How to Catch A Criminal: H#LL Hath No Fury
When it comes to women who have bucked the trend, so to speak, names like, Jodi Arias, who shot and stabbed her ex-boyfriend, or Stacey Castor, who poisoned her husband with antifreeze, come to mind. These women carried out the deed themselves, getting their own hands dirty and taking their chances at getting away with the crime. However, just as egregious as committing the act yourself, is to have someone else kill on your behalf. Luckily in the case of Dalia Dippolito, police were one step ahead.
Dalia Mohammed was 26 years old, in 2008 when she met 38 year old Mike Dippolito. Mike was looking for a good time while his wife was out of town and contacted an escort service. Not long after, Dalia arrived at his office, and the sparks began to fly. The two fell for each other quickly, and it was only a matter of weeks before Mike filed for divorced and asked Dalia to become the new Mrs. Dippolito. Dalia of course said yes, after all, who could turn down such a handsome, wealthy, muscular man? In early 2009 the pair were married and moved into a beautiful home which Mike paid for in full, and Dalia sold to him, after starting work for a real estate office. The love birds were ready to live happily ever after in their new home in Boynton Beach, Florida. Mike and Dalia both had an interesting past, quite different from the one another, but driven by the almighty dollar just the same.
Mike spent his early 20's as a telemarketer, asking people to invest in foreign currency, promising generous profits. The profits were indeed generous, but only for Mike. Mike grew this venture into two companies before he was shut down in 2002 by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for keeping investors’ money for personal use. Mike served 7 months in prison and was ordered to pay restitution, as well as a lengthy term of probation. Mike used his business savvy to start up an online marketing company, which proved to be quite lucrative. Dalia on the other hand, was far less conventional in her quest for cash. A friend of hers would go on to say Dalia had married a rich architect a few years before she met Mike. She didn't stay with him long however, but did manage to get her hands on a $40,000 engagement ring and a luxury car before leaving. It appeared in that case Dalia wasn't interested in a loving marriage, but what she could gain from marrying rich. Now married to another well-off man, Dalia's motivations sadly hadn't changed.
Mike wanted to complete his probation, but in order to do so he had to finish paying the restitution he owed to the victims of his investment scheme. Dalia offered to help with the payments and the couple agreed she would cover half of the debt, and it would be paid in a lump sum. Mike transferred $100,000 into Dalia's bank account, but the payments were never made. This wasn't enough for Dalia, so she hatched a plan to get the house. Dalia sent a seductive text message to an ex lover, asking for his help. As many men in her life had done, he bent to her will. Dalia had her ex call Mike, claiming to be an attorney, and tell him in order for his probation to be completed and his home be safe from seizure as part of the restitution payments, the house would have to be signed over solely to Dalia. Mike fell for the ruse, and quickly had the deed put in Dalia's name. With the house and a substantial sum of money at her disposal, Dalia needed Mike out of the picture, but she wanted to take everything he had before she was done with him.
On two separate occasions, police approached Mike stating they had received a tip he was in possession of drugs. Desperate to stay out of trouble and not jeopardize his probation, Mike consented to having his vehicle searched both times. The first search was fruitless, although Mike later found a baggie of cocaine inside his gas cap, somewhere the Officer did not check. The second search turned up two baggies of cocaine inside the spare tire, exactly where the anonymous tipper said they would be. Officers found it suspicious Dalia was stoic during the process, while Mike fell to pieces. Mike insisted he was set up, and the Officers believed him, opting not to charge him for possessing the drugs. Mike's family and friends believed Dalia had set Mike up, but he insisted she wouldn't do such a thing.
Dalia's attempts to have Mike thrown in jail had been unsuccessful, so it was time for her to take a more extreme approach. Dalia contacted another former lover and asked him if he would kill Mike in exchange for cash. Naturally he refused, and she later asked if he would purchase a gun for her so she could do it herself. When he told her he wasn't going to help her kill Mike, she stated she would just hire someone else. Lucky for Mike, the lover didn't want any blood on his hands and he went straight to the police station.
Detectives devised a plan involving the lover turned informant and had him set up another meeting with Dalia. His car was wired with a hidden video camera and the two met at a gas station. Dalia is seen getting into the vehicle, and when asked if she is sure the money is worth killing her husband, she insisted it wasn't about that. Dalia claimed she wanted to divorce Mike, but his former business associates are involved with the mafia, and if she left he would have her killed. Dalia wasn't worried about being accused for Mike's death because she would implicate his mafia friends. She gave the informant a down payment to secure the services of a killer for hire, and waited to be contacted. A few days later Dalia met with the hitman in a drug store parking lot and negotiated the price and details of Mike's death. Dalia paid the rest of the money and told the hitman she was “5,000 percent sure” she wanted to go through with it. Dalia left, sure she was going to get what she wanted, with no clue the man she just spoke to was an undercover officer.
August 5, 2009, Dalia leaves the house for her morning workout, just as she and the killer planned. Police quickly arrived at the soon to be “crime scene” and informed Mike of his wife's plot. Mike was taken to the station while Officers set up roadblocks at the ends of the street, and crime scene tape and police cars in front of the house. Dalia returned home, feigning confusion and concern. Officers informed her of her husband's death, and the theatrics began. Dalia collapsed, raining down crocodile tears, begging to see Mike's body (likely to see for herself the job was done).
Dalia was brought to the Boynton Beach Police station and brought in for questioning. She told the detective she had no idea who would want to hurt Mike, and again asked to see photographs of the body. Instead, the undercover Officer was brought in, handcuffed. Both Dalia and the hitman claimed they didn't know each other, and Mike's “killer” was taken away. Dalia gave no admission of culpability, so it was time to amp up the stress. The detective questioning her gave her the good news, and the bad news; Mike was alive, and her conversation with the informant and the undercover Officer were videotaped. The first real tears of the day began to flow. Dalia maintained she didn't do anything wrong, and cried out to see her husband. She was taken away in handcuffs, charged with solicitation of first-degree murder.
After multiple trials, guilty convictions, and appeals, in February of 2020, the U.S Supreme Court refused to hear the case, upholding a sentence which will keep Dalia in prison until 2032. Dalia's story would evolve to insist she was set up by Police, and the murder for hire plot was Mike's idea. Dalia claims Mike wanted to be famous, like the reality television stars in his favorite programs, and having someone attempt to kill him would make national news. However, the evidence gathered by Police, and presented in court repeatedly, does not support her version of events.
Officer Brendan Rodela, Contributing Editor | Officer
Brendan Rodela is a Deputy for the Lincoln County (NM) Sheriff's Office. He holds a degree in Criminal Justice and is a certified instructor with specialized training in Domestic Violence and Interactions with Persons with Mental Impairments.