Law&Crime Sidebar - 7 Shocking Details in Charlie Adelson’s Hitman Conspiracy Murder Trial Revealed

Episode Date: October 31, 2023

Florida dentist Charlie Adelson is accused of hiring several hitmen to kill his former brother-in-law, Dan Markel, outside his Tallahassee home in 2014. Markel was a law professor at Florida State University and was shot in the head in his own driveway. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber reveals seven shocking details from his trial that allegedly connect Adelson to the crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Thanks to Uncommon Goods for sponsoring this episode! To get 15% off your next gift, go to uncommongoods.com/crime10 for 15% off!HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee 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 Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Did your dad get any big gifts for his 70th? I don't remember. Was the murder of Dan Mar Kelly your dad's big gift? I mean, that's of course not. That's a horrible thing to say. We begin the trial of Charlie Adelson, the latest alleged accomplice in the complicated murder for hire of FSU law professor Dan Markell. We break down seven of some of the biggest developments in this trial so far. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. So there's a trial happening right now in Florida that is a big deal. It is the criminal trial of Charlie Adelson. And I'm going to go over seven of some of the most shocking, maybe bombshell, maybe biggest developments in this case. But I first got to explain the story to you because it is convoluted. So we have to go back to July 18th, 2014. And that is when Florida State University law professor, Dan Markell, was shot to death

in his garage of his Tallahassee home. Now, this is a major case. It caught national headlines. There's been a lot of reporting on it. And the reason is because you have to hear this story. story. So it turns out the shooting was carried out by two men, Luis Rivera and Siegfriedo Garcia, who had driven from Miami down to Tallahassee. You can even see surveillance footage of them following him in a rented car as he was doing his errands, and there was even

footage to suggest they were the drivers. But you come to find out that these men were hired and paid to kill Dan Markell. According to Mr. Rivera, the mother of Garcia's children, a woman named Catherine Magbanawa had set up the murder or was acting as the middle person of the murder. So you might be saying, well, why would this random woman want Dan Markell dead? Well, it turns out she was dating a man named Charlie Adelson, Dan Markell's former brother-in-law. Charlie was a periodontist at the Adelson family dentistry practice. You see, Dan had been married to Charlie's sister, Wendy Adelson. But Dan and Wendy divorced and they were in the middle of a bitter custom.

dispute over their children. Now, to give you an idea of that, Dan had petitioned the court at one point to prevent Wendy's mother, Donna Adelson, from being allowed to be with his kids, unsupervised. He believed that she was bad-mouthing him to them. So investigators believe that Charlie was the one who orchestrated the killing, facilitating this payment of $100,000 to be shared by Magbanoa, Garcia, and Rivera. In fact, Magbanawa, who was working at the Adelson's dentistry practice, was depositing large sums, these large checks from the practice into her own account. Those checks were signed by Donna, and they were rather large. So it became a question of, was this really for work?

Or was this because she had basically organized the murder for hire plot of Dan Markell? And the evidence of Charlie's involvement is very interesting. There was a comment that he allegedly made to Wendy, his sister, after Markell's death, where he said buying a TV was cheaper than hiring a hitman. Wendy's ex-boyfriend testified that Charlie had looked into hiring a hitman. There was also these recorded phone calls and conversations between Charlie and Magbanawa. They were suspicious. Were they using code words to talk about what was really happening?

I mean, right after the killing, the two were on the phone for seven minutes and then he made subsequent calls to her. One of the biggest pieces of evidence, though, is a recording from a Miami restaurant. You see, at one point, the FBI did a kind of sting operation. They had an undercover officer, go to Donna Edelson, Charlie and Wendy's mother, go to her on the street, pretending to be an associate of Rivera, handed her a news article about Markell's killing and written on it was $5,000 and a phone number, making it look like a threat or blackmail.

The FBI agent had said to Donna, quote, we want to make sure that you take care of what he's going through like you're taking care of Katie and Tutto. Tuto was a nickname for Garcia. Now, the hope was that this would stir the pot and Charlie and Magbano would talk and slip up. Well, right after this happened, Charlie and Magbanawa do meet at a restaurant called Dolce Vita. And there's a bit of debate about what was arguably said. The conversation was recorded. And Charlie allegedly says that they should make a one-time payment, a charity payment to the guy or kill him.

So Adelson was arrested on April 21st, 2022. He was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder, that took years for him to finally be arrested after so much suspicion on the Aedelson family's possible involvement in this crime. In fact, Wendy has been named an unindicted co-conspirator in the plot to kill Dan Markell. All right. Let's take a sidebar from sidebar right now to talk about the holiday season because what is that one phrase that you always hear when talking about gifts?

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So to get 15% off of your next GIF, go to uncommongoods.com slash crime 10. That's uncommongoods.com slash crime 10 for 15% off. You really don't want to miss out on this limited time offer. Uncommon goods, we're all out of the ordinary. But yeah, Charlie was the last to be arrested. Luis Rivera pled guilty back in 2016 to second degree murder. Not first. The killing of Dan Markell, he received a 19-year prison sentence to run concurrently with a federal

sentence on an unrelated case, it was a plea deal basically. In exchange, he testified against Garcia and Meg Banoa and now Adelson, as we're going to see in a minute. And Sikfredo Garcia, whom Rivera claims was the actual shooter, he was convicted of first-degree murder of Markell and he was sentenced to life in prison. Magbanoa, in her first trial, it ended in a mistrial, but in her second trial, she too was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation, and she, too, was sentenced to life in prison. Now, with all that in mind, let's talk about seven of the biggest developments or shocking developments in Charlie Adelson's trial so far.

So, number one, there was a bombshell dropped by Charlie Adelson's defense team in their opening statement, you know, statement where they lay out what the defense will be at trial. His attorney, Daniel Rashbaum, says, well, Charlie not only had no involvement in the crime, but Magbanawa and the shooters took the initiative here in killing Markell on their own accord. and then they decided to extort and blackmail Charlie. What you're going to learn is that in the spring of 2014, it became apparent to Katie that her dreams of financial security with Charlie were not going to work out. You will learn that Katie heard the hitman joke.

You will learn that she heard the million dollar offer and she got some ideas in her head. She says that a friend of hers had shot Professor Markell. She tells him over and over that she had nothing to do with it. But these people, she was talking too much. And her friend and these people learn about the problems that his family was having with Professor Markle. As you can imagine, Charlie is, his life has just forever been altered. He asks, who are these people?

She won't tell him. You will learn that Charlie Edelson was told if he didn't pay within the next 48 hours, he or one of his family members would be next. You will learn that Katie repeatedly she had, that she had nothing to do with it and acted distraught. You will hear how she said that she would help him. you will learn about the initial payment. It wasn't $100,000. It was more than $100,000.

He took out everything he had in his safe. You're going to learn about that. The state doesn't know it. So the defense says that Katie was the mastermind, that she plotted to extort money out of Charlie after he mistakenly told her all of the problems that Wendy was going through with Dan. and that she knew the Aedelson family had money.

It's interesting. We haven't heard this theory before. So it's going to be fascinating to see the defense exploring this. Also makes me wonder whether Charlie Aedelson will testify, as problematic as that would be. Number two, that brings me to another big shocker. And that is when Catherine Magbanawa took the stand. Now, during her trial, she testified that she had no involvement in what happened, right? Well, now, testifying against Charlie Aidelson, she says she lost.

Did you have a trial in your case? Yes, ma'am. Did you testify? Yes, ma'am. You testified on your own behalf? Yes, ma'am. All right, and when you testified, were you truthful with the jury? No, ma'am. I was not.

What was your defense when you were tried? That I had nothing to do with it. Was that true? No, ma'am, it was not. Were you in the middle? Yes, ma'am, I was. So, Siegfredo Garcia was involved? Yes, ma'am, he was. So why tell the truth now? I believe that the truth

needed to come out now so that the family can get some type of closure. Why didn't the truth need to come out last year or the year before or the year before that? I was trying to defend myself. You were trying to get off? Yes, ma'am. Did you think you'd be successful in your trial with that defense? I thought so. Has anyone promised you and anything, promised you anything for your testimony here today? No, ma'am. Weren't you originally offered immunity for cooperation in this case? Yes, ma'am, I was.

But you didn't take us up on that? No, ma'am, I didn't. Because you thought you could get off completely. Yes, ma'am. Who came up with the idea to kill Dan Markell? Charlie. When did the defendant first bring this idea up to you? you? My first recollection was around Halloween of 2013. Around Halloween or on actual? On Halloween.

Yes, ma'am. He got in the car with me and he asked me a question. What was the question? Do you know anybody that can harm someone? And did you know anybody that could harm someone? Yes, ma'am, I did. Well, that's something. If you can't believe a convicted murderer, who can you believe, right? But the truth is, when you think about it. Her coming out and going full force against Charlie Adelson saying, yeah, I was a part of it, but so was Charlie. It was his idea to kill Dan. It was not mine.

It wasn't Garcia. It was not Rivera. Can't say I'm surprised by that. Of course, she would want to try to get off of the murder charges and not admit her involvement. But if you think about it, admitting that she was involved is definitely going to complicate any chance she has in an appeal. But also, if Charlie really is the mastermind and the reason that she's behind bars for life, not surprising that she would want to take him down. But let's actually talk about how she did

under cross-examination by Charlie Adelson's defense counsel. Pretty soon after you got arrested, you were offered to cooperate against Charlie Adelson and the other Adelson's and you would get to go home to your kids, right? Yes, sir. And your lawyers told you about that offer. Yes, sir. They did. If you took the state's deal then you would have been let out of jail immediately, right? That's what your lawyers told you. If I took their deal? Yes, sir.

But you didn't take the offer? No, I didn't. Well, the deal was to give up Charlie. And you couldn't do that. Because in order to give up Charlie, I had to give up sacred to the father of my children, so I couldn't do that. Charlie Adelson didn't force you to not take the deal, right? No, I had no communication with Charlie.

Now, the real reason you didn't cooperate, reason you didn't cooperate and you made it clear is because Charlie Adelson had absolutely nothing to do with the murder of Professor Markell. Isn't that the case? I didn't cooperate because in order to give up Charlie, I'd have to give up Siegfriedo. Well, let's talk about the testimony in your first trial. You were asked, can you, do you have information that Charlie Adelson was involved in this? Answer, do I have information? I don't have personal information. Do you recall that? No, sorry, do not. You don't recall saying that? In your first trial?

No, sir, I do not. Would you like to see a transcript of it? Yes, I will. Yes, so perhaps the jury will believe that she didn't tell the truth at first because she was protecting herself and the father of her children, Siegfriedo Garcia. But as with any witness who admits that they lied in the past, particularly one who says that they lied to a jury, the question of course is, why should we believe you now? So on this idea of whether Charlie was the mastermind or simply a victim of extortion as

laid out by the defense, we also heard from Wendy Adelson. So prosecutors take the time to tire of the crime and also dispelling Charlie's defense. When did you learn that Catherine Magbanowal was blackmailing your brother for the murder of your ex-husband? Today. Did you learn that today, along with all of us? Well, I learned that someone made that argument.

I don't know whether it's true or not true. Okay. You have no knowledge of it. I have no knowledge. In all the years this has been pending. In all of the years, this has been pending. Your brother has known who killed your child's father, and you didn't know. I did not know. How did the killers in this case know that Dan Markell was planning to leave town the day after the killing?

I have no idea. You knew he was planning to leave town the next day, didn't you? I did, yes. Did you convey that information to anyone? Absolutely not. To your knowledge, did your brother have that information? I don't know why he would have known that. So if the killers were told it has to be done today because he's leaving town tomorrow,

we don't know how they knew that. I have no idea how they knew that. But it would have to come from someone familiar with Dan Markell's schedule, wouldn't it? They would have to find out somehow. I don't know how. You know, it's like my parents have more reason to dislike Danny than almost anyone else. Is that what you said? That is what I said. I was saying that in the context of talking to law enforcement for hours and hours and trying to help them figure out who might be responsible.

Right. And who did you tell them might be responsible? Well, I told them many, many people. But are you asking about this particular moment right here? 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? responsible. Your family is well. Yep. Do you want the culpable parties held accountable for murdering the father of your children? Absolutely. I'm grateful to already in jail. But not if it's

your family. It's not my family. I mean, somebody hired him, right? Not necessarily. Somebody paid him. I learned something this morning. Yeah, me too. Again, I have to point out that Wendy Edelson has never been criminally charged in connection with the death of her ex-husband, but that doesn't mean that prosecutors who have laid out that she's an unindicted co-conspirator won't ask these tough questions trying to show that she knew what was happening. It was a part of it. Okay, as we continue talking about some of these shocking developments from the Charlie Adelson murder trial, the man accused of orchestrating the murder for higher plot of his former brother-in-law. Let's move on now to Luis Rivera. So investigators say that he and Siegfredo Garcia were the actual hitman. Rivera again

took a deal, pled guilty in exchange for testifying against his accomplices. But here's what he had to say about Katie, why the killing took place, and whether this was about blackmailing Charlie as the defense claims. All right. So do you know why Garcia or how Garcia came to know about this murder or this job? Yes, girl. Who's that? Katie. All right.

So am I correct that Katie hired Garcia and Garcia hired you? Yes, ma'am. And who was to actually come to Tallahassee to do the murder? It was me and him. You and Garcia? Yes, ma'am. But not Katie. No.

So she stayed in Miami. Yes, ma'am. All right, and who was to get the money once the job was done? Katie. All right, and did she get the money? Yes, ma'am. Do you know where she got the money from? You know where she got the money from?

Yeah, the people. Who are the people? The dentist. I called them the dentist at that time. The dentist? Like Wendy and her brother. Did you originally describe the purpose behind this murder as helping a lady in Tallahassee get her kids?

What you mean? Did you describe the... I know your purpose was money, but whoever did the hiring had to get their purpose, right? Yes. And what was your understanding of that purpose? For the kids. To get these kids.

Get the kids back. Okay. And do you know any more about that? which family member did what and whose kids they were or anything like that? I don't think I know the kids was Wendy. That's her name. Wendy, they're Wendy's kids? Yeah, that's the only thing I know. Have you ever had any kind of contact with any member of the Aedelson family?

No, ma'am. During the time that Catherine Magbanel was dating the dentist, were you around her during that I mean, I've seen it a few times. During the times that you saw her while she was dating the dentist, did she ever brag to you about the dentist at all? No, ma'am. Did she ever tell you the dentist has a lot of money? No, ma'am. The dentist has a safe full of cash in his home? No. So do you even know who the dentist is? I mean, do you know who he is here in the courtroom? Never met with my life. I never met with my life. second to today. Okay. Well, the dentist lawyers have indicated that you and Garcia got this idea on your own to come to Tallahassee and kill the professor.

Is that true? No. A good one. Did you kill him and then try to get Katie to blackmail the dentist? No. So you hear prosecutors trying to move away from this theory. from the defense that it was Rivera and Garcia and Meg Banoa who took the initiative on their own to kill Markell. Prosecutors are trying to show that these were guys who were just paid to do a job

and that it was because of the Edelson's that this happened. Now, let's hear what happened on cross-examination by Charlie's attorneys. So let's briefly recap all the lies that they told you. They lied to you about the purpose of the trip going to Tallahassee, right? Yeah. They lied to you about who the lady was on the street. Yeah. They lied to you about the amount of money they received. Yeah. Isn't it possible that they lied to you about the purpose of the job to begin with? They don't even got the money.

Where they won't get the money from? Isn't it possible that you thought it was a murder for hire, but it was really an extortion? Assertion to who? Charlie Edelson, not from you, but from them. Isn't it possible? I don't know. So that's interesting, right? Garcia, McBanawa.

they kept on lying to about all these details. Is it not possible that they lied to about why this was being carried out in the first place? That maybe it was their idea and not Charlie's. Maybe this was an extortion plot. Kill Dan Markell and then we'll try to extort unsuspecting Charlie Adelson. Defense really trying to raise reasonable doubt here as to Charlie's involved. Okay, so I want to finish this up now with the testimony of two people who were once close to Charlie Adelson. They've testified before, but I guess, you know, testifying now against.

against Charlie Aedelson directly has a little bit of a different meaning. So first up is his girlfriend at the time this all happened. And she talks about Charlie's demeanor, particularly after the infamous bump incident, I mentioned. As I said, when the undercover FBI agent bumped into Donna Aedelson on the street pretending to be an associate of the killers in an effort to get Charlie and Megbanuahua to start talking. We'll listen to what June Amchinda had to say about Charlie.

During the time frame of the bump, so the bump in April, but prior to Ms. McBanawa's arrest in October, was the defendant picking up communication with Catherine Magbanawa. Did you notice that he was communicating with her more? I don't know if it was that time frame, like I said. During this time frame that I'm talking about, did the defendant express concern? to you that his phone was being tapped? I mean, it was probably during that time frame, but he did say that at some point. What was the defendant's behavior like after Catherine Magbana was arrest? Well, I guess his behavior was just someone that's being convicted or murder,

or not convicted, accused of murder. I'm sorry. All right. Was he, quote, very scary to be around? Um, I mean, I might have said that. You might have said that or you did say that. I think I did say that because we had a fight, so I was afraid one time. Was he, quote, just like, angry and different? I guess he was, yeah.

Was he violent, agitated, and short-fused during that time frame? I believe so. Did he have trouble sleeping or being alone, didn't want to? to be home. Do you recall saying that? Yes. When the case came up, did everything just tick him off? Um, yes. Did he start getting really red and screaming and take random walks, like just acting like a crazy person? Um, yes. Did he get a second phone around this time frame and possibly even a third phone? I saw one other phone.

I don't know about a third. Hmm. Suspicious, right? Now, you could say, and I think this was brought out by the defense, look, Charlie may have been acting this way because the media was insinuating that he and his family had involvement. So maybe it's not so much he actually had anything to do with the killing, but look what's happening around him.

But then we heard from Ryan Fitzpatrick, Adelson's former friend. Listen to what Edelson allegedly said to him. Did he ever make a statement to you about murder? Charlie, as you heard in testimony and depots, he made a lot of tasteless jokes, and he said something around the lines, if you get away with anything, you get away with murder,

and keep your mouth shut. When was that statement made? Geez, years ago. Before or after this murder? It would be after. Was his behavior after? Are you familiar with the arrest that occurred in May? May of 2016. May of 2016, I should have clarified.

Katie's arrest? Yes. Yes, ma'am. And did his behavior change at that point? Yes, ma'am. And did he seem relieved and less stressed out after she got arrested? No, ma'am, he did not. What was his demeanor after her arrest?

Nervousness, agitation. stress. So he seemed to get more stressed out after she was after. Yes, ma'am. Oh, boy. The TV comment. Now this comment, defense has to really stress the idea that these are bad jokes and not admissions of guilt.

Well, there you have it. Some shocking details in the Charlie Edelson trial so far. Let's see what happens next. That's all we have for you here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcast. Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber.

I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.