More arrests are expected following the 2014 murder of Florida State University Law Professor Dan Markel. But police aren't saying whether family members of Markel’s ex-wife are suspects.
Sigfredo Garcia’s probable cause affidavit suggests the mother of his children was in a relationship with Markel’s former brother in law. The report goes on to state that the brother and mother of Markel’s ex-wife didn’t like him. Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel were fighting over a settlement agreement at the time of his death. Tallahassee Police Chief Mike DeLeo says he hasn’t had any contact with Adelson family, and wouldn’t say if any members are suspects.
“I think it’s more probable than not that there will be additional arrests," he told reporters during a Thursday press conference.
The probable cause affidavit also names a second suspect, Luis Rivera, who was with Garcia in Tallahassee when Markel was killed. It’s still not known whether the professor’s death was a murder for hire, who directed the killing, or if any money changed hands. Rivera is in a federal prison on unrelated charges.
The probable cause affidavit had been sealed up until Garcia's appearance in a Leon County courtroom Thursday. DeLeo says he would have liked the report to remain off limits a while longer.
“The longer things are confidential it makes our job a little easier as opposed to trying to track people down when they know what we’re looking at specifically," he said.
Read more about the case here.
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Update 11:36 a.m.: The Tallahassee Police Department will hold a 2 p.m. press conference related to the Dan Markel murder investigation. The case is ongoing, and at least one other person has been implicated in Markel's death. Unsealed documents show a connection between the alleged shooter and the family of Markel's ex-wife.
Investigators believe the motive for Markel's murder stems from "the desperate desire of the Adelson family to relocate Wendi Adelson and the children to South Florida." The probable cause affidavit for the arrest of Sigfredo Garcia, 34, was unsealed Thursday ahead of Garcia's first appearance in a Leon County Courtroom. Garcia is charged with First Degree murder in Markel's death. Investigators have also implicated another man, Luis Rivera, in the case, but they have not disclosed whether he's been arrested.
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Original Post: Garcia arrived Wednesday evening from Broward, where he'd been held since his arrest in Hallandale Beach on May 24.
Investigators Markel's shooting stemmed from the bitter divorce between he and his ex-wife Wendi Adelson, and a dispute over where the couple's children would live. Adelson's parents wanted their daughter and grandchildren to relocate to South Florida. Markel claimed Adelson's mother, Donna Adelson "made disparaging remarks abut him to his sons."
According to the unsealed probable cause affidavit, "Markel sought relief...by asking the court to prohibit Donna from having unsupervised time with her grandchildren and to impose limitations to prevent the children from being subjected to disparaging comments about their father."
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Read the document below:.
