Police: TV news director was slain

Officers, who call the killing a ''real whodunit,'' were called after she didn't show up for work.

By ANGELA MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 9, 2001

TAMPA -- Danielle Cipriani loved her job directing the news at WFLA News Channel 8.

She loved it so much and was always so responsible, so dedicated, that when she didn't show up for her shift Saturday night, her colleagues immediately sensed something was wrong.

After the 6 p.m. newscast, two of them drove over to her condominium off Westshore Boulevard at 4614 W Fig St.

Cipriani, 31, didn't answer the door, but it was unlocked. Without going inside, they immediately called police. When police entered her condo about 7 p.m., they found Cipriani dead.

"Without question, it was a homicide -- clearly," said Tampa police spokeswoman Katie Hughes.

Hughes would not detail the type of injuries Cipriani suffered, but said she died of blunt trauma. Hughes would not elaborate because that information is known only by the killer and homicide detectives, she said, and could lead to an arrest.

But so far, police have no suspects and no visible motive. No one broke into the apartment, police said, and nothing was stolen.

"We've got a real whodunit on our hands," Hughes said.

Although Cipriani worked in the high-profile world of television news, she worked quietly behind the scenes in the operations department at News Channel 8, and was in charge of directing the weekend evening newscasts. She had worked there since 1997.

Rick McEwen, operations manager for the station, said Cipriani was the hardest-working director at the station.

"She was the best employee," McEwen said. "Professional, passionate, with a sense of humor... . I wish we had more of her. She is what we all should be. We realized that when she didn't show up for work that that wasn't Danielle. That's why we went to check up on her."

McEwen said Cipriani was quiet and kept to herself, a description echoed by her neighbors Sunday.

"She was real quiet. She kept her head down when she walked," said Rick Fernandez, whose condo shares the same building with Cipriani's. "She was very, very shy. It took her three months before she would even say hello when I saw her outside."

Fernandez said he could usually hear through the walls when Cipriani came home after midnight when she got off work. This weekend, Fernandez got home about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. About 2 a.m., he said he heard noises coming from her apartment, but he wasn't alarmed.

"I heard something moving around, but nothing that said, 'Oh my God, I've got to call the police,' " Fernandez said.

David Snyder has lived in the condos for 30 years, he said. In that time, the entire complex has had only one break-in, about 15 years ago. Cipriani was probably the quietest of all the residents, he said.

"There was very little activity around her place," Snyder said. "I never saw her going in and out with anybody."

Snyder shook his head. "You have to have the uneasy feeling that she knew who it was."

An autopsy was being conducted Sunday to determine the cause of death.

Cipriani was born in New Jersey but lived in Cape Coral much of her life. She is survived by her mother, Kathryn O'Brien, and three brothers.

- Staff writer Susan Thurston contributed to this report.

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