Kriti Mehrotra
Examining the baffling case of former New York City police officer Valerie Cincinelli, NBC’s ‘Dateline: Hit List’ delves deep into the alleged murder-for-hire plot she orchestrated against her husband. There’s no denying that things between her and Isaiah Carvalho were not all sunshine and roses back in 2019, but he never really imagined that his estranged wife could go to such extremes. So now, if you wish to learn more about the details concerning this matter, particularly the reason behind the then-cop’s bizarre decision to end her then-husband’s life, we’ve got you covered.
Isaiah Carvalho Was Targeted for Financial Reasons
Although Valerie Cincinelli and Isaiah Carvalho had been married for nearly five years and shared a young son by the time May 2019 rolled around, their relationship had been rather tumultuous for quite some time. After all, not only had Isaiah filed for divorce five months prior but owing to several domestic incidents, the once couple also had active restraining orders against one another. Official records reveal that the police officer even had a “volatile history” with her then-boyfriend John DiRubba, and her first husband had similarly obtained a restraining order around 2014.
Valerie had allegedly started plotting her then-husband’s murder in February 2019, when she allegedly withdrew $7,000 in cash and gave the same to John to move things along. Reports suggest that the idea was for John to convert the money into gold coins to pay off a hitman, who would then kill Isaiah near his workplace in Long Island. However, there’s no evidence of these finances, especially as John eventually ended up going to the authorities. We say eventually because he seemingly only chose to do so when Valerie decided she wanted to add one more individual to their hit list — his daughter, who was just 13/14 at the time.
With that said, the boyfriend agreed to be a confidential source for the FBI, which means that he helped the agency gather substantial evidence against Valerie before they informed Isaiah of the truth. The two men and the authorities thus joined forces to set up a sting operation, including faking Isaiah’s death, undercover detectives, as well as audio-video footage to catch the domestic violence specialized cop red-handed. In other words, thanks to immediate action, proper caution, and sheer meticulousness, Isaiah and John’s teen daughter managed to escape the situation without any physical harm.
As for Valerie’s motives, officials have argued greed for both money and attention to be a potential reason behind her efforts to have the intricate murder-for-hire plot executed. She was in the midst of a divorce (initiated by Isaiah) as well as a custody battle, so she reportedly didn’t want her then-husband to get even a cent from her government pension as a New York Police Department officer. On the other hand, authorities claim that Valerie hated John’s daughter “with a passion” because she believed the spoiled teenager was deliberately affecting “the couple’s time together.”
Nevertheless, Isaiah was in complete shock when he first heard of Valerie’s scheme because, despite public records and their history, the legal proceedings between them were supposedly never contentious. “We didn’t have like a heated custody battle,” he told ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ in 2019. “We were about to reach an agreement, so I don’t see why she would attempt to do this to me, or to my son for that matter.” In fact, Isaiah ostensibly didn’t understand the “why” of this case until Valerie faced the charges of two counts of murder-for-hire and one count of obstruction of justice in court. We should also mention that it’s unclear whether their divorce has since gone through or not.
Read More: Where is Valerie Cincinelli Now?
