Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Charlie Adelson Jail Calls Show Mom's Frustration with Wendi, Fear Of Arrest

Episode Date: December 16, 2023

Jail calls between convicted murderer Charlie Adelson and his mother, Donna Adelson, show the matriarch's concern that she will be arrested next. In one call where Donna doesn't realize she's being recorded, she talks about the apparent lack of concern about the family from her daughter, Wendi, the ex-wife of murder victim Dan Markel. The Law&Crime Network's Angenette Levy has more on the call and Donna's frustration with her daughter as her world falls apart in this episode of Crime Fix - a daily show that delves into the top stories in the world of crime.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. love you take some deep breaths okay honey please please jail calls between charlie adelson and his mother donna reveal fear over what the future may hold and some major conflict between donna adelson and her daughter wendy who prosecutors say was at the center of the plot to murder Dan Markell. We have the jail calls. I'm Anjanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix, law and crimes look at the top stories in the world of crime. These jail calls between Charlie Adelson and Donna Adelson became public

as part of the discovery in her case. The matriarch of the Adelson family, who prosecutors believe was the mastermind of the hit on Dan Markell, has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors successfully argued at the trial of Charlie Adelson that the family wanted Dan Markell dead so Wendy could have sole custody of the children she shared with Dan Markell and move them to Miami to be closer to her family. Charlie Adelson was sentenced earlier this week to life in prison without parole and arrived at a Florida prison on Thursday. You can see his new booking photo there.

He maintains his innocence. At Charlie's trial, Wendy Adelson denied any involvement in Dan Markell's murder. Prosecutors, though, call her an unindicted co-conspirator and questioned her about her and her family's possible involvement in the crime. You told them your family might be responsible. Or potentially someone to do with a former student or his current girlfriend. I mentioned lots of people that I thought could be responsible. Okay. And of the lots of people that could have been responsible, your family as well.

Yep. Because they might have done this thinking it would help you. That's what happened, right? I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. Your family had your ex-husband killed to try to help you, didn't they? No, that's completely untrue. Now, these jail calls between Donna and Charlie give us a really good look at the family dynamic, including the fact that Donna is very upset after the verdict, as is Charlie. She's particularly upset by the fact that Wendy is not acting how she expected her to. Here's an excerpt from a call where Donna obviously doesn't realize she is being recorded

after Charlie drops off the jail call. She's reading text messages between herself and Wendy. I just got off of Charlie. He's worried about you. He wants to know what... Oh, this is it. Yeah. We know you never ask anything about your brother. But she doesn't. And she told me it's because her lawyer says she's been asked. And so we found out it's not true. But we got that off the phone.

My attorney, and he had a lawyer. My attorney said, I never told her that. I like to know that she's lost it. I know. So I wrote this last night. We know you never asked anything about your brother. This was 8 o'clock last night. But we just got off the phone with him,

and the first thing he asked was, how's Wendy holding? I didn't have the heart to tell him that you never called up or asked about it. I just said, we're worried about the phone calls right now. Everyone looks to protect you. I bet you've got a lot to think about. But then, announces.

Now there's another text exchange Donna reads with Wendy, and it sounds like she's implicating Wendy in the crime, but upon further review of the audio, it sounds a little different. She says, this morning, I thought you were right to say Alicia last night. Dear mom, I know you were upset by the verdict, but the anger directed at me is not justified. I don't have a chance.

Yes, you don't. I'm not responsible in any way for Charlie's situation. I am not guilty because I did not do anything wrong and I was not involved in any way with Danny's death. So right there, it sounds like Donna may be saying, yes, you were when she's talking about whether or not Wendy might be involved or not, when she's likely saying, I didn't say you were very quickly. Donna continues to read from the text with Wendy. When I was interviewed by the police and testified in court, I told the truth as I was required to. I could not control how the prosecutor used my statement for Charlie's trial. Again, I didn't say it. Now, Donna continues to read the text, presumably to her husband, Harvey, and friends who were at the home at the time.

She says Wendy texted her that she was advised not to talk about the case with her family. I guess dad and I are shocked that you didn't think of coming to see us or even calling us. You're here parents. You are and have always been there for you and the boys. None of what we wrote matters about the case. That's all. I just want you to know how many times Tully is asking about you. Not only do you not ask about us but not one question about Tully right we will need to give you some information shortly

and we need some business assistance please let us know if you can be of any help I have to stay here I want to keep us close we're going to be gone I want her to have all this information I have the cemetery property I want to keep this closed. We're going to be gone. I want her to have all this information. I have the cemetery property. I want her to steal. I want her to have all these tapes and the wills. I want her to steal this. So please let us know if you can be of any help.

The other thing is the visa, which she would know about. No, I said we need some business. Please let us know. So Donna Adelson clearly feels like Wendy is not being completely honest with them and is ignoring them. And she's feeling used. She's preparing to flee the country and has documents that she wants to show to Wendy. But Wendy isn't coming over to their home. Yeah, I know you want to bring it up and show them where everything is. Because if it's in Pines Pass, no one's going to know where anything is or who belongs to what.

So I just like her to come up there and stay there. I don't think that's asking too. There's only three hours of it. Every time she says, can we do this?

We'll come here and pay the cost. And we think, how many times do we have to ask if I really can't have the land when they need us to pay?

They haven't really good nannies. And I guess our job is up. Because now the boys are older. They go out with friends. They can get things on their own. So she doesn't need grandma and grandpa. Okay. Pretty close.

I have one son that I don't speak with. I have one son that is close to being dead. My daughter, who I love, is between Donna Adelson and Charlie Adelson. And in all of them, they talk about how they can't believe the jury came up with this verdict, but they're not surprised because Georgia Kappelman, the lead prosecutor, put on a show for the jury and they cherry-picked evidence to show to them from emails and wiretaps. This next call was recorded on November 7th. Donna was actually arrested six days later as she tried to board a plane for Vietnam, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, but the FBI was onto her and caught up with her at the airport. These calls are in addition to the hours of wiretapped calls between

Donna and Charlie. And of course, you'll recall the FBI sting, the bump, where an agent poses as someone trying to blackmail Donna. This is what's called tickling the wire. The feds were trying to get Donna and Charlie talking on wiretaps, and it worked. Excuse me, Mrs. Adelson? Hey, Dylan, I just want to give you this. Listen, don't be scared. Listen, I just want to let you know that we know that your family has been taking care of Katie and her friend, Ltho, for quite some time after your problem up north had to be solved. And I want to let you know that my brother, he's incarcerated. He helped your family with this problem you guys had up north. And we want to make sure that he's going through some rough times,

and we want to make sure that you take care of what he's going through, the way you're taking care of Katie and Tudor. Well, this will explain it. Thank you. Along with jail calls and wiretaps, there are also Donna Adelson's own words and text messages and emails that will likely be used against her. Did your mom call Dan any disparaging names around this time frame? Well, I just read them in the emails, but I don't remember them independently. Okay. Did she call him an asshole? Yes.

A narcissist? Yes. A bully? Yes. Religious zealot... Yes. A narcissist? Yes. A bully? Yes. Religious zealot? Yes. Bastard? That I don't remember.

Page five. Okay. Is it page five from the first email? Yes, if you'll just go through by the physical pages. I see. Yes. I'm sorry. What was your answer? Yes. Yes. Donna Adelson's attorney has indicated she plans to go to trial quickly. She'll be back in court next month. That's it for this edition of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for joining us. We will see you back here next week. Until then, have a great week.