In August 2009, the Boynton Beach police took a gamble on a sexy case. A young, flirtatious, cosmetically enhanced newlywed named Dalia Dippolito was plotting to have her husband killed. She hired a hit man, who turned out to be an undercover cop.
One morning, Dalia went to the gym as usual. When she got home, she discovered an elaborate, staged crime scene outside her condo. The Boynton cops soberly informed her that her husband was dead. She burst into melodramatic sobs.
Luckily, cameras from the Fox show Cops caught the whole thing on tape. So did the Boynton police, who promptly posted the footage on YouTube. As they were building their murder-for-hire case against Dalia, video of her pretending to mourn her still-very-much-alive husband went viral.
Now, Dalia is on house arrest while appealing her conviction for solicitation to commit murder. And the long-awaited Cops episode about her case airs this Saturday.
Of course, there are a few details that aren't included in the trailer for the show -- such as the Boynton Beach officers who tricked Dalia into signing the waiver that allowed the Cops crew to keep filming. Critics have contended that this bit of deception threatened the case and exposed the Boynton Police Department's unhealthy lust for media attention.
Despite the backlash, Boynton officials are proudly promoting this weekend's Cops episode on the department's Facebook page. If you've got it, flaunt it. Isn't that what Dalia would say?
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