On Wednesday, prosecutors said that Dalia Dippolito, the Florida woman convicted of planning a murder-for-hire plot against her husband, was recorded discussing the story of another inmate’s escape. Even her own attorney didn’t get to immediately hear the tape of this jailhouse phone call, but the audio was finally released on Friday. Listen here:
Her attorneys are asking that she be released while they seek appeal. Prosecutors argue that she shouldn’t be let go, in part because of this July 8 jail house call, in which she talked about a South Carolina inmate who escaped from prison by using a drone, and a dummy he hid in his bed.
“He put a dummy in his bed and had an 18-hour head start,” she said to a man only identified as James.
The debate is over whether this conversation might reveal anything problematic about letting her out of jail. Prosecutors claim house arrest was insufficient since she could manipulate people over the phone, but her defense is arguing that the recording shows nothing nefarious.
A jury found Dippolito guilty for plotting in 2009 to get her husband Mike Dippolito murdered. The case got national attention after it was profiled on Cops.
This is just another chapter in a years-long struggle between prosecutors and the defense. The first trial ended in a conviction that was later overturned, and the second ended in a hung jury. The third finally resulted in a 16-year prison sentence handed down in July.
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