The Murder Of Dan Markel: The Case Against Donna Adelson

New documents put the Adelsons -- especially Donna Adelson, former mother-in-law of Dan Markel -- in a very different light.

Dan Markel

Dan Markel

Dan Markel was a real person — a talented, complex, and wonderful human being. Given the circumstances surrounding his death, which have been covered extensively, it’s easy to lose sight of his humanity. So as we continue to read about his death, let us not forget about his life and his legacy — to the legal academy, the blogging world, and most importantly, his family and friends.

It becomes easier for Dan to become an abstraction with each new twist and turn in the investigation into his murder — and the latest allegations, some of the most disturbing to date, seem straight out of a tawdry television movie. I will describe them here, but with limited commentary. Readers can draw their own conclusions as to the guilt or innocence of any actual or potential suspect, and all are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

Throughout coverage of this case, I’ve noticed repeated references in news coverage to both Charlie Adelson and Donna Adelson — the brother and mother of Wendi Adelson, Dan Markel’s ex-wife — as persons of interest. I understood why the Adelsons generally might be of interest to law enforcement: Wendi’s divorce from Dan was ugly, spawning extensive follow-up litigation that was still ongoing at the time of Dan’s death, and the family badly wanted Wendi and her two sons with Dan to be able to leave Tallahassee and join them in South Florida (which Dan stood in the way of). But Charlie, who had a clear connection to alleged hit man Sigfredo Garcia — Charlie once dated Katherine Magbanua, the mother of two children with Garcia — has so far attracted more attention than Donna (even though some news outlets, especially the Tallahassee Democrat, would mention Charlie and Donna in the same sentence as potential suspects).

Now the Democrat, which has done some excellent work covering this case, reports on new information that puts the Adelsons — especially Donna Adelson — in a very different light. Here is the Democrat’s latest report:

In newly released documents, the Tallahassee Police Department laid out its case for why two of Dan Markel’s in-laws should be considered prime suspects in his slaying….

The documents maintain the family of Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson tried to convince her to offer him $1 million to allow their children to move to South Florida after their acrimonious divorce. Documents also say investigators focused on her brother Charlie Adelson, who police say looked into hiring a hit man the summer before Markel was killed.

My guess is that Dan, a devoted father to his two sons, would not have taken that money. But police apparently believe this shows the strength of what they’ve previously called the Adelson family’s “desperate desire” for Wendi and the boys to escape Tallahassee and move down to the Miami area (as they ultimately did, after Markel was murdered).

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More from the Democrat:

Just hours after Markel was killed, Wendi Adelson was interviewed at TPD headquarters. She said her brother often joked about hiring someone to kill Markel. A former boyfriend of hers told investigators Charlie Adelson had “looked into” hiring a hit man for $15,000 during the summer of 2013.

We have previously covered Wendi’s lengthy interview, which was videotaped, and her mention of Charlie’s (loathsome) jokes about a hit man. But the allegation that Charlie “looked into” hiring a hit man for $15,000 is new.

This next information brings in Donna Adelson:

Police say Katherine Magabanua, the mother of Garcia’s children and a former girlfriend of Charlie Adelson, is the link between the hitmen and the family. Following the murder, Rivera and Garcia purchased several cars and motorcycles around the same time Magbanua began receiving paychecks from the family’s dentistry practice. The checks were handwritten and signed by Donna Adelson….

Investigators found between Markel’s killing in July 2014 and November 2015, Magbanua deposited more than $56,000 in cash into her bank account. The deposits, the probable cause notes, were made mostly through ATMs in increments of $300 to $2,000.

“Investigators believe that Magbanua is supported financially by Charlie Adelson and has received numerous benefits from the Adelsons since Markel’s murder,” the un-executed probable cause document says.

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Donna Adelson

Donna Adelson

Based on what Wendi Adelson has previously said about her mother, Donna Adelson sounds like a strong, formidable, controlling woman, with a seemingly unlimited devotion to her family and what she thinks best for them. The police presumably view Donna as not someone who would sign checks without knowing why or just because she was told to sign them (assuming her signatures weren’t forged).

Also, $56,000 — not counting other in-kind payments, such as half the cost of Magbanua’s breast implants — is not an insignificant amount of money. It’s not the kind of money that someone throws around on a whim. Yes, the Adelsons are wealthy, thanks to a successful dentistry practice and real estate investing, and you can tell they have money based on their high-priced defense lawyers and the $1 million they were reportedly willing to pay Dan to let Wendi and the boys move to South Florida. But they’re not billionaires.

As we’ve mentioned before — and as the Adelsons’ lawyers have mentioned before — the police have thoroughly investigated the communications between the Adelsons, Katherine Magbanua, and Sigfredo Garcia. And here is what the police learned:

[A]nalysis of cellphone calls showed on many occasions during the weeks leading up to Markel’s slaying, Magbanua had phone contact with Charlie Adelson. Those communications were then followed by phone contact between Charlie and Donna Adelson – all of which coincided with Magbanua having contact with Garcia.

“Investigators believe this pattern is consistent with Magbanua being the conduit during the planning of Markel’s murder,” the affidavit says.

Again, note the claim of communications involving Donna and not just Charlie — including, it seems, communications on the morning of Markel’s murder:

The documents provide extensive details of the contacts between the alleged co-conspirators the morning Markel was killed. Among the noted calls is one made at 9:58 a.m. and lasting six minutes from Charlie Adelson to Magbanua. In the next 11 minutes, they contacted each other three more times.

Markel was killed around 11 a.m. At 11:06 a.m., Donna Adelson tried to contact her son and at 11:22 a.m. he called her back and talked to her for seven minutes. He immediately made two calls to Magbanua, the second lasting five minutes. At 12:30 p.m., Garcia called Magbanua. It’s the first contact he initiated after Markel was killed.

The day Markel was shot, Wendi Adelson called her mother to tell her what happened. Immediately afterward, Donna Adelson called Charlie, getting him on the second and third tries. After talking to his mother, Charlie Adelson called Magbanua and they spoke for nearly three minutes.

“This call is significant,” draft documents say, “because as previously stated, investigators believe Magbanua was the person that facilitated the homicide in that she is the link between Charlie Adelson and the shooters.”

As readers may recall, the minutes after Markel was shot were chaotic in his neighborhood, emergency responders took a long time to reach him, and Wendi didn’t learn about Dan’s shooting until the police interviewed her that afternoon. So a flurry of calls between the Adelsons, Magbanua, and Garcia — all within 90 minutes of Dan’s shooting, which had not yet been made public — is noteworthy.

The police made efforts to try and crack those communications, but without success:

[D]ocuments also say an undercover agent worked as a communications link between Charlie and Donna Adelson, Magbanua and Garcia in an effort to have them implicate themselves on police wiretaps. They detail months of texts, phone calls and personal conversations that sometimes include the agent but always include the potential suspects. The Adelsons, Magbanua and Garcia often spoke in cloaked language.

I’d be interested in learning how this agent managed to insinuate himself of herself into the Adelsons’ circle of trust. And I’m curious about the “cloaked language” employed by the possible suspects. Perhaps this will come out in the weeks and months ahead.

The new documents contain additional information about the Adelsons that police see as notable:

[T]he affidavits released by TPD note the Adelsons told investigators at Markel’s memorial service they would contact them to arrange an interview. However, the family, including Wendi, all left Tallahassee the day after the memorial without speaking to investigators.

“Since leaving, no one in the Adelson family has contacted TPD or inquired about the status of the investigations,” the document states. “Charlie Adelson did not attend the memorial service for his ex-brother-in-law.”

After reading all of this, one might wonder: have prosecutors considered bringing charges against any of the Adelsons, especially Charlie and Donna Adelson?

(I have previously expressed my belief that Wendi Adelson did not know about or directly participate in the plot to murder Dan. It seems Wendi was the deeply loved, somewhat sheltered “princess” of the family; recall the “Wendi shrine” in the Adelson home, and Wendi’s talk about how her mother and big brother have looked after and protected her for years. So it seems possible for Donna and Charlie to do something for Wendi’s benefit while shielding her from any ugliness. As for family patriarch Harvey Adelson, Wendi’s father and Donna’s husband, I suspect he was oblivious; he’s in his seventies and recovering from brain cancer.)

Yes, prosecutors have considered bringing charges against the Adelsons and Katherine Magbanua — and have made a conscious decision not to charge any of them, at least for the time being:

State Attorney Willie Meggs has dismissed the probable cause affidavits as “speculation” and refused to issue [warrants for the Adelsons’ arrests]….

Bringing what he called “speculation” on the part of police investigators before a jury would make it difficult to secure a conviction or even proceed with a trial. For that reason, Meggs said, his office would not approve warrants for Charlie Adelson and Magbanua.

“My opinion after reading those documents is there is no probable cause here to make an arrest,” Meggs said. “We kind of believe they were involved according to the police. But what we believe and what we think doesn’t count. What evidence do we have?

“When you read this stuff, you say these people had him killed. I don’t read it like that,” he continued. “How do we prove this? How do we prove what this officer believes, or thinks or suspects? What witnesses do we have for that purpose?”

So this is why it’s critical to hear from defendants Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera. But so far both men are maintaining their innocence (and their silence), getting ready for their trials, and refusing to reveal who gave them their alleged orders. Recall also that the Adelsons have denied any involvement in Markel’s murder, dismissing all claims to the contrary as “fanciful fiction.”

Whether or not they are ever brought to justice, whoever who ordered Danny Markel’s murder will — and should — have to live with that guilt for the rest of their lives. May the memory of what they did be a curse.

UPDATE (12:30 p.m.): Here is the probable cause affidavit.

UPDATE (4:00 p.m.): For highlights and commentary on the PC affidavit, see The Dan Markel Case: The Probable Cause Affidavit For Charlie Adelson.

Documents detail potential links to Markel’s in-laws [Tallahassee Democrat]


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.