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Testimony continued Tuesday in the murder case against Florida matriarch, Donna Adelson, accused of murdering her former son-in-law, Dan Markel.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Adelson, 75, is accused of orchestrating Markel’s 2014 murder. She’s facing first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation charges, for the contract killing.
Her son, Charlie Adelson, along with his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, and hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, have already been convicted in connection with the case.
Her daughter, Wendi, who has not been charged, was married to Markel, a Florida State University law professor. The pair had been going through a bitter divorce when he was found shot in the head on July 18, 2014, in his Tallahassee driveway.
The state claimed that Adelson was the mastermind who recruited her son, who then recruited his ex and the hitmen to carry out the murder.
The motive, according to the state, was to get Markel out of the way so that Wendi and her children could relocate to South Florida, where the Adelsons lived. A judge had previously ruled against the move.
On Tuesday, some of Adelson’s friends took the stand and described her as “hysterical” upon learning of Markel’s death.
“Donna was quite hysterical,” her close friend, Anne Cunningham, adding that Adelson had been “very concerned” about Wendi since Adelson “didn’t know who shot [Markel].”
Adelson later told Cunningham about Markel’s funeral services, describing it as “incredibly sad, and painful, and wrenching.”
In 2023, police arrested Adelson and her husband, Harvey, at the Miami airport as they tried to board a flight to Vietnam.
When the defense questioned Cunningham’s knowledge about the trip, she claimed Adelson “definitely” had plans to return home, WCTV reports.
Cunningham added that Adelson was supposed to return home before her grandchild’s Bar Mitzvah.
During cross-examination, Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman reminded the court that Adelson said that she wanted to get away to clear her head, but chose to do so “in a non-extradition country.”
Another friend, Richard Chagrin, took the stand and told the court he helped Adelson and her husband, Harvey, book travel to Vietnam.
He testified that the couple appeared “shocked and distraught” and at his suggestion, Harvey booked a one-way ticket to the country, since round trip tickets were more pricey, according to Court TV.
Adelson and Harvey both requested a 90-day visa and, according to Chagrin, had plans to return for their grandchild’s Bar Mitzvah.
Digital forensics expert Kelsey Guay took the stand Tuesday and discussed communication between Adelson and Charlie before and after the murder.
Guay said that the pair had communicated a lot before the murder, but that the state had inflated the number of calls made. Instead of 80 calls, evidence indicated that Charlie and Adelson had 69 calls or attempted communication.
Guay also said that there is no evidence that placed Adelson near Charlie’s home on the evening of the murder, although the prosecution had argued that she went to his home that night to deliver money for the hit.
The state told the court during cross-examination that Adelson sent an iMessage that read, “outside your house,” on the night in question.
Guay admitted that Adelson’s location when she sent the message could not be verified, since it wasn’t a text message.
Also on Tuesday, Adelson’s lawyers pushed to drop the charges against her, claiming the state lacked evidence for a murder conviction.
The prosecution argued that the evidence in the years following Markel’s showed she had complicit in the crime.
Leon Circuit Judge Stephen Everett dismissed the defense’s request.
The trial continues. Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Dan Markel/FSU College of Law faculty biographies; Donna Adelson/AP]
