The matriarch of a wealthy Florida family has been convicted of murder in the death of her former son-in-law, who was shot by hired hitmen in 2014.
On Thursday, Sept. 4, after a weeks-long trial, Donna Adelson was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder in the killing of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel in Tallahassee.
Adelson, 75, is the fifth person convicted in connection to Markel’s death. Prosecutors said the crime was driven by a bitter custody dispute between Markel, 41, and Adelson’s daughter, Wendi Adelson. After their 2013 divorce, Markel refused to allow Wendi to move their two sons from Tallahassee, where he taught, to South Florida, where Donna and the rest of her family lived.
When Judge Stephen Everett of the Florida Second Judicial Circuit read the jury’s verdict, Donna cried out, “Oh my God!” and began sobbing, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. The judge quickly told her to “control yourself” and later warned she could be removed from the courtroom if her outbursts continued.
A Deadly Plot
On July 18, 2014, Markel was shot twice in the head at close range in his garage. He was rushed to a hospital but died 14 hours later. Prosecutors argued that Donna, whose family ran a successful dentistry business, helped organize and fund the $100,000 murder-for-hire plot. She “hated” Markel, they said, because he blocked her daughter from moving the children out of Tallahassee, CNN reported.
In 2023, Donna’s son, Charlie Adelson, a periodontist, was convicted of the same crimes: first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation. His former girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, and two hired killers — Luis Rivera, a Latin Kings gang leader, and Sigfredo Garcia, the father of Magbanua’s children — were also sentenced to prison.
Wendi Adelson has denied involvement and has not been charged.
Donna was arrested in November 2023 at Miami International Airport, just before she and her husband, dentist Harvey Adelson, boarded a one-way flight to Vietnam, a country without an extradition treaty with the U.S. She pleaded not guilty but was convicted this week.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Family’s Reaction
Markel’s parents told the court they want Donna to receive a long prison sentence.
“I wish her to live to 120, alone in her jail cell,” Markel’s father, Phil Markel, said in court, according to USA Today. “I wish that every day of her remaining days she thinks about the harm she has caused so many.”
Turning to Donna, he asked, “Was it worth it?”
