More Details From The Dan Markel Murder Investigation, Plus A Closer Look At The Adelson Family
Some follow-up on Thursday's major revelations in this case.
Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera
Yesterday we brought you some huge news in the investigation into the murder of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. In an unsealed probable cause affidavit, investigators alleged that Markel’s killing might have been connected to the “desperate desire” of his ex-wife Wendi Adelson’s family for Wendi and the couple’s two children to relocate from Tallahassee to South Florida, where Wendi’s parents and brother Charles Adelson reside. The most notable allegation: the claim of a connection between Charlie Adelson and Sigfredo Garcia, the man arrested and charged last week in connection with the killing. (For a comprehensive chronology of the Dan Markel murder based on law enforcement’s allegations in the P.C. affidavit, check out this excellent Tallahassee Democrat timeline.)
Today, a few updates (in addition to the two previously added to yesterday’s piece):
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1. A second suspect in the killing — Luis Rivera, who allegedly carried out the killing with Sigfredo Garcia — is already in custody, on separate federal charges. Per the Tallahassee Democrat, Rivera — a Latin Kings North Miami gang leader — got sentenced to more than 12 years in prison on unrelated racketeering charges. He is currently in a federal prison north of Orlando; an arrest warrant has been issued for him in the Markel murder case but has not yet been served.
2. At a press conference yesterday, Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo stopped just short of calling the Markel killing a murder for hire, but did say that “there is certainly good information, indications, that… since there is no known relationship between Mr. Rivera or Mr. Garcia and Professor Markel… it was not a random act that [Rivera and Garcia] came up here.” (If you read the affidavit itself, it strongly suggests a murder-for-hire plot, which is also what sources have told the Tallahassee Democrat.)
3. Chief DeLeo did say more arrests are likely. He declined to comment on the Adelsons, except to say with a smirk, when asked if he knew their whereabouts, “We aren’t on speaking terms.”
So let’s talk about the Adelsons. Based on the emails and texts we’ve received from readers, they are a subject of great public interest right now.
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It’s important to note what law enforcement authorities do not allege about the Adelsons (at least at this point in the investigation). The affidavit claims that Charles Adelson “was involved in a personal relationship” around the time of the murder with one Katherine Magbanua, who happens to be the mother of the two children of Sigfredo Garcia, one of the alleged killers. The affidavit does not allege that Wendi Adelson knew about Dan Markel’s killing in advance or had any involvement in it (and in my story yesterday, I cited some evidence suggesting a lack of knowledge by Wendi). The affidavit also does not allege advance knowledge or involvement by Wendi and Charlie Adelson’s parents, Donna Sue Adelson and Dr. Harvey J. Adelson.
It is possible, of course, that members of the Adelson family in addition to Charlie Adelson had knowledge of or involvement with the alleged plot (or acquired knowledge at some point in the almost two years since Dan Markel’s death). But as of now, investigators do not make such allegations.
Here are some facts about the Adelsons from Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel’s 2006 New York Times wedding announcement:
Wendi Jill Adelson, the daughter of Donna Sue Adelson and Dr. Harvey J. Adelson of Coral Springs, Fla., is to be married this evening to Dan Eric Markel, the son of Ruth Markel and Phil Markel of Toronto. Rabbi Shaul Robinson is to officiate at Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton, Fla., with Rabbi Mark W. Gross taking part in the ceremony.
The bride, 26, is keeping her name. She is a third-year law student at the University of Miami. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University and received a master’s degree in international relations from Cambridge, where she was a Gates scholar.
Her father has a dental practice in Tamarac, Fla., for which the bride’s mother is the patient-care coordinator.
In terms of where they are now, Wendi joined Dan on the FSU faculty, but resigned from her post as a clinical professor in January 2015. As we mentioned yesterday, she was not eligible for tenure, so one can understand why she wanted to leave FSU and Tallahassee; there wasn’t much keeping her there after her divorce from Markel, finalized in 2013. She moved back to South Florida, where her parents and brother live, and currently clerks for Judge Adalberto Jordan of the Eleventh Circuit (who isn’t interested in being nominated to the Supreme Court, in case you were wondering).
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As for the other three Adelsons — Dr. Harvey Adelson, Donna Adelson, and Dr. Charlie Adelson — they continue to work at their South Florida dental practice, the Adelson Institute for Aesthetics and Implant Dentistry. The Institute’s elaborate website features video footage of the Doctors Adelson, who both cite restoring someone’s smile as the favorite part of their practice, as well as special offers (“Cleaning + Dental Exam (including x-rays) For Only $99”).
Dr. Harvey Adelson is a cosmetic dentist. He grew up in New York and graduated from Stuyvesant High School, the University of Buffalo (B.S. in molecular biology), and Temple University (D.M.D.). He moved to Florida in 1973 and has been practicing in the Florida area ever since. He has three children and enjoys photography, yoga, and tennis.
Dr. Charlie Adelson is a periodontist (gum specialist). He grew up in Florida and graduated from the University of Central Florida in Orlando (B.S. in micro and molecular biology) and Nova Southeastern University (D.M.D.). He goes on medical missions to Jamaica, where he provides dental care to orphan children.
Donna Adelson, wife of Harvey and mother of Charlie, is the patient care coordinator of the practice. She graduated from Queens College of CUNY (B.A. in education). She taught elementary school and raised three children before joining her husband’s practice. She enjoys travel, tennis, and spending time with family. (Her access to her grandchildren, the two sons of Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel, was going to be litigated at a hearing that was scheduled going to take place had Markel not been murdered; Markel claimed that Donna Adelson was saying negative things about him to her grandkids.) [UPDATE (11:55 p.m.): The hearing had been continued, and no new date had been set when Markel was killed.]
What else do we know about the Adelsons? Sources report that the Adelson parents weren’t fans of Dan Markel, their former son-in-law, but that they “worship” Wendi Adelson. There’s a “shrine-like” area of the Adelsons’ house — not quite a room, more like a hallway — that’s “dedicated almost entirely to pictures of Wendi since she was a kid,” one tipster told us.
“Wendi gloated about the [shrine area] as if it was a special thing,” said this source, who has visited the Adelsons at home. “But it was much more eerie than special. [While we were with the family], the focus on Wendi as special was palpable.”
We also know from sources that Harvey and Donna Adelson were very involved in Wendi and Dan’s life. We might have more about that — including the contentious divorce proceedings, in which Donna Adelson became an issue — in subsequent stories.
Wendi and Charles Adelson did not respond to media requests from the Tallahassee Democrat. If any of you happen to know any of the Adelsons, please let them know that I would welcome the chance to interview them and hear their side of the story.
In the past few days, we’ve received some very interesting reader emails and texts about this case. We’re still figuring out what (if any) use to make of them in our pages. We strive to be careful, fair-minded, and accurate in our reporting, and some of what we’ve received has been speculative in nature, so it might not be published in these pages.
But we welcome the insights all the same. Please email us or text us (646-820-8477) with any information or thoughts you might be willing and able to share. Please note that we might quote from what you share with us (anonymously, unless you specify otherwise). Thank you.
UPDATE (4:08 p.m.): Remember the apparent confusion over the unsealing of the probable cause affidavit? The Tallahassee Democrat just reported:
Tallahassee Police didn’t want details of their case against a Miami man arrested in Dan Markel’s killing to be made public for fear other suspects in the murder-for-hire scheme might flee the U.S., court documents show.
“Suspected co-defendants have the financial means to flee the country and to not return, and in fact, have already been discovered talking about leaving,” TPD’s legal counsel Theresa Flury wrote in a May 26 motion that successfully sought to have Sigfredo Garcia’s arresting documents sealed.
Question: given these concerns, why didn’t the Tallahassee Police Department arrest all the co-defendants at or around the same time? The TPD had to know that other potential defendants might start thinking and talking about fleeing once Sigfredo Garcia’s arrest made the news.
Police name second suspect in murder of FSU professor, identify motive [WCTV]
Family of Dan Markel’s ex-wife implicated in murder plot [Tallahassee Democrat]
Prius trailed Dan Markel on final morning [Tallahassee Democrat]
Earlier: Investigators Allege Involvement Of His Ex-Wife’s Family In The Murder Of Dan Markel
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David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.
