Disclaimer: The article contains mention of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC plans to re-examine the brutal murder of prominent lawyer and professor Dan Markel that took place in July 2014. Titled ‘Family Matters,’ the episode will present details about how his brother-in-law, Charles Adelson, and mother-in-law, Donna Adelson, were involved in the murder-for-hire plot. The upcoming episode will air on the network on Friday, January 19, at 9 p.m. ET.
On July 18, 2014, unknown assailants shot Dan Markel in his Tallahassee home. Markel died less than 24 hours later. After the authorities began the investigation, they found some horrifying details about the murder-for-hire plot. The plan involved two hired hitmen—Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera—Markel’s brother-in-law, Charlie Adelson, and his then-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua.
Citing the prosecutors, USA Today reported that the gruesome killing of Dan Markel “stemmed from the desperate desire of the Adelson family” to remove him from the way so that his wife, Wendi Adelson, could relocate with their two boys. In 2023, the trial began, and the judge found Charles Adelson guilty in Dan Markel’s murder case.
Following this, authorities apprehended Donna Adelson for Markel’s murder. According to Miami Herald, the authorities recorded multiple phone calls between Donna and Charles. The outlet also reported that this led to her arrest as a “co-conspirator” in the murder-for-hire plot. The police arrested Donna Adelson from the Miami International Airport when she and her husband, Harvey, were trying to board a one-way flight to Vietnam. As per CNN, the authorities took her to a prison in Miami before transferring her to Leon County.
Dan Markel’s murder case explored
ABC News reported that the investigators had an opening while using surveillance footage from street cameras, a city bus, and Markel’s gym from the day he was murdered. The footage showed a Toyota Prius following the lawyer as he went home. The car’s toll records showed that a man named Luis Rivera rented the car. Meanwhile, the car’s rental contact stated a phone number belonging to Sigfredo Garcia.
Subsequently, in May 2016, the authorities charged Rivera and Garcia with first-degree murder charges. As the investigation proceeded, the police found an unusual connection between one of the suspects and Markel’s brother-in-law, Charles Adelson. Tallahassee Democrat reported that Katherine Magbanua frequently collected money from the Adelson Institute. The outlet also reported that the collected paychecks were signed by Donna Adelson.
As a result, the authorities believed that Donna Adelson and Charles might have hired the hitmen to kill Dan Markel. Meanwhile, Luis Rivera took a plea deal and agreed to testify against all the co-conspirators so that he could get a reduced sentence. According to a report in ABC News, in 2016, Rivera allegedly told the prosecutors that Markel’s killing was a hit.
The accused also alleged that it was Garcia who made him a part of the plot. He said, “I asked him, who’s —– hiring me? He’s like, ‘Katie [Magbanua] told me this lady’s going to hire me, but I want you to go with me. I’ll give you $35,000.’ I said, ‘All right, for the drive? All right.’ … Katie’s the one in the middle doing everything. [Garcia] put it like that.”
Charles Adelson found guilty in Markel’s murder case
As a result, the prosecutors also filed first-degree charges on Garcia and Magbanua. In October 2019, the jury found Garcia guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, the jury failed to reach a verdict in Magbanua’s trial, and it was labeled as a mistrial. After many delays, Magbanua stood trial again, and the jury found her guilty on multiple charges in May 2022. The court sent Magbanua to prison for life with two additional 30-year concurrent sentences.
In April 2022, a jury indicted Charles Adelson on multiple charges, including first-degree murder. The trial began in October 2023. Almost a month later, in November 2023, the jury found Charles Adelson guilty and convicted him of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. In December 2023, the court sentenced Charles to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The same month, authorities apprehended Donna Adelson in the same case. She pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including first-degree murder.