Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Estranged Son Calls Mom Accused of Killing Son-in-Law Controlling | Crime Alert Recap Saturday 08.30.25

Episode Date: August 30, 2025

Breaking crime news as it happens throughout the day! Follow "Crime Alert Hourly Update" now on your favorite podcast app: https://link.chtbl.com/Crime_Alert Here's some of our top stories this week: Donna Adelson's children testify at her murder trial.  A man puts on his dead girlfriend’s wig and forces her boyfriend to wear her clothes and help dump her body in the Florida woods. The desperate hunt for a beloved Michigan mom continues...Starla Goings disappeared without a trace, after scoring a legal victory in her divorce battle.  The father of 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro said in a lengthy jailhouse interview denied prosecutors’ contention that the boy suffered long-term abuse before his presumed death and said his wife, who reported the infant missing, was innocent.     Stay informed, stay safe, and stay ahead with "Crime Alert Hourly Update.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Alert. I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking Crime News now. One of the alleged masterminds and the contract killing of Florida State University law professor, Dan Markell, is facing a jury. Jury selection for Donna Edelson, accused of planning the murder of her son-in-law is complete. Opening statements, done. Now, the evidence. Prosecutors depicted her as the matriarch mastermind behind the brutal murder of the Florida State University law professor. while her defense team portrayed her as a kind and loving person during their opening statements. The attorneys engaged in extensive questioning and cross-examination of several witnesses, including two significant members of the Aedelson family, Wendy, and Robert. This marked the first time Robert, the woman's son, has provided testimony in the murder case. Having been estranged from his family for several years, Robert disclosed that his last communication with his mother

was in 2016. Dan was fatally shot at close range in 2014, while in the middle of a legal battle with his wife, Wendy Adelson, over her desire to relocate with their two young sons in Miami where her parents lived. As 75, Donna faces first-degree murder charges, conspiracy, and solicitation in the case that has garnered significant media attention in Tallahassee and the U.S., and resulted in the convictions of four others, including her son Charlie Adelson. Later in the afternoon, Wendy Adelson took the stand once more, reiterating to the courtroom

that she had no involvement in the murder for hire of her ex-husband. However, during cross-examination, Donna Adelson's attorneys contended that Wendy may have had a deeper connection to the murder than she disclosed. Assistant State Attorney Georgia Kauffelman continued to question Wendy, guiding the jury through the timeline of events by hired assassins at his Tallahassee residents. Isn't it true that when you were interviewed by law enforcement, what you said initially was that Danny's parents were going to think that you're the one who did it, right? I did say that. Throughout Wendy's testimony, Donna, her mother listened closely as the proceedings

unfolded. Wendy's account remained consistent with her previous testimonies in earlier trials. On the morning of the murder, Wendy was awaiting a TV repairman, the same television that Charlie had joked about being less expensive than hiring a hitman. Wendy acknowledged her brother's tasteless joke, but Kaplanman pressed her further, saying, but someone did hire a hitman. Yes, that happened, Wendy confirmed. Continuing her cross-examination, Kaplan made a direct question. Were you in any way involved in the plot to kill your ex-husband?

No, Wendy replied. Did you perhaps know it was going to happen, but not the specifics? I did not know it was going to happen. I did not know anything about it, Wendy asserted. The trial continues against the mother-in-law, Donna Adelson. More crime and justice news after this. I'm Drew Nelson. A man puts on a murdered woman's clothes and wig

and forces the victim's boyfriend to wear her clothes too and help dump her body in the Florida woods. That's according to police testimony heard in court Monday. Our TV news partners at Fox 13 Tampa were in the Hillsborough County courtroom for the bond hearing of Arnaldo Centrone, H-42, who was arrested alongside his girlfriend, 37-year-old, H-Sel, Santiago Bonilla. Both are charged in the brutal stabbing death of Centron's girlfriend's cousin, 42-year-old heal Hira Valesbania, better known as Joy. But given the nature and circumstance, the offense, the evasion from law enforcement, the planning involved in this particular case and the overall risk of physical harm. and my concerns about appearance in court, taking into account her ties to the community, I'm going to set substantial bail in these cases.

I do find that she does pose a risk of physical harm to the community, as well as a risk of harm and intimidation to witnesses in this case. Bania's boyfriend, Elga Davis II, told deputies he saw Centrone stabb joy in the neck in her Riverview home after a fight about money and chores. He said in court that Centrone kept stabbing. I'm sitting there, and the next scene, I hear like someone get, hitting the throat and I did it make that sound and then I try to go run over there and like and then I see her on the floor. Davis and Centrone then forced him to help clean up the blood and move the

body. He said Hezell helped too calling joy evil and saying quote she deserved this. I'm trying to find the word um stuffed folded pushed how was she fit into the box we stuffed her they took the box with Joy's remains to her car. Davis said Centrone and his cell threatened to kill him and Joy's teenage son if he didn't help. At one point, Centrone dressed in one of Joy's wigs and dresses. Davis said Centrone also forced him to wear her clothes while they drove around to dump the evidence. They met up with another man known only as Tarzan and dumped Joy's body in a mangrove area of the Wheaton Island Preserve near the Gandy Bridge. Davis said he later called his parents, himself into deputies and led them to the body. Centrone faces charges of second-degree murder,

moving a body in unapproved conditions, tampering with a witness, and tampering with evidence. He is being held without bond. His hell is charged with accessory after the fact and is being held on $200,000 bond. The investigation continues. I'm Jennifer Gould. The quiet charm of Munising, Michigan was shattered by an unsettling disappearance that has left investigators with a chilling mystery. and a family clinging to hope. Starla Goings, a 65-year-old mom and beloved bank teller, vanished from her home back on August 15th,

just days after a crucial legal development in her divorce case. The unsettling detail of her abandoned car found on a lonely stretch of road has sent shockwaves through the community and ignited a desperate multi-agency search. Here's Alger County Sheriff Todd Brock. That's our focus. We'll exhaust every lead we have and do anything we possibly can to bring her home safely to our family. Goings described by her daughter as quote unquote bubbly and quote unquote easy to love was last seen by her estranged husband, Stephen Goings, around midnight after the couple attended the upstate fair. For a woman known to be in constant contact with her family, her sudden silence was a blaring red flag.

welfare check on August 17th confirmed their worst fears. Starla was gone. The Alger County Sheriff's Office immediately launched a full-scale missing person investigation, but a key piece of the puzzle quickly emerged. Deputies found Starla's vehicle on August 17th, abandoned at the intersection of 16-mile Lake Road and M-94, just a few miles from her house. The discovery offered few clues to her whereabouts, sparking a methodical but frenzied search. K-9 units, aerial drones, and ground teams from the Michigan State Police, Marquette County Sheriff's Office, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Forest Service are now combing the rugged terrain following every possible lead.

The case has been further complicated by court records. It was revealed that Starla had filed for divorce from her husband in May. and just four days before her disappearance, a stipulated order to release real estate sale proceeds was signed. While authorities have not officially suggested foul play, these details have raised questions about the nature of her disappearance. With no suspects named and no sign of the 5'4 160-pound woman with short white hair and tattoos, a community is left with one lingering question. What happened to Starla Goings? The Alger County Sheriff's is asking residents to please check game or outdoor cameras around the area where her orange 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV was found between

4 p.m. on Friday, August 15th and 8 p.m. on Sunday, August 17th, to see if anything looks at a place. Her family is pleading with the public for help, urging anyone with information to contact the Alger County Sheriff's Office at 906, 3877030. I'm Sidney Sumner. In a lengthy jailhouse interview, the father of seven-month-old Emmanuel Harrow denied prosecutors' contention that the boy suffered long-term abuse before his presumed death and said his wife, who reported the infant missing, was innocent. Jake Harrow, 32, told a Southern California News Group reporter

that he has been completely cooperative with investigators. although he declined to say whether he led them to the Moreno Valley Badlands over the weekend, where he was seen in a jailhouse jumpsuit as crews searched the area. Harrow and 41-year-old Rebecca Harrow were charged this week with killing Little Emmanuel and filing a false police report. Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestron said that investigators believed that Emmanuel was severely abused over a period of time. Hestron added, both parents would have been aware of that abuse. Harrow insisted that allegation was not true at all, but declined to say what role he may have played in the little boy's disappearance. Prosecutors and investigators said that there has been some level of cooperation from the parents, but declined to provide details.

Rebecca Harrow reported her son missing on August 14, claiming that someone she did not see knocked her unconscious while she was changing Emmanuel's diaper and took the boy. In dramatic and emotional interviews after the reported disappearance, she begged for help finding her son. But investigators soon found inconsistencies in her stories, and a week later, the parents were arrested. Formal murder charges were filed this week. In his jailhouse interview, Jake Harrow also denied prosecutor's version of his previous conviction for child abuse. He claimed that he accidentally dropped his newborn daughter on a sink divider while bathing her. She didn't look injured, he said, although she is now left blind with 3% brain function from her severe injuries, which included fresh and healing rib fractures, a fractured skull, and a leg fracture.

Harrow and his then wife pleaded guilty, and he was sentenced to 180 days in a work release program with a suspended prison sentence and was ordered to attend a child abuser treatment program. Harrow said, Somehow they magically convinced me to take this plea deal. I was sick of court. The judge knows I didn't do it. They just railroaded me. I was the fall guy. District Attorney Heston said that there was no plea deal. Instead, Hero threw himself on the mercy of the court and pled guilty in open court to avoid trial. The judge then gave him a big break with the sentence over prosecutor's strenuous objections. The DA called it an outrageous error in judgment for this judge, commenting, Mr. Harrow should have been in prison at the time that this crime happened.

Harrow declined to provide any details about the current case, citing advice from his lawyer. Harrow said, I want to talk about it, but I can't. I was told, don't do no press. Rebecca Harrow, too, appears to be ignoring legal advice, speaking to a reporter from jail over the weekend and sticking solidly to her kidnapping story. Rebecca's husband says she is innocent. The media is killing her. She is a beautiful woman. She loves her children. The Riverside Sheriff's Department has declined to comment about Harrow's interview, saying the investigation is very active and will be for quite some time. For the latest crime and justice news, be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app.

With this crime alert, I'm Sidney Sumner. This is an IHeart podcast.