Two days after she was arrested, a Leon County grand jury on Wednesday indicted Donna Adelson for the murder of her former son-in-law.
FSU law professor Dan Markel was shot in his Betton Hills garage in 2014 as he battled his ex-wife Wendi Adelson over custody of their two young sons.
Wendi’s brother Charlie Adelson was convicted last week of masterminding Markel’s murder for hire. Now her mother Donna is facing the same charges of murder, conspiracy, and solicitation.
Donna Adelson was taken into custody in Miami as she and her husband Harvey were about to board a one-way flight to Dubai, then Vietnam, where she would’ve been safe from extradition to the United States.
State Attorney Jack Campbell says his office had enough evidence to make the arrest, but Adelson’s purchase of the plane ticket sped up their timeline.
Adelson’s arrest warrant says she told Charlie after his guilty verdict that she was creating trusts and making sure her grandchildren were taken care of. In recorded jailhouse interviews, the warrant says she also talked about considering suicide or fleeing to a non-extradition country.
Three conspirators have already been convicted for their roles in the murder: hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, and Charlie Adelson's former girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, who helped coordinate the plot.
