The case of the Dippolitos might make for high-ratings as a TV drama, but an arranged hit by an angry wife was no stunt, the target testified Wednesday.
Michael Dippolito told jurors that his wife, Dalia, plotted to kill him without his knowledge, which goes directly against her attorney's theory that she thought the entire odd episode was part of a plan to land the couple a reality TV show.
Dalia Dippolito is accused trying to hire an assassin to rub out her husband in 2009.
But the hitman the Boynton Beach housewife allegedly hired with a $1,200 down payment turned out to be an undercover police officer, who videotaped Dalia's reaction after she was told by police her husband was dead.
Dalia cried and wailed as if in total despair, but she was really smiling on the inside thinking she had pulled off the murder plot successfully, prosecutors allege.
Michale Dippolito talked about watching the tape of his wife's performance.
"It didn't feel good watching it...I felt bad for her," Dippolito told jurors. "I mean, how could someone be so stupid?"
Dalia Dippolito's attorney, Michael Salnick, argued Tuesday that Michael Dippolito was a big reality TV fan who hoped the plot would give him exposure.
"This was a bad prank. Worse than what balloon boys parents did," said Salnick, according to WPTV.
The alleged would-be hubby killer was arrested after a dramatic sting in which police were filmed as they told a tearful Dippolito her husband had been killed.
Salnick said the plot was Michael Dippolito's idea and that he controlled Dalia.
But prosecutors say Dalia Dippolito is a cold-blooded woman bent on killing her husband at any cost. Police say the couple had been married for just six months but the hitman hire was allegedly the third attempt the femme fatale had made on her husband. She had previously tried spiking his tea with antifreeze and tried to get two strangers to kill him, according to police.
On the witness stand Tuesday, Michael Dippolito described the marriage as a happy one and said he was shocked when he learned of the plot to kill him.
"I couldn't believe it. It was crazy," Dippolito said.
Michael Dippolito has since filed for divorce. Dalia Dippolito faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
