dispatched to the city place
shopping center in west palm beach they had received an anonymous tip-off that a large amount of drugs were being
held in a chevy tahoe suv parked in the mall's underground garage michael had parked his car there while
he went shopping at the center with dahlia when the couple returned to the chevy
and learned of the tip-off michael became visibly upset but was polite and cooperative
with the help of a specially trained police dog the narcotics team found a cigarette box underneath the
vehicle's spare tyre which held a small amount of cocaine in florida possession of cocaine is a
felony offense making the discovery an automatic violation of michael's probation
he broke down in tears telling police he had been sober for six years and had no idea the cocaine was there
offering a possible explanation he said his ex-wife maria may have planted the drugs in a bid to get him in trouble
given their recent divorce officer mary hooper who was leading the search believed michael was being sincere later
stating as a matter of fact i thought he was just as shocked as we were when we found
it subsequently michael was free to go four days later two officers from the boynton beach police department were
dispatched to the dippolito's home after receiving an anonymous call from a neighbour who claimed the couple had
been yelling all night earlier that morning the neighbours stated they had seen michael drag dahlia inside by the hair
they could still hear banging coming from the townhouse and feared for dahlia's safety
officers arrived at the scene and separated the dippolitos in order to question them
individually both confirmed they had argued about money the previous night but denied a physical altercation
had taken place as the officers didn't notice any injuries on dahlia and nothing seemed out of place they
left the property it was later that night that dahlia told michael she was expecting their first child
one month later on may 1 2009 dahlia told michael that she had received the strange phone call from
someone named detective hurley of the boynton beach police department who told her that he
knew what she'd been doing and that she should quote confess to her husband shaken the couple immediately went to
the police station to confront detective hurley only to be told that no one by that name
existed although they were confused they dismissed the call as a prank several weeks later the dippolitos
returned to michael's car after a workout at la fitness and found a note on his windscreen
that read bring forty thousand dollars 9 30 a.m back to this space and put it under the car behind you
do not tell anyone especially your wife i will tell you all that has happened to
you is happening to you and what will happen on friday tell no one come alone the note was signed from someone who
will help you and included a phone number with a miami area code when dahlia called the number a woman
answered and threatened to kill both her and her husband the dippolitos reported the incident to
police and was so worried that they considered getting a guard dog for protection
michael was eager to be free of his probation once and for all he hired a lawyer who successfully
brokered an agreement that his probation would be terminated if he could pay the
remaining 191 thousand dollars he owed in restitution dahlia offered to contribute 91 000
and michael paid her the remaining 100 000 so that she could transfer the full amount to his lawyer in one transaction
dahlia provided michael with a receipt confirming the transfer had been made via an
account in the cayman islands but the receipt also showed the transaction had been reversed
michael asked to dahlia to sort it out and a week later she gave him a cashiers check for the
entire 191 thousand dollars the cheque was written from the account of eric tao who was dahlia's friend's husband
explained to michael that it was quicker for eric to write the check instead of waiting for the reversed
transaction from the cayman islands to clear the dippolitos took the check to michael's lawyer
but as they were about to hand it over dahlia suddenly snatched it back saying she
wanted her 91 000 contribution returned desperate to have the issue resolved michael drove to his safety deposit box
and withdrew the last of his money which amounted to one hundred and forty thousand dollars in cash and cashes
checks he gave dahlia 91 000 cash in exchange for the restitution check however when he took the check to his
lawyer's office they discovered it had been changed to just 191 dollars michael called dahlia who explained she
had met eric tower for lunch and he must have somehow switched the checks while they
were eating she returned the cash michael had given her eric agreed to cut another check for the
total restitution amount of 191 000 in exchange for michael's entire savings of one hundred and forty
thousand dollars michael would then repay eric the remaining 51 000 plus interest via a series of
installments the dippolitos returned to michael's lawyer's office with eric's new check only to be informed that
another attorney had just sent a fax advising there was a lien over michael's townhouse
that gave eric rightful possession of the property until michael had cleared his debt
frustrated by the ongoing complexities in what was supposed to be a simple and straightforward job the lawyer fired
michael as a client michael met with a new lawyer that same afternoon but as the check was made out to the
previous law firm his new lawyer was unable to accept it [Music] eric said that he couldn't draw a new
check as his accounts had been frozen due to his recent unusually high activity he promised to have a new check
delivered as soon as his accounts were back in action but michael never heard from him again
eric later denied ever receiving any money from michael aside from thirty thousand dollars in
cashiers checks which he claimed to have returned to dahlia on april 2 michael considered selling
the townhouse to pay his restitution money but dahlia was against the idea telling
michael they had bigger things to worry about now that she was pregnant dahlia spent the next few months
preparing for the baby by reading parenting books debating possible names and attending
regular doctors appointments to move past their money and trust issues the dippolitos also started seeing a
marriage counsellor on july 22 dahlia told michael that a friend had recommended a lawyer who
could help him get onto administrative probation while he was waiting to pay off his restitution
if successful this meant he would no longer have to check in with his probation officer on a regular basis
michael spoke with the lawyer who suggested he signed his townhouse into someone else's name
in case it had an effect on the administrative probation decision on july 31 michael signed
the property over to dahlia the dippolito's conveyancing attorney advised that although dahlia was now the sole
owner florida's homestead laws meant michael would still be required to sign off
on any sale of the property after being plagued by problems since the start of their marriage
it appeared as though the couple's issues might finally be over less than a week later on the morning of
august 5 2009 dahlia was informed of michael's murder [Music] looking visibly distraught she was
driven to the boynton beach police department to help with the investigation along the way the detectives explained
all they knew so far was that gunshots had been heard and a black man was witnessed running away from the
crime scene dahlia said there had been a lot of black people visiting their predominantly white neighborhood
recently and recounted a couple of strange occurrences at the police station head of the major
cases unit sergeant paul sheridan took dahlia into an interview room and asked if she knew anyone who would
want to kill her husband [Music] she explained that michael was a recovering drug addict and alcoholic
and an ex-con who still owed some people money he was also due to testify at several
upcoming fraud cases and owed his silent business partner at mad media forty thousand dollars
michael had been bragging that his probation was ending soon and dahlia said this might have upset
some of his former telemarketing cohorts who weren't offered the same flexibility
she claimed that one had approached michael a few months earlier to make some kind of a demand
but she wasn't sure of the details sergeant sheridan informed dahlia that michael had let the killer into their
house and was then shot twice in their bedroom dahlia was surprised responding that
michael wouldn't open the door for someone he didn't know sergeant sheridan then left the room to
get more information from officers at the scene he returned minutes later with a
handcuffed black male whom he said had been seen running from the dippolito's property that
morning when asked if she recognized the man dalia said she had never seen him before
the handcuffed man was then led out of the room sergeant sheridan silently stared at
dahlia for several seconds and then informed her you're going to jail today for solicitation for murder
you're under arrest for the past eight years dahlia had been having an on and off affair with 29 year old
married convenience store owner muhammad shahadah at the time of her marriage to michael dippolito in
february of 2009 she and muhammad had taken a break from their relationship on march 17 two days after michael's car
was searched at the ritz-carlton hotel dalia reached out to the now separated muhammad
and told him that her new husband was abusive gave her the phone number of a police
officer named robert wilson whom dahlia contacted she explained that her husband was violent
and that she feared for her life as dahlia was outside of officer wilson's jurisdiction
he told her she would have to report her concerns to the boynton beach police department
if she wanted to launch a domestic abuse investigation the following day dalia and muhammad met
up for the first time since her marriage to michael she surprised him with the gift of a 38 000
range rover which she had paid for in cash dalia registered the vehicle in muhammad's name
confessing that she had used some of michael's restitution money to pay for it around the same time she asked if
muhammad could help her obtain a fake western union slip through the money service he ran at his
convenience store he refused as he was audited monthly by the inland revenue service
instead he helped dahlia create an artificial receipt using a bank wire form that had been
faxed from a bank in the cayman islands in late march dalia and muhammad met at urbanware
a clothing store in riviera beach owned by muhammad's cousin the store was frequented by members of
the buck wild gang an organised crime group known to terrorize the area dalia loudly asked if muhammad knew
anyone who could kill her husband and some of the gang members overheard and offered their services
dahlia offered to pay a large sum of cash or hand over muhammad's new range rover
in return she then got into a car with some of the gang members and drove them past her townhouse to
show them where she lived given there were a number of cameras motion detectors and alarms throughout the neighborhood
the buck wild gang deduced that would be a difficult job to pull off a few days later muhammad received a
phone call from one of the gang members who asked if dahlia was legitimate muhammad warned them not to take the job
as dahlia was already speaking to a police officer regarding her violent husband
and it was therefore too risky the gang backed off and muhammad sold the range rover back to the dealership
afraid that it would make him too conspicuous to the gang he used the money from the sale to pay
for his divorce lawyer and took his daughter to israel for a holiday when he returned on june 20 2009
he met up with dahlia who revealed that she had attempted to have michael's probation violated
by planting drugs in his car when they were staying at the ritz-carlton hotel she had hidden the drugs in his gas cap
and to then called the police but they didn't find them during their search she also told muhammad she was trying to
figure out how to get the townhouse signed into her name on july 31 the two met at a mobile gas
station where dahlia asked if muhammad would kill her husband he flatly refused he then left her in
the car alone for a minute and when he returned he noticed the glock semi-automatic firearm he kept in
his glove box was missing he asked the dahlia if she took it but she denied doing so before handing the gun over and
saying she'd taken it as a joke it was at this point that muhammad realised she was serious about wanting
her husband dad the following day muhammad agreed to see dalia again at the same mobile gas station
sitting together in muhammad's car he asked why she wanted to go through with having
michael murdered dahlia responded that it had nothing to do with the money but was about quote his [ __ ] friends
and all that other [ __ ] when muhammad asked if anyone would suspect that dahlia was behind
the murder she replied why me like do you know what [ __ ] killing somebody is nobody's going to be able to point a
finger at me muhammad then offered to put dahlia in touch with a former military hitman
who was an illegal immigrant with nothing to lose he explained that she would need to
provide the hitman with the clear photo of michael as well as twelve hundred dollars to buy
a gun dahlia agreed saying she wanted the hit completed by wednesday august 5. muhammad reassured her
it would be done by then as the hitman was scheduled to fly to costa rica on thursday august 6.
dalia counted out twelve hundred dollars from a what of cash she had in her handbag
and handed it to muhammad she also offered to give him twenty thousand dollars once the hit was done she took a bundle
of photographs from her bag intended over a photo of the townhouse and an individual shot of michael
dalia then demanded quote wipe my [ __ ] prince off those [ __ ] pictures when she asked if muhammad was sure that
everything was okay he stated no i'm not sure because you're planning a murder in response dalia told him
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michael he had gone to the boynton beach police department to report that he was having
an affair with the woman who was threatening to kill her husband as muhammad was unsure of dalia's new
married name address or any details about michael the police doubted his story they only
agreed to investigate on the condition that muhammad act as a confidential informant
he was concerned that he would be outed as a snitch to the buck wild gang but he eventually succumbed to the
pressure to cooperate the detectives wanted muhammad to wear a wire to his meeting with dalia on august
1 but he said it would be risky as she would likely perform oral sex on him instead detectives fitted muhammad's
vehicle with a pinhole video camera and a covert listening device which allowed them to hear the conversation in
real time they recorded dahlia as she agreed to muhammad's offer to hire a former
military hitman and handed over the photographs and initial payment this meeting also provided police with
the opportunity to run dahlia's licence plates through their system in order to confirm her husband's
identity on monday august 3 an undercover officer from boynton beach police department's
community action team called dahlia to pose as the hitman officer witty jean was selected for the
role because he was a black man with cornrows in his hair which likely matched the image dahlia
had of a hitman based on her previous encounters with the buck wild gang officer jean told dahlia he was driving
up from miami and would call again to arrange a place to meet once he was closer
he also requested an upfront payment of three thousand dollars as well as a key to dahlia's house
after the call ended dalia phoned muhammad to complain about the increased fee and said she was worried the hitman
would rob her house shortly after 4 pm officer jean called dahlia and asked her to meet him in the
parking lot of a cvs pharmacy on north military trail in west palm beach unbeknownst
to her his red chrysler convertible was fitted with audio and video recording devices
and being surveilled by a team of officers muhammad and dalia drove to the meeting
spot and dalia got into officer jean's convertible while muhammad waited outside the car
officer jean asked adalia for the money her house key and alarm codes she told him she didn't
bring any cash with her and would have to pay after the hit was done officer jean agreed but increased the
price to seven thousand dollars dahlia assured him she was good for the money because
quote that's the kind of person i am on the morning of wednesday august 5 michael was planning to withdraw ten
thousand dollars cash to pay his business partner dahlia and officer jean agreed that the
hit should be carried out then and made to look like a botched robbery with dahlia suggesting that officer jean
keep the money as his payment provided the address along with specific directions to the dippolito's townhouse
and stated i'm a lot tougher than what i look i know what you're thinking you're like
oh what a cute little girl whatever you know but i'm not officer jean told dahlia that after
their meeting ended she wouldn't be able to change her mind he asked if she definitely wanted to
proceed to which dahlia responded i'm positive like five thousand percent sure when i say i'm gonna do something i'm
gonna do it the following day officers from boynton beach police department held a meeting
to discuss their plans for the staged crime scene coincidentally a camera crew from the
fox network reality television show cops were scheduled to start shooting with the
department that week as part of a pre-arranged public relations agreement [Music]
on a whim sergeant paul sheridan suggested the cops team filmed the staged scene
all relevant parties agreed that dahlia had already committed the crime of solicitation to commit first-degree
murder when she exchanged money with muhammad and therefore filming wouldn't be in breach
of the active investigation it was decided that when dalia arrived at the pseudo crime scene
the cops crew would be cordoned off behind police tape to look like regular members of the
press on tuesday august 4 officer jean called dahlia to confirm the hit would take place the following day
he explained that waiting until michael had withdrawn his money from the bank wasn't viable and instead instructed
dahlia to vacate the townhouse by 6 am [Music] at 5 58 the following morning after
dahlia left for the gym the police arrived at the dippolito's townhouse where sergeant sheridan informed michael
i need to tell you something real quick here you need to come with me to the police station
you're not in trouble your wife has hired someone to kill you a visibly shocked michael was
immediately taken to the boynton beach police station where he told interviewing detectives
about the strange things that had started happening a month after he and dahlia married
he mentioned the random drug raids revealing that the day after his car was searched at the ritz-carlton hotel
he found a bag of cocaine and xanax stuffed into the cap of his gas tank the police had missed them during their
search and terrified of being found in violation of his parole michael had thrown the drugs away
dahlia had seemed shocked when he told her but michael suspected she was the one
who planted them there along with the cocaine found under his spare tyre during the city place shopping center
search he also suspected she was responsible for the difficulty he was having paying off his restitution money
michael confronted dahlia and threatened to leave dalia was upset and acknowledged she had
made a mistake by trying to wire the original restitution payment through the cayman islands
she insisted there was nothing to be suspicious of and that eric tau was trying to help her
fix the error when the detectives asked michael what motivated dahlia to order his murder
he said it likely had something to do with the townhouse he had just signed over to her
and to the money she had stolen quote that's why today honestly i'm not that surprised or shocked about all of this
i mean fool me once fool me twice fool me three times at this point there's just nothing left to say it's
just ridiculous whatever she gets she deserves everything had gone according to plan at
the staged crime scene with the cops crew capturing every second of dahlia's reaction to the news
that her husband had been murdered she was being transported to the police station for questioning
a search of michael's chevy tahoe revealed dahlia had taken all of her valuable items to the gym that morning
including an eighteen hundred dollar prada handbag that contained her twenty six thousand
dollar engagement ring and seven and a half thousand dollars worth of designer jewelry
given the plan was to make michael's murder look like a botched robbery it was clear to investigators that
dahlia didn't want to risk having her possession stolen as part of the ruse [Music]
after dahlia was placed under arrest for solicitation to commit murder sergeant sheridan informed her that the
hitman she'd hired was in fact an undercover officer [Music] you're going to jail for solicitation of
first degree murder in your husband did you hear everything has been recorded you were
photographed in the convertible when you sat his car in the front of cvs what do you want to do what do you want
to do here go on nothing listen to it i didn't do anything you're going to jail tell me you didn't do anything
going to jail today as soon as i'm done they're going to come in here and handcuff you and take you to the palm
beach county jail book you for solicitation of first degree murder on your husband
[Music] when sergeant sheridan revealed that michael was alive and well dahlia immediately asked to see him
investigators initially refused her request but then had michael appear in the doorway to the interrogation room where
dahlia was being interviewed oh my god here's a lie come here please come here please come
here come here please come here why not come here please come here dahlia was subsequently taken to the
county jail where she called her mother and said she wanted michael out of the townhouse as the title was in
her name she then called michael to request that he help her stating it's not true
it's not possible what they are saying is not true i heard what you heard i saw what you
saw and it's not true i am giving you my word that it's not true how can you believe that please help me
michael said he would help her if she agreed to sign the townhouse back to him dahlia refused to which michael
responded quote i just offered to help you and you have the balls to say no to me
you just said [ __ ] you to me which is hilarious considering what happened today
when dahlia was first taken in for questioning she had signed a document which sergeant sheridan explained was a
form consenting to their interview being videotaped in reality it was a waiver allowing the
footage of dahlia to appear on an episode of cops on the day of her arrest the boynton beach police department
released the clip of the fake crime scene to youtube and the story quickly went viral
michael was immediately inundated with media attention with hundreds of reporters calling to
ask for his story and comments in an attempt to satisfy the media and public he agreed to make an exclusive unpaid
appearance on the nbc's the today show the interview took place on august 10 during which michael described his
disbelief upon being told about dahlia's plan and to the discomfort he felt when watching
her police interview from the next room he also noted that dahlia had appeared completely normal on the morning his
murder was scheduled to take place michael thanked the boynton beach police department for their actions
saying everybody says how lucky you are to be where you're at and it honestly hasn't sunk in yet i
still don't get what's really happened it's just a very strange situation that same day muhammad shahadah told the
police that dahlia had previously confessed to attempting to poison michael on july 22
2009 while michael was recovering from his liposuction procedure dahlia went to starbucks to buy him a
chai iced tea and replaced half of the beverage with a colorless odorless brand of
antifreeze she had hoped michael wouldn't notice anything unusual about the tea but he immediately
spat it out telling her it tasted like gasoline michael recalled this incident explaining he had assumed that
our taste was due to some sort of tea concentrate at the bottom of the cup for ten days afterwards he suffered from
diarrhea stomach cramps and mouth ulcers which he had attributed to after-effects of the
liposuction when he later told his surgeon about the strange symptoms he was informed that they were unrelated
to the procedure so michael had put it down to food poisoning on november 20 2009 michael made another
appearance on the today show by this point he had seen more of the covert police recordings
and told host matt lauer quote watching it it's kind of like she's ordering a cheese sandwich
you know asking someone to kill me i thought i was starting a family with this girl and to see
this is just i can't even put it into words i'm just very disappointed and in utter
disbelief as the prosecution began putting their case against tatalia together they obtained her phone records and
discovered that in the months leading up to michael's attempted murder she had been in constant contact with an
ex-boyfriend named mike stanley according to the book poison candy by elizabeth parker
the two met in 2006 when mike traveled to west palm beach from his home in connecticut for a golfing weekend
and commenced the long-distance relationship thereafter within eight months they moved to
california together but six months later the relationship dissolved dahlia returned to florida and mike
relocated to new york but they stayed on good terms and maintained a friendship dahlia's phone records revealed that in
mid 2009 she reached out to mike stanley to say she was still in love with him and wanted to be with him mike
reciprocated her feelings and to the two began messaging each other around the clock
dahlia treated mike as her confidant admitting that she was lying to her husband about being pregnant
on one occasion she sent mike a text message asking him to call and pretend to be her
doctor because she had lied to michael about missing an appointment one week later she sent mike stanley a
message which read soulmates is what we are we are meant to be together do you know
i have baby names picked out i want your child in me [Music] on july 20 dahlia texted mike stanley
her husband's social security number and bank account details and instructed him to call the department of treasury
to try to have michael's business account frozen her aim was to prevent her husband from
paying the restitution money and therefore freeing himself from probation dalia wrote michael's so full of [ __ ]
and ungrateful crying broke with one hundred thousand dollars in the bank a nice house cars so what if he's on
probation he's been on it for five years an ass i love you can't wait to have the
treasury drain him i really hope they can freeze his account mike and dahlia began discussing ways
they could convince michael to sign the townhouse over to dahlia and how planting drugs in his car might
get his parole revoked on july 21 dahlia texted mike saying i love you just want my life with
you let's get this [ __ ] arrested i am so tired of his [ __ ] we need to strategize the drugs baby
we need to make this happen with his arrest by the weekend she then asked mike to report her
husband for being in violation of his parole conditions two days earlier michael had hired a
four thousand dollar luxury suite to watch the philadelphia phillies play against the miami marlins the game took
place outside of michael's home county which he wasn't supposed to leave without permission from his parole
officer additionally he had invited a friend who was on probation when he wasn't supposed to be
associating with other convicted criminals dahlia also instructed mike to report
her husband to the irs alleging he had created fake employees to use for tax write-offs
in late july dahlia had arranged for michael to meet with a lawyer who could help him secure administrative probation
it was during this meeting that michael was advised to sign the townhouse over to his wife
which he did when the prosecution looked through dahlia's phone records they discovered that she had in fact
organised for mike stanley to pose as the lawyer to trick michael into signing the
townhouse over she had also convinced her mother to organise for a professional looking man
to meet the dippoletos of the courthouse to play the role of the lawyer's fake paralegal in exchange for 500
her mother had agreed and assigned the task to a friend on july 31 dahlia texted
mike stanley to say i want my life with you right now we'd be getting our party weekend
started i'm ready to spend the rest of my life smiling with you and making you smile we're soul mates
me and you forever it was later that same day that she met with muhammad shahadah to discuss her
plans for killing her husband prior to dalia's trial she was released from the county jail
and remanded on house arrest in her mother's home on april 25 2011 the trial began
in the palm beach county court with the judge jeffrey colbath presiding in a pre-trial ruling several details
were deemed inadmissible including dahlia's history as a sex worker her false pregnancy claims and her
alleged attempt to poison michael dippolito with antifreeze the evidence was presented over several
weeks during which michael and muhammad both testified mike stanley had provided a pre-trial
deposition and was not required to appear in court dahlia's defense team claimed their
client was a sweet and innocent young girl who was swept up in the rich and flashy
lifestyle of her image-obsessed husband they put forward that the murder for hire plot had been
part of a script michael had masterminded in a bid to secure a reality tv show he had allegedly convinced adalia and
muhammad who had previously appeared on two episodes of the television crime drama
burn notice to get in on the act in his opening statement defense attorney michael souneck said
the plot for the contract killing of michael dippolito was never real it was a stunt that mike
dippolito whether he had admitted or not hoped to capture the attention of someone in
reality tv michael dippolito's hoax to obtain fame and fortune was a bad prank mr saunic said dahlia was a victim of
her husband's and to the boynton beach police department's hunger for fame in rebuttal the prosecution argued
dahlia was a cold-blooded would-be killer who laughed as she instructed an undercover officer to murder her husband
prosecutor elizabeth parker quote she laughed because she thought she could fool him
and she thought she could fool everyone else the defense attempted to paint michael
in a negative light bringing up his history as a con man drug addict and alcoholic
but it backfired when he was instead perceived as a nice and genuine person according to muhammad dalia had admitted
that michael wasn't actually violent but instead treated her well and would do anything she asked
she said she couldn't stand him and simply wanted him out of their house [Music]
on may 13 it took the jury less than three hours to reach their verdict finding dalia dippolito guilty of
solicitation to commit first-degree murder the sentencing hearing was held a month
later on june 16 2011. michael dippoleto delivered a victim impact statement explaining how dahlia's crimes
and the resulting legal proceedings had prevented him from paying the outstanding restitution money to his
victims and securing his release from probation as a result he had been unable to travel
to spend time with his father before his death his business had failed and he described
himself as a nervous wreck admitting to his own mistakes in the past michael said
if dahlia would have owned it like a normal person i would have respected that but when i
get to court i hear that i want a reality television show not only is she saying that but her
lawyers allow it it's ridiculous you should have just said space aliens landed and they did it
that would have been a better defense if she wanted to steal my money and to leave me
she should have got a divorce what was i gonna do cry who does this this isn't a wholesome
person this isn't a person that has any regret any remorse as soon as we walk out of here they're
filing for an appeal you know why because they think everybody in this room is stupid
that's why before handing down his sentence judge colbath said dahlia had no moral justification
for her conduct and was motivated by greed self-indulgence and a desire to be free of her husband
he dismissed the defense's claim that she had been sweet and innocent prior to meeting michael
and described her campaign to get rid of him as relentless quote you used guile and
tapestry to dupe others into your web of deception you were the puppet master pulling all
the strings it was weeks and months that you continued with the different schemes to
try and rid yourself of your husband it was pure evil you were taking advantage of a guy that was gullible
and that was in love with you and you contrived these elaborate plans and cajoled others
to assist you i haven't heard one ounce of remorse acknowledging that dahlia would be
facing life in prison or the death penalty had her plot to kill michael been successful
judge colbath sentenced to dahlia to 20 years in prison minus the time already spent on house
arrest dahlia's legal team made several motions to appeal her conviction and dahlia was once again remanded on
house arrest pending the outcomes in october of 2011 the palm beach county family court officially finalised
michael landalia's divorce that same month dahlia launched a motion for a retrial
after it was revealed that one of her defense attorneys michael souneck had previously
represented sergeant frank ramsey one of the officers who helped orchestrate michael's fake murder plot
in 2001 sergeant ramsey had been wrongfully accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl
and although he was found not guilty and the case had no ties to the dippolito investigation
dahlia filed an affidavit saying she would quote have never let michael sanik represent me if i had known he had
previously represented sergeant ramsey because of the conflict of interest the motion was rejected after mr saunik
produced the documents proving dahlia had been aware and still wanted him to represent her regardless
dali dahlia's new defense lawyer was brian claypool a highly regarded californian attorney
who specialized in entertainment law and select criminal defense cases representing her pro bono mr claypool
continued to appeal dalia's conviction submitting that his client had been deprived of an impartial jury
during jury selection for the trial one of the jurors openly mentioned having read that dahlia
had tried to poison michael with antifreeze an allegation that had already been deemed inadmissible at trial
the defense had asked that the jury panel be dismissed but judge colbath rejected the request
in the appeal dalia's defense claimed this was an error on judge kolbath's behalf
on july 30 2014 the district court of appeal agreed and ordered a new trial with dahlia to
remain at her mother's home on house arrest in february 2014 public interest in the
case was renewed when prosecutor elizabeth parker teamed with best-selling crime writer mark
ebner to release a book titled poison candy the murderous madam inside a dahlia dippolito's plot to kill
the comprehensive book detailed the court proceedings while also delving into the dippolito's
backstory sexual history and elements of the case that were deemed inadmissible at trial on december 4
2015 while dahlia was still on house arrest she agreed to appear on abc's 2020 television program
showing her ankle monitor she told presenter amy robach that she was undergoing therapy and
medication for depression and anxiety she said her newfound religious faith was getting her through
each day and that she listened to worship music as an escape she flatly denied ever hiring a hitman
to kill her husband maintaining it had all been a scheme to get a reality television deal
she insisted that she only went along with it because muhammad shahadah had threatened to hurt her and her family
otherwise she also claimed the text messages sent from her phone to her ex-boyfriend
mike stanley had actually been sent by michael dippolito she denied knowing that michael was a
convicted felon until after they were married and that although she had loved him
during their marriage she now wished they had never met when asked to describe herself in three
words dahlia responded understanding sweet and compassionate in a separate interview for the program
michael asserted that dahlia knew all about his criminal past former drug use prison time and
probation from the get-go in response to dalia's comment that she wished they had
never met michael said oh i feel the same way i wish i would have made a left and not a right
trust me when asked to describe his ex-wife in three words he said liar liar and a liar
on february 23 2016 during her pre-trial evidentiary hearing dahlia testified that the entire murder
for hire plot had been a scripted project between herself her ex-husband and muhammad shahadah
in a bid to secure reality television contracts she explained she had done some acting
for a talent company after high school appearing as an extra in an episode of television prank show
the jamie kennedy experiment in 2004 she claimed the hitman script was inspired by an episode of burn notice
in which muhammad had played a fake hitman and the project was intended to be released
on social media to explain the phone calls and multiple meetings between herself and muhammad
from july 31 2009 to august 5 2009 dalia said they were all part of the project dalia claimed that on august 3 2009
she had met with muhammad to say she no longer wanted to be involved with the plan
he had allegedly flashed a gun and threatened to kill her and her family if she didn't meet
with the hitman dalia pointed out that she didn't bring any of the items officer woody john had asked her to
bring to their meeting such as her house key or her alarm code stating this was evidence that it was
all part of an acting project dahlia said she was aware that muhammad had been recording her for the project
but didn't realise that police were filming as well when asked why she didn't know where the
cameras were located she reasoned quote mo was dealing with all that stuff she claimed the 1200 payment she had
given to muhammad wasn't for the gun but for his collaboration on the project dahlia's second trial commenced on
december 1 2016 with the judge glenn kelly presiding this time the prosecution took a more
streamlined approach relying heavily on the recorded police tapes of dahlia arranging michael
dippolito's murder and not calling michael to the stand for the defense brian claypool dropped
the reality tv angle instead accusing the boynton beach police department of objective entrapment and conducting an
unethical investigation that violated dahlia's civil rights in his closing arguments mr claypool
surprised the court by announcing that dahlia had given birth while on house arrest and now had
a nine-month-old son some speculated that the story was a ruse but news reports later confirmed it to
be true the baby's father was a 33 year old male not related to the case on december 13 the jury deliberated for
the entire day but failed to reach a unanimous decision the next day they remained deadlocked
prompting judge kelly to declare a hung jury a mistrial was announced and dahlia was once again remanded on
house arrest pending a third trial the third trial began six months later on june 8
2017 once again presided by judge kelly the defense stuck with their recent strategy of criticizing the
conduct of the boynton beach police department but the prosecution reverted to the
aggressive approach employed in dahlia's first trial calling michael dippolito back to
the witness stand this time the jury took just 90 minutes to reach a unanimous decision
finding dalia dippolito guilty of solicitation to commit first-degree murder sentencing was held on july 21 2017
during which michael provided a second victim impact statement quote we have been here eight years
and i will be honest with you if i could hit a button and make this disappear i would but i realize that's not life
we are still sitting here acting like this girl didn't do this it's amazing it just blows me away
like i can't even believe it it affected my life my mom's half a nut job over this
probably cost me a few hundred grand i have lost business over this i almost was thrown in jail from her trying to
violate my probation the girl tried killing me probably three or four times handed me an iced tea with antifreeze in
it smiled at me it just spins around like a fan you just can't get away from it judge kelly criticised some aspects of
the boynton beach police department's conduct but concluded that their investigation
had ultimately saved michael's life he also noted that michael was an innocent victim
whose ordeal had been drawn out for more than eight years of legal proceedings taking into account dahlia's newfound
faith the intrusive publicity surrounding the case and the time she'd already spent on
house arrest judge kelly upheld dalia's original sentence of 20 years in prison with credit for four of the eight years
she'd been on remand she was immediately taken into custody and refused bail pending her further appeals
in 2017 it was reported that michael dippoleto was engaged to a woman whom he had met at a restaurant talking
about the relationship in an interview with inside edition michael remarked it's nice sometimes it's hard to accept
something this good is happening to you they purchased a house together in boynton beach and
michael now runs a real estate agency on june 5 2017 he paid the outstanding thousand 122.000 of his restitution in
the broward county court officially making him a free man after both the district court and the
supreme court of florida denied dalia's appeals her legal team petitioned the supreme court of the
united states the highest court in the u.s to review dahlia's case on february 21 2020
this petition was denied meaning dahlia had exhausted all avenues of appeal dalia continues to serve her prison
sentence at the lowell correctional institution in marion county florida her scheduled release date is
2032. the same year michael was originally due to come off probation in the book poison candy prosecutor
elizabeth parker sums up the case as follows in a six-month span dalia moved in with
michael convinced him to divorce his wife married him got her name on the deed to his
townhouse embezzled his money again and again and again in breathtaking ways worked overtime
with the small army of a betters to get his probation revoked gaslighted him into believing that hoods
and gangsters were out to get him messed with his mind announced herself pregnant with his child
and when all of that couldn't get him locked up and out of her life she paid someone to have him killed
[Music] [Music] you

Case 145: Michael Dippolito

Newlyweds Dalia and Michael Dippolito lived in the newly developed community of Renaissance Commons in Boynton Beach, a coastal city in Palm Beach County, Florida...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research – Holly Boyd Writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

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Brief Summary

Dahlia Dippolito hired a hitman to kill her husband Michael, leading to her arrest and conviction for solicitation of murder.

Key points

Dahlia's Distress. Dahlia learns of her husband's murder and is devastated.
The Mysterious Phone Call. Dahlia receives a strange call from someone claiming to be a detective.
The Threatening Note. A note demands money from Michael, threatening harm to him and Dahlia.
Dahlia's Arrest. Dahlia is arrested for solicitation of murder after Michael's death.
Dahlia's Dark Request. Dahlia openly asks Muhammad if he knows anyone who could kill her husband.
Undercover Operation. Police set up a sting operation to catch Dahlia in the act of hiring a hitman.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Dahlia burst into tears and cried out no repeatedly.

Dahlia's reaction to the news of Michael's death.

3:24WatchJun 6, 2020

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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