Crime, Dan Markel, Deaths, Murder

The Murder Of Dan Markel: Wendi Adelson Speaks (Part 2)

Wendi Adelson in her own words, on the death of her ex-husband and on the death of their marriage.

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Wendi Adelson

Wendi Adelson

We don’t have too much new to report, at least in terms of hard news, in the investigation of the murder of law professor Dan Markel. The latest news, via How Appealing, is that the case of Sigfredo Garcia, one of the men charged with murdering Professor Markel, will go to a grand jury soon.

Let’s return, then, to where we left off last night, when I shared with you some of Wendi Adelson’s writing about the murder of her ex-husband. She shared this writing in a creative writing seminar and related podcast, and now, in the wake of investigators alleging involvement of her family in the murder, her writing and the podcast are being widely scrutinized. (You can listen to the podcast here, starting around 4:40.)

I am far from a member of “Team Wendi” — in my opinion, she acted abominably in the divorce (more on that later) — but as I’ve written before, I don’t think she was involved in Dan’s murder or had advance knowledge of it (although it’s possible she at some point in the past two years acquired such knowledge). As I previously wrote, “if Wendi knew about or was involved in Dan’s murder and then wrote about it for a class and spoke about it on a podcast, she would have to be stupid, insane, or both. Much as I loved Gone Girl (affiliate link), it’s a book and a movie, not real life.”

A reader wrote in with this quibble:

I enjoyed reading your Wendi Adelson piece, and I appreciate the Gone Girl references. But the closer analogue might be Fatal Attraction [UPDATE (8:40 p.m.): Basic Instinct (different femme fatale film)], where Sharon Stone’s character writes a novel about a murder and then someone she is in a relationship with is killed in the same way.

John Correli: Did you kill Mr Boz, Miss Tramell?

Catherine: I’d have to be pretty stupid to write a book about killing and then kill him the way I described in my book. I’d be announcing myself as the killer. I’m not stupid.

Duly noted; I agree with this reader.

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Now, on to the revised version of Wendi’s story (which I believe is quite strong as a piece of writing, significantly improved over the earlier draft). I have again broken it up into chunks for purposes of commenting.

Ten months ago, someone killed the father of my children. First we got divorced, then he got murdered. In casual conversations, I don’t know whether to call him my ‘ex-late spouse’ or ‘late ex-spouse,’ except that ‘late ex-spouse’ sounds like ‘latex spouse.’

Some will find — in fact, some have found (see WebSleuths and other message boards) — that last line to be flippant, especially in light of (1) Wendi’s tone of voice when reading it and (2) how she pointedly uses “late ex-spouse” later in the story, in an almost taunting way.

Last July someone, and we still don’t know who, shot my husband point-blank in the back of the head as he pulled into our garage after driving our then three- and four-year-old sons to preschool. We married when I was in my mid-twenties, when I thought I could cheat the system by marrying a man I lacked passionate love for because ‘Hey, didn’t that die anyway during marriage?’ I saw his intellect and big heart and thought he would make a wonderful father for my children.

Some online commentators have reacted negatively to this passage as well, viewing it as reflecting Wendi’s self-indulgence and self-involvement in the wake of a terrible tragedy. And some have suggested that Wendi liked Dan mainly for being a Jewish male (she is Jewish herself) with good genes and a great pedigree. Personally I don’t share the complaint about self-involvement — there’s something about writing, especially memoir writing, that’s inherently and unavoidably navel-gazing — but I see where they are coming from.

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Our marriage dissolved after the children arrived, as the loneliness of being married to someone that didn’t view me as an equal crept in. I do believe he loved me the best way he knew how. I mean, he didn’t like fiction, so… why read my novel? It was logic, not a lack of love.

Again, it sounds whiny to some to hear Wendi complain about Dan not reading This Is Our Story (affiliate link); it’s such a trivial complaint in the wake of tragedy. But I can understand her perspective; you better believe that my husband read Supreme Ambitions: A Novel (affiliate link).

And then, in a rather self-aware way, Wendi explicitly acknowledges how some of her comments about Dan might seem inappropriate or off-putting:

It feels sacrilegious these days even to suggest something less than heroic about my late ex-husband because he was murdered. He died violently and young and likely at the hands of a professional killer.

Followers of the case seized upon Wendi’s “likely at the hands of a professional killer” comment to suggest her knowledge or involvement. Two responses. First, it was widely speculated in the media and the community, even before Sigfredo Garcia’s arrest, that this was a contract killing. Second, I reiterate my Basic Instinct point: if Wendi had knowledge or involvement, she most definitely would not say such a thing.

And the media had a field day in response. I turned on the news to find photos of my children with Nancy Grace, George Stephanopoulos saying my name in reference to our ‘acrimonious divorce,’ and a picture my friend took when I was her maid of honor showed as evidence for why I should be treated like a murder suspect and not the mother of two fatherless boys.

Wendi seems to have major issues with the media; see also her complaint in episode 9 about how the media took her life away from her. But the media should probably be the least of her worries right now.

I sat on a bench last week to watch the boys play. An older woman sitting next to me commented on how adorable my boys are and asked, ‘What does your husband do?’

I hate this question. I haven’t yet said, ‘He doesn’t do much, because he’s dead.’ But I think it sometimes.

To be honest, despite my belief in Wendi’s innocence, I found this line a bit disturbing. There’s a certain casualness to it that seems almost cruel. And her delivery doesn’t help matters either (don’t just read my write-up; listen to the podcast).

I find when I tell people that my children’s father died they feel sad, but when they ask the follow-up questions and find out we weren’t married, they seem to feel better.

I don’t.

I suspect that some listeners — in fact, based on my reading of Websleuths and other online forums, I know that some listeners — question Wendi’s sincerity in that last line. It’s America; people are entitled to their opinions.

And we would like to hear yours. Please email us or text us (646-820-8477) with any information or thoughts you might be willing and able to share, about the podcast or about the case more generally. Please note that we might quote from what you share with us (anonymously, unless you specify otherwise). Thank you.

UPDATE (6/9/2016, 7:15 p.m.): The Murder Of Dan Markel: Wendi Adelson Speaks (Part 3).

Wendi Adelson Discusses Her Ex-Husband Dan Markel’s Murder [TaxProf Blog]
Episode 6: Wendi Tells the Story of her Ex-husband’s Murder [Writing Class Radio via SoundCloud]
Episode 9: Who Cares About Your Story? What Are the Stakes? [Writing Class Radio via SoundCloud]

Earlier: The Murder Of Dan Markel: Wendi Adelson Speaks (Part 1)
More Details From The Dan Markel Murder Investigation, Plus A Closer Look At The Adelson Family
Investigators Allege Involvement Of His Ex-Wife’s Family In The Murder Of Dan Markel

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.

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