The Dan Markel Case: Video Of Wendi Adelson Reacting To His Death; Charlie Adelson Joking About Hiring A Hitman

I have previously expressed in these pages my belief that Wendi Adelson, the ex-wife of slain Florida State University law professor Dan Markel, did not have advance knowledge of, or any role in planning, Dan’s murder.^[1]

I cited a few facts in support of this view. First, Wendi spoke with law enforcement for eight hours on the day that Dan was shot, without a lawyer for herself (even though she, as a lawyer and law professor, knows about the right to counsel). Second, after that lengthy interrogation, the police did not view Wendi as a suspect (and to this date have not charged her with anything). Third, she later wrote and podcasted about Danny’s death. As I previously argued, “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.” And even though one can say many critical things about Wendi (as one can say many critical things about any human being) — for example, I don’t think she conducted herself perfectly during her divorce litigation with Dan — I don’t think she is stupid or insane.

Last Friday we learned additional information that, in my opinion, strengthens the case for Wendi. From ABC News:

The ex-wife of slain Florida State University law professor Dan Markel told Tallahassee police on the day of the shooting that she was in fear and worried that whoever shot Markel could be coming for her children next.

“I’m scared. I don’t know why this would happen,” Wendi Adelson told an investigator during a 2014 videotaped interview that spanned more than five hours.

“It really scares me because, I mean, if there’s someone out there that’s willing to do this to him. … I’m scared for the kids.

ABC News obtained a copy of the police videotape this week after a public records request.

Watch ABC’s excerpt from the video here. I’m not a psychologist or a homicide detective, but Wendi strikes me as genuinely surprised and distraught in the video upon learning of Dan’s murder.

The sound is a bit hard to catch, so here’s more from ABC about what was said:

The videotape of her police interview opens with her sitting alone in a barren, white-walled room. When an investigator enters, she tells him a friend just called to tell her there had been a shooting on the block where Markel lived.

“That’s what this is about,” the officer tells her as she begins to break down in tears. “There was a shooting at your home, or your ex-husband’s home. [He] has been taken to the hospital. He’s not going to survive.”

“Oh, my God,” Adelson says, sobbing throughout. “What happened. …I just don’t understand? How could this happen?”

If Wendi knew in advance or was involved in planning Dan’s murder, I don’t think she would have agreed to sit for this multi-hour interview, and I don’t think she would have reacted the way that she did. She would have to be an actress on the level of Meryl Streep — and view herself as an actress on the level of Meryl Streep — to consent to such an interview and to perform credibly in it.

I am much (much, much) more open to the possibility that someone connected to Wendi had Dan killed because they thought it would help Wendi and, to protect her from criminal liability, kept it a secret from her. That possibility got raised in the interview:

When asked in her videotaped interview whether she thought someone would kill Markel for her benefit without asking her, Wendi Adelson said, “No.”

But she acknowledged being “scared someone maybe did this – not because they hate Danny but because they thought this was good somehow.”

Adelson then recalled an eyebrow-raising phone conversation with her brother Charlie earlier that day, as they were discussing what to do about a television he bought her that had broken down.

“And I was talking to him about whether it made sense to pay to fix it or I should get a new one,” she said. “And it was always his joke that, like, he knew that Danny treated me badly, and it was always his joke, he said, I looked into hiring a hit man but it was cheaper to get you this TV.”

Chilling — and, in my opinion, res ipsa loquitur. All I will add is that if Charlie ordered the hit on Danny and Wendi knew about it in advance and supported it, she definitely would not have mentioned this terrible “joke” to the police; she would have kept her mouth shut and protected her brother.

Note that, as Wendi acknowledges later in the interview, Charlie has been protecting her and looking out for her for years:

“[H]e’s my big brother, and he’s been taking care of me since I was little,” she continued. “But he would never – and I told that to the repair guy that this morning. He asked me how much it cost, and I said I didn’t know because it was a gift because my brother said it was cheaper than a hit-man. It was my divorce present. Such a horrible thing to say. I’m so, so sorry.”

“But even my family who felt like I had been mistreated would never do something like this,” Adelson said. “Never.”

Asked whether she would have ever asked someone to kill her former husband, she replied: “Not in a million years.”

Charlie Adelson has come under the greatest suspicion because of his romantic relationship with Katherine Magbanua, the mother of two children with Sigfredo Garcia, one of the two alleged hit men. But note that Magbanua also worked in the Adelson family dental practice, where she would have come into contact with Harvey and Donna Adelson, the parents of Wendi and Charlie. As noted by the Tallahassee Democrat, “Charlie Adelson and his mother Donna Adelson have been implicated by investigators in the plot.”

So what about the Adelson parents? Here’s more from the Democrat:

[Wendi Adelson] nervously called her mother [Donna Adelson] near the end of the police interview to tell her what happened, calling it the “worst day of her life.”

Donna Adelson can be heard on the other end of the line asking questions during the short phone call. Before she hung up, she agreed to come to Tallahassee to console her daughter and grandchildren.

Wendi Adelson remarked afterward to a victim’s advocate about her mother’s initial reaction.

“My parents sounded really surprised, so that’s at least a relief,” she said. “I’m just trying to think who would be angry enough to do something to him. My parents would be angry, but they’re not capable of this. Thank God. I really couldn’t handle that right now.”

This quip by Wendi — “my parents sounded really surprised, so that’s a relief” — leaves very open the possibility that someone from the Adelson family was involved in ordering the hit. Even though Wendi said on the record during the police interview that her family “would never do something like this,” her unguarded comments to a victim’s advocate seem more candid to me.

As for whether Charlie Adelson or another member of the Adelson family might have had involvement in Dan Markel’s murder, I have some thoughts — but I’m going to remain silent for now and wait for more evidence to emerge. For the record, the members of the Adelson family have denied any involvement in the murder, and nobody from the family has been charged.

If you have information, evidence, or opinions to share about this case, we welcome them. Please email us (subject line: “Dan Markel”) or text us (646-820-8477). Please note that we might quote from what you share with us (anonymously, unless you specify otherwise). Thank you.

[1] Please don’t over-read this narrow statement of my personal opinion about Wendi’s innocence. I express no opinion on the innocence of any other member of the Adelson family, as you can see from reading the rest of this post, and I also express no opinion as to whether Wendi at some point after the fact acquired knowledge about the circumstances surrounding Dan’s death.

Police Video Shows Woman Hearing About Shooting Death of Her Ex, an FSU Law Professor [Good Morning America]
Wendi Adelson: Brother joked about hiring hitman [Tallahassee Democrat]
Police video shows ex-wife of slain law prof Dan Markel reacting to news of his shooting [ABA Journal]
New Details in Florida State University Law Professor’s Death [ABC News]

Earlier: The Dan Markel Case: A Notable New Document
The Dan Markel Murder Case: The Adelson Family Speaks

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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 [email protected].