Dalia Dippolito Murder-for-Hire

Dalia Dippolito, a former escort and newlywed from Boynton Beach, Florida, became the subject of one of the most infamous murder-for-hire cases in American criminal history when she was caught on hidden camera attempting to hire a hitman to kill her husband, Michael Dippolito. The case, which unfolded in August 2009, was notable for the elaborate police sting operation that captured the entire scheme on video, the dramatic staged crime scene used to elicit her reaction, and the convoluted series of trials that followed.

Dalia and Michael Dippolito had married in February 2009 after a brief courtship. Michael, a former convicted felon who had served time for fraud, had accumulated significant assets including a townhouse in Boynton Beach. Within months of the marriage, Dalia began attempting to orchestrate Michael's death or imprisonment. She first tried to set him up for a probation violation by planting drugs in his car, which failed. She then approached a former lover, Mohamed Shihadeh, about finding someone to kill Michael. Shihadeh instead contacted the Boynton Beach Police Department.

Working with Shihadeh as a confidential informant, police arranged for an undercover officer to pose as a hitman. On August 1, 2009, Dalia met with the undercover detective at a CVS parking lot and explicitly arranged for Michael's murder, agreeing to pay $7,000 and providing specific details about when Michael would be home alone. The entire conversation was captured on hidden camera by the television show "COPS," which was embedded with the Boynton Beach Police Department.

On August 5, 2009, police staged a fake crime scene at the Dippolito townhouse, complete with yellow police tape and officers. When Dalia arrived home, she was told that Michael had been killed. Her reaction — crying, screaming, and appearing distraught — was also captured on camera. Officers then informed her that Michael was alive and that she was under arrest for solicitation of first-degree murder.

The case attracted enormous media attention, in part because the COPS footage was broadcast nationally and the surveillance video of Dalia hiring the hitman became one of the most-watched crime videos online. Dalia's defense attorneys argued that the entire scenario was a staged production — essentially reality television — and that Dalia had been acting throughout, aware that cameras were present.

Dalia's first trial in 2011 resulted in a guilty verdict, and she was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, the conviction was overturned on appeal, and after a mistrial in 2016, Dalia was again convicted of solicitation of first-degree murder at her third trial in 2017. She was sentenced to 16 years in state prison.

The Dalia Dippolito case highlighted the growing role of surveillance footage in criminal cases and raised questions about the ethics of television crews participating in active police operations.

Dalia Dippolito was arrested on August 5, 2009, and charged with solicitation of first-degree murder in Palm Beach County, Florida. Her first trial in 2011 resulted in conviction, with a 20-year sentence. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction in 2014, citing improper restrictions on jury voir dire regarding pretrial publicity. A second trial in 2016 ended in a mistrial (hung jury). A third trial in June 2017 resulted in conviction on the same charge. She was sentenced to 16 years in Florida state prison. Dippolito filed additional appeals, which were denied. She remains incarcerated at the Lowell Correctional Institution.