Crime, Dan Markel, Deaths, Murder

The Dan Markel Case: More Details About His Marriage To Wendi Adelson (And About Wendi's Mother, Donna Adelson)

Information about how Danny and Wendi met, and about Wendi's other brother.

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Wendi Adelson

Wendi Adelson

Things have been fairly quiet lately in the investigation into the murder of Professor Dan Markel. While we wait for more defendants to start cooperating news in the case, I’d like to share with you some interesting information that I’ve received from readers.

(By the way, thanks to all of you who have emailed to share information, insights, and theories about the case. I’m afraid I can’t respond to all your messages — which is the case with my correspondence more generally — but please know that your emails are read and appreciated.)

First, here are some points from a source close to Dan Markel about his relationship with Wendi (including its demise):

1. Danny kept on loving Wendi long after she left home. It was very important for him to clarify whenever he spoke about it that she had bad advice givers. (In Yiddish it is called “Etsas Gabers.”)

2. Danny kept faithful to Wendi even after she left home and it was clear to everyone (besides him) that she was not coming back, in order to avoid a theoretical situation if asked by Wendi what did he do (and with whom) while they were apart.

3. Never in my life (and trust me – we spoke a lot about his falling-apart marriage) did Danny say a bad word about Wendi (unlike me…).

4. Never in our conversations did I get the impression that Danny understood that Wendi didn’t love him.

5. Eventually Danny overcame the whole thing and started a new relationship with his New York girlfriend.

And from the same source, some additional facts about how their relationship came together:

1. Danny and Wendi met through a dating website (if I recall correctly, it was JDate).

2. When Wendi saw Danny’s picture, Donna Adelson, her mom, was by her — and in fact they chose together.

3. Wendi once said that she was looking for a “man of the world, someone who achieved something and saw a thing or two.”

4. Wendi has another brother (besides Charlie) who cut his connections from his family because of internal family issues. He used to say that his mom is a dangerous person.

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Media attention has focused on Wendi’s brother Charlie because of what law enforcement officials have alleged regarding his possible involvement in Markel’s murder (claims that Charlie and the Adelsons have denied). But it turns out that Wendi has another brother, Robert Adelson, who has flown under the radar — partly because, as noted by our first source, he’s estranged from the rest of the family.

A second source contacted us to share the following points about Robert:

1. Robert Adelson is a well-established, well-regarded doctor, who lives in Albany, New York, and focuses on “the full spectrum of medical and surgical care for the nose and sinuses.” As noted in his bio, he graduated from Tulane (college) and the University of South Florida (medical school), before completing a six-year residence in otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat medicine) at the University of Texas and a fellowship at the University of Miami.

2. He was engaged to a fellow doctor, an Indian-American woman who specializes in emergency medicine — but that engagement ended, in part because of Donna’s interference.

3. He then married “a nice Jewish girl,” but that marriage ended in short order.

4. He eventually married the Indian-American doctor — and broke off (or significantly reduced) contact with the rest of the Adelson family.

5. He and his wife remain happily married, with children — but because of his estrangement from the family, Donna must focus her grandmotherly energies on Wendi’s two kids with Danny.

Donna Adelson

Donna Adelson

Taken together, these tidbits from two sources — how Donna helped Wendi pick out her future husband, and how Donna involved herself in the personal life of Robert — confirm my prior description of Donna: “a strong, formidable, controlling woman, with a seemingly unlimited devotion to her family and what she thinks best for them.”

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But does mother always know best? Based on the happiness in Robert’s life and the tragedy in Wendi’s, I’m not so sure.

P.S. Regardless of what one thinks of Donna Adelson as a person, it’s hard to deny her richness as a character — the iron-willed matriarch who truly rules the family, even if husband Harvey Adelson brings home the bacon. In a movie, I’d want Donna to be portrayed by either Barbra Streisand or Marcia Cross. Both actresses could capture Donna’s firmness and ferocity (and any issues with age — Streisand’s a little old, Cross a little young — can be addressed with the magic of Hollywood make-up).

Earlier: The Murder Of Dan Markel: The Case Against Donna Adelson

DBL square headshotDavid 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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