Cops: We Tricked Hit Man-Hiring Wife

She's Accused of Hiring Undercover Police Officer to Kill New Husband; Detective: She Was Shocked When She Saw Him Alive

(CBS/ AP)  A South Florida woman was arrested Wednesday for allegedly hiring an undercover police officer to kill her husband of six months, authorities said.

Dalia Dippolito, 26, was charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and taken to the Palm Beach County jail, Boynton Beach Police Department spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said. Bond had not yet been set and it was unclear if she had an attorney.

Dippolito gave an informant pictures of her husband, 38-year-old Michael Dippolito, and $1,200 for a hit man to purchase a handgun, according to a probable cause affidavit. She also offered to create an alibi for herself and detailed her husband's daily schedule.

An undercover officer posing as a hit man called Dippolito on Monday afternoon and arranged a meeting. The officer asked for $3,000 in cash and a key to the couple's home. The undercover officer later met Dippolito in a pharmacy parking lot and asked if she was sure she wanted her husband killed.

She laughed, according to the according to the affidavit, and said: "I will be very happy."

Dippolito discussed getaway routes, her home's security system, the location of her husband on Wednesday and the fee for the task, and the officer again asked if the woman was sure.

"I'm not going to change my mind," she responded, according to the documents. "I am 5,000 percent sure I want it done. When I set my mind to something, I get it done."

Boynton Beach Police Sgt. Frank Ranzie described Dalia Dippolito on "The Early Show" Thursday as "calm, cool, calculated," pointing out to CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella she even offered options on how to kill her husband.

Ranzie added she maintained a "positive" and "motivated" attitude throughout the planning with the undercover cop.

Authorities staged an elaborate crime scene outside the Dippolito home on Wednesday morning, complete with yellow crime tape and several police vehicles.

"The bottom line is, we wanted her to believe without question that when she arrived that her husband was dead," Slater said.

Officers then contacted Dippolito at her gym and told her to come to the house. When an officer told Dippolito that her husband was dead, she broke down in tears, a video of the operation shows.

Dippolito was then taken to the Boynton Beach Police Department, where she was told of the investigation and arrested. Michael Dippolito, who was informed of the case Wednesday morning, was also at the police department, as was the undercover officer who Dalia Dippolito believed was going to kill her husband, according to a police news release.

Boynton Beach Police Det. Alex Moreno told CBS News Dalia Dippolito wasn't glad to know Michael Dippolito was alive.

Moreno said, "She was more in shock that he was alive."

A call to a cell phone number for Dalia Dippolito was unanswered and a message was not immediately returned.

Michael Dippolito told CBS News the news hasn't hit him yet.

"I get it, but I don't get it." He added, referring to the time of the would-be hit on his life, "Technically, if it's 10:50, I should have been dead at nine ... so I'm an hour-and-a-half on the good side, I guess."

Slater added the more Dippolito thinks about the things that have happened over the past couple of months, things are starting to make sense to him.

Dalia Dippolito claims her innocence, saying, "I didn't do anything, and I didn't plot anything."

[re_sus]

Wow. What a psycopath. Not even an ounce of guilt or remorse. I wonder is it genes or upbringing? She at least deserves to be locked away for a very long time until she learns a few hard life lessons.

[brooke50]

I apologize at making light of this serious issue - The alleged crime is heinous, and personally, I feel she should by pass the middle-men and go straight for her sleepy time shots - all three of them!

This girl can't be real! Last I heard, there was no listing in the yellow pages for "Hit-man". Was she that blinded by - What? Hate? Money? (or could she not spell D-I-V-O-R-C-E),That she did not know she was talking to a cop?

The only thing that would make me laugh more, is to read that someone (SHE) murdered Mr. XYZ (HUSBAND), then took out a full page ad or Billboard saying she did it and how!

Now we Tax-payers have to cover the cost of her trial, her jail time, her food and drink, hen her prison time, and more food and drink, her "rehabilitation" for psycho sessions, because she obviously she was not in her right mind - ARE YOU SURE WE CAN'T CUT OUT THE MIDDLE-MAN?

[babooph]

Ain't love grand?

[get_down]

If one looks up through Google or the Web's dictionary for "caught Red-handed for hiring a hit-man to kill her spouse" - one will find an entry with "Dalia Dippolito, 26" listed underneath it. I say lock her up and through away the key. Case closed!

[ianlou]

I hope the cops look back at all her past relationships for other victims. She sounds like an experienced black widow.