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Nancy Grace
Georgia Woman Abducted While Talking on Cell Phone
Aired August 14, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: We begin tonight with breaking news out of north Georgia, where the desperate search is on for a young mother in extreme danger. She sets out for her usual evening walk near the family home, a cell phone glued to her ear as she chats casually with her boyfriend. But then something goes terribly wrong. Out of nowhere, the boyfriend hears a struggle. He hears it with his own ears as he and his girlfriend are talking on the phone. Then the call is cut short. She vanishes. K-9s, volunteers and multiple law enforcement agencies are combing the north Georgia mountains right now in the search for Kristi Cornwell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristi Cornwell, walking along a remote area Tuesday, a walk she`s taken many times for exercise. She`s on the phone with her boyfriend, then suddenly, he hears her say, Don`t take me. The line drops. She hasn`t been seen since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was abducted, placed in a vehicle and removed from the area. That speaks for itself. She is in danger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities are stopping all cars on and around Jones Creek Road, asking drivers if they saw anything Tuesday night. Detectives are tracking down and interviewing registered sex offenders across four counties.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have several promising leads that we are pursuing, but we have not focussed in on a suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-eight-year-old Kristi is described simply as a good girl who adores her 15-year-old son, is close to her family and would never just disappear and let them suffer like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want her back, and we`d appreciate it if they would have mercy on her and just understand that we need her back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And also tonight, a beautiful Florida newlywed races home to find police swarming around the couple`s quarter-million-dollar condo. Police break the news her new husband has been murdered, the bride breaking down in tears over her just-murdered husband. But little does she know the crime scene is fake and the police are stinging her on video. Why? Because just hours earlier, she allegedly hired a hitman to kill her husband. But in a stunning twist, it is the bride`s alleged secret lover who tips off cops, saving her husband`s life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say she thought she`d gotten away with it. Boynton Beach police say 26-year-old Dalia Dippolito tried to pay a hitman $3,000 to kill her husband. Turns out that hitman was an undercover police officer tipped off by a confidential informant.
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`m 5,000 percent sure I want it done."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man allegedly targeted for a murder-for-hire plot by his own wife is speaking out. And a judge ordered suspect Dalia Dippolito to stay away from her husband of six months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Although they had evidence against her taken days earlier, Boynton Beach police clued Michael in and staged a murder scene at the couple`s town home, capturing the grieving wife, and then minutes later, flipping the script on her.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Problem! Ruh-roh! The hitman is a cop.
DALIA DIPPOLITO, ACCUSED OF TRYING TO HIRE HITMAN: I didn`t do anything, and I didn`t plot anything.
GRACE: They`re breaking the news to her. Of course, 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 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace. Now, Nancy, she is not too far away. She is promoting her new great novel tonight. She`s going to be on the Larry King show live tonight in one hour from now on CNN at 9:00 o`clock Eastern. Tune in and watch Anderson Cooper as he chats with Nancy about her new book, "The Eleventh Victim," and all the other stories making headlines. Nancy and Anderson Cooper tonight one hour from now on CNN.
But tight now to north Georgia and the desperate search for a young mother in extreme danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want her back, and we`d appreciate it if you`d have mercy on her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell of Blairsville, last seen walking here on Jones Creek Road Tuesday night a little after 9:00. GBI investigators say she was on her cell phone talking to her boyfriend in Atlanta.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He overheard her tell him that, I`ve got to step off the road, there`s a vehicle approaching. Then he hears what he believes to be a struggle and loses contact with her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now a detailed search of the entire area, particularly the spot where investigators found some of Kristi`s personal items. They won`t give specifics but say some of the things they found indicate there was a struggle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have brought in bloodhounds to help, you know, with that search. And they`ve got about a hundred people there on the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In most cases, when there`s an actual abduction by a stranger, the victim has been sexually molested, assaulted and then killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I plead to the public, anyone out there who`s seen anything, heard anything or even think they may have seen anything, now is the time to call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: All right, let`s go straight out to Eric Jens. He is a reporter for WRGA Newsradio, standing by live in Atlanta. Eric, tell us what has happened here.
ERIC JENS, WRGA NEWSRADIO: Thank you very much. Basically, the possibilities are virtually limitless based on the information that`s being released at this time. Thirty-eight-year-old mother of a 15-year-old son, Kristi Cornwell, disappears Tuesday night while out exercising, going on a long walk through a rural area, then just disappears. The last known contact was with her boyfriend in Atlanta, he on the cell phone with her at the time when she appears to be in distress, hears what sounds like a struggle going on. The last thing he reports hearing is her saying, Don`t take me, and then he loses the connection, and there`s been no sign of her since then.
CASAREZ: OK, so you`re saying that when she was out exercising a couple of nights ago, right, that she`s on the phone with her boyfriend. Walk us through this again.
JENS: Yes. It`s about 9:00 o`clock at night. It`s just getting dark outside. And she`s been known to do this, according to, you know, family and friends, that she`s out exercising. It`s just getting cool out. It`s a rural area. It`s not particularly dangerous, except that if you`re out there all by yourself and something does happen to you, there are not a lot of witnesses around that are going to be able to help you out.
CASAREZ: All right, to Matt Zarrell, Nancy Grace producer. Once the phone call was cut short between her and her boyfriend, what happened then? Did her boyfriend call 911?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Immediately, Jean. He called police immediately. Police came on scene, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. They found evidence of her belongings there. They also found evidence of a struggle, but they won`t comment on the details.
CASAREZ: All right, what does the boyfriend say he actually heard transpire? They`re on the phone, casual conversation. What happened?
ZARRELL: Well, he says that she said a car was pulling up to her. And as he was on the phone with her, he said that he heard signs of a struggle. Now, we don`t know exactly what it was, but he also reportedly heard screaming, and he reportedly heard her say, Don`t take me, and that`s when the phone call cut off.
CASAREZ: All right, to Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst, director of cold case squad, Pine Lake PD. You are in Georgia. What are you hearing about this case tonight?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST: Well, we`ve got multiple agencies involved. The GBI is involved. The Georgia State Patrol is involved. Obviously, the Union County sheriff`s department is involved, DNR, other local agencies that are helping with K-9 and air and on the ground. And it`s a full-on, widespread search.
CASAREZ: Well, were`s my concern, Sheryl. When she and her boyfriend -- when Kristi and her boyfriend are talking, the call is cut short, he immediately calls 911. I understand that GBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, was actually in Union County. That`s the county. And remember, this is about 100 miles out of Atlanta. They were in the area investigating a homicide. But they couldn`t find anybody. That`s so concerning. They were all so close, the 911 call made so quickly. What are your thoughts on that?
MCCOLLUM: Well, was there a car involved, Jean. So I mean, immediately, they`ve got a way to get her out of there, as well as themselves. They were gone in a matter of moments. The most concerning thing to me is she immediately says, Don`t take me. She doesn`t say, Don`t hurt me. She doesn`t say, You can have whatever I`ve got. So she knew this was not a sexual assault and this was not a robbery. She knew she was fixing to be abducted.
CASAREZ: All right, let`s go to the attorneys. Susan Moss, family law attorney, child advocate out of New York -- welcome, Susan -- Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former FBI agent -- I may call upon that expertise tonight -- out of Miami, and Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, author of the best-selling book "How Can You Defend These People?"
First of all, to Susan Moss. It`s been reported that no money was taken, meaning that an ATM was not gone to to get money out of her account at all. Now, we don`t know what she had on her. She was merely doing a little exercise close to her home. But what does that say to you, if anything?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: It`s not good. It says that what they wanted was her. She was grabbed on her walk while she was trying to talk. Well, yet another reason why I don`t exercise. But it is so important for the authorities to step in here and do whatever they can to solve this case. Bring back a sense of security for this community. If anyone can be taken off of any street at any time, we as a community -- no one is safe.
CASAREZ: That`s right. To Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former FBI agent. You know, there is a recording. The last person that heard her talk was her boyfriend. There is that phone recording that he listened to, he heard. Is there any way that police with the cell phone can trace things? This was a cell phone that was on at the time of her disappearance.
HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it`ll be difficult without having her cell phone. He will be able -- they`ll be able to do something with his cell phone. Unfortunately, he probably did not record what he was hearing because that could always be amplified for background and some other things. But I think under these circumstances, it`ll be very, very difficult.
CASAREZ: To Eric Jens, reporter, WRGA Newsradio in Atlanta. Have they found her cell phone?
JENS: There is no word as to whether that cell phone has been discovered at this time. Of course, that is one of the major items that they have been looking for since the start of this.
CASAREZ: What do they say was left at the scene?
JENS: We don`t know specifically what was left, other than that they were articles that she likely would have had on her when she was out exercising, walking through the area. And just the way they were scattered, it did appear that it coincided with the story that there was a struggle at that site.
CASAREZ: That`s right. Investigators were saying there was evidence of a struggle because of what was left at the scene. And following the break, we want to go into that. What shows, truly, that there was evidence of a struggle? And we`ll look at that when we come back in this breaking news out of Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristi`s cell phone was on as she`s being abducted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s an enormous clue. I mean, from what I`ve learned, it was that she did initially say to her boyfriend that, There`s a car coming, let me step off the roadway. And then from that point, from what I`ve been told, is that there was some sort of a struggle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristi Cornwell, walking along a remote area Tuesday, a walk she`s taken many times for exercise near her parents` home. The 38-year-old, she`s talking to her boyfriend on the phone. He hears the concern in her voice as she sees a car approach. The last thing he hears, she`s screaming and says, Don`t take me. The line goes dead, and she hasn`t been seen since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the evidence that`s been collected thus far by all agencies involved, it does indicate an abduction. And the GBI is using that word.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was abducted, placed in a vehicle and removed from the area. That speaks for itself. She is in danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just plead that they would have mercy on her and return her safely back to her family. And we just want to say that we need her and she has a 15-year-old son that needs her very much, named Rob.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace tonight. Now, when this show is over tonight don`t you go anywhere because Nancy is going to be on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight on CNN at 9:00 o`clock Eastern time. Tune in. You`re going to watch one full hour of Anderson Cooper and Nancy Grace talking about her new book, "The Eleventh Victim," and other books making headlines. Nancy and Anderson on CNN tonight, "LARRY KING LIVE," right after this show.
Back to Georgia, though, an extremely important case coming out, an alleged abduction of a young mother as she is exercising near her home one night. To Dr. Marty Makary, M.D., physician and professor of public health, Johns Hopkins University out of Washington, D.C. They`re saying -- investigators are saying that personal items were left at the scene of this abduction, as law enforcement is calling it, and it showed evidence of a struggle. Explain that to me.
DR. MARY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, Jean, from a medical forensic standpoint, the most clear-cut evidence of a struggle is going to be fingernail fragments or full-length hairs. That can often be a sign that there must have been a struggle and nothing else. Now, there`s recent evidence from research at Arizona University that shows now we can sort of profile somebody based on DNA. So if there was someone else`s DNA on the scene, we can develop a sort of broad, general profile of hair color, eye color, maybe height, and it`s almost ready for primetime.
CASAREZ: Boy, that is fascinating. We want to remind everybody exactly -- we want to give you a description of Kristi Cornwell. She is 38 years old, 5-feet-5, 150 pounds, dark shoulder-length hair. She was wearing a white T-shirt and tan shorts. And she was talking with her boyfriend on the phone when she was abducted.
We`re taking your calls live. To Shannon in Utah. Good evening, Shannon. Your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Jean. I was wondering if cell phone records or pings could verify that she, in fact, was speaking to her boyfriend that was in that area. And also, did he actually call from Atlanta, the 911 call?
CASAREZ: That`s what we`re hearing. Let`s go out to Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst right there in the state of Georgia where this all is happening. What about it? Pings from cell phones can tell so much.
MCCOLLUM: Absolutely. They already know whether or not he was in Atlanta. They know how long the phone call conversation lasted. So they`ve already verified that, I`m sure. And they also know, if the pings have stopped, her phone was either damaged or the battery has run out.
CASAREZ: To Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney. Here`s my question. Investigators are keeping so much information close to the vest. They`re not releasing what was found near where she was allegedly abducted. They`re not releasing everything that may have been in the phone call that her boyfriend heard. They`ve got to find her. There is still time that they could find her before something happens. Why do you think they`re working the investigation in that way?
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s what they`re supposed to do. You know, we were spoiled or despoiled by the fact that whenever these cases come out in Florida, we know every little bit about every little bit of evidence. And that kind of contains the prosecution when it comes down to the trial.
But what I hope they`re not doing is being myopic and just doing a regular, Well, let`s look at all of the sex offenders within a 15-mile radius and concentrate on them. This woman looks clearly like someone who is not likely to be involved in some hanky-panky. She does not look like any type of a drug person or a psychotic or whatever. And unfortunately, the profilers and law enforcement people tell you that once you are taken into custody by some maniac, your chances of surviving go down real, real, real far.
CASAREZ: And that`s right. And that`s why I think everyone is so concerned. Time is of the essence. To Susan Moss, very, very quickly here. Already, a crime has been committed. You would call it kidnapping, if this is an abduction. And many times, someone wants to eliminate a witness. We`ll get your thoughts on that right after the break because an elimination of a witness can give motive to murder. Right now, missing persons case.
We want to change course right now. Are you guilty of being Nancy Grace`s number one fan? Plead your case and send us your story as to why that fan is you. We`re looking for standout stories, and if your e-mail or iReport makes (ph) you win an autographed copy of Nancy`s new book, "The Eleventh Victim," plus a chance to fly right here New York City, come to the show live, meet Nancy here on the set. Go to CNN.com/nancygrace.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here`s what we know about Kristi Cornwell. She grew up in Union County. She was once a probation officer for the state, but she`s now back in school, studying medical lab technology. And she has a 15-year-old son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many locals here knew about Kristi`s habit to go for an evening walk near her mother`s home on Jones Creek Road. It was so hot during the day, she waited until dusk. Tuesday night, she was on her cell phone with her boyfriend. He heard a scuffle, a cry for help, then nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want her back, and we`d appreciate it if they would have mercy on her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace. Tune in to CNN at 9:00 Eastern time, just a little more than 30 minutes from now. You can watch Nancy Grace on "LARRY KING LIVE." For one hour, Anderson Cooper and Nancy will chat about her new book, "The Eleventh Victim," in stores now, plus all the other stories of the day. It`s Nancy Grace and Anderson Cooper on "LARRY KING LIVE" at CNN tonight right after this show. You do not want to miss this.
What about if you were talking to someone on the phone, a loved one on the cell phone, and all of a sudden, you hear them scream and there`s a struggle and they say, Don`t take me, and you realize your loved one has been abducted? What would you do?
Out to Susan Moss, attorney out of New York. You know, Susan, Mickey Sherman is sort of taking the prosecution stance tonight, saying that it`s proper to not let too much information out on the investigation. And I understand that. But as attorneys, we all know there`s one thing that could have come from this scene, and it would be tire impressions -- along a country road, tire impressions, and you can find out through investigation what kind of car allegedly abducted this young lady.
MOSS: Absolutely. And we need to know that now because if she can identify this foe, her chances of being released are low. We don`t have the ability to sit around and wait. I disagree with Mickey. I think they should release all the evidence that they have now so that the community can act as a third eye for the law enforcement and we can get whatever clues that any citizens have seen to the proper authorities, so we can help solve this crime immediately because the longer the amount of time elapses, the less of a chance we`re going to have a happy ending.
CASAREZ: Patricia Saunders, very, very quickly. There are no reports of anyone else being bothered in the area. Your thoughts on that?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, someone might have known her routine, that she took this walk every night. She was a probation officer in the past, perhaps someone seeking revenge.
CASAREZ: And we will follow this case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) until we find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... who is alive and well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a lot of sobbing and her arm wavering, trembling. But there was no wetness in her eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was emotional, over the top, hysterical, how you would react if you thought someone was dead. Stone cold expressionless as she stood before a judge.
She`s actually at her mom`s house right now. She went straight to her mom`s house. That`s where she will be under house arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She met this undercover officer, I believe it was a hitman, in a car in a parking lot outside of the CVS. And it was during that encounter she was asked numerous times by this undercover, are you sure you want to do this?
At one point she laughed and said I will be very happy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is a woman who is saying she`s 5,000 percent sure she wants to pay for her husband to be killed. And then at the scene you have a woman who is sobbing uncontrollably because she`s just learned that her husband is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She also said I`m not going to change my mind. I`m 5,000 percent sure I want it done. When I set my mind to something I get it done.
NANCY GRACE, CCNHN ANCHOR: OK. She`s walking up. She`s gotten a call at the L.A. fitness center to come home immediately.
OK. Look at the other cop. This is what I like. They all know he`s not dead.
Oh, god! No! No!
They`re all looking away and looking at the ground. Uh-oh, scratching his head. It must be a very painful moment for her.
Work it! Work it! Cry!
OK. It`s about time she should bend over with abdominal pain. She`s about to collapse out of grief. Look at all of the cops just staring at her. Somebody please take her so we can book her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please! No! No, please!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us everything you know about who he`s connected to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please! Please!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE CASAREZ, LEGAL NETWORK HOST: I`m Jeanne Casarez of the Legal Network in session in for Nancy Grace. Nancy is not too far away. She`ll be on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight on CNN at: 900 p.m. eastern. She`ll be on for the full hour.
You`ve got to tune in and watch, because Anderson Cooper will talk to her about her new book "The Eleventh Victim and Other Stories Making Headlines." It will be Nancy Grace and Anderson Cooper tonight on CNN, "LARRY KING LIVE."
But now we take you to Florida, a case that if it wasn`t so real we probably could laugh. But it is real help Michael Dippolito, according to police, is lucky to be alive tonight.
Let`s talk about the developments in this case to Hugh Nolan, an investigative reporter out of Miami. I understand that the conditions for release of Dalia Dippolito, they`ve been modified, haven`t they?
NOLAN: Yes, they have. There was an agreed order entered today by the judge in the criminal case. And remember there are several cases ongoing here. We`ll get to the others, I`m sure.
But this was an agreed order reflecting an agreement reached between the state attorney between the defense attorneys who had been involved, mind you, in the initial conditions of bond that were set last week.
The new element here is that an attorney for the intended victim, Michael Dippolito, himself was also involved in agreeing to these conditions, and they are somewhat more stringent than the ones --
CASAREZ: What are they?
NOLAN: Well, Dalia Dippolito is not permitted to come within 500 yards of the home that is now exclusively owned and exclusively occupied -- pardon me, not exclusively owned, but exclusively occupied by Michael Dippolito.
She is not permitted to have any weapons. She is not permitted, interestingly, to work. She is not permitted to leave the home other than for attorneys and doctors appointments, and those must be cleared in advance by the Palm Beach County sheriff`s office.
CASAREZ: OK. So she can`t leave the home, she can`t have weapons, she`s got her ankle monitor her.
To Eli Jostad, Nancy Grace producer, let`s go back to the beginning for second, let`s talk about this, because how did it all begin as far as what police are saying that Dalia talked to someone about allegedly wanting her husband killed?
ELLIE JOSTAD, "NANCY GRACE" PRODUCER: Right. This started just about two weeks ago. A confidential informant came to the police and said that he had information that Dalia Dippolito wanted her husband dead. He called the police that very night that he was told about it by her.
The next day he meets with Dalia Dippolito. He tells her, yes, OK. They act like this plan is going to go forward. She gives him $1,200, and says hire a hitman for me, buy a gun.
He then, of course, is working with police. That`s all been recorded, that conversation.
Two days later she meets with an undercover cop who she thinks is a hitman. Again, they go over the plan. She agrees to pay him $3,000 after her husband has been murdered. She says that he`ll have $10,000 on him, and the hitman is welcome to that money.
The next night the hitman calls her, says leave the house by 6:00 a.m. and that`s when it will all go down.
So she leaves Wednesday morning, goes to the gym, and that`s when this whole fake crime scene is staged. That`s when her husband`s informed. And then we see the video when she`s told of what happened.
CASAREZ: And you know, Ellie, there is so much of this on tape. We`re talking about A.V., audio/visual. Cars were rigged up I`m sure with warrants to allow for the audio and visual recording of all of these conversation, because investigators and district attorney`s office, they want to get their case in alignment so when it goes to trial, if it goes to trial, they`ll have all of their evidence.
A very special guest tonight, John Sabatino. He is a friend of Michael Dippolito. First of all, your friend is very lucky to be alive tonight, correct?
JOHN SABATINO, FRIEND OF MICHAEL DIPPOLITO (via telephone): Yes, that is correct. We`re all very happy that the police did an excellent job.
CASAREZ: How is he doing? Is he still in shock?
SABATINO: Somewhat in shock, and then he`s busy with lawyers and thing of that nature, and is just resting at home at this point.
CASAREZ: Is he scared of his wife since she has been released on bail?
SABATINO: Not particularly fearful, I don`t think, but --
CASAREZ: Well, enough to take out a temporary restraining order, right? And then there will be a hearing on Tuesday to make it a permanent restraining order.
SABATINO: Exactly.
CASAREZ: So there has to a little bit of concern.
You know, they`re talking about now, and this is in one of his legal papers, that this informant that Dalia talked to about allegedly wanting her husband killed was actually a brand new boyfriend. What do you know about that?
SABATINO: Brand new boyfriend. Well, that I really don`t know, and I don`t even know if Mike knows that.
CASAREZ: Did you ever meet Dalia?
SABATINO: Excuse me?
CASAREZ: Did you ever meet Dalia?
SABATINO: Yes, I did. I met her in December.
CASAREZ: Tell me about her.
SABATINO: She seemed to be, you know, a go-getter, a type of girl that was probably a good match for Mike. At that point, you know, nobody really had any suspicion that things were going to turn bad.
CASAREZ: Once they were married did she earn a living?
SABATINO: I do not know. I really don`t know that at this point.
CASAREZ: How did Mike earn a living?
SABATINO: Mike works out of his home.
CASAREZ: Doing what?
SABATINO: With the Internet.
CASAREZ: With the Internet, all right.
SABATINO: Right.
CASAREZ: Let`s go out to Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former FBI agent. I understand that you, actually, in your work as an FBI agent were responsible for actually posing as a hitman in some cases?
HUGO RODRIGUEZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER FBI AGENT: That`s true. When it became a federal offense in 1986 to have someone cross enter interstate lines to perpetrate a murder, myself and my partner were the first FBI hitmen, and similar scenarios that we`re talking about here in this case, we set up all over the country.
CASAREZ: All right. To Mickey Sherman, defense attorney, author, how can you defend these people? How do you defend this, Mickey, because everything is on tape? It`s not entrapment.
MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, it`s not.
But you have to understand something about the process. The process of hiring a hitman is inherently flawed, because who do you to to hire someone to kill someone? Someone you think is a bad person. And that person is usually a criminal. And that criminal is usually somebody who has at least one or two cases pending.
So as soon as you go to approach them, they run to the feds and the local and state police to make a deal to get themselves out of trouble. And that`s what happened to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I should have been dead at like, 9:00. Just divorce me and take everything. I mean, I don`t understand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No! No!
CASAREZ: 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`m 5,000 percent sure I want it done.
CASAREZ: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of funny stuff going on. I overlooked a lot of things, and, you know, and you try and 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.
GRACE: OK. Meryl Streep, watch out. Here`s an Oscar-winning performance. All of the cops standing by. They`ve got the yellow crime scene tape up. They claim a witness saw an assailant running from the home. She`s just come from her work out there on the elliptical at L.A. fitness.
And the cops are drinking it all in -- scratching the ear. Yes, we feel bad for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please! You want to help your husband you need to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And she`s charged with solicitation of murder. That`s a first-degree felony in the state of Florida.
I`m Jean Cesares of the legal network in session, in for Nancy Grace.
Nancy is on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. She`s very close, down the hall on CNN, at 9:00 eastern time, just a few minutes from now. So turn to CNN and check out Anderson Cooper as he talks to Nancy Grace about her new thriller "The Eleventh Victim," our in stores now, "And Other Stories Making Headlines," they`ll be talking about tonight.
That`s Nancy and Anderson tonight on CNN`s "LARRY KING LIVE."
Let`s go to Annie in Iowa. Annie, thank you so much for hanging on. What`s your question?
ANNIE FROM IOWA: Well, I have a comment. First of all, I don`t know what good a restraining order was going to do. It`s not hike like she was going to send someone to do it. What`s to say that she can`t get on her mother`s phone and call somebody else.
And my second is a comment. I mean, I`m just waiting after seeing her with the police, I`m waiting for someone to say "And the Oscar for best actress goes to --"
Annie, you have good comments.
To Hugh Nolan, an investigative reporter is right well in Florida. It`s very true, she wasn`t going to do it herself. But don`t you imagine that police were watching any move and monitoring phone calls that are made.
NOLAN: She very certainly is under very close scrutiny right now.
But it`s an interesting point the caller makes, because, of course, Michael Dippolito and his attorneys have expressed some real concerns about her being out on bond at all even prior to today`s agreed adjustment of the terms of her release.
And clearly, that they`re concerned, that this is someone who remains a danger, if not to the community at large, then certainly to the man that she`s alleged to have wanted to have killed.
CASAREZ: Sure. And there`s even word they may go to court for a motion to revoke any bail at all.
To Susan Moss, family law attorney out of New York, I am still perplexed about the motive here, because at this point investigators are saying the motive is money, because she had the deed to this condo, which was a quarter of a million dollars put in her name alone. He agreed to it shortly before this all happened.
But her name was already on the deed, so she owned half of it. I mean, is it worth it to kill somebody so you get the whole condo instead of half the condo?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY AND CHILD ADVOCATE: No. But she tricked him the day before this all went down into taking the entire condo and putting it to her name. The woman`s motivation was money. This case is so airtight that even a child advocate/family law attorney could prosecute and win this case, and that`s not saying much.
CASAREZ: All right, Susan.
Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist. On a serious note, who would plan something like this, to kill someone that you just married and you`re supposed to love?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think this is a good case for not all psychopaths are genius, brilliant Hannibal Lectors. I`m afraid this is a case of diagnosis dumb.
CASAREZ: All right, to Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney and former FBI agent.
You have posed as a hitman. Walk us through it, OK? You can`t make this entrapment, so you have to be very careful of what you say. But you meet with somebody that you understand wants to kill someone they know or love. What do you say to them?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, let me just tell you the flaw that will be in this case is we don`t know the relationship between the alleged boyfriend. We don`t know what their conversations were before. We don`t know who initially hatched the plan.
And the flaw in these things, as Mickey said, is that background. The victim is a convicted felon. He`s got a past. I`m saying the issue will be how it originated and whose thought process originated and made the scheme go forward.
There`s no doubt that he went to the authorities after, but there will be no record of what that informant told, you know, Mr. Dippolito. That will be the issue initially to develop that, and the defense will be based on that.
CASAREZ: All right, that` a very good point. The case is not as cut and dry as one may think.
To Michelle in Nebraska. Hi, Michelle, your question.
MICHELLE FROM NEBRASKA: Hi. Thank you for taking my call.
CASAREZ: Of course.
MICHELLE: I was wondering if anyone at the gym can recall her behavior while working out, like, for example, if she seemed nervous, anxious, kept looking at a clock or anything like that.
CASAREZ: All right, to Ellie Jostad, Nancy Grace producer. Any word on her demeanor that morning when she left the house?
JOSTAD: No. That`s actually a really good question. We haven`t heard from anyone at the gym yet. Although her husband, the would-be victim in this case, claims that before she left for the gym she promised she`d bring him back Starbucks.
CASAREZ: And isn`t that ironic, because I think it is that they actually met at a Starbucks. And for someone that maybe didn`t work, Starbucks takes money, right? so that`s an interesting aspect to this case.
To be continued -- a lot more in this case. It`s not over, because she has now been charged with solicitation for murder.
And now tonight`s "CNN heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN heroes.
JUDE NDAMBUKI, DEFENDING THE PLANEY: I was calling that night, and I see this computer. I found everything was perfect. So many computers are thrown out and so many are need in Kenya. So I decided I must do something.
My name is Jude Ndambuki, I refurbish discarded computers and send them to schools in Kenya.
The children in Kenya have very few resources, even a pencil. They`re hard to get. Any part that I can play to make their lives better, it`s great.
The computers are tested to make sure they are working. Then we label the name of the school on each box, and then we ship it to Kenya.
The computers are saved from poisoning the environment, and they`re going to be used for 20 years by the schools. Every school is going to plant 100 trees for every computer. We are planting a seed, teaching the kids to help the environment and be engines of change.
It`s like giving are the kids a new life. Computers are getting new life, and trees are being planted and being a new life too. It`s all connected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: After starting the book ten years ago, launching her show on HLN, marriage, and two beautiful twins, Nancy`s new novel, "The Murder Mystery Thriller, the Eleventh Victim" is finally in bookstores now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The book "Eleventh Victim" is finally in the bookstores. A portion of my proceeds goes toward Wesley Glen Ministries. Here`s our check for $25,000 from the book proceeds. And I promise you there will be more.
A special thank you to the "Today Show" host Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, and thank you to friend of the show, "Headline News," Jane Velez-Mitchell.
Thank you to everyone at TMA, especially host Robin Roberts, and to my friend and competitor Bill O`Reilly at F-O-X network.
Thank you to everybody who came out to help celebrate the release. A special thank you to my number one fans, my mother and father, my husband David, my brother Max, sister-in-law Jan, friends, guests of the show, the network presidents, my E.P, Dean Zakowy (ph), and the whole staff.
A very special group of people came to the aid of my father immediately following the book party. Thank you to the NYFD first responders, paramedics, security, and the wonderful staff at the New York Cornell Medical Center. I`m grateful to report he is well and with us tonight.
And breaking news, god does answer prayers.
Thank you, friends. Thank you, everyone. I hope you like the book.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And tonight let`s stop to remember Army Sergeant John Allen, 25 years old from Palmdale, California. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Army medic, his friends called him "Doc." He loved piano and art. He just finished a portrait of his wife when he lost his life. His best friend`s baby boy is named in Allen`s honor. He leaves behind parents Kelly and Richard, twin sister Amanda, widow and high school sweetheart, Aspen.
John Allen, American hero.
Thank you so much to all of our guests and for you for being at home with us tonight. Goodnight from Florida.
Friends of the show, Steven and 14-year-old Devon who dreams of being a video game designer. See you tomorrow night.
Remember, tune into CNN right now, just minutes. We`ll see you tomorrow night. Anderson Cooper, Nancy Grace next on CNN. Goodnight, everybody.
END
