Poison Candy The Murderous Madam: Inside Dalia Dippolito's Plot to Kill

In August 2009, former madam Dalia Dippolito conspired with a hit man to arrange her ex-con husband's murder. Days later, it seemed as if all had gone according to plan. The beautiful, young Dalia came home from her health club to an elaborate crime scene, complete with yellow tape outlining her townhome and police milling about. When Sgt. Frank Ranzie of the Boynton Beach, Florida, police informed her of her husband Michael's apparent murder, the newlywed Dippolito can be seen on surveillance video collapsing into the cop's arms, like any loving wife would—or any wife who was pretending to be loving would. The only thing missing from her performance were actual tears.

... And the only thing missing from the murder scene was an actual murder.

Tipped off by one of Dalia's lovers, an undercover detective posing as a hit man met with Dalia to plot her husband's murder while his team planned, then staged the murder scenario—brazenly inviting the reality TV show Cops along for the ride. The Cops video went viral, sparking a media frenzy: twisted tales of illicit drugs, secret boyfriends, sex-for-hire, a cuckolded former con man, and the defense's ludicrous claim that the entire hit had been staged by the intended victim for reality TV fame.

In Poison Candy, case prosecutor Elizabeth Parker teams with bestselling crime writer Mark Ebner take you behind and beyond the courtroom scenes with astonishing never-before-revealed facts, whipsaw plot twists, and exclusive photos and details far too lurid for the trial that led to 20 years in state prison for Dalia Dippolito.

Elizabeth Parker began as a prosecutor in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office in 1998 where she quickly rose through the ranks and achieved the position of Chief Assistant State Attorney in which she litigated high-profile cases.

She has appeared on Dateline, Snapped, Sins and Secrets, Nothing Personal, and In Session for her role as the lead prosecutor in the Dalia Dippolito case. In 2011, Parker opened her own victim advocacy and criminal defense firm in Palm Beach County, Florida.

As a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, Elizabeth has appeared on Nancy Grace, In Session and in USA TODAY as a legal analyst on high profile cases such as Jerry Sandusky, George Zimmerman, John Goodman, Adam Kauffman, and Tammy Smith.

Mark Ebner is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of titles including Hollywood, Interrupted, Six Degrees of Paris Hilton, and We Have Your Husband.