A jury in Florida took just over three hours on Thursday to reach a verdict, finding Donna Adelson guilty of orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot against her former son-in-law in 2014.
At 75, Adelson becomes the fifth individual convicted in the killing of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. He was embroiled in a contentious custody dispute with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, Donna Adelson’s daughter, as she attempted to move from Tallahassee to Miami with their two young boys, reports the Tallahassee Democrat.
The two hitmen, a middleman between the Adelson family and the hitman, and Donna Adelson’s son Charlie Adelson were previously convicted.
After the guilty verdicts were read and the jury dismissed, Markel’s parents read victim impact statements to the court.
“We have lost a treasure,” Ruth Markel said.
“There is no such prospect of escape for my family,” she expressed, urging the court to hand down the toughest sentence possible, which she described as “the justice Dan’s life fully deserves.”
Phil Markel noted that there’s a Jewish saying where one wishes another that they live to 100.
“For Donna, I wish her to live to 120, alone, in her jail cell,” he said.
Adelson was found guilty on all three counts with which she was charged — first degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation, WCTV reported.
She faces a mandatory life sentence for the murder conviction. The judge said a sentencing hearing would be scheduled for later on.
Adelson was arrested nearly two years ago as she boarded a one-way flight to Vietnam in the wake of Charlie Adelson’s conviction.
Alongside the Adelsons, Charlie Adelson’s former girlfriend Katherine Magbanua and hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera have also been convicted related to the crime, according to CrimeOnline.
Markel was found shot to death in his Tallahassee garage on July 18, 2014.
[Feature Photo: Dan Markel/FSU College of Law faculty biographies; Donna Adelson/AP]
