TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (COURT TV) — The fifth person to be charged in the murder of FSU law professor Dan Markel faces trial this week. Prosecutors say Donna Adelson was behind the plot to kill Markel, her ex-son-in-law, who was gunned down while pulling into his garage.
Donna Adelson reacts to statements made about her treatment at the Leon County Jail by LSCO Chief Norman Mack during a motion hearing on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat/Pool)
Adelson, the matriarch of a prominent South Florida family that ran a successful dental practice, was allegedly so desperate to have her divorced daughter, Wendi Adelson, and young grandsons closer to her South Beach, Miami home that prosecutors say she arranged to have Markel killed. A judge had granted Wendi and Markel shared custody of the boys, virtually tethering Wendi to Tallahassee — 500 miles north of Donna.
When Wendi unsuccessfully petitioned to relocate with the children, Donna allegedly involved her periodontist son Charlie Adelson , who brought his ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua , into the mix. Magbanua, in turn, arranged for hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera to gun Markel down. Markel was shot twice in the head while pulling into his Tallahassee garage on July 18, 2014 . He succumbed to his injuries the next day.