Donna Adelson via Miami-Dade County Correctional
The quest for justice in the murder of Florida State Law professor Dan Markel may have taken the better part of a decade, but now it is heating up. In 2014, Markel was gunned down in his driveway by a pair of hitmen. Yesterday, the slain law professor’s former mother-in-law was arrested in connection with the case.
Just last week, Markel’s ex-brother-in-law, Charlie Adelson, was convicted of masterminding the murder-for-hire plot. Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera were identified early on as the gunmen in the case. And when police apprehended the duo, Rivera said they’d been hired to do the job because “the lady wants her two kids back.” Wendi Adelson, Markel’s ex-wife, had been fighting with the victim over custody of their children. Fingers pointed to Katherine Magbanua as the intermediary in the plot. Magbanua is the mother of Garcia’s children, and worked for — and at the time was dating — Charlie Adelson.
Now it appears authorities have reason to believe Donna Adelson, mother to Markel’s ex-wife and to Charlie Adelson, was involved in the plot as well. Donna was arrested last night at the Miami International Airport on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation of murder, and first-degree murder — the same charges Charlie Adelson was just convicted on.
As reported by the Tallahassee Democrat, Donna Adelson, along with husband Harvey, had purchased one-way tickets to Vietnam, with a two-day stop in Dubai, so authorities had to make their move:
Campbell told the Tallahassee Democrat that while police and prosecutors had enough evidence to arrest Donna Adelson, her attempted flight overseas sped up the state’s timetable and pushed law enforcement “to make a decision quickly.”
“That’s what forced our hand,” Campbell said. “We started talking to some of our law enforcement partners about the complexities of trying to bring someone back from either Dubai or Vietnam. And that might be a very complicated and lengthy process. So that’s why we had to make a decision quickly.”
Donna Adelson is currently being held without bail.
Earlier: 9 Years After Law Professor Murdered, Jury Finds Charlie Adelson Guilty
Trial Of Alleged Mastermind Behind Law Professor’s Murder Begins
Law Professor’s Murder Case Takes Turn As Convicted Intermediary May Be Ready To Talk
Life Sentence In Law Professor Murder Case
Long-Awaited Arrest Made In Law Professor’s Murder
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.