The Latest: Former escort guilty of trying to hire hit man
Posted June 16, 2017 11:54 am.
Last Updated June 16, 2017 3:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Latest on the trial of a former Florida escort accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill her newlywed husband (all times local):
6 p.m.
A former Florida escort has been found guilty of trying to hire a hit man to murder her newlywed husband to get his money and their town house.
The jury convicted Dalia Dippolito on Friday after about an hour and a half of deliberations. The 34-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison when she’s sentenced at a later date.
The case gained fame after Dippolito’s 2009 arrest when video of the investigation went viral on YouTube and the “Cops” television show turned it into a special episode.
This was Dippolito’s third trial. A 2011 conviction was thrown out on appeal. A 2016 trial ended with a hung jury.
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4:45 p.m.
Jurors are now deliberating in the trial of a former Florida escort accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill her newlywed husband in a case made famous by the TV show “Cops.”
During closing arguments Friday, Brian Claypool said Boynton Beach police framed Dalia Dippolito because “Cops” producers were in town and believed the case could make them famous. He told the three-woman, three-man jury that they may think his 34-year-old client is a “gold digger,” but that’s irrelevant because the evidence against her is so compromised by police misconduct.
Earlier Friday, prosecutor Laura Laurie told the Palm Beach County jury on Friday that Dippolito wanted her husband killed so she could get their home and his money.
This is Dippolito’s third trial. A 2011 conviction was thrown out on appeal. A 2016 trial ended with a hung jury.
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2:30 p.m.
The attorney defending a former Florida escort accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill her newlywed husband told jurors she is a victim of detectives who wanted to become stars on the TV show “Cops.”
Brian Claypool said in closing arguments Friday that Boynton Beach police framed Dalia Dippolito because “Cops” producers were in town and believed the case could make them famous. He told the three-woman, three-man jury that they may think his 34-year-old client is a “gold digger,” but that’s irrelevant because the evidence against her is so compromised by police misconduct.
Earlier Friday, prosecutor Laura Laurie told the Palm Beach County jury on Friday that Dippolito wanted her husband killed so she could get their home and his money.
This is Dippolito’s third trial. A 2011 conviction was thrown out on appeal. A 2016 trial ended with a hung jury.
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1 p.m.
A prosecutor depicted Dalia Dippolito as a manipulative liar who used sex to bend men to her will during closing arguments of her trial on charges that she tried to hire a hit man to kill her newlywed husband.
Prosecutor Laura Laurie told the Palm Beach County, Florida, jury on Friday the former escort wanted Michael Dippolito killed so she could get their home and his money. The case gained fame when TV’s “Cops” showed video of her trying to hire a hit man.
Defence attorney Brian Claypool is expected to argue later Friday that detectives set up his 34-year-old client because they wanted to become famous on “Cops.”
This is Dippolito’s third trial. A 2011 conviction was thrown out on appeal. A 2016 trial ended with a hung jury.
