Notice: The video below contains profanity.
Let me do a short reset the murder of FSU law Professor Dan Markel.
After a bitter divorce from his wife, Wendi Adelson, Markel engaged in a custody battle. It was ugly. The Adleson family wanted Wendi, and her and Markel's two young boys, relocated to the Miami area where they lived. They discussed offering Markel $1 million to allow it.
However, that idea was ditched. Wendi's mom, Donna Adelson, became obsessed with filled with hate toward her former son-in-law. She suggested telling Dan, a devout Jew, the kids would be coverted to Catholicism. She was singularly focused with getting Wendi and the kids away from him. It has been suggested she is deeply involved in what became a plot to kill Markel. Time will tell if she is ever charged and has her day in court to explain her side.
A custody hearing was scheduled in August 2014. Up to that time Dan Markel had prevailed in keeping his boys in Tallahassee. The hearing never happened. Markel was shot on July 18, 2014 and died the next day. The timing is interesting isn't it?
What has been proven so far:
- Two men were dispatched to kill Markel. One plead guilty, the other was found guilty at trial. Katie Magbanua has now been convicted of being the go-between, between the shooter, Sigfredo Garcia (her ex and the father of her kids) and his accomplice, Luis Rivera and another party. There was no other explanation for them targeting Markel other than they were directed to surveil and kill him. They did and it has been proven.
- But why would Magbanua have anything to do with it? What would draw her into such a scheme? It turned out she was a girlfriend of Charlie Adelson and it was proven in court she was involved in the hiring and payment of the two killers and that she was compensated as well. Her sentencing comes later this month. Charlie Adelson, the brother of Wendi Adelson.
This leaves Charlie Adelson in jail awaiting his trial.
As someone who has listened to the podcast "Over My Dead Body - Tally" which presented a great deal of evidence and as someone who has watched a great deal of the recent trial of Magbanua (as well as the trial of Garcia) I was interested in hearing the evidence which brought about the arrest of Charlie, AKA "The Maestro" (a title he gave himself).
Here it is, courtesy of the Tallahassee Democrat.
When I listened and watched I was shocked.
To me, the conviction of Magbanua and this tape should send Charlie scrambling to a phone asking his attorney to seek a deal. It's long, but if you want to learn about how devious and evil the plan was it's time well spent. My ears hear admissions of involvement, guilt. That stated, Charlie is entitled to a trial. He is presumed innocent. You can decide if this tape will erase the presumption which will be addressed in a Leon County courtroom.
The meeting took place at the Dulce Vida almost two-years after the July 2014 murder of Markel. The FBI was there, too. At the time they were getting close to gathering enough evidence to arrest Katherine "Katie" Magbanua. The arrest would happen five and a half months later.
When this very long conversation between Magbanua and Charlie Adelson was recorded, it was tough to make out what was said between the two of them. Too difficult and thus yielded little useable information. But the FBI turned it over to the CIA and, over time, the CIA was able to use newer, better technology to make the chat transcribable.
Decided if you come to the same conclusion I did.
As a former Grand Juror I can tell you this case in its totality offers more evidence than many cases in which our Grand Jury offered presentments to the State Attorney's Office. Will there be charges against Donna? Wendi?
Time will tell and the hands of justice sometimes move slowly, but they do move.