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Family matriarch Donna Adelson was scolded by a judge Thursday for weeping in the courtroom after being convicted of orchestrating a 2014 murder-for-hire plot of her former son-in-law, a prominent Florida State University law professor.
Adelson was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in the killing of Daniel Markel over a decade ago. Markel was gunned down in his driveway in Tallahassee in what prosecutors had called a cold-blooded family plot to free her daughter, Wendi Adelson, from a bitter custody battle following a messy divorce.
Adelson shouted, “Oh my God!” before breaking down in tears and shaking when Florida Second Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen EverettĀ announced the jury had convicted her of first-degree murder, according to courtroom video from the Tallahassee Democrat.
“Mrs. Adelson, control yourself,” Everett ordered the 75-year-old grandmother as she openly wept.
“We have lost a treasure,” his mother, Ruth Markel, said in a victim impact statement after the verdict was read. “My son Dan’s life was cut tragically short at 41 years old. For 11 years we have been forced to a life filled with unimaginable pain and heartbreak.”
The judge said sentencing for Donna Adelson would come “at a later date,” but scheduled case management for Oct. 14.
Fox Newsā Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Michael Ruiz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.