Kriti Mehrotra
In mid-May 2019, following a sting operation by the FBI, the baffling case of once-decorated police officer Valerie Cincinelli came to light and shook the entire state of New York to its core. After all, as explored on ‘Dateline: Hit List,’ Valerie allegedly tried to orchestrate a murder-for-hire plot targeting her then-husband and then-boyfriend’s daughter. However, in a turn of events, the said boyfriend — John DiRubba — ratted her out. So now, if you’re curious to find out more about him, his experiences, his relationship with Valerie, as well as his current whereabouts, don’t worry; we’ve got the details for you.
Who is John DiRubba?
By all accounts, John DiRubba is a New York native who played a key role in the matter in question for more reasons than one, especially as he was Valerie’s secret, older boyfriend of around two years. The duo had met by pure chance back in January 2017, while he was in his “early 50s and she was in her early 30s,” but it was genuinely love at first sight for the former. John was merely washing his vehicle when Valerie pulled up beside him in a patrol car on that fateful morning, leading to a conversation that eventually ended with him learning she was not happily married.
That’s how John and Valerie began communicating over Instagram, which later turned into secret meetings and their building a real relationship, as per John’s account on ‘Dateline.’ However, court documents reveal they not only had a “volatile history” but the cop was also jealous of John’s then-13/14-year-old daughter because of how much time and attention he gave her. In fact, her negative feelings went to such an extent that after she spoke to John about hiring someone to slay her husband Isaiah Carvalho Jr. before their divorce was finalized, Valerie purportedly included the minor on the hit list too.
With that said, records signify it was John who told Valerie he knew someone who’d do the job for $7,000 — the exact amount Valerie withdrew in cash in February 2019, and he allegedly later converted into gold coins to make the so-called payment. Yet, with his teen daughter’s well-being threatened, all he did instead was tip off the authorities and turn into an informant (by wearing a wire) to help them gather as much evidence against Valerie as possible. In other words, despite Valerie, her lawyer, and her family’s implications that John set her up, his unwavering cooperation with the FBI indicated a lack of guilt.
John DiRubba is Still Based in New York
John DiRubba has always maintained his innocence in this case, and as per ‘Dateline,’ he wants the world to know he’s “a good father. I’m lovable. Funny. I’m not what they portrayed… You know, you gotta move forward and keep going forward and just try to survive.” In this aforementioned episode, he even defended himself by clearly stating, “It was Valerie’s own words [in the wiretap recordings] that put her in jail. It’s her own voice, what she wanted to do. She could have stopped this at any time.”
John continued, “If you’re a police officer that upholds the law, you should say, ‘John, what are you talking about? Are you crazy?’ That should have been the only thing that should have been on that tape. What would I gain out of killing my own daughter?… I have consistently said that she is clearly playing out this fantasy during these conversations, that she never believed would come to fruition.”
Coming to where John is now, as per the last reports, the former bakery and tattoo shop owner still lives in New York, where he makes a living by building and flipping houses. Unfortunately, John — who claims to have helped actor Tony Lip (‘The Sopranos’) write the ‘Shut Up and Eat!’ cookbook, which Tony co-wrote with Steven Priggé — prefers to keep away from the public eye these days. Thus, we sadly do not have any additional information on his current personal or professional experiences. All we know is that he has since had his Valerie-related tattoos inked over and prefers to spend all his free time with his daughter to make her feel as safe as possible.
Read More: Why Did Valerie Cincinelli Want Her Husband Isaiah Carvalho Killed?
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