CENTRAL ISLIP, Long Island (WABC) -- The estranged husband of a New York City police officer charged in a murder-for-hire plot is speaking exclusively with ABC News.
The entire interview aired Wednesday morning on Good Morning America, right after Eyewitness News This Morning.
Prosecutors say 34-year-old Officer Valerie Cincinelli gave her boyfriend $7,000 to hire a hitman to kill not only the husband, but also her boyfriend's teenage daughter.
Instead, the boyfriend went to the FBI and became an informant, secretly recording his conversations with Cincinelli.
In the exclusive interview with Good Morning America, her estranged husband, Isaiah Carvalho Jr. said he's struggling to believe what happened.
"To be honest, I can't believe it, I'm still in shock," he said.
Carvalho added, "I didn't want to believe it, but apparently it's true."
Asked what convinced him, he said, "When the feds staged my death."
According to court papers, Officer Cincinelli was fooled into thinking her husband had been killed when she was shown a fake photo of his dead body.
Authorities say her reaction and comments were incriminating.
The 12-year veteran has been suspended without pay, and the FBI and NYPD Internal Affairs are involved in the investigation.
----------