Florida matriarch accused of orchestrating son-in-law's murder faces trial this week
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Donna Adelson, the matriarch of an affluent South Florida family accused of orchestrating the notorious murder-for-hire plot that killed her former son-in-law Dan Markel, is set to face trial this week.
Jury selection began Aug. 19 in the case of Adelson, who is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in the killing of Markel, a Florida State University law professor. It comes nearly a year after her first scheduled trial imploded over conflicts of interest involving her lawyer.
In Tallahassee, where Markel was killed in his driveway in July 2014, Leon Circuit Judge Stephen Everett said he expects jury selection to end on Aug. 21, with opening statements expected to begin that afternoon.
Adelson, who has pleaded not guilty, is the fifth person to be charged in Markel's murder, including four people who have been convicted: her son Charlie Adelson, the two men hired to carry out the killing, and Charlie Adelson's ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua.
Adelson and her husband were arrested in November 2023 after they attempted to board a one-way flight to Vietnam, a non-extradition country. A judge in Tallahassee recently ruled the state can use the attempted flight, which came days after her son's conviction, to show "consciousness of guilt."
Prosecutors are expected to argue again that after Markel and Wendi Adelson's acrimonious divorce in 2012, her family wanted him out of the way badly enough to have him killed so she could relocate with their kids from Tallahassee to South Florida.
Here's what to know about the case that has drawn national attention for more than a decade.
What happened to Dan Markel?
Markel, who was 41 at the time of his death, was a Canadian-born law professor and legal scholar. He was married to fellow Florida State University professor Wendi Adelson and they had two young sons, but they separated in 2012 and battled through an extremely bitter divorce.
On the morning of July 18, 2014, Markel was fatally shot at point blank range in his garage after he dropped off his two sons at day care and went to the gym.
Investigators tied the killing to two Miami men, Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia. Both men had connections to the Adelson family through Magbanua, Charlie Adelson's ex-girlfriend, who was on the payroll at the family's dental clinic in South Florida.
In Charlie Adelson's 2023 trial, prosecutors said Markel's murder "stemmed from the desperate desire of the Adelson family" for Wendi and her two sons to have the freedom to move to South Florida. In divorce proceedings, Markel won 50/50 custody of the children as well as an order prohibiting Wendi Adelson from moving them closer to her family.
Markel also had filed a motion to prevent Donna Adelson from having unsupervised time with her grandchildren after hearing she had made disparaging remarks about him in front of his children.
Who has been convicted for Markel's murder?
Rivera took a plea deal in 2016 and flipped on Garcia and Magbanua, the mother of Garcia's children. Rivera got 19 years in prison in exchange for ratting out his cohorts.
Both Garcia, found guilty in 2019, and Magbanua, found guilty in her second trial last year, are serving life in prison.
In November 2023, Charlie Adelson was found guilty of multiple counts, including first-degree murder, and is currently serving a life sentence in South Dakota. He testified in his own defense that he was extorted by Markel's killers through his then-girlfriend, but the jury rejected that theory.
Donna Adelson tried to flee the country; spoke of suicide, officials say
Authorities said Donna and Harvey Adelson's attempt to flee the country forced their hand in taking her into custody.
State Attorney Jack Campbell previously told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the state did not have the evidence to arrest Harvey Adelson, but had enough to arrest Donna Adelson.
"That's what forced our hand," Campbell said.
Ahead of her arrest, Donna Adelson made several phone calls to her son in jail in which she said she was putting her financial affairs in order and considering whether to leave the country or take her own life.
"Donna discusses plans for a suicide, but also discusses plans to flee to a non-extradition country," the affidavit says.
What to expect in the Donna Adelson trial
Ahead of Donna Adelson's trial, there's been much speculation over who may take the stand and who won't.
Wendi Adelson, Markel's ex-wife whom the state considers an uncharged co-conspirator, will return to the stand and testify, under a limited immunity deal, as she has in all the previous trials. She has long denied any involvement or knowledge of the murder conspiracy in sometimes testy exchanges with prosecutors. Prosecutors will undoubtedly grill Wendi Adelson about what role her mother played in the post-divorce custody battle.
Charlie Adelson could potentially testify for the defense as could Rob Adelson, a New York doctor who had a falling out with his family after Markel's murder. It remains unknown if Donna Adelson will testify in her own defense – a decision that proved perilous in her son's trial.
Tim Jansen, a Tallahassee criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor who has watched the case closely, predicted a contentious "mud fight" between the state and defense.
"They're going to fight everything," he said. "I don't think it's going to be an amicable trial. It's going to be a lot more bruising trial, really. The defense is going to try to come out strong and attack each and every witness."
Contributing: C.A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
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