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Nancy Grace

Crash Victims` Family Cuts Ties With Wrong-Way Driver`s Family; Bride Slapped with Restraining Order; Wesley Glen Receives Check from Nancy

Aired August 12, 2009 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. A young mother with five little children in a minivan barrels down the wrong way on a packed interstate, slamming into another vehicle. Tally, eight dead, one child hanging onto life. Tragedy, yes. Accident, no. Toxicology reports Mommy high on booze and pot.

Bombshell tonight. Blood is not thicker than alcohol. We learn the family cuts all ties with drunk mom`s husband as surveillance video emerges tonight of drunk mom just before the fatal crash. What does it reveal? Police set to interview the sole child survivor, but will Daddy give permission? Legal eagles say, No way. Prosecutors set to meet with police. Will criminal charges follow?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Long Island mother Diane Schuler was stoned and drunk when she plowed into the Bastardis` SUV, going the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway. Schuler herself was killed, along with her 2-year-old daughter and three nieces.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She left the campground in New York and went to McDonald`s. According to the employees at McDonald`s, she seemed fine, no problem. The kids seemed fine. She supposedly got back in her minivan and started driving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She did not drink. She is not an alcoholic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel that it`s inconceivable that nobody in this -- in the deceased driver`s family was aware of the fact that she had a drinking problem or a drug problem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The New York State Police have told me that when they interviewed Daniel Schuler about his wife`s medical conditions, they also asked him, Did she do drugs recreationally? Did she drink at all? And what he told them, according to what they told me later, was that she was a social drinker and she occasionally smoked pot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know her to go to bars?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know her to get drunk and act in a...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never saw her drunk since the day I met her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her blood alcohol level was, you know, 0.19. Most of us would be out, unconscious. There`s no way she just started drinking that day, and there`s no way she just found some marijuana on the side of the road. I mean, this has been going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, a Florida beach beauty marries her dream man and the newlyweds all set to live happily ever after until death does them part. What the 26-year-old beauty didn`t plan on was the hit man she hires to murder hubby is a cop. That`s right, the cops sting the bride on video while she breaks down in hysterical tears over her dead husband. This just hours after she puts those special final touches on his shooting death over the phone with a would-be hit man. We have the video.

Motive? Not only does she convince hubby to transfer ownership of their quarter-million-dollar home to her name only, in less than 24 hours, she goes shopping for a hit man. And just six months into the marriage, the thrill is gone. She reportedly gets a lover, who calls police to save hubby. Were there previous attempts to get hubby?

And a stunning twist tonight. We learn police raced to the couple`s home multiple times based on anonymous tips, a blackmail note, and mysterious calls to the home. And where`s the blushing bride tonight, in jail, enjoying the company of other inmates like herself? No, she`s free on a $2,500 bond at home with her mommy, bunk (ph) job (ph) just one mile away from the husband she tried to murder. Thanks, Judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Collapsing into a sergeant`s arms and sobbing uncontrollably, a wife reacts to news her husband is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say I`m doing OK, but I really couldn`t -- I can`t say -- like, it hasn`t sunk in yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Detectives say it was all fake, the crime scene and Dalia Dippolito`s reaction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At one point, she said she was 5,000 percent sure she wants her husband dead. And this morning, she was sobbing like her world had crumbled.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Dippolito is very much alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t even believe it!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To create an alibi, detectives say, Dalia went to L.A. Fitness. She was here when they called and told her about her husband`s apparent murder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she arrived, police say she put on a performance, crying over her husband of six months.

GRACE: They`re breaking the news to her. Of course, as all the cops know, she set the thing up, according to them. Now, according to this cop that she`s trying to hug, he barely got the words out...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your husband...

GRACE: ... and she started wailing. It`s like she anticipated the bad news. Another cop says no matter how much she wailed, she couldn`t squeeze out a tear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They keep telling me how lucky I am today, and I don`t really -- it hasn`t hit me yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Everyone, very quickly, thank you for all of your calls, e-mails, support. My first novel, a murder/mystery thriller, "Eleventh Victim," finally in the book stores today. Part of my proceeds go to Wesley Glen Ministries, a charity that gives a loving home to the mentally handicapped. And again, I want to thank you. And I hope you like the book.

And now, a young mother with five little children in her minivan barrels down the wrong way on a packed interstate, slamming into another vehicle. Tally, eight dead, one child hanging onto life. Tragedy, yes. Accident, oh, no. Toxicology reports Mommy high on booze and pot.

Bombshell tonight. Blood is not thicker than alcohol. We learn the family cuts all ties with drunk mom`s husband as surveillance video emerges of drunk mom just before the fatal crash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Toxicology reports found Schuler was twice over the legal alcohol limit and showed evidence of marijuana use. She was coming home from a camping trip at the time of the accident and was killed instantly, along with her daughter, three nieces, and three passengers in the oncoming car she hit. Only her son survived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not have much in the way of people that morning describing Diane Schuler, other than to say that she was fine, up until the time that she made a phone call.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At 11:30, she talked to her brother, said, You know what? Hit a little bit of traffic, but your girls -- who were in the car, three of them -- will be home in time for their afternoon activities. Then at 1:00 o`clock, she talked to her brother again. And this is where everything went into action, sort of, here because the brother said, Are you OK? She said, No, you know, I`m feeling sick, you know, things are spinning around. The brother said, Look, stay where you are. At the time, she was at a pull-off area near the Tappan Zee Bridge. Apparently, she didn`t stay there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Diane Schuler had a blood alcohol content of 0.19 percent. Diane Schuler had a high level of THC in her blood. THC is the active ingredient contained in marijuana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is not an alcoholic. And my heart has rested every night when I go to bed. Something medically had to have happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s obvious she had a lot of alcohol in her system. She was stoned on pot. There`s no way he could not have known that just hours before.

IRVING ANOLIK, VICTIMS` FAMILY ATTORNEY: They`re not coping as well as you can expect because they`re in deep mourning. But they keep a stiff upper lip when they have to meet people and you wouldn`t believe that they were so saddened. But I know them well and I`ve seen them under all circumstances. I know that they`re extremely traumatized by this terrible killing. I don`t call it an accident, it`s a killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: You are seeing video from ABC`s "Good Morning America."

Straight out to Eileen Lehpamer, reporter with 1010 WINS radio. Eileen, thank you for being with us. What can you tell me about the video that has emerged of drunk mom just before the fatal crash?

EILEEN LEHPAMER, 1010 WINS: Well, that`s right, Nancy. It is surveillance video that we now learn that state police have from that McDonald`s, which is only nine miles from the campsite where she left. That surveillance video, we`re told, shows that she was not intoxicated, did not appear to be intoxicated anyway, from that surveillance video.

But keep in mind, that was just nine miles from the campsite and three hours before the crash. And at the time of the crash, as you know, toxicology has said she had a blood alcohol of .19, and she also had six grams of undigested alcohol in her stomach, as well as marijuana. So then, of course, the question is...

GRACE: Whew!

LEHPAMER: Yes. Yes. So three hours from there until the crash. So state police have said she was either drinking and smoking pot directly behind the wheel or she had pulled off at some rest stops.

GRACE: Out to Dr. Titus Duncan, a medical doctor joining us out of Atlanta. Dr. Duncan, thank you for being with us. About how many drinks does that equal?

DR. TITUS DUNCAN, GENERAL SURGERY: Well, the number of drinks just depends on each individual person. You can have one or two drinks, and it depends on that person`s metabolism as to how quickly it reaches into the bloodstream and to how long...

GRACE: But we`ve got a woman that is over twice the legal limit. And Eileen Lehpamer, how much did you say was undigested in her stomach?

LEHPAMER: They told us six grams of alcohol, and initially, when they put out the toxicology results, they said that was -- and her .19 -- that it was equivalent to 10 drinks of 80 proof liquor. That was from the toxicologist.

GRACE: Equivalent of 10 shots of 80 proof liquor. OK, Brad Lamm, not that you are an expert in liquor, you`re a board-certified interventionist at Bradlamm.com. But what does that equal, a shot? What would that be, 10 shots?

BRAD LAMM, INTERVENTIONIST: Well, it`s just a few ounces. It depends on the proof. But Nancy...

GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Stop!

LAMM: ... I`m also an alcoholic...

GRACE: No!

LAMM: ... in recovery...

GRACE: No, I don`t want to hear "it depends on." I want to find out how much we believe she had digested. Brad, I`ll be back with you.

All right, to you, Eleanor Dixon, felony prosecutor joining us here in our Manhattan studios. You and I have both handled a lot of DUIs, prosecuting them. And since we only have prosecuted felonies in our world, it has to be an HV, habitual violator, before we get our mitts on them. So when I say "a shot," what does that mean to you, Eleanor Dixon, not on a personal level?

(LAUGHTER)

ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: Well, it means one drink, Nancy, usually, one drink, a 12-ounce can of beer, six ounces of wine, or a shot of liquor, the 80 proof that was mentioned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you put five children in a car when you`re a mother and you`re drunk? How do you do that? It`s incomprehensible. I can`t even -- we have children. I would never, ever do something like that! It`s just -- it`s just -- it`s crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can think of only two words, I said, too young and too soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Children filled four of the five bright white caskets that moved up the steps into Our Lady of Victory, the church in Floral (ph) Park where the Schuler and Hance families would celebrate the joyful milestones in their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God wanted them all to be in heaven together, and they had to go together, and that they`re all angels, looking over the family now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is the only way members of this heartsick community can come to grips with the horrific highway crash that took the lives of 36-year-old Diane Schuler, her 2-year-old daughter, Erin, and her nieces, 8-year-old Emma Hance, 7-year-old Alison, and 5-year-old Kate. Warren Hance, the father of the three older girls who died, went to pieces when he tried to thank the hundreds of supporters for their support, the emotion blaring through loudspeakers outside, where a hushed crowd hung on his every word.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Love your children. Cherish your children. Kiss your children. And don`t ever forget!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Eight people dead, including these three little girls, Mommy drunk and stoned, according to toxicology reports. Tonight, police hone in on Daddy. Not only that, blood is not thicker than alcohol. Apparently, family cutting all ties with the woman`s husband.

Back to Eileen Lehpamer with 1010 WINS and to Aman Ali, reporter with "The Journal News," who was there at the crash that very day within minutes.

Out to you, Aman. What can you tell me about the family cutting ties?

AMAN ALI, "JOURNAL NEWS" (via telephone): Well, according to Irving Anolik -- he`s the attorney for the Bastardi family, one of the victims in the crash -- he said that the Hance family, the father of the three girls, has cut ties with the Schuler family. I think what drove them over the edge was Daniel Schuler`s press conference last week, saying that it wasn`t alcohol or marijuana, that it was Diane Schuler`s alleged medical conditions that caused this accident. That in conjunction with what was happening at the time, it appears that`s what, you know, caused the family -- the Hance family to cut ties with the Schuler family.

GRACE: To Eileen Lehpamer with 1010 WINS radio. Eileen, the family came up with quite a few explanations as to why the crash occurred.

LEHPAMER: Right. Well, that`s the husband, Daniel Schuler. He said a number of things through his attorney, as well, that maybe she had some stroke-like condition that didn`t show up in the initial autopsy. Or he also suggested that perhaps she had a tooth abscess or a lump in her leg, which they didn`t elaborate on, or maybe diabetes that would be linked to when she was pregnant, although we have no indication that she was pregnant.

GRACE: Right, gestational diabetes ends with the pregnancy, typically.

Take a look at the Q&A that apparently severed all family ties. This, as in a stunning twist tonight, we learn that grainy surveillance video has emerged of the drunk mom just before the fatal crash. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prior to getting into that car, she had numerous medical conditions, problems. One of them was an abscess, which was almost two months old, which she would not go to the dentist for, no matter how much he begged her. There was a swelling and there was pain on the -- left side?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe it was, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had diabetes at various levels.

QUESTION: What type...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me. And then -- remember the rule. If you want a question, you raise your hand. If not, I`ll never point to you, OK? She also had a lump on her leg, and the lump on the leg -- we`re not sure what it was but it was moving. We have not yet decided to have a new autopsy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We don`t know what the lump is, but it`s moving? OK, Peter Odom, they`re painting themselves into a corner right now. The more that lawyer blabs in front of a microphone -- and what is he, the schoolteacher? I`m not going to let you speak unless you raise your hand. I`m surprised he didn`t get a rotten tomato right here!

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, the husband, Nancy, is in denial, and it`s understandable. This is a parent`s -- apparently, if there was a condition of alcoholism, it`s something he just didn`t know about. And that`s completely understandable. I would just...

GRACE: No, no! That`s understandable?

ODOM: Sure.

GRACE: Renee Rockwell, you don`t know when your wife is drinking a whole bottle of Absolut vodka and using pot? I mean, he admitted his wife used pot. How could he say now he doesn`t know? And they allowed those children in that car, all the children dead except one sole 5-year-old survivor?

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, it`s hard to imagine that he would let his own children in that car if she`s impaired behind the wheel. But Nancy, not everybody has to answer with a prison sentence when something horrific happens, such as this case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To know that she did get in a vehicle with children and risk everybody`s lives, it is sad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is heart-wrenching news and answers to questions that leave neighbors in two communities feeling empty, many asking how a mother of two could put five children in harm`s way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would never, never take that responsibility and be careless like that. How do you do that? You have five children in the car and you drink? It`s horrible. It`s just horrible. I don`t know how the parents are going to good deal with that. It`s unforgivable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: To Glynn Birch, former MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, national president, lost his own son to a drunk driver. Glynn, as always, thank you for being with us. Glynn, when you hear "10 shots," "marijuana," who wouldn`t know the driver was drunk and stoned?

GLYNN BIRCH, FORMER MADD NATIONAL PRESIDENT: You know, you bring up a good point. But you know, every time a horrific crash like this happens, I`m reminded of my own son`s death, who was killed by a repeat offender that had a blood alcohol of .26. You know, .19, which is equivalent to about 10 drinks, is a lot of alcohol.

We have to look at the evidence. Let`s not speculate. The evidence clearly shows that she was highly intoxicated. Not only that, she was driving the wrong way, Nancy. This clearly shows she was highly impaired.

GRACE: And not only that, Caryn Stark -- Dr. Stark, psychologist here in New York joining us on the set today -- not only that, there was an empty bottle of vodka right at her foot. But Caryn Stark, in the McDonald`s video, which is at a distance from her seated there with her children or either through a drive-through at one juncture -- how can that tell, did her breath smell like alcohol, was she unsteady on her feet? I mean, you can be with people at bars, according to bartenders, and not know they`re completely soused.

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, there`s a reason, Nancy, why they do tests on people. You can`t tell anything from a videotape. And you have to take a look at this husband, also, and think, this isn`t denial, it`s repression. He`s actually acted as though he knows nothing about his wife. Were they living in separate homes?

GRACE: And to Vince Velazquez, homicide detective in Atlanta. You`ve seen plenty of DUIs. Weigh in.

VINCE VELAZQUEZ, HOMICIDE DETECTIVE, ATLANTA METRO AREA: Yes. Nancy, there`s 1.5 ounces in a shot. She had 10 drinks, equivalent with her blood content. There`s no doubt this woman was drinking from, you know, the minute she got in that car from McDonald`s until she crashed. And unfortunately, you know, we`re not going to know. I would want to look at where she purchased her alcohol at. I`d like to look at all her receipts and find out if she was at a liquor store.

GRACE: And back to Brad Lamm. Brad, it is entirely possible no one picked up on her condition at McDonald`s.

LAMM: Absolutely. I mean, Nancy, it`s hiding in plain sight. Sometimes folks really do know. Sometimes they`re in the camp where they just are stuck. They don`t know what to do when their loved one is alcoholic or addicted. And they think...

GRACE: But Brad Lamm...

LAMM: ... they`re going to lose their love or something.

GRACE: ... knowing that they are an alcoholic is different from putting your kids in the car with them.

LAMM: I totally agree. Totally agree. But it brings up the question, Do you get in and do something, or do you stand just silent?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sobs of a grieving wife. Detectives say it was all a performance.

DALIA DIPPOLITO, MICHAEL DIPPOLITO`S WIFE: No! No! Oh, my god!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His wife, Dalia, is accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill him. A confidential informant tipped off police.

MICHAEL DIPPOLITO, WIFE TRIED TO HIRE HITMAN TO KILL HIM: They keep telling me how lucky I am today, and I don`t really -- it hasn`t hit me yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dalia Dippolito had met with an undercover police officer posing at a hitman. According to police documents, she was prepared to spend $4,200. When asked if she was sure she wanted her husband killed, she laughed and said, "I will be very happy."

She also said, "I`m not going to change my mind, I am 5,000 percent sure I want it done." At the police department, she came face-to-face with the alleged hit man and her husband. This is all she had to say.

D. DIPPOLITO: I didn`t do anything, and I didn`t plot anything.

CHIEF MATTHEW IMMLER, BOYNTON BEACH POLICE DEPT., ON THE CASE (via phone): During the ride to the police station we tried not to engage her too much. We just wanted her to kind of drink I it all in, what had happened, come to the realization that the plot that she put in motion had succeeded and once we got her to the station, it was very important for us at that time that she react to the questions that we had planned to ask her.

She was somewhat subdued. She was crying and, essentially, just making the types of noises you would think, you know, how could this happen, that sort of thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dippolito is confined to her mother`s house, 24/7. Michael Dippolito told us he thought his wife wanted his money.

M. DIPPOLITO: I can`t even believe it. Yes, it`s crazy. If she could have just done anything else, she should have. Not this. This is just ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dippolito?

D. DIPPOLITO: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

D. DIPPOLITO: Oh, no! Oh, no! No! Oh, my god! I want to see him. Oh, no!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to calm down. OK. Is there anyone that would want to hurt him? Someone said they saw a black male running from the house. Ma`am, you cannot do this right now. We need to take you to the station. Go with this detective. If you want to help your husband, OK? If you want to help your husband you need to go to the station with these guys.

D. DIPPOLITO: No! Please!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can tell us everything you know about who he knows, who he`s connected to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: In a stunning and bizarre twist, she is out on a low bond, thanks, Judge Boras. She`s bunked up about one mile from the man she tried to murder. That`s right. She`s shacked up with her mommy who`s probably cooking her a nice meal right now as she watches this program about herself.

Straight to you, Ellie Jostad, our producer -- our chief editorial producer on the story. Ellie, what exactly happened when they first broke the news to her there on video? We heard this through a police source.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Right. Right. Detective Sergeant Frank Ransy, he`s the officer you see in the video giving her the bad news that her husband is dead. He said he barely got the sentence out, "Your husband has been killed," and she immediately broke into hysterics.

GRACE: So, Ellie, as you were describing it to me earlier before the show tonight, it was more like, "Your husband," oh!

(LAUGHTER)

JOSTAD: Right.

GRACE: Before he could have said, your husband won the lottery, your husband is trying to reach you.

JOSTAD: Yes.

GRACE: He didn`t even get to finish before she broke down in hysterics.

JOSTAD: Right. And Sgt. Ransy says that, you know, he`s had to deliver bad news to other family members before. Usually there`s confusion, there`s disbelief, there`s denial. And he said, this almost seemed anticipated, as if she were waiting for him to say this.

GRACE: And let`s unleash the lawyers, Eleanor Dixon, Peter Odom, Renee Rockwell. Before she left that morning, she promised she`d stop and bring a Starbucks back home to him. I would like to use, as evidence for the prosecution, the fact that she only had one cappuccino. What about that, Miss Rockwell?

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, this is not a case that is going to go to trial. I can assure right.

GRACE: Right.

ROCKWELL: What is amazing, though, is that an attorney got her a bond that she just has to stay confined to her mother`s house. What happens if she violates the bond? Drives down the street a mile?

GRACE: But, you know, Peter Odom, she could get at ankle bracelet off and be there before cops could find her, and bam, bam, it`s all over.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, you know that the reason that she is out on bond is because it says something about the strength of the state`s case. I`ve got real questions about entrapment here.

GRACE: Put him back.

ODOM: Yes, why did.

GRACE: Put him back. Put him up. Entrap by who?

ODOM: By the police.

GRACE: Her lover?

ODOM: The police creating the crime.

GRACE: She went to her lover, according to our sources, wanting to find a hitman and he, wisely, put the skids on his involvement and told the cops.

Now, entrapment by who? You can`t be entrapped by your lover. The cops didn`t seek her out, Peter Odom.

ODOM: Well, you know, the police were so quick to release this video that, by the way, was made by the people.

GRACE: So now you`re mad because they released a video.

ODOM: I`m not mad about it.

GRACE: What happened to your entrapment theory, Peter?

ODOM: Why don`t we use some evidence?

GRACE: Where did that go? Bye-bye.

ODOM: All we have is the police talking about what their evidence is. We haven`t seen it yet, have we?

GRACE: So first you`re.

ODOM: I`d like to see it.

GRACE: . PO`d because they released it, now you`re PO`d because you haven`t seen it. OK.

ODOM: I want to see the tape.

GRACE: I`m going to let you get your story straight. Eleanor Dixon, help.

ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: Well, poor defense lawyers, they just don`t see it, do they, Nancy? It`s a good case for the state. I don`t know what happened to good old-fashioned divorce, but they`ve clearly got her. They`ve got her on tape. But what is unconscionable to me is the fact that she is sitting at home with her mom eating a good home-cooked meal when she should be in jail awaiting trial.

GRACE: That`s right. Hugh Nolan, investigative reporter, joining us in Miami. Why isn`t she enjoying the luxury of one of those nice steel commodes that you share with the other lovely female inmates on your cell block?

HUGH NOLAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, she may well soon if the husband`s attorneys have their way. Now we have just filed today in the criminal case the appearance of an attorney by the name of Guy Franceton from Boca Raton as the attorney for the victim, that would be, of course, Michael Dippolito.

We don`t yet have a formal filing other than that notice of appearance, but given statements made by the husband`s attorneys, it seems very likely that he will be attempting to convince the judge to revoke that bond status.

The bond, however, it must be said, was agreed to by the state attorney`s office, by the defense attorney, and in fact, the Boca -- excuse me, the Boynton Beach Police Department has made statements essentially saying that they didn`t have any problem with it. So it`s going to be a bit of a fight to get that bond revoked.

GRACE: Well, Mr. Nolan, they may not have a problem with it, but I do, all right? As a crime victim myself, and on behalf of other crime victims, I think it`s unconscionable that she is out on bond, after going so far as to meet up.

How many times with the would-be hitman, right there in the parking lot of a CVS? Hello? There are video cameras out there, we can see you. It`s not exactly secret out there, Hugh Nolan.

Do we know yet -- do we have confirmation that the secret informant was her lover?

NOLAN: No, we do not. We have the statements by his attorneys specifically in the civil case that she was seeing a man. That`s the only language that`s been used formally in court pleadings. They have stated, publicly, that they believe that this was, in fact, a lover.

GRACE: OK. To John Sabatino, friend of the husband, Michael. John, what about it? As he accepted that his wife of just six months had already shacked up with another guy?

JOHN SABATINO, FRIEND of MICHAEL DIPPOLITO, INTENDED TARGET OF HIT: No, Nancy. By the way, how you doing?

GRACE: I`m good.

SABATINO: That`s good.

GRACE: But I`m a little concerned that this woman is out on bond and she`s about a mile away from your buddy.

SABATINO: Right. And, actually, you know, there`s really been no mention from Mike about a lover or anything of that sort. So I think that`s all speculation, at this point.

GRACE: Well, we know this. We know that she had pillow talk with someone that turned her in to the police, to avoid a charge himself of accomplice to murder.

We`ll all be right back. But, first, tonight`s "Safety Tips." Protect yourself and your computer while you`re in cyberspace. Install a firewall and an antivirus software program. It stops hackers from accessing your private information, deleting files or infecting your computer with a virus.

Keep your operating system on, keep it up to date and ensure your computer has the latest protections. Think twice when you download. Never open e- mail attachments from somebody you don`t know. Turn off your computer when not in use.

To fend off unwanted attacks and for more information, go to FBI.gov and click on "Be crime smart."

ANNOUNCER: "Nancy Safety Tips" brought to you by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Detectives say they received a tip about Dalia`s plan. She had been dealing with an undercover police officer, posing as a hitman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The report says the two met several times in a parking lot at a CVS and at a gas station. When the officer asked if she was sure she wanted it done, she replied, quote, "I`m not going to change my mind. I am 5,000 percent sure I want it done."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Dippolito and his wife met less than a year ago. He`s now 38, she`s 26. They were married six months ago. He says strange things started happening. Money went missing, threatening notes were left on his car. He says now that makes sense. But it`s far different than his wife trying to kill him.

M. DIPPOLITO: There was a lot of funny stuff going on. I overlooked a lot of things. And you know, you try and look -- see the best in people, not the worst. I feel a little bad, but I mean, there`s no reason she had to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Now the possibility rears its head that this may not have been her first attempt to get hubby. What happened?

JOSTAD: Right, Nancy. Well, back in March, strange things started happening. First, police got an anonymous tip that Michael Dippolito was selling drugs, ecstasy, steroids out of his house. Twice he walked out to his vehicle to find cops, even one time drug-sniffing dogs around his car.

Again, they`d gotten tips that he was selling drugs. They even got a couple of phone calls, first from somebody who said they were detective from the Boynton Beach Police and that this detective was investigating threats against the family.

Dalia Dippolito said she got another threatening phone call and they even found a note on Michael`s truck that said, "Give us $40,000 or we`ll kill you," or something to that effect.

GRACE: Straight back to Hugh Nolan, investigative reporter. I guess by the time cops finally got out there and they found some cocaine, apparently planted in his car, they started becoming suspicious, because there had been multiple anonymous tips to police that he was up to wrongdoing, none of them panned out. Mysterious phone calls, threatening phone calls to the home. Even a threatening letter, a note.

NOLAN: Yes. All of those things took place in a very brief period of time. As a matter of fact, that first police report that we obtained from the Boynton Beach Police Department was filed five weeks to the day after the marriage between Dalia and Michael Dippolito.

That was actually a report that there were drugs being sold out of the house. Within a month, there was another report filed. Now this one`s a little different from the other two. This actually was a neighbor of the couple who contacted police, because of having heard a loud argument, and police responding to that, spoke to both husband and wife and we`re told that this was a fight about money.

Now the really strange incidents are the ones that are detailed in the May police report. Now these are -- this is Michael Dippolito`s complaint about having received these harassing phone calls and these threats. And even a little bit more serious, a death threat, if he didn`t leave $40,000 in a prearranged place in the parking lot of the same LA fitness at which Dalia was working out, as she thought her husband was going to be killed.

GRACE: I want to go to Vince Velazquez, homicide detective there in Atlanta. What do you make of this plot? And how often do you see murder for hire?

VINCE VELAZQUEZ, HOMICIDE DETECTIVE, ATLANTA METRO AREA, HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Nancy, I`ve actually investigated a couple of murder for hire cases after the fact, but looking at these past calls for service, it looks like she`s trying to set up a pattern of situations that may support the murder when it happened.

I would be interested on a handwriting analysis on the note and also the phone records to see where those calls were coming from.

GRACE: To Dr. Titus Duncan, general surgeon, joining us out of Atlanta. Dr. Duncan, as part of her scary, scary house arrest the judge put her on - - thank you, Judge Boras -- she`s got to be drug tested. What are they looking for?

DR. TITUS DUNCAN, M.D., GENERAL SURGERY: The drugs they`re looking for all sorts of things, like barbiturates, was she taking marijuana, was she taking any sort of illicit type of drug that she shouldn`t be taking at all that may sort of alter her mindset.

So they`re looking for a bunch of things and the drug test is very, very, very sensitive to get and you can get almost anything that you want to and see if that person is really, really following the rules.

GRACE: To Dr. Caryn Stark, psychologist, joining us here in New York. I keep asking this question and I`m not getting an answer from anybody. What do you do the night before your husband is going to be murdered and you`ve got it all plotted out?

Do you sleep with him? Do you give him extra blueberries in his cereal the next morning? What? I mean, how can you -- how can a person put up that facade, all the while knowing he`s going to be shot in the head in a couple of hours? No problem, right there on the carpet.

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: It takes a particular type of person, Nancy. It takes that kind of.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: That`s a good assessment, Caryn.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Be a little more specific.

STARK: It`s an anti-social personality. So that means it`s not someone who`s going to ask for a divorce. It`s somebody who gets a thrill out of the idea of having him killed. Who has no conscience, and can go ahead and sleep with him or give him blueberries, do whatever she wants because life is fine for her no matter what happens to him.

GRACE: What`s amazing to me -- back to you, Eleanor Dixon, felony prosecutor out of the Atlanta jurisdiction -- is that he has to go to court and get a restraining order. Now, she`s just hired a hitman to rub him out, to shoot him dead, in the head, in the home while she`s on the elliptical a few miles away.

And that`s OK with her, no problem. Because you know what she`s going to get? A $250,000 town home. I`ve got the description right here. Granite countertops, smooth top range, stainless steel appliances, floor upgraded, tile laid on the diagonal. I mean, what`s not to like, Eleanor?

But isn`t it odd? She tries to take out a hit on him and now he`s got to go back to court to get a restraining order because she`s bunked up less than a mile away from him? I mean, what`s going on down there?

DIXON: It`s unfortunate, Nancy, because victims are often re-victimized in this manner. Apparently, the bond conditions he felt were not strong enough to protect him and added this extra layer of protection.

Of course, let`s hope it`s a good layer of protection, because some defendants just walk right through that piece of paper.

GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, what can you tell me about her signing a waiver to be on the series, "COPS"?

JOSTAD: Right, Nancy. Well, in addition to Boynton Police videotaping her reaction to the news that her husband had been killed, supposedly, the TV show "COPS" was also there, filming it. Now her attorney says that she did sign a waiver which would allow the video to appear on the TV show, but he said she was confused, she was misled, she didn`t know what she was signing.

GRACE: So we can look forward to seeing this on television, the whole thing?

JOSTAD: Very possibly, yes.

GRACE: OK, Ellie, what else is happening in the case?

JOSTAD: Well, Nancy, they have a hearing next week to make that protective order permanent. We don`t know if we`ll hear more about what`s going on then but also Dalia Dippolito has her initial appearance in September.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At one point says she is 5,000 percent sure she wanted her husband dead and she was sobbing like her world had crumbled.

D. DIPPOLITO: No! No! Oh my god. No! No!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Very quickly again, thank you so much for your support today. The book, "The Eleventh Victim," is finally in bookstores. And as I mentioned to you many times a portion of my proceeds goes towards Wesley Glen Ministries. They provide a truly loving home to the mentally handicapped.

And with me tonight, the director of Wesley Glen Ministries, Dr. William Oliver, aka, Billy.

Billy, thank you for being with us. We have a very brief time right now, but could you tell our viewers what is Wesley Glen?

DR. WILLIAM OLIVER, WESLEY GLEN MINISTRIES DIRECTOR: Nancy, Wesley Glen is an agency of the United Methodist Church. We provide 24-hour care, residential care.

GRACE: Now some people have accused Methodists of being Baptists that want to drink and not be judged. That`s absolutely not true, is it?

OLIVER: Absolutely not true.

GRACE: Thank you.

OLIVER: Not true. But we provide 24-hour care in 17 residential homes across south Georgia and our residents all have a primary diagnosis of mental retardation. And they`re all adults. And some have no other home except ours, but we`re glad to be involved in this ministry.

And we thank you for the support that you give and have given on behalf of the ministry. And I know I`m here in part to receive something from you, but I want to give you something on behalf of Wesley Glen.

The residents wanted you to know how much they appreciate what you`re doing and have done.

GRACE: He has just handed me a beautiful shot of Wesley Glen and signed all around it are the signatures of the residents there.

And Billy, from our hearts, here is our check for $25,000 from the book proceeds and I promise you there will be more. And I`m just so proud that you were my minister for so many years. And what you are doing now is truly God`s work. Thank you.

OLIVER: Thank you so much.

GRACE: Everybody, let`s stop and remember Army Private First Class Aaron Fairbairn, 20, Aberdeen, Washington. Lost his life just hours after speaking to his family. Loved family reunions, every Fourth of July on the Oregon coast. Off-roading, dirt bikes, working out. Dreamed of a career as a mechanic. Favorite TV show, "Heroes." Leaves behind mom Shelly, stepdad David, five siblings.

Aaron Fairbairn, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you. And a special good night from New York, friend of the show, Rob. Isn`t he handsome?

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friends.

END