Donna Adelson is now in Tallahassee and will continue to be held without bond in the Leon County Jail, according to determination today from a Leon County Judge.
Adelson is the latest person to be charged in the 2014 killing of a Florida State University Law Professor. Investigators caught Adelson on Nov. 13th as she attempted to board a plane with her husband from Miami to Vietnam on a one-way ticket. Vietnam has no extradition agreement with the United States.
Adelson is the mother of Charlie Adelson, who was convicted a week prior to her arrest, of orchestrating Dan Markel’s murder. She is also the mother of Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson, who was involved in a custody dispute with him at the time of his death.
In charging documents and a warrant request, prosecutors noted that on recorded jail phone calls, Adelson discussed killing herself and leaving the county following Charlie Adelson’s conviction. He is facing a mandatory life sentence. Three other people have also been convicted in Markel’s murder.
Katherine Magbanua was sentenced last year for her role as the go-between for Charlie Adelson and hired hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera. Magbanua and Garcia have two children together and Rivera is a childhood friend of Garcia's. Magbanua was dating Charlie Adelson at the time of Markel's murder.
Garcia was convicted in 2019 for his role as the triggerman and Rivera took a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony against Garcia and Magbanua.
