Jurors are now weighing a decision in the murder trial for former Florida State University Professor Dan Markel. State Attorney Georgia Cappleman and defense attorney Chris DeCoste went head to head during the closing remarks.
Much of the discussion focused on suspect Katherine Magbanua.
Magbanua was arrested three years ago in relation to the murder of Markel. Although she did not pull the trigger, she has been accused of being the missing link between the shooter Sigfredo Garcia, and Markel’s former in-laws who allegedly orchestrated the crime.
DeCoste argues no woman with two kids would put themselves in this predicament.
“They started talking about deposit transactions and how Katherine was going to different banks to make deposits. Again, they have no information as to the location of these ATMs and their location in relation to each other, but one thing that we pointed out was this is normal behavior for Katherine," says DeCoste.
Cappleman disagrees. She notes an influx of money Magbanua received after Markel’s death. Magbanua says that money was earned through her job at a South Florida nightclub. Cappleman says the wiretaps are enough to associate Markel’s former in-laws to Garcia and Magbanua.
“To suggest that these wiretaps somehow are not evidence of Ms. Magbanua being right in the middle of this thing is just… listen to them again,” says Cappleman.
The case now rests in the hands of the jury.
