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Boynton Beach detective takes stand in Dippolito trial

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The detective who coordinated the investigation that led to the arrest of Dalia Dippolito appeared on the witness stand but he was hardly answering any questions as the focus on Friday was on the videos of Dippolito talking to her then lover of hiring a hit man to kill her husband.

The videos had been part of the first and second trial but the jurors, who had said they had little to no knowledge of the case prior to being selected, were glued to the screen. Dippolito’s expression in court remained unchanged as the video shows her handing money and pictures of her husband to her then lover Mohamed Shihadeh. 

Shihadeh had been working with police and had a camera in his car. In the video, he told her he can find a hit man and they discuss logistics and money. 

The jurors had to be excused several times during the day as technical issues prevented the audio of the video to play correctly. Even after the state brought in a new sound system, it was still very difficult to understand everything that was being said. 

The issue was raised at the beginning of the day when the judge said the transcript of the videos can’t be handed to the jurors because it was incomplete.

The final video shown to the jury on Friday was that of Dippolito sitting at the police station, an officer telling her that her husband is dead. She can be seen crying.

At the end of the video the officer confronts her, telling her that the hit man she hired was an undercover officer and that they have video recordings of her talking about hiring a hit man.

Moreno did not have time to answer many questions in court on Friday since most of the day was filled with watching the videos and tapes and numerous interruptions. 

Dippolito's defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld said he's looking forward to cross examining Moreno on Monday. 

"Starting Monday you’re going to see our side of the story when we get to cross examine Detective Moreno," Rosenfeld said. "You’ll see a different picture of what really happened.”