It’s been over eleven years since 41-year-old Dan Markel was killed in Tallahassee, and we are still talking about court action in this case.
Closing arguments are happening today in the murder trial of 75-year-old Donna Adelson. She is charged with first degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation in the contract killing of her ex-son-in-law. Markel was shot July 18, 2014 as he sat in his car in the garage of his Betton Hills home.
Adelson was arrested in November of 2023, shortly after her son Charlie was convicted of the same charges. She was taken into custody at Miami International Airport, where she and her husband were about to board a flight to Vietnam by way of Dubai. They had one-way tickets, and Vietnam does not have extradition treaty with the United States.
Markel was a law professor at Florida State University. He was shot as he was on the phone sitting in his car in his open garage. He was soon found by a neighbor who went in for a closer look because he felt like something was off. This neighbor was the first to testify in Adelson’s murder trial, which started a couple of weeks ago with several days of jury selection.
Donna Adelson is the fifth person charged with first degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation in Markel’s death. Circuit Judge Stephen Everett rejected two attempts by defense attorneys to acquit Adelson for a lack of evidence.
The state says the motive for murder was Markel’s nasty custody battle with Donna’s daughter Wendi Adelson. Wendi testified that she wanted to move with her two young sons to south Florida to be near family, and Markel would not agree to let her take the children.
Charlie Adelson is in prison along with the two hitmen, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, and the woman who helped arrange the murder, Katherine Magbanua.
The state presented far more witnesses than the defense, and Adelson decided not to take the stand. Dan Markel's parents have been in court for the trial. They say they have not been allowed contact with their grandsons since shortly after Markel's murder.
On this episode of Speaking Of, we talk about the trial and hear bits of court testimony from various witnesses including: Luis Rivera, Katherine Magbanua, Wendi Adelson, Donna’s estranged son Robert Adelson, and Wendi’s ex-boyfriend Jeffery Lacasse.
Hear the episode by clicking LISTEN above.
