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Nancy Grace
Body Found in Vegas Hotel Laundry Chute; Caught on Camera: Hit Man Hired to Kill Husband. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired February 23, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Breaking news tonight, mystery surrounding a 26- year-old married woman found dead in a luxury Vegas hotel laundry chute, the legal secretary`s body discovered after her own birthday celebration
with friends and family. Who killed Kalli Brown?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say the 26-year-old was found dead at the bottom of the laundry chute inside the D Hotel. Kalli was in town with her
husband celebrating her 27th birthday. Questions surrounding Kalli`s death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re pretty much in the dark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to figure out who did this. We have to figure out what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A Florida beach beauty marries her dream man, set to live happily ever after until death do they part. But what the bride doesn`t plan on is
the hitman she allegedly hires to murder her groom is a cop. That`s right, the cops sting the bride on video. Breaking down in hysterical tears,
crying over her dead husband. An appeals court reverses. Dalia Dippolito walks out of jail. But in the last hours, Dippolito`s defense team in
court demanding all the charges against her be thrown out.
Breaking right now. Dalia Dippolito tells her side of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I`m sorry to tell you, ma`am he`s been killed. He`s been killed, ma`am.
DALIA DIPPOLITO, CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER: Oh! Oh! Oh!
Oh, my God!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s lying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you want your husband dead?
DIPPOLITO: No, absolutely not.
I`m positive, like, 5,000 percent (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hire a hitman to kill your husband?
DIPPOLITO: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That video from ABC`s "20/20."
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, mystery surrounding a 26-year-old married woman, just turned 27, found dead in a luxury Vegas hotel laundry chute many floors
down, the legal secretary`s body discovered after her own birthday celebration she had there with friends and family there at the Vegas Strip.
But who killed Kalli Brown?
Take a look at her. Police trying to identify anyone that saw her that evening as she had a birthday party with friends and family. Everybody
heads to the Vegas Strip. Here she was in her wedding gown. And there`s the D Hotel, where the incident occurred.
Len Connell, freelance reporter joining me out of Vegas -- Len, I don`t see any way that falling down a laundry chute could possibly be an accident.
But first, let me start at the beginning. I want to see all the shots of the D. It`s a brand-new hotel near the Vegas Strip. And this is where
they were celebrating.
I want to get to how she was found. Len Connell joining me, reporter out of Vegas. Len, how was she found?
LEN CONNELL, FREELANCE RADIO REPORTER: They found her at the bottom of the a laundry chute and called the Las Vegas Fire Department, who found her 10
minutes later, pronounced her dead. So she was actually found by a bunch of maids in the bottom of a laundry chute. That was it.
GRACE: You`re seeing the D Hotel from YouTube.
Len, I didn`t quite hear. Who did you say found her? Who found her dead body.
CONNELL: It was just the support staff, just the maids that were there, the laundry people.
GRACE: That is opening up a whole can of worms for me. Len Connell joining me, reporter out of Vegas.
Chris Spargo joining me right now, reporter with Dailymail.com, because Chris Spargo, it`s interesting that the staff found her. Had anyone even
reported her missing at the time she was found dead?
CHRIS SPARGO, DAILYMAIL.COM (via telephone): No. No one had reported her missing at that time.
GRACE: Interesting, Chris Spargo. She had been out with friends and family for her birthday celebration. Relatives, her husband close friends,
they were all there near the Vegas Strip to celebrate. So what, nobody noticed she was gone?
And I want to show you video and photos of laundry chutes -- let`s see them, Justin -- because how do you accidentally -- this is video from
(INAUDIBLE) YouTube page, coronary (ph) YouTube page.
How do you accidentally fall down this? Take a look. Please keep that in full, if you don`t mind, Charles. I want to see this video.
How do you get a person down a laundry chute and go down many, many floors to your death? How does that happen? This couldn`t be an accident.
Absolutely not. I don`t even know if with this type of a laundry chute,. if a person`s shoulders could fit through. Now, here`s another one.
Again, here.
[20:05:10]It`s not like it`s home alone and you`re going down a dumbwaiter, Chris Spargo. So this couldn`t be an accident. And yet nobody reported
her missing, Chris.
SPARGO: That`s right. After a night out with friends and with her family, no one reported her missing at the time.
GRACE: Back to you, Len Connell joining me, reporter out of Vegas. Len, what time was she found of the morning or night?
CONNELL: Sunday morning 2:30 AM.
GRACE: So she`s found Sunday morning 2:30 AM, and you`re saying by hotel staff. What happened then?
CONNELL: That`s correct.
GRACE: What happened then, Len?
CONNELL: They called the paramedics. Fire Department showed up 10 minutes later, and they pronounced her dead. And they took away the body, and that
was that.
GRACE: Well, let me ask you this, Chris Spargo. Was she actually in the basket at the bottom of the laundry chute, or was her body stuck in the
chute?
SPARGO: She was in a third floor storage area, where it let out, the chute.
GRACE: So she was actually where all of the laundry lets out. Her body made it that far down. Len Connell joining me out of Vegas, do we know how
tall the D is? Let`s see a shot of the D, please.
CONNELL: The D is a 35-story hotel, 640 rooms. It`s actually one of the taller ones in the valley.
GRACE: Everybody, you`re seeing the D in Vegas. It`s there near the Strip, the famed Vegas Strip, 35 stories tall. So she potentially fell 32
stories to her death.
Joining me right now, Jeff Voyles, casino security expert. Jeff, there has got to be -- this is a casino, above all else. Guys, let`s see addition
video of other casino and hotel video where crimes were actually caught.
I mean, of course, we all remember Joran Van Der Sloot. There you go. Oh, yes, the NFL player that was later found, Ray Rice, to have attacked his
girlfriend. You can`t get away with anything in a casino.
So Jeff Voyles joining me, as we take a look at this video, what can you tell me about the security in casinos in Vegas?
JEFF VOYLES, CASINO SECURITY EXPERT: Well, you know, they`re well trained, but the -- you know, the size of the casino definitely makes a difference
on the quality of training and the number of security people you have employed. So it can be -- there definitely are areas of concern when it
comes to camera coverage and the blind spots that they have.
I`m really concerned about her and her husband splitting up, and the camera actually going dark when she went to that area.
GRACE: Hold on, everybody. What you`re seeing right now is video from inside yet another Vegas hotel. These hotels are blanketed with security
cameras. And isn`t it true, Jeff Voyles, that, really, that`s one of the ways that O.J. Simpson was finally busted and sent to jail? OK, here`s
Joran Van Der Sloot -- this is in Atlantic City. And recall he met Stephany Tatiana Flores. He met her, and she ended up dead.
Tell me, Jeff Voyles, the extent of all of the casino video, all of the security cameras.
VOYLES: Oh, it`s super-impressive. And these cameras are scattered throughout the entire property. And every camera has a purpose, from PTZ
(ph), with the pan tilt that zooms around to a fixed camera, to (INAUDIBLE) camera, night vision. They all have these things.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, I really think that the key is going to be in the video surveillance. As we saw in the Joran Van Der Sloot case, in every
other major hotel, in this country anyway, along every hallway, they have security cameras. It`s not just at the gaming tables. It`s in the
hallways when you go to your room. It`s outside the men`s and women`s restrooms. It`s clearly on the casino tables, but you can`t go into a
hotel like the D and not expect to be caught on video.
So whoever went with her inside that laundry chute is going to be caught on video, Matt.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy. The timeline here is going to be very important, and the surveillance video is going to help us
with that timeline because we`re going to find out, who was she last seen talking to. Was there anyone following her around the hallways? Did she
have an argument with someone that we see on camera? These are all questions that we hope the police will be able to answer through the
surveillance video.
GRACE: Everyone, for those of you just joining us, a 26 now 27-year-old legal secretary`s body has just been found at the bottom of a luxury hotel
there at the Vegas Strip, laundry chute. Now, that building, the D, is 35 stories tall. That means her body potentially came down 33 floors to her
death. As of right now, no suspects have been named.
[20:10:20]I want to go straight out to forensic pathologist Dr. Michelle DuPre. Dr. DuPre, assuming that she had been -- let`s just hypothetically
go with asphyxiation. Would evidence of asphyxiation be destroyed by the fall down the laundry chute?
DR. MICHELLE DUPRE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Not necessarily, Nancy. It depends on how she was asphyxiated. If something was placed over her nose
and mouth, there may be fibers that are found. If she was strangled, then there may also be other physical evidence that we find.
Being that it was in a laundry chute, there will be contamination and things like that. So hairs and fibers are probably not going to be of much
value unless they`re actually found inside the airways.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re pretty much in the dark, as are hundreds of friends and family members here and throughout the western United States.
I wasn`t there, but I just -- I can`t help but believe that it was (ph) an accident. We`ve all consumed too much. So that`s a strong possibility.
Could they have gotten in an argument? Sure. Would that have caused her to jump down a chute? No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:38]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The number of questions surrounding his beloved Kalli`s death are astronomical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody goes to Vegas to have fun. There`s no way it was suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The body of 26-year-old Kalli Medina-Brown was found in a laundry chute at the D Hotel and casino in Las Vegas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There has to be justice, you know, in order (INAUDIBLE) have closure for the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A beautiful young legal secretary goes to the Strip to celebrate her 27th birthday with her husband, her family, relatives, friends. It
ends in tragedy. Around 2:30 AM that Sunday morning, after the birthday party that night, the staff there at the luxury hotel, the D, near the
Strip in Vegas, find the body of Kalli Brown, just 27 years old, in the laundry chute.
The building is 35 stories tall. She is found on the third floor, which leads me to my next question, Dr. Michelle DuPre forensic pathologist. Dr.
DuPre, do you think that they have processed the scene for possible blood inside the laundry chute?
You`re seeing where the parties went down. Let me see that shot again, please. You`re seeing where the party was. You`re seeing the inside of
the D, where Kalli Brown and her relatives had her birthday party. Just a few short hours later, she`s found dead in a laundry chute, upside down!
That doesn`t make any sense. There is no way this is an accident!
So back to you, Dr. DuPre. What can the body tell us?
DUPRE: Well, the body can tell us a lot of things, Nancy. For example, we want to look for defensive wounds. We want to look for maybe anything
under the fingernails, any kinds of fibers that may be in her airway. We also want to look for anything in that laundry chute that might indicate
some type of trauma, and does that match the body, or is there some trauma that didn`t happen from the laundry chute?
GRACE: Now, when you`re saying trauma, are you saying that, for instance, blood in the laundry chute would show that she was attacked or killed
before she went down the chute?
You`re seeing video from Corn Yarrow (ph) YouTube page.
I mean, how can you differentiate, is what I`m getting at, because this is going to be a real whodunnit, Dr. DuPre. How can you differentiate, did
she die from the fall down the laundry chute or was she dead or dying when somebody pushed her in the laundry chute?
DUPRE: Well, Nancy, you`re right. We want to look at the body to determine any kind of pattern injuries that she may have sustained before
the fall, if, in fact, she did fall. And if she fell, do the injuries we see on her body -- are they consistent with a fall, or are they consistent
with something being done to her? And usually, we can tell by looking at those injuries.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Ambrosio Rodriguez out of LA, Robert Schalk out of New York.
First to you, Rodriguez. The reality is, you can pay an expert to say whatever you want him to say. Now, I didn`t have that luxury as a
prosecutor. I had the state`s witnesses, and whatever they said, you know, that was the deal. We didn`t have the money to go hire a private
investigator or a private medical examiner. No. Forget it.
But defense lawyers do have that kind of money very often. So you can have, for instance, the medical examiner or pathologist saying, This is
what I found, and then they`ll bring in a hired gun, like, you know, some superstar like Michael Baden or Dr. Henry Lee, or Cyril Wecht, Dr. Morrone,
come in and say, Oh, no, no no. This was an accident.
So really, how are they going to get to the truth just on the autopsy, which they won`t give us yet?
AMBROSIO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, your entire premise is not really honest. There have been plenty of plenty of state
expert witnesses that have been prosecuted and have been caught to lie, and there have been many convictions that have been overturned because...
GRACE: Wa-wa! Wa-wait! Hold on. Ambrosio Rodriguez...
RODRIGUEZ: ... because of...
GRACE: I`m asking you...
RODRIGUEZ: I know this.
GRACE: ... about this case, and you`re talking about some other case
RODRIGUEZ: Right. Right. But you...
GRACE: ... that you`re not giving me the name of where somebody lied?
RODRIGUEZ: But the premise of your question -- no. There are plenty of cases.
GRACE: You know what? I...
RODRIGUEZ: You and I both know them. Hold on a second.
GRACE: First of all...
RODRIGUEZ: To answer your question, those -- those witnesses...
[20:20:00]GRACE: Cut his mike. Cut his mike. Don`t tell me what I know, sir, all right? You don`t know how many cases I`ve tried. You don`t know
how many homicide cases I`ve been on, scenes I`ve been to, pleas I`ve taken. So don`t school me on criminal law, number one.
Number two, I`m asking you about this case, so I`d like to redirect you, get you out of the weeds and back in the ballpark and talk about this case.
Do you think a case could be proven one way or the other in a war, a battle of the experts? Please open his mike.
RODRIGUEZ: Well, first of all, Nancy, I didn`t mean to offend you at all.
GRACE: Oh, dear Lord in heaven!
RODRIGUEZ: I was bringing up a point...
GRACE: Never mind!
RODRIGUEZ: So hold on a sec -- and let me -- let me...
GRACE: Schalk, what about it?
RODRIGUEZ: Hold on. Let me finish...
GRACE: Can it be proven...
RODRIGUEZ: Let me answer the question...
GRACE: ... between a battle of medical examiner experts? I mean, they`re going to conflict with each other. There`s got to be more than just
scientific experts.
ROBERT SCHALK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, I think...
RODRIGUEZ: No...
SCHALK: ... the most important thing that we need to think about here when you`re talking about the battle of the experts and something that`s not
going to be able to lie is her toxicology results. That`s going to be a part of the autopsy. Was she intoxicated? Did she have any mind-altering
substances in her body because I do...
GRACE: Put him up, please.
SCHALK: ... I do agree with you with one aspect, no one winds up down a laundry chute unless they were either extremely high or intoxicated and
were doing something stupid, or they were pushed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:26]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say the 26-year-old was found dead at the bottom of the laundry chute inside the D Hotel. Kalli was in town
with her husband celebrating her 27th birthday. Questions surrounding Kalli`s death...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m pretty much in the dark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to figure out who did this. We have to figure out what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I`m not sure really how there can be a question. As soon as Fire - - the Fire Department arrived to find the 27-year-old beauty in the bottom of a laundry chute at the luxury D Hotel in Vegas, they immediately called
in police, who are now investigating it as a potential homicide.
How did it happen? A woman there celebrating her 27th birthday with her husband, her family, relatives, friends. They all head to the Strip. But
that night, something went horribly wrong, Kalli Brown found around 2:30 AM on the third floor area by staff, who found her in a sorting room of sorts
for laundry. The young woman, a legal secretary back home, had plummeted potentially 33 flights to her death. Or was she dead before she entered
that laundry chute?
Another thing I don`t understand -- Len Connell joining us, reporter out of Vegas -- is how she could get into a restricted area. There`s no way a big
hotel like the D is not going to have that maids` area, that domestic area unlocked where anybody can get in there. I just don`t buy it.
CONNELL: Yes, that`s what we`ve been asking ourselves out here, too, because normally, it`s impossible to get into those locked areas.
GRACE: Everybody, you`re seeing industrial laundry chutes. Take a look at this. How could a woman, a 27-year-old woman, get into one of these and
plummet to her death without a single witness? Also, why did no one report that she was missing?
Straight back to Jeff Voyles, casino security expert. In casinos, everything is in lockdown, Jeff. I don`t think that there`s any way that
the D would have left a closet like that unlocked.
VOYLES: No, it`s highly unlikely. Those areas are very secure because of high theft and guests wandering into an area they shouldn`t be. The fact
that she did go into that laundry chute is a mystery. It is most likely not an accident, and (INAUDIBLE) basically find out what it is.
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A Florida beach beauty marries her dream man, set to live happily ever after until death do they part. But what the bride doesn`t plan on is
the hit man she allegedly hires to murder her groom is a cop.
That`s right. The cops sting the bride on video breaking down in hysterical tears, crying over the dead husband. An appeals court reverses Dalia
Dippolito walks free from jail.
In the last hours, Dippolito`s defense team in court, demanding that all charges be thrown out and breaking right now, Dalia Dippolito on the stand
telling her side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DALIA DIPPOLITO, ACCUSED OF HIRING HIT MAN TO KILL HUSBAND: Oh my God!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s alive.
DIPPOLITO: Come here, please. Come here.
I`m determined already. I`m positive, like 5,000 percent sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Find the defendant guilty.
DIPPOLITO: I`m a lot tougher than what I look.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Daphne Duret, criminal courts reporter with the "Palm Beach Post," who has been in the courtroom throughout.
Daphne, thank you so much for being with us. What I don`t understand, she is caught red-handed planning the murder of her husband. How can she, with
a straight face, argue all the charges should be thrown out? What is she saying in court? How does she explain this video?
DAPHNE DURET, "PALM BEACH POST" CRIMINAL COURTS REPORTER: Well, good afternoon, Nancy. How she explained it in court is that she said that it
was all a part of an acting project that her former boyfriend, Mohamed Shihadeh, and her husband, Michael Dippolito, were all in on and that it
was all a part of a project that they were going to post on YouTube and it was going to help them all get acting jobs.
So she said that it was all a part of that plot and that everything was going well until she told Mohamed Shihadeh that she didn`t want law
enforcement involved in their fake plot.
And on the witness stand today, she said that at that time when she told them that she wanted out of the law enforcement part of this plot that they
were in Achilles (ph) restaurant and that he lifted up his shirt, showed her that he had the gun and threatened to kill her and threatened to kill
her family if she didn`t go through with the plot. And she said that`s how she came to be recorded on the videos that you`ve shown of her ...
[20:35:00] GRACE: So, Daphne, let me understand what you`re saying. With me out of West Palm Beach right now, straight out of the courtroom, is
criminal courts reporter with the "Palm Beach Post" is Daphne Duret who is telling us that in response to all of the video we`re about to show you
where she hires a hit man to kill her husband, allegedly after she already tries to poison him with some Chai Tea from Starbucks. That didn`t work. So
she hires a hit man.
Her defense is going to be it was all an acting project and that her former boyfriend, I guess, is ready to frame her and send her to jail for decades
upon decades because she backed out of an acting project. Okay. For those of you just joining us, I believe this secret video will explain a lot.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK RANZIE, BOYNTON BEACH POLICE OFFICER: Ms. Dippolito? I`m Sergeant Ranzie. I`m the one who called you. Thank you for coming. I`m sorry to call
you. Listen, we had a report of a disturbance at your house and there were shots fired.
Is your husband, Michael? OK. I`m sorry to tell you, ma`am. He`s been killed.
DIPPOLITO: (CRYING)
RANZIE: He`s been killed, ma`am.
DIPPOLITO: No! (CRYING)
RANZIE: Try to calm down. Right now we need to get you to the police station. I can`t let you go in there, ma`am. We need you to calm down. We
need to go with these officers. Is there anyone who want to hurt ...
DIPPOLITO: (CRYING)
RANZIE: OK. We don`t want to (inaudible). We saw a black male running from here. I can`t let you see it ma`am. Ma`am, I cannot do this right now.
Ma`am, I can`t.
DIPPOLITO: (CRYING)
RANZIE: I need you to take her to the station.
DIPPOLITO: (CRYING)
RANZIE: I can`t. (Inaudible). If you want to help your husband, OK? If you want to help your husband, you need to go to the station with these
gentlemen and tell us everything you know about who he knows, who he`s connected to.
We`ve already taken care of it animal control right now. Everything is under control and we`ll take care of everything else. OK? Thank you, guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I mean, really? I`m actually speechless. Have you ever -- I`m going to go right back to Daphne Duret, joining me there -- West Palm and joining
me right now from Ft. Lauderdale is Jason Brodie, it`s Michael Dippolito`s divorce attorney.
Jason, did you hear what Daphne Duret just said? Her defense is that your client, her husband, that she hired the hit man to kill, tried to poison
him before that, that he`s in on the whole acting plan. It`s all an act for what, for her to get a job as an actress?
JASON BRODIE, MICHAEL DIPPOLITO`S DIVORCE ATTORNEY: It`s all a lie is what it is. There`s nothing true about it. And Michael said that before, she
never alleged that the whole time that she was in police custody, she`s never alleged that until after the fact when she had to come up with some
game plan. That didn`t work then.
GRACE: well, wait a minute, what about ...
(CROSSTALK)
BRODIE: Jury didn`t buy it.
GRACE: ... the first time around? Did she argue this the first time around before the appeals court let her walk free? Did she say it was all an
acting plan? She said that ...
(CROSSTALK)
BRODIE: She did say it was an acting plan. She said that basically that she was -- they were doing it to do it for a reality T.V. show.
GRACE: But she did not take the stand. She did not take the stand ...
BRODIE: That - that`s correct.
GRACE: ... so how did she say it?
BRODIE: She -- her attorney ...
GRACE: Oh, OK.
BRODIE: ... put people on the stand trying to say it.
GRACE: Okay. You know, what I don`t understand is how she thinks we`re going to believe that this was just an acting gig and they were going to
put it on YouTube. Let me clarify something. Is it true she tried to poison him before with some tea?
BRODIE: That`s absolutely true.
GRACE: Oh!
BRODIE: And this whole thing, it`s been a farce from the beginning and this woman trying to now turn this on to the Boynton Beach Police and say they
did wrongdoing after a jury of her peers found her guilty and the judge found her that she was in such disrespect for the court and the jurors that
he sentenced her to 20 years in jail.
Now, the appeals court ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers.
BRODIE: ... overturns it.
GRACE: Joining me in addition to Jason Brodie, the victim`s divorce attorney, Ambrosio Rodriguez, L.A, Robert Schalk, New York.
OK, Robert Schalk, she says this was all an acting plan and they were going to put it on YouTube. What about it?
ROBERT SCHALK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this is all going to come down to, obviously, she`s going to testify in the hearing today. I think she has
already done so.
GRACE: She - yeah, she`s been on the stand. That`s her defense. What do you have to say?
SCHALK: Then you`re have a juror of her peers to determine her credibility. I mean, there obviously (ph) she`s going to get crushed on cross-
examination with regard to ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I know all that.
SCHALK: But if she`s prepared -- if she is prepared to answer the questions and she puts forth good testimony, the jury could hang their hat on.
Remember ...
GRACE: OK.
SCHALK: ... this is the same state that Casey Anthony was acquitted in. So, I mean you got 12 people ...
GRACE: Please don`t remind me.
SCHALK: ... you have people who acquitted people in the past where there`s been actual murders. No one`s dead here.
GRACE: OK. All right.
SCHALK: We don`t know what corroborating evidence they have.
Grace: Ambrosio, is there any way she can get around the video I just showed you?
[20:40:00] AMBROSIO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, her acting was awful in that video and maybe she can go that route. It`s a very creative
defense. And, look, I understand that part of the defense is that she was entrapped by the police department and they`re going to go after the
police.
That the court of appeals overturns a conviction as you know, Nancy, is a very rare thing. So, we`ll see what happens.
GRACE: OK, Court of Appeals overturn convictions everyday. But even if she explains herself out of the last video, claiming it was all an act, what
about this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it`s not done by Wednesday, then I`ll call you. If it`s done by Wednesday, the only thing you`re gonna hear from me is to
collect, all right?
Which is why I said that between now and when it`s done, you know, you`re not to have an option to change your mind. Even if you change your mind,
I`m (inaudible) ...
(CROSSTALK)
DIPPOLITO: There`s no changing - no, there`s no like, I`m determined already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, are you sure you wanna do this?
DIPPOLITO: I`m positive, like 5,000 percent sure. Like ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
DIPPOLITO: I was stressing when you told me you were going to come up here and then I`m like looking at the time. I`m like (BEEP) he`s not coming,
he`s not this, you know, it`s like all this stuff or whatever. Like no, when I say I`m gonna do something, I`m gonna do it. Like as soon as you
told me listen, I need the money from you, I went. I grabbed it right away, like we were good to go. Like with me, you`re not going to have a problem.
You`re not going to have an issue.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANZIE: OK. I`m sorry to tell you, ma`am. He`s been killed.
DIPPOLITO: (CRYING)
RANZIE: He`s been killed, ma`am.
DIPPOLITO: No! (CRYING)
Oh my God!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s alive.
AMY ROBACH, ABC`S "20/20" NEWS JOURNALIST: Did you want your husband dead?
DIPPOLITO: No, absolutely not.
I`m positive, like 5,000 percent sure.
ROBACH: Did you hire a hit man to kill your husband?
DIPPOLITO: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s from ABC`S "20/20". For those of you just joining us, Dalia Dippolito reportedly tries once to kill her husband by poisoning him with
Chai Tea from Starbucks. It doesn`t work, she fails. So, she resorts to hiring a hit man to kill her new groom. But it doesn`t work.
The bride has no idea the hit man she`s hiring is actually is cop. In the last hours, she violates rule number one in criminal law, if you are
charged with a felony, don`t speak.
She has just taken the stand in the last hours and her defense is going to be -- because now she said it under oath, she can`t get out of it, is this
was all an acting project that she planned to post on social media to get a job as an actress. How can she explain this?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DIPPOLITO: OK. But now how am I supposed to know what day he is going to do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: he`s gonna give you a couple days` notice ...
(CROSSTALK)
DIPPOLITO: Like for example, like Wednesday he`s going to Boca. He`s got like a dentist appointment in the morning.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, we can`t - we can`t put it on his schedule. He`s gonna know the best time, where, furthest place from your house. He`s gonna
have everything organized.
DIPPOLITO: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK? It`s gonna be within before Tuesday, Wednesday, something like that because he`s going to Costa Rica Thursday.
DIPPOLITO: All right. So ...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he wants to ...
DIPOLITO: ... he wants to get paid before then. Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as he brings you the paper, you know, he`s dead, you`re gonna have to pay him.
DIPPOLITO: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seriously ...
(COSSTALK)
DIPPOLITO: What paper is he gonna bring me? I`m gonna know he`s (BEEP) dead. Like the cops are gonna come to my house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Newspaper, whatever.
DIPPOLITO: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever he ...
DIPPOLITO: that`s fine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... can think of.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight to Rory O`Neill with iHeartRadio.
Rory, Thank you for being with us. She has now locked herself into a defense. What do you make of it, Rory?
RORY O`NEILL, IHEARTRADIO REPORTER: It`s a long shot, Nancy. The prosecutors are tearing her apart, pointing out all these inconsistencies.
This defense is going to have to pin their hopes on their allegation that Boynton Beach Police acted inappropriately, if they have any chance of
getting this case thrown out before it goes to trial.
GRACE: Exactly what is the claim that police were the ones doing something inappropriate? Can you break it down in a nutshell, Rory?
O`NEILL: They said that the Boynton Beach Police Department went head over heels, bent over backwards trying to impress the T.V. show "COPS" which was
doing an episode there. They said the stint was all staged for national T.V. audience, not in the case of justice.
GRACE: OK, guys. Let`s go in the courtroom. Dalia Dippolito under oath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there a point in time in which your discussions with Mr. Shihadeh rekindled?
DIPPOLITO: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About what month and year did that happen?
DIPPOLITO: Well, it was a lot more frequently in July.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of what year?
DIPPOLITO: In 2009.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what - what was the nature of your increased discussions with Mr. Shihadeh back in July of 2009?
DIPPOLITO: We`ll work together on an acting project.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what was the nature of the project?
DIPPOLITO: He had previously been on "Burn Notice" and I had some acting experience and so we were all gonna work on an actor`s presentation to put
up on social media.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, What is "Burn Notice"?
DIPPOLITO: It`s a T.V. show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Terry Lyles -- Dr. Terry Lyles, joining us out of Ft. Lauderdale, author of "Crack the Stress Code". Terry Lyles, you`re the psychologist.
Explain to me how she could look people straight in the eye, look at her husband, try to feed him Chai Tea with poison in it, hire a hit man, go
home to him every night, sleep with him. How do you do it?
TERRY LYLES, PSYCHOLOGIST: Pathological liar and a strong denial base. I mean, it`s amazing when people can tell their own stories so many times to
themselves. You can tell it to others stone-faced with someone like her, I mean, she`s obviously very fragmented. She`s very troubled. And she
obviously putting I`m watching this as you are doing this show and I mean, she`s telling on herself, incriminating herself and then sitting there
acting like it never happened. It was just for a T.V. show.
I mean, It`s hard for anyone to believe that, much less legal people that are going to tear her apart. So she needs some serious help and it looks
like she`s gonna have a long time in jail to get some help.
[20:50:00] GRACE: So, Stacey Newman, let me understand this, her defense is going to be, this is an acting job and they were going to post it on social
media like YouTube to try to get a job as an actress and let`s just follow that train of thought through Stacey. If that is the defense, then my
question would be was the boyfriend who -- and the husband who were in on the acting gig, they`re now ready to send her to jail for what, 40, 50
years because she backed out a part of an acting gig? That doesn`t make sense.
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: None of this makes sense. And Nancy, also another point in this, we heard her on the stand talking about this
"Burn Notice" show. She`s now claiming one of the episodes from "Burn Notice" was about murder-for-hire, and that was the inspiration for this
entire acting project.
GRACE: Oh, man. I just don`t understand, Ambrosio Rodriguez, why should we talk the stand in emotions hearing, subject herself to cross-examination
and let the cat out of the bag about what the defense is going to be at trial?
RODRIGUEZ: I couldn`t agree with you more. I think that is really bad strategy by the defense. If this goes forward to trial, which it probably
will, you - the defense has to prepare her to tell her story and explain what she did. I don`t know why they opened her up now to cross-examination.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Well, they did it. And now we know and we can see what her demeanor is going to be on the stand. It`s a far cry from this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The game is over with, OK? There`s no more games with you and I. Now, we`re gonna get down to serious business. I wanna know if
you know this guy. Come here. Bring this guy in here. Get over here. Get over here. Do you know who this guy is?
DIPPOLITO: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ve never seen him before?
DIPPOLITO: I`ve never seen him before, ever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your head up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your head up.
DIPPOLITO: I`ve never seen him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you doing coming out of her house? Get him out of here.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANZIE: We had a report of a disturbance at your house and there were shots fired.
Is your husband, Michael? OK. I`m sorry to tell you, ma`am. He`s been killed.
RANZIE: He`s been killed, ma`am.
DIPPOLITO: No! (CRYING)
RANZIE: Try to calm down. Right now we need to get you to the police station. I can`t let you ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Dalia Dippolito that you just saw in that undercover video is on the stand - been on the stand all afternoon in a Florida courtroom charged with
hiring a hit man to murder her husband.
Her defense has just come out in the last hours. It was all an acting project. She was going to post it on YouTube to try to get an acting job.
Now, she looks very different in court right now. But I want you to look at the body language of this interrogation tape. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no more games with you and I. Now, we`re gonna get down to serious business. I wanna know if you know this guy.
GRACE: He`s bringing in the hit man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here. Bring this guy in here. Get over here. Get over here. Do you know who this guy is?
DIPPOLITO: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never seen him before?
DIPPOLITO: I`ve never seen him before, ever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your head up and look at her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your head up.
DIPPOLITO: I`ve never seen him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I mean, Jason Brodie joining me, he`s Michael Dippolito, the victim`s divorce lawyer.
Jason, did you see that? I mean this is a hit man ...
BRODIE: Oh, I saw it Nancy.
GRACE: ... she just gave the money to. She`s caught on camera giving him money, thousands, and she goes, I`ve never seen him. I`ve never seen him. I
don`t know who that is. They bring him in handcuffs, did you see that?
BRODIE: I saw it.
GRACE: And?
BRODIE: The whole point - the whole point of this, it is not true, it`s a lie. Because if it was true, why, right there -- right there she had the
opportunity to say to the police, hey, hold on. I didn`t do anything. This is all for a reality show. This is all made up. This wasn`t true. My
husband is in on it. Mohamed is in on it. Everybody`s in on it.
But she didn`t do that. She didn`t do that. Then she didn`t do that when I deposed her. She didn`t do that when we had her open court on the divorce
case. She never did it. Never.
It is the first time now she`s testifying in criminal court today and now she`s saying that the police set her up. Why? Because everything else she
is saying is a lie and the only way for her to try and get off ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You know what? You`re right.
BRODIE: ... and to say to police ...
GRACE: Why didn`t she said -- she would have said hey, tell him, this is all an acting project. What are you guys talking about? There would be e-
mails, something, texts about an acting project. Here she is in court. She`s been on the stand all day long spilling her guts, trying to convince
a judge this was all an acting project.
This is murder attempt number two that we know when the first one failed. Dalia Dippolito, on the stand under oath.
Let`s stop and remember, American hero Georgia Major Gregory "Lem" Barney, killed in the line of duty. A Navy veteran, Fulton police officer,
Riverdale police 25 years, firefighter. Widow Lisa; twin boys, Robert and Greg. Gregory "Lem" Barney, American hero.
And tonight, we ask for your prayers and support for our friend, Paul Hayden (ph), beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother. Become a donor.
Help save a life. Go to deletebloodcancer.org to help Paul Hayden (ph) and all those in dire need of bone marrow transplants.
I want to thank our guests, but especially to you for being with us again tonight. Nancy Grace, signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8 o`clock
sharp, Eastern, and until then, good night.
[21:00:00]
END
