The Murder Of Dan Markel: Tensions Between Police And Prosecutors
It's quite possible that charges will never be brought against any of Dan Markel's former in-laws.
Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera
Last week brought some major revelations in the investigation of the murder of Professor Dan Markel. A probable cause affidavit became public, and it laid out the investigators’ case against Markel’s former in-laws, brother-in-law Charlie Adelson and mother-in-law Donna Adelson.
So far, however, it seems that State Attorney Willie Meggs isn’t approving any prosecutions against the Adelsons (as opposed to the two men who have been charged, alleged hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera). One source of mine raised the possibility that Meggs is playing a cat-and-mouse game and planning to pounce later, but a recent report by the Tallahassee Democrat suggests that maybe Meggs will never move against any of the Adelsons:
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[Police interpretations of evidence are t]he problem, Meggs said. It’s what investigators say, not necessarily what the evidence shows. Making the jump from theories to formal charges is a big leap.
“If they believe that somebody said something and we’re supposed to adopt what an officer thinks and arrest somebody, that’s not the way it works,” Meggs said.
After Meggs declined to approve probable cause for the arrest of Magbanua and Charlie Adelson, sources in the State Attorney’s Office confirmed TPD began seeking the authority of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Readers will recall that the feds been involved with this case. For example, FBI agents have conducted some of the witness interviews. But it’s not clear that any federal charges will be brought.
According to the Democrat, there are additional issues between the police and state prosecutors:
Sources also say portions of the investigation that could have led to Magbanua’s arrest were bungled, primarily the chance to speak with her in the days before Garcia’s May 25 arrest.
Two TPD officers were sent to her Fort Lauderdale home for questioning. She was inside but didn’t answer the door, documents said. State attorney sources said they stayed roughly an hour then left.
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That supposedly bungled visit to Magbanua gets discussed in the probable cause affidavit — an affidavit that was a working document and should not have been released, according to Meggs. Here is Meggs’s bottom line (emphasis added):
Meggs said [disagreements between his office and police investigators] continue, but until police gather more substantial evidence that can be proven in court, there would likely be no more arrests in Markel’s killing.
Officers can arrest Magbanua or the Adelsons without a warrant because they face felony charges, Meggs added.
“If they believe they have probable cause then they should go make the arrest. They don’t need me,” Meggs said. “I would say to Chief [Michael] DeLeo go make the arrest and get ready for your civil suit from whoever they have arrested without probable cause.’”
Ouch. And the prospect of a lawsuit from the Adelsons should not be discounted; they certainly know how to pick great lawyers.
(Avoiding litigation is certainly one reason why, aside from it being the right thing to do, I have tried to be fair to all parties — including, but not limited to, the Adelsons — while covering this case. If you want someone to go all “Nancy Grace” on them, you’ll have to look elsewhere.)
In other news related to this investigation, ABC News just posted a detailed timeline explaining how the police cracked this case. Most of what’s in the timeline will be familiar to followers of the case, but there’s a little more detail in the piece about Professor Jeffrey Lacasse, who previously had some not-very-nice things to say about his ex-girlfriend Wendi Adelson and her family. Here is the new material about Lacasse from ABC News:
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Two nights after questioning [Markel’s ex-wife Wendi] Adelson, police brought in Lacasse for questioning on July 21.
Police verified that Lacasse had been hundreds of miles away at the time of the murder, but over the course of three lengthly interviews, Lacasse gave police his theories about the crime.
Lacasse told police to not focus on Adelson but on her parents and her brother Charles in south Florida, who ran the family dentistry business.
“They hate Danny in a way. I have never seen this kind of obsession. I mean, their hobby is hating Danny,” Lacasse is heard telling police on video recorded during his interview. “I would just say, I would be investigating Charlie Adelson. I don’t know if he did this, but if you are looking at someone, don’t miss him.”
And don’t miss ABC News’s 20/20 segment about the Dan Markel case, mentioned in their story. It’s airing this Friday, September 16, at 10 p.m. Eastern time, and it should certainly be interesting.
Tensions flare in Markel case after unexpected document drop [Tallahassee Democrat]
How Police Tracked Down and Caught 2 Suspected Hit Men in FSU Professor Murder Case [ABC News]
Earlier: The Dan Markel Case: The Probable Cause Affidavit For Charlie Adelson
The Murder Of Dan Markel: The Case Against Donna Adelson
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.
