TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A wealthy South Florida family’s matriarch was found guilty Thursday of murdering her former son-in-law, a renowned law professor caught in a bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife when he was shot dead in 2014.
Jurors delivered guilty verdicts following the lengthy trial of Donna Adelson on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation for the killing of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel in Tallahassee, where he was an educator. The case has captured Florida’s attention for over a decade due to scandalous elements of a turbulent divorce, strained relationships with affluent in-laws, and custody battles culminating in the murder.
When the judge announced that the jury had convicted Adelson of first-degree murder, the defendant exclaimed, “Oh!” and started shaking and crying.
The jury was escorted out of the courtroom, and Florida Second Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen Everett gave Adelson a brief two-minute respite to regain her composure.
“While this was not the outcome I’m sure that you desire, there will not be any further outbursts in front of the jury,” he told her.
In an impact statement after the verdict Ruth Markel, Daniel Markel’s mother, spoke about her profound sadness and grief after her son’s death.
“We have lost a treasure. My son Dan’s life was cut tragically short at 41 years old,” she said. “For 11 years, we have been forced to live with unimaginable pain and heartbreak.”
Daniel Markel and Wendi Adelson had finalized their divorce and shared custody of their two children. However, Wendi had wished to move them over 370 miles (595 kilometers) from Tallahassee to South Florida to be nearer to her family. A judge ruled against Wendi Adelson’s request, and Markel was unwilling to relocate.
Prosecutors stated during the trial that Donna Adelson played a pivotal role in planning Markel’s assassination after he impeded her daughter and two grandsons’ planned move southward.
The judge said sentencing would come “at a later date,” but scheduled case management for Oct. 14.
Adelson was the fifth person put on trial for what prosecutors cast as a murder-for-hire plot to kill Markel. Among those already serving a life sentence for the killing is Donna Adelson’s son, Charles Adelson.
Wendi Adelson denied involvement in the killing and has not been charged.
At trial, prosecutors had painted Donna Adelson as the calculated and controlling matriarch of an affluent South Florida family with the means and motive to orchestrate the killing of the ex-son-in-law she “hated.”
Defense attorneys insisted the state didn’t have sufficient evidence to link the aging grandmother to the murder plot, instead emphasizing the roles played by others and casting suspicion on two of Adelson’s adult children.
Charles Adelson is serving a life sentence, as is his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua. Prosecutors said Magbanua served as the go-between for the two men hired to carry out the killing, Sigfredo Garcia, who was sentenced to life in prison, and Luis Rivera, who is serving a 19-year sentence after cooperating with the state.
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Golden reported from Seattle.
