Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Dalia Dippolito: Did ‘Cops’ set up wife in murder-for-hire case?

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Dalia Dippolito: Did ‘Cops’ set up wife in murder-for-hire case? · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Dahlia Defilito walking out a free woman after a judge
0:08
Speaker 1: declared a mistrial and her murder for higher retrial. This
0:12
Speaker 1: is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a confidential police informant
0:16
Speaker 1: and former lover of Dahlia di Folito, testified in court
0:19
Speaker 1: Tuesday that he was pressured to set to Polito up
0:22
Speaker 1: for arrest by the boy in Beach Police Department or
0:25
Speaker 1: else face prosecution. She was accused of trying to hire
0:28
Speaker 1: a hitman to kill her husband. In Beach. Police staged
0:31
Speaker 1: the fake crime scene where they told di Polito her
0:33
Speaker 1: husband was dead and allowed film crows from the TV
0:36
Speaker 1: show Cops to record the entire ordeal. I'm Sorgo Ramsay,
0:40
Speaker 1: and we had a report of a disturbance at your
0:42
Speaker 1: house and there were shots fired as your husband Michael. Okay,
0:44
Speaker 1: I'm sorry to tell you man, he's been killed. He's
0:48
Speaker 1: been killed. Try right now, we need to we need
0:57
Speaker 1: to get I'm not just one percent sure I want
1:06
Speaker 1: him dead. I'm two percent sure. Wait now, I'm five
1:10
Speaker 1: thousand percent sure I want my husband dead. I'm not
1:14
Speaker 1: what you think I am. I'm not as sweet as
1:15
Speaker 1: you think. I'm a mean little cookie. Yeah, I am
1:19
Speaker 1: quoting to the best of my recollection, Dahlia di Polito.
1:24
Speaker 1: You've got to remember this. This woman marries seemingly in
1:29
Speaker 1: love and the next thing you know, according to police,
1:34
Speaker 1: she's caught on video hiring a hit man to murder
1:39
Speaker 1: her husband over what to get her mitts on a
1:42
Speaker 1: two hunt dollar condo. Now, according to the husband and
1:46
Speaker 1: I spoke to him and his lawyer, she tried to
1:49
Speaker 1: kill him before with Chai tea from Starbucks. Didn't work,
1:53
Speaker 1: so she decided to go with a hit man who
1:57
Speaker 1: happened to be an undercover agent, and he video and
2:01
Speaker 1: audio taped the whole darn thing. This is crime Stories.
2:04
Speaker 1: I'm Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being
2:06
Speaker 1: with us. I'm talking about the Florida Black widow, Dahlia
2:10
Speaker 1: Dippolito and Oh my stars, Meryl Street. Watch out because
2:15
Speaker 1: they video the whole thing. They set up a sting
2:18
Speaker 1: to make it look like the husband had been killed.
2:20
Speaker 1: They told him what was going on, so they set
2:23
Speaker 1: it up as if he'd been killed. Then they find
2:25
Speaker 1: Dahlia Dippolito. They go tell her. She puts on a
2:30
Speaker 1: performance like no other. Let's take a listen to that
2:33
Speaker 1: audio and if you could just see the video but
2:37
Speaker 1: listen to this, just kick back and enjoy roll it. Alan,
2:42
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, d Ramsey, I'm I'm not want to call you.
2:44
Speaker 1: Thank you for comment. I'm sorry to call you. Listen.
2:46
Speaker 1: We had a report of a disturbance at your house
2:48
Speaker 1: and there were shots fired. Is your husband Michael? Okay,
2:52
Speaker 1: I'm sorry to tell you man, he's been killed. He's
2:55
Speaker 1: been killed. IM up right now, we need to do
3:05
Speaker 1: she tried. She beins over willing about her dead husband.
3:10
Speaker 1: They take her to the police station and after questioning her,
3:15
Speaker 1: they let her see him alive and well, and she
3:18
Speaker 1: screamed out like, I didn't do it. My question isn't
3:23
Speaker 1: running from I can't like them. I cannot do this
3:26
Speaker 1: right now. On trial, the defense was she was, actually,
3:35
Speaker 1: you want to help trying to be a reality star
3:38
Speaker 1: like the Kardashian and this whole thing was a TV
3:42
Speaker 1: reality show and she thought the under the hit man
3:49
Speaker 1: was it and so this whole thing was a script. Now.
3:54
Speaker 1: My question and that was, well, why didn't she tell
3:56
Speaker 1: the police when they arrested her? Hey, hey, hey, whoa
3:58
Speaker 1: wait wait, this was just a reality these shows, GrITT,
4:00
Speaker 1: what are you talking about. No, she never said a
4:03
Speaker 1: word until they finally got to trial about a year
4:06
Speaker 1: and a half later. Then that was the defense. Now,
4:10
Speaker 1: Brian Claypool, they got an hung jury. Defense attorney, fairly
4:15
Speaker 1: well known Brian Claypool says that's no longer the defense.
4:19
Speaker 1: There's a new defense that the police tried to and
4:23
Speaker 1: trap her, that they didn't have enough criminals to deal with,
4:27
Speaker 1: that they wanted to frame an innocent person, Dollia to
4:30
Speaker 1: Polito so they could be on the show Cops before
4:35
Speaker 1: I go to very well known defense attorney Brian Claypool
4:39
Speaker 1: is defending Dollia this time around with a brand new defense.
4:43
Speaker 1: I guess the truth changed. I want to think Simply
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Speaker 1: slash Nancy and get another temper cent off. Thank you,
5:37
Speaker 1: simply Safe. Joining me right now is the attorney for
5:41
Speaker 1: Dahlia Dipolito, yet another black widow in my book, Brian Claypool.
5:48
Speaker 1: He is no stranger to the courtroom. Brian Claypool. You know,
5:53
Speaker 1: I just it hurts me to see you thrown in
5:57
Speaker 1: the same pot stewing with Dolia Polido. I mean, hey,
6:02
Speaker 1: all I can say is all I can say is
6:05
Speaker 1: don't take a chi tea from this woman, Okay, I
6:10
Speaker 1: mean because you know this ain't her first time at
6:13
Speaker 1: the rodeo. Husband told me point blank that she tried
6:18
Speaker 1: to kill him before this with some chi tea from Starbucks.
6:21
Speaker 1: What is that anyway? I don't even know what chi
6:23
Speaker 1: tea is, but whatever it is, he the husband says,
6:27
Speaker 1: she tried to kill him with that. It didn't work. Brian,
6:31
Speaker 1: I've yet to have coffee at Starbucks with Dahlia. But
6:34
Speaker 1: but I'll tell you this much. Remember Nancy law school
6:36
Speaker 1: one oh one, Remember that doctrine, Remember that doctrine that
6:40
Speaker 1: she got taught about fruit of the poisonous tree. It's
6:43
Speaker 1: it's a big remember that one. Well, that's that's what
6:47
Speaker 1: this case is about. It's it's about police officers and
6:51
Speaker 1: law enforcement who can't break the rules, violate the law,
6:54
Speaker 1: and then use the evidence they've generated from from from
6:57
Speaker 1: a corrupt investigation to a case somebody, even if you
7:01
Speaker 1: think that person is guilty. It's it's basic law. One
7:03
Speaker 1: on one, Brian, let me understand this, um, your your
7:07
Speaker 1: defense is it no longer that when she hired a
7:12
Speaker 1: hit man to kill her husband, it's all called on video,
7:15
Speaker 1: which I love. I love watching Dollia Dippolto, especially when
7:19
Speaker 1: they tell her the husband is dead and she's like,
7:23
Speaker 1: oh I love that so much and she bends over
7:27
Speaker 1: in grieve blah blah blah. Anyway, also like I also
7:32
Speaker 1: like the one where she's got in the car with
7:34
Speaker 1: a hit man and the whole thing is bugged and
7:36
Speaker 1: you know, got triked out with video and she's not
7:39
Speaker 1: just a hud. Sure she says what, I'm five thousand
7:43
Speaker 1: percent sure I want him dead. Now, I thought your
7:46
Speaker 1: defense was that that was really a script for a
7:49
Speaker 1: reality show. Is that not the offense anymore? No that
7:53
Speaker 1: remember this. The second trial we did was in late November,
7:57
Speaker 1: and we got a jury. We got a hung jury
8:00
Speaker 1: in early December. And in fact, I know, I brace yourself,
8:05
Speaker 1: I don't want you to pass out. But five jurors
8:10
Speaker 1: in our favorite it was three to three. And then
8:12
Speaker 1: there were two alternate jurors in the last trial, and
8:15
Speaker 1: one of the TV shows Blue was Dateline tracked them
8:18
Speaker 1: down the two alternates think guess what. I must have
8:23
Speaker 1: been able to put something in the coffee of those
8:26
Speaker 1: five jurors because they voted to a quit Dalia Dippelito.
8:31
Speaker 1: And in fact, Nancy Love how did wait? Wait, how
8:34
Speaker 1: many jurors were there? Fifty? Yeah, well, well in Florida
8:38
Speaker 1: and Florida. And by the way, we're gonna have the
8:40
Speaker 1: third trial. I don't know if you knew this. The
8:42
Speaker 1: third retrial of Dalia Dippilito takes place. It starts on
8:47
Speaker 1: June second. I could not be happier. I could not
8:51
Speaker 1: be happier. I may just have to come down there
8:53
Speaker 1: and watch you. Brian clay Boo, now, like something very
8:57
Speaker 1: seriously said before you started talking about this girar in
9:01
Speaker 1: that Gerard did this one and that one according to dateline. Uh,
9:05
Speaker 1: first they were alternatives, thank god in heaven. But you said, oh,
9:08
Speaker 1: that was the defense at the second trial, So you've
9:13
Speaker 1: got a different defense. That's not the defense the board
9:16
Speaker 1: that it was all a script. Yeah, right, the the
9:20
Speaker 1: the the reality script is not is not part of
9:23
Speaker 1: the defense. Why if it's the truth, because that's not,
9:28
Speaker 1: because it's not true. The reality is this and a
9:31
Speaker 1: lot of your she sat there in court and let
9:34
Speaker 1: her lawyers say all the things she said to a
9:37
Speaker 1: hit man. She thought that was a script, not a lawyers. Yeah, no,
9:46
Speaker 1: it's it's it's uh yeah, I mean you keep you
9:48
Speaker 1: keep coming back to this try t or Latte. I
9:50
Speaker 1: mean I think something something must have been in that
9:54
Speaker 1: shy of her first lawyer. Well, what's the defense this time.
10:02
Speaker 1: It's a defence this time that the police did it.
10:04
Speaker 1: It's their fault. I'm just so happy. Yeah, well, look
10:08
Speaker 1: it's not. It's not. It's not it's not been their fault.
10:11
Speaker 1: With a lot of trying not to laugh out loud,
10:15
Speaker 1: because okay, I'm trying not to laugh outlet that first
10:19
Speaker 1: phone call. People don't realize this The first phone call
10:23
Speaker 1: made by the confidential informants to the Boy and Beach
10:27
Speaker 1: Police Department reported a domestic abuse concern, and that person
10:33
Speaker 1: reported that he that that Dolly has said the following. Okay,
10:36
Speaker 1: here's what she said, Nancy, Okay, I'm listening. I can't wait.
10:40
Speaker 1: She said two things. She said. Number one, I've been
10:45
Speaker 1: I've been physically abused by my husband, and I I
10:50
Speaker 1: I either want to be dead or he needs to
10:53
Speaker 1: be dead. That is the context of the first phone call.
10:57
Speaker 1: And the problem that the state prost you're gonna have
11:00
Speaker 1: in this case again is that nobody took serious this
11:05
Speaker 1: domestic abuse call. They didn't. They didn't filter that out, vetted.
11:10
Speaker 1: Let me get back. I'm want to go back even
11:12
Speaker 1: earlier than that. Brian Claypool. Is it true that Dahlia
11:19
Speaker 1: de polito first date with her husband was when he
11:24
Speaker 1: paid her because she was a hooker? She was not
11:30
Speaker 1: an escort whenever rubbed down and out and I need
11:33
Speaker 1: a good laugh. I'm gonna call you. Wait, you're telling
11:36
Speaker 1: me she was not a hooker. That is comical. I mean,
11:42
Speaker 1: what are you telling me she was not a hooker? Act?
11:44
Speaker 1: On the was she was? She an escort. He was
11:52
Speaker 1: not an escort. Mike, listen, you're listen, Nancy, You're you're
11:56
Speaker 1: you're believing it convicted felon who who propagated that story.
12:01
Speaker 1: Here's a guy who says, okay from elderly folk. Now
12:05
Speaker 1: that's what he says. He says that she was an escort,
12:08
Speaker 1: and that's how we met her. Why would you believe
12:10
Speaker 1: somebody who lies the elderly folks and builds money out
12:13
Speaker 1: of them. Yeah, they were certainly perfect for each other.
12:19
Speaker 1: You're not gonna fall for that, Mike Depolito trap, are
12:21
Speaker 1: you watch out? Um? Yeah? Probably? Then how did they meet?
12:27
Speaker 1: You know what? I know you're gonna think this is
12:30
Speaker 1: a joke and I'm not trying to I'm not right
12:32
Speaker 1: and Sundays go over again. But they met at a Starbucks. Yes,
12:36
Speaker 1: it was a Starbucks. So that's where they met. Okay,
12:40
Speaker 1: because I'm looking at evidence. I'm looking at evidence right now,
12:44
Speaker 1: which our texts from her phone where she is um,
12:53
Speaker 1: where she's saying hi, and she's using her pseudo name,
12:58
Speaker 1: and he goes, great, I so hook up next week.
13:01
Speaker 1: But question, can we forget the hourly fee and just
13:04
Speaker 1: go out for drinks? And then is that day or
13:11
Speaker 1: my ex girlfriend's phone? I can't which one is it?
13:14
Speaker 1: And then he says, um, how are you coming dressed?
13:19
Speaker 1: I would love you in a real short skirt with
13:22
Speaker 1: pink underwear, if that's okay, She writes back, sure, And
13:26
Speaker 1: she is setting up a hook up for money. So
13:31
Speaker 1: you're telling me that's not a hooker. Yeah, that's not that,
13:35
Speaker 1: absolutely not. I don't know where that wasn't that that
13:40
Speaker 1: would never come in That's never gonna come into evidence anyway.
13:43
Speaker 1: You know that. Even if that's true, and I didn't
13:45
Speaker 1: say it was coming into evidence, I'm asking you what
13:47
Speaker 1: the truth is. I'll tell you where I saw it.
13:50
Speaker 1: I said, the New Times at Broward Palm Beach newspaper.
13:55
Speaker 1: That's where it is, the New Times. It's printed. I believe.
13:59
Speaker 1: I've me that's fiction, and I don't. There's no proof
14:02
Speaker 1: that's her phone and that she's making those text messages
14:05
Speaker 1: all hearsay, So I don't put any value into that
14:08
Speaker 1: at all. I mean, I know her two years now,
14:12
Speaker 1: I've got to know her family. Nobody wants to know
14:14
Speaker 1: the human side of her. Everybody. I think I know
14:17
Speaker 1: the human side. I think I know that Brian Claypool.
14:21
Speaker 1: I think I know the human side because she was
14:23
Speaker 1: on house arrest with her mother and had the right
14:26
Speaker 1: to go to her lawyer and to church, and somehow
14:31
Speaker 1: she got pregnant. How did that happen on house arrested?
14:35
Speaker 1: I think she was somewhere else. Hey, you aren't suggesting
14:38
Speaker 1: on the dad, are you. No. I hadn't thought of that,
14:42
Speaker 1: but now that you brought it up, come on, Hey,
14:44
Speaker 1: wait good you think are you suggesting that one of
14:47
Speaker 1: those lawyers. One of her meetings with the lawyers, maybe
14:51
Speaker 1: that didn't take place at the legal office. Oh, I
14:54
Speaker 1: am just looking at all the texts that this woman
14:59
Speaker 1: is sending. But you still say she was never a hooker. Okay,
15:04
Speaker 1: it looks like you're under Dollya di Polito's spell. I'm
15:07
Speaker 1: worried about you. Brian Claypool. Well, you know that Dolly
15:12
Speaker 1: actually mentors some of the some of the people at church.
15:15
Speaker 1: She goes religious Dear Lord in Heaven. So you know, people,
15:21
Speaker 1: You've been in cases before where people are portrayed one
15:23
Speaker 1: way in the public but they're not really that's not
15:25
Speaker 1: really who they are, you know. So so Dolly, so
15:29
Speaker 1: let me understand this. You say she was not a hooker,
15:31
Speaker 1: that she met her husband slash would be would be
15:36
Speaker 1: murder victim at a starbarhooks, and that she never tried
15:40
Speaker 1: to put water or engine cool in her husband's coffee.
15:44
Speaker 1: That was another it was hi kee. And then you're
15:49
Speaker 1: saying the first defense that she sat there and and
15:52
Speaker 1: lived through where they claimed in front of a jury
15:56
Speaker 1: that all the things she said caught on tape and
15:59
Speaker 1: the way she cried and carried on when they told
16:01
Speaker 1: the cops told her he was dead, but actually it
16:04
Speaker 1: was a staying to see what she would do. They
16:06
Speaker 1: found out about it through the alleged hit man, and
16:10
Speaker 1: the husband wasn't killed. And then when she saw the
16:13
Speaker 1: husband at the police says, she goes, mikey, I didn't
16:16
Speaker 1: do it. I didn't do it. Do what? Why would
16:19
Speaker 1: she say that anyway? Okay, so you're saying that was
16:24
Speaker 1: not that was not true. So the defense this time
16:27
Speaker 1: is going to be what was your defense? Yeah? The
16:29
Speaker 1: defense this time is that the police department not only
16:36
Speaker 1: violated his own policies and procedures and trying to set
16:39
Speaker 1: her up and lure her. You know what it's like, Nancy,
16:42
Speaker 1: You know what was like have you ever gone fishing
16:44
Speaker 1: as a girl growing up? You throw that line out
16:47
Speaker 1: into the lake and you start pulling, you know, twisting
16:50
Speaker 1: and turned, pulling your line in and trying to hook
16:53
Speaker 1: a fish. That's exactly what this police department did. They
16:56
Speaker 1: were they were trying luring her in, hooking her in,
16:59
Speaker 1: trying to get her on. Because they have so many resources,
17:04
Speaker 1: they don't have enough dopers and killers and sex offenders.
17:07
Speaker 1: They got to go try and get Dollia Dipolete out,
17:10
Speaker 1: not a hooker. Okay, So they spend their spare time
17:14
Speaker 1: trying to frame an innocent person. Okay, oh absolutely, you
17:18
Speaker 1: want to know why. Let me let me tell you, Nancy,
17:20
Speaker 1: you always talk about motive, don't you write? You always
17:23
Speaker 1: talk about motive. Let me give you the motive real quick.
17:27
Speaker 1: I'm I'm, I'm pins and needles. Yeah, okay, alright, brace
17:32
Speaker 1: yourself again. I don't want the paramedics over here. Here's
17:35
Speaker 1: another one. We've found an email for the second trial
17:40
Speaker 1: that the chief the police defending an email out everybody
17:45
Speaker 1: the police department say hey, let me know when that
17:48
Speaker 1: view when the first episode of Cops comes out with Dolly,
17:51
Speaker 1: and it's so we can have a big viewing party.
17:54
Speaker 1: Ha ha ha. Well that really doesn't bother. They're more
18:00
Speaker 1: worried about a good TV show for cops than they
18:02
Speaker 1: are up they're not. Dolia Dippilto tried to kill her
18:08
Speaker 1: husband at least once so she could get ahold of
18:11
Speaker 1: his condo, and it was all on video, and that
18:15
Speaker 1: happened to be when cops was in that jurisdiction filming,
18:19
Speaker 1: and that's what happened, and then it was all over.
18:23
Speaker 1: She's so obviously guilty. They were gonna watch it and
18:26
Speaker 1: get a kind of a laugh off of it because
18:28
Speaker 1: they couldn't believe anybody would be so darn dumb as
18:31
Speaker 1: Dolia Dippolito. Well, Nancy, I'm gonna throw you. I'm gonna
18:34
Speaker 1: throw you a consolation prize now if you if here's
18:38
Speaker 1: my consolation prize to you. If I get Dolia quitted
18:41
Speaker 1: in June, I'm gonna force you to meet her. We're
18:43
Speaker 1: gonna all meet for coffee at Star but I want
18:45
Speaker 1: to meet her, but I'm not drinking any coffee. I'm
18:50
Speaker 1: not drinking any coffee, Okay. I you're gonna have a
18:55
Speaker 1: face to face with her. I'm gonna bring my own
18:58
Speaker 1: I'm bringing my own coffee in a armos. You can
19:00
Speaker 1: count on that, Okay, Bryan claypol I'm afraid that defense
19:05
Speaker 1: is going to change by the time you finally take
19:07
Speaker 1: it to trial. Brian Claypool. Okay, Claypool, seeing court man,
19:11
Speaker 1: thanks for being with us. Thank you. But I love
19:17
Speaker 1: Okay Alan, Alan, did you hear that was incredible? I
19:23
Speaker 1: love that guy's Oh he's still here. If you do
19:27
Speaker 1: get her acquitted, I want to come to that coffee.
19:31
Speaker 1: See what is it with you men? Can't you see
19:34
Speaker 1: through her? Don't get near her with a ten foot
19:36
Speaker 1: pollet for Pete's sake, don't have coffee with her. Trying
19:42
Speaker 1: to save you darn lives here, I'm trying to save
19:44
Speaker 1: your life. Claypool, you better watch out, Claypool. I'm serious,
19:51
Speaker 1: but I'm not going to She would love nothing more
19:53
Speaker 1: than to marry She would love to nothing more than
19:56
Speaker 1: to marry a successful lawyer like there you and then off. Yeah,
20:01
Speaker 1: I mean, I I mean, there were there were rumors
20:03
Speaker 1: floating around the deck. The kid was mine for a while.
20:06
Speaker 1: But well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Brian, but I
20:09
Speaker 1: have not built that Look you already think so lowly
20:12
Speaker 1: of me for sending you. I don't want you to
20:13
Speaker 1: think worse. I can assure you one fact. It's not
20:15
Speaker 1: my baby, okay, not good to know, good to know?
20:19
Speaker 1: And you know what Shakespeare said, me thinks thou dost
20:22
Speaker 1: protest too much? It's too funny. Again. I want to
20:28
Speaker 1: thank Simply Safe for being with us on this podcast.
20:32
Speaker 1: Simply Safe. Thank you for making home security affordable because
20:38
Speaker 1: I want to protect my family and I'm sure everybody
20:41
Speaker 1: else does too. Thank you, Simply Safe. Nancy Grace Crime Stories,
20:45
Speaker 1: signing off, Goodbye friend