Dalia Dippolito : Devil in Distress
The curious case of Dalia Dippolito, who tried to hire a hitman to kill her husband.
This is one of those stories that will make your skin crawl. As someone who’s been studying psychology and human behaviour for over 2 decades, I can tell you that this particular person (Dalia Dippolito) is a rare breed, and we can all be thankful for that. Unfortunately for us, these people do exist. What’s even more unfortunate for all of humanity, these types of people are on the rise. I’ll give you my opinion on why that might be later on in this article.
It all began on October 4th 2009, in sunny Florida. Michael Dippolito was home alone, as his wife was on vacation alone. He thought this might be a good time to call an escort, and half an hour later, Dalia Mohammed showed up at his door.
Apparently they hit it off quite well, Michael filed for divorce from his wife only 2 weeks later and proposed to Dalia with a stunning 20,000$ engagement ring. She said yes without hesitation and the pair was married shortly after. I know, most of you are probably saying to yourselves, “this isn’t going to end well”. It ends much worse than you’re probably imagining.
Only 6 short months after they got married, Dalia was trying to hire a hitman to kill her husband. If you think I should have said ‘spoiler alert’ before dropping that bomb, don’t worry. This story has more twists and turns than most Hollywood movies or the book “The Couple Next Door'' by Shari Lapena.
The problems began for this young couple, or should I say for Michael Dippolito, on March 12th 2009. Only a month after they had tied the knot. The police showed up at Michaels home after receiving a call from an anonymous tip that Michael was selling drugs out of his home.
I should clarify that Michael was on probation at the time for a previous crime involving fraud, but he definitely was not a drug dealer and was actually doing his best to follow the rules and turn his life around.
Beside the police officer was Michael's probation officer, and he handed him a search warrant because of the anonymous tip claiming he was selling steroids and ecstasy pills from his home. Michael was sentenced to 28 years probation and any crime or parole violation committed during that period would have landed him back in jail to complete the entirety of his sentence. Lucky for him, he was not committing any crimes and no drugs were found inside his home.
The following weekend, his loving wife suddenly suggested an impromptu vacation to West Palm Beach. When leaving their luxury hotel on a Sunday morning to have breakfast, the police were once again searching Michael’s room and vehicle due to another anonymous tip that he was selling drugs, this time specifically from his vehicle. Again, nothing was found and Michael was dumbfounded about these accusations since he was in fact trying his best to keep his life on the right track.
Two weeks later, the Dippolito’s were going out for supper at a local fine dining establishment when once again, the police were waiting outside for Michael with a warrant to search his vehicle. This time however, they did find drugs. Hidden in plain sight was a small bag of cocaine. Michael broke down into tears and pleaded with the officers and they concluded that this was indeed somewhat irregular and allowed him to leave without any charges.
One of the major factors in the police’s decision, as stated in the report, was that Michael was clearly distraught about the incident while his “loving wife” was rather emotionless if not visibly disappointed that her husband was NOT being arrested. I’m sure by now, any normal person would be seeing the red flags and so did Michael. He deduced rather quickly that she was the only one who knew they would be going to this particular restaurant and at what time. During the drive home, he confronted her about it and asked if she had anything to do with the repeated calls to the police trying to frame him.
Dalia, who was driving at the time, became hysterical. She started driving erratically, reaching speeds of over 90 miles an hour. Michael, most likely scared for his life at this point, apologized to his wife and calmed her down, ensuring her that he believed her when she said she would never do such a thing.
The very next morning, Dalia served Michael breakfast and gave him the wonderful yet utterly fictitious news that she was pregnant. I can assume that she became aware that Michael was becoming suspicious of her and wanted to wrap him up emotionally in her disturbing plot to ruin him and take him for all of his worth.
On the very same day, after going shopping for baby books and accessories with her husband, Dalia contacted one of her ex-lovers named Mike Stanley. A man who she had previously used and abused emotionally and financially, on several occasions. She lured Mr. Stanley right back into her schemes by sending him a single text message. “bb i miss u so much i wanna fuk call me xoxo”
Her plan worked, and Mike Stanley was now once again involved with Dalia, apparently choosing to stay oblivious to her wicked ways. After they reunited, Dalia concocted an elaborate and purely evil scheme to rob Michael Dippolito of his own house. Her idea, although outlandish to most people, actually worked. Mike played along willingly and called Michael one morning, pretending to be a lawyer, giving him absolutely bogus advice that if he ever got caught for any crimes not only would he be back in jail for a very long time but that he would lose his house in the process. Mike proceeded to convince Michael that he would be wise to put his entire estate in Dalias name, as a means of saving his property from being seized.
Michael, probably worried due to the last couple weeks' events and the newly found responsibility of being a father, decided to go along with it without doing any due diligence and placed all of his assets under Dalias name. I know, most of you are probably shaking your heads right now and saying out loud “what the…?”
Dalia’s next move was to cut off Mike Stanley, without a word, without reason. She just blocked him from any means of contacting her at all. She then turned to another ex-lover named Mohammed Shihadeh and asked to meet with him urgently. He agreed and met her in a parking lot where Dalia laid out her next diabolical plan. She asked Mohammed to find a hitman to kill her husband Michael. Mohammed did not accept or decline, told her he would think about it and after their meeting decided NOT to go to work and drove directly to the local police department and told them what Dalia had been up to.
The police asked for Mohammed's cooperation and he agreed. They set up a sting operation and Dalia was asked to go meet the hitman Mohammed had found to do her bidding, who was actually an undercover officer.
You might be thinking this story is close to its end, but you’d be wrong. Dalia met with the undercover officer, with hidden cameras inside his vehicle, he got Dalia to give him a 3000$ cash down payment, a photo of Michael, a photo of their house and they discussed the ins and outs of how / when Michaels murder would take place. They agreed that Wednesday morning around 6:30 am when Michael walks the dogs would be the best time. Dalia was told to leave the house at 6am and go to the gym.
Case closed, goodbye Dalia, right? Nope, not yet at least.
The police decided to make a rather elaborate move. It seems outlandish to me personally but at least it makes this story more dramatic for you the readers. They called Dalia at the gym, and told her there had been a situation involving her husband. She needed to rush home immediately. When she arrived, there were local news cameras in front of the house and the entire property was sealed off with yellow tape.
They told her that her husband had been killed and that she needed to go with them to the station so they could ask her some questions. Dalia could have been an academy award winning actress if she had made some better life choices. She broke down into tears, shaking, becoming totally hysterical. “I want to see my husband,” she cried out repeatedly. The local news got all of this on tape of course, but the story would not air that night as Dalia intended.
They brought her back to the station and the first detectives she spoke with played along the whole time, asking her if she knew anyone who would want Michael dead. She recounted his entire criminal history in vivid detail, mentioned several names and criminal organisations who would want to do him harm. They even brought in the undercover detective in handcuffs and played it off like he had been caught a few blocks away after the ‘murder’.
She didn't even flinch. “Have you ever seen this man before maam?” the detective asked her repeatedly. “NO!” Dalia replied, “I’ve never seen him before in my life!” It’s rather disturbing to think she was such a good and calculated liar, because had the situation not played out the way it did, she might very well have gotten away with it, her performance was that convincing.
The story takes an unusual turn when shortly after bringing in the undercover officer, the lead detective on the case breaks the news to her that this is in fact an elaborate set-up and that she’s been caught red handed, on video, soliciting her husbands murder. What does she say to that? “I didn’t do anything.”
The officer does a double take and says, “Did you not hear what I just said? We have you on tape, everything is recorded, you’re under arrest for solicitation of first degree murder.” Astonishingly enough, she replies “I heard what you said but I didn’t do anything” to the detective's amazement. She continues to repeat herself, claiming she “didn’t do anything”.
Once again, you think this story is over right? She goes to jail, gets sentenced and done… Well think again! You might actually be thinking I’m just making this up to get views but I will include a link to a youtube video at the end of this article where you can actually watch the entire thing unfold. Almost the entire story is captured on video as stated several times before.
After the lead detective cannot seem to get anywhere with her, they decided to switch tactics and bring in two other officers who would play ‘good coop’ with her and try to get an admission of guilt. Keep in mind they did not need a confession, the entire crime is very well documented on video, but they did want to see if they could get an admission of guilt. This is usually done to see if the perpetrator has any remorse about the incident.
Well, Dalia’s oscar winning performance just gets better and better. She refuses to admit anything at all, as if the words “caught on video” meant nothing to her and she can just talk her way out of all this. She even says at one point, “I just wanna go home, what do I have to do to go home?” Baffled, the detective looks at her and exclaims “You CAN'T go home, do you not understand? You’re going to jail. It’s over and done with, there’s nothing you can do to get out of this, this is a VERY serious crime you’ve committed, soliciting a murder! You could very well get 30 years in jail!” Dalia just cries and repeats “I didn’t do anything!”
Next is the plot twist that M. Knight Shyamalan couldn’t even have come up with. I assume if any normal person were in this situation, you wouldn’t use your limited time and phone calls to call, of all people, your husband who you just got arrested for plotting to kill? Well Dalia does just that. She repeatedly tells him, yup you guessed it “I didn’t do anything!” to which Michael can only reply “What do you mean you didn’t do it, I watched it all, all the tapes, I saw you doing it!” but she just goes right back into manipulative gaslighting techniques and actually tries to use the argument “I saw all of that too, they showed it to me too, I didn’t do anything”.
Michael Dippolito, perhaps in a moment of clarity, or perhaps out of pity, tries to offer her an olive branch and says “look, if you sign the papers putting my house back into my name I will call your mom and help her get you a lawyer.” As incomprehensible as it might seem, Dalia replies in a harsh tone “I’m not signing anything!” But wait, there’s more! Her next exclamation directed at Michael is nothing less than “Oh my god, why aren’t you helping me? You’re not even TRYING!” To which Michael replies in amazement, “What can I do? There’s nothing I CAN do.” Dalia just keeps gaslighting him and repeats “You’re not even trying!”
After calling Michael, she makes a brief phone call with her mother where she begs her mom to call Mike Stanley (the ex-lover she convinced to bamboozle Michael out of his estate and then immediately cut off all ties) to get him to pay for a lawyer.
It’s as if she’s completely devoid of any authentic human emotion. Keep in mind that this woman is NOT from a broken home, she has a loving mother and father. She isn’t a battered wife. There’s literally nothing but malice and avarice that fills this woman's thoughts. In fact, the most probable explanation for her behaviour is that she came from such a loving and supportive family that she has never actually had to face responsibility for her actions.
She’s so used to getting what she wants that she just cannot accept that she has committed a heinous crime. She’s been using and abusing men her whole life, and nobody has ever done anything about it. In fact, in the phone call with her mom, her mother repeatedly tells her “I know you didn’t do it. I know you didn’t.” More on this later in the article.
Yup that’s right, there’s several more plot twists coming. You might want to grab some popcorn. Again, I am NOT making this up! This story is making me question my own honesty as I write it because it’s inconceivable that someone could actually be this evil and manipulative… but, this is a TRUE story. All of this is well documented on video.
Dalia’s next move is just as farcical as everything else so far. She suddenly switches up her story and claims that the entire thing was supposed to be a hoax or a prank for a youtube video, which was all Michaels idea because he’d become famous. No really, that’s her story and she definitely sticks to it. Yes, as unbelievable as it might sound, her lawyer and her decided this was an appropriate defense and that a judge and jury would let her go free.
It should come as no surprise, she was found guilty on all charges and the judge gave a troubling breakdown of the case and his judgement. His statement is peppered with words like “pure-evil”, “cold-blooded”, “shocking”, “astonishing” “psychopath”, “manipulative”, “avarice” before finally handing down a strict albeit fair verdict of 20 years in jail.
Surely this is the end. Wrong. Keep reading.
She filed for an appeal, and believe it or not, some hotshot lawyer managed to get her out of jail only ONE MONTH after being convicted on a small technicality. She spent the next 6 years under house arrest awaiting her new trial. I’m writing this article and I watched the entire youtube video FIVE times, and I still can't believe it. It’s completely mind-blowing.
Her new legal team decided to add their own twist to the original story that she was doing this as a joke or a hoax to get fame and fortune… they decided that Mohammed Shihadeh, the man she asked to find a hitman who then turned her in to the police, was actually forcing her to do all of this at gun point.
As ridiculous as it might sound, they convinced her that this was a good idea. They also tried to spin the story against the police, stating that they had in fact “manufactured” a crime to get news coverage and I guess promotions, or something? Honestly, it makes no sense to me no matter how hard I try to wrap my head around it.
Dalia left a long and well detailed trail of evidence. Her text messages with Mike Stanley and eventual scam to get ownership of his house. Her ‘anonymous’ phone calls to frame Michael as a drug dealer. The series of videos where she clearly hires someone to kill her husband. The phone calls recorded in jail… I mean, she is clearly not a very good criminal and has only gotten away with all her previous schemes because the men she had been defrauding were deeply attached to her, which is part of her ‘modus operandi’.
The good news? Well her appeal failed miserably. She was convicted AGAIN. This time the judge gave her a 16 year sentence. Without the possibility of parole. Her second appeal was rejected. Her sentence is now definitive. Her legal options are exhausted. She will be 50 years old, at least, before she ever steps foot outside of Gainesville prison in Florida. Her current release date is scheduled for late 2032.
I stated at the beginning of this story that I would elaborate a little bit on this type of psychopath and the possible causes of her psychosis. I've personally had the misfortune of becoming entangled with a similar woman who did an excellent job of trying to ruin me. I was lucky enough to get a detective who had a good head on his shoulders otherwise, I might very well be in jail myself right now.
The problem begins and ends with the lack of parenting throughout these peoples childhoods. They never face consequences for their actions and although I firmly believe parents should always stick up for and believe their children, there does come a point where a parent must put their foot down and say "listen, stop lying, the truth is clear and you need to take responsibility for your actions".
Let this be a warning to all of you parents out there... if you don't discipline your children and punish bad behaviour, they will without a doubt turn into a manipulative, conniving and malevolent adult. Perhaps not as bad as Dalia Dippolito, but they will not be responsible and good natured. There is indeed such a thing as being 'too nice'.
You can't believe this story, can you? Well, as promised, here is the link to the YouTube video where you can actually watch this story unfold before your eyes…
About the Creator
Dominic Dauphinais
Just another wordsmith exploring the depths of his imagination through short stories. Maybe one day I'll write a long story. Who knows? I hope you enjoy my creations as much as I enjoy creating them.
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