Donna Adelson, Former Mother-in-Law in FSU Professor Murder Case, Arrested in South Florida”, 73, was charged late Monday night at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a county warrant. She is the mother of Charlie Adelson, who was charged this week with the murder of FSU law professor Daniel Markel in 2014.The former mother-in-law of Daniel Markel, whose murder occurred nearly a decade ago by being shot, was arrested in Miami-Dade County in 2014, a week after being found guilty of the murder in retaliation for the dismissal of Daniel Markel’s charges.
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Donna Adelson Arrest at Miami International Airport Raises Questions in FSU Professor Murder Case”
Donna Adelson was detained at Miami International Airport, where she and her husband had one-way tickets to Vietnam, according to Tallahassee State Attorney Jack Campbell. According to Campbell, Donna Adelson was seeking to depart the country, which would be part of the state’s evidence against her in the case.Her arrest comes exactly one week after Charlie Adelson was arrested for his part in Markel’s death. Charlie Adelson is a former brother-in-law of Markel, a dentist and the victim’s ex-brother-in-law.
“Charlie Adelson’s Agony: A Glimpse into the Trial for Dan Markel’s Murder”
On Monday, November 6, 2023, in Tallahassee, Florida, Charlie Adelson grimaces while waiting for his attorney, Daniel Rashbaum, to offer his defense in the case of Dan Markel’s murder.According to a certified declaration from the Tallahassee Police Department, Markel’s death in 2013 was the consequence of a protracted divorce with Wendi Adelson, a lawyer who had relocated
Following the identification of the Toyota Prius, investigators linked Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera to the crime, since they were seen in security footage following Markel’s car to his house. Garcia and Rivera were in Tallahassee on the day of Markel’s murder, according to phone records and other evidence.
Garcia, who was convicted in 2019, had two children with Katherine Magbanua, who was dating Charlie Adelson at the time of Markel’s murder. Rivera was convicted in 2014 for his participation in the shooting, and in return for a reduced sentence, he implicated Garcia and Magbanua.
Garcia, according to police, called Magbanua nearly 2,700 times between May 1 and July 19. Rivera leased the Prius in North Miami, and the car’s SunPass transponder recorded his movements – on July 16 at 2:18 p.m. at the westbound Interstate 75 toll plaza in Broward County, and on July 18 at 5:23 p.m. at the I-75 toll plaza in Collier County.
“Markel’s Divorce Drama: The Legal Battles and Relocation Rejections”
Markel had a contentious divorce with Wendi Adelson, who filed for divorce in 2012. Markel later learned that she and her two children had relocated to her parents’ house in Coral Springs.A Leon County court publicly denied Wendi Adelson’s application for relocation with the children in June 2013. The statement went on to say, “Email evidence suggests that Wendi’s parents, especially her mother, wanted Wendi Adelson to be forced to transfer to South Florida.”
Markel attempted to enforce the judge’s judgment in early 2014, saying that his former mother-in-law had made “disparaging remarks about his sons.”Markel asked the court to limit her contact with Wendi Adelson’s mother, prohibit her from spending unsupervised time with his grandchildren, and limit her time uttering insulting statements. When Markel was assassinated, the trial was postponed and was never rescheduled.
Investigators looked through Magbanua’s bank accounts and discovered a “significant increase in cash deposits” following Markel’s death.Magbanua was condemned to life in jail after being found guilty in her second trial last year, while Garcia was sentenced to life in prison during his trial. Wendi Adelson testified during Garcia’s trial that she did not believe her brother was involved in Markel’s death. She said her brother bought her a television as a divorce gift, joking that keeping a man working was cheaper.