True Crime All The Time - The Murder of Dan Markel

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

41-year-old Dan Markel was a well-known law professor at Florida State University. On July 18th, 2014, Dan was fatally shot inside his home. Within months of the murder, investigators uncovered a murder-for-hire conspiracy involving his in-laws. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss the murder of Dan Markel. Dan had gone through a contentious divorce with his ex-wife Wendi. Wendi wanted to move south to Miami to be closer to family, but Dan protested, and a judge wouldn't allow it. They were also wrapped up in litigation that revolved around assets and parenting rights. Dan Markel was murdered was murdered before a critical hearing could take place.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital production See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 370 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in True Crime. Mike Gibson. How are you? Hey, I'm doing good about you. I'm doing great, man. 370. That's a big number.

Just seems like a big number, doesn't it? Yeah, it was my weight when I was in fifth grade when one of those huskies. And when you were a husky boy? Yeah. You know, I can remember doing episode two, three. And now it's 370. I can remember when we did one through 369. No, you can't.

You don't even remember what you had for breakfast. That's true. And I didn't even eat breakfast. But I'm like, did I have breakfast? Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Catherine Christian. Hey, Catherine. KV.

What's going on, KV? Babette. Hey, Babette. Mark and Angela. Well, thanks, Mark and Angela. Catherine Volubach. Hey, Volubet. Lisa Thrasher jumped out of our highest level.

You're awesome. Melissa. Hey Melissa. Jay Sledge. Rayne Hitchings. What's going on, Rianne? Tasha Minority jumped out at our highest level. Oh, thank you. Minority. Kimberly Harris. What's going on, Kimberly? Sharr jumped out of our highest level. Hey, Sharr. And last but not least, Thomas Rogers. What's up, Rogers? And then if we go back into the vault, this week, we selected Laura Sparkman. Look at Sparkman. And the house. Yeah. Appreciate the new support, the continued support on Patreon. We also had a couple of great PayPal donations from Terry Lollio. Hey, Laleo.

And Maxine Rebecca Kretz. Oh, look at that. Kretz. Yeah. So we had just appreciate all the support we get. You know that Laleo, that's back in elementary school when they'd sing that song. Hey Laleigh, hey Lally. Hey, Lally, Lallyo.

No. I was going to sing if I don't want to do that. No. I didn't go to grade school in the 50s. So I don't know. Okay. That song. That will not play well with anybody, I don't think.

No, I just don't remember. I remember lollipop. Lollipop. Yeah, that's a different song. You just wanted to pop your cheek when you do that. Yeah. Bum, bum, bum. So Gibbs, we have an episode out right now in Unsolved where we're tackling the

the outlaw pass incident. You know, big, unsolved, kind of mysterious case goes back to, you know, 1959. we're in Russia. Yeah. So there are some rough, uh, pronunciations to try to get through, but such a fascinating case. It really is. And, you know, I remember when I was in Siberia that, uh, I heard some people talking about it. From your jail cell?

Yeah. Mm-hmm. You think about nine hikers and they were said to have been experienced hikers, wind up debt. And then the mysteries just kind of cascade from there, you know, how their tent was found. how they were found. And there's a ton of theories that people have posed over the years, some more plausible than others. And it's been talked about for a long time.

It has. It has. And we'll continue to be. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime All the Time? I'm excited. We are talking about Dan Markell. 41-year-old Dan Markell was a well-known law professor at Florida State University. on July 18th, 2014, Dan was fatally shot inside his home.

Within months of the murder, investigators uncovered a murder for higher conspiracy involving his in-laws. Oh, oh, those darn in-laws. I know. We've talked about in-laws before. And I know I've said this. I have a great relationship with my wife's parents. Yeah.

We get along well. We spent a lot of time together. I did, you know, second-guess some things as I was researching this case. I'll be honest with you. Like that special tea they make you every night? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep.

The fact that my mother-in-law drives it over here does seem strange, but... You drink it anyway. Yeah. I drink it. Yeah. So far so good. Dan Markell was born on October 9th, 1972. He grew up in the city of Toronto.

You've been to Toronto? I have been to Toronto. I've never been. Really? Wanted to go. Yeah. Seems like a very cool city. Yeah.

I've been to Canada, some places in Canada, but never Toronto. It's a very large city. Yeah. Dan was known as a highly intelligent man. He graduated from Harvard in 1995. Afterwards, he studied political philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and then earned a master's degree at the University of Cambridge in England. He graduated in 1997 and then returned to Harvard for law school, which he completed in 2001.

It's almost like maybe I would have passed him along this journey. Well, that's what I was thinking. I know you studied at Harvard. I know you were at Cambridge. I don't think you ever made it to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. But it seems like you would maybe have passed in the hallways at some point. Yeah, because I did the Cambridge, then I went to Oxford. to do some lecturing and then Harvard.

Dan started off his career practicing white collar criminal defense and civil litigation in Washington, D.C. In 2005, he was offered an assistant professor position at Florida State University. So career-wise, he's doing good. Yeah, he was. I always wonder why someone like that would, you know, give up maybe a successful career in law to teach law. Not that they don't make good money. Professors, they do, but I just sometimes wonder what's the driving motivation. Maybe they just have the desire to make sure people learn it

so they can practice it as best as possible, you know, I mean, sometimes that's people's passion, right, is to teach. Yeah, that definitely could be it. And I think a lot of people don't know what they want to do. You know, think back to being in college. It's like, How do you pick your major? I don't know. This sounds cool. Or my buddy's doing this. So I'm going to do this.

Now, there are other people who know what they want to do from Jump Street. That's true. But that's not everyone. No. I can see you going to law school. If you could go back 10 years? Yes. I could see you making that decision.

Yeah. I think it would be very interesting for sure. But I think I would try to parlay it into, you know, maybe. some type of job with the FBI, criminal forensics, something, something, I don't know. Dan taught classes on criminal law, upper level criminal procedure, sentencing law and policy,

tort theory, and punitive damages. Tort theory. You like a good tort. I know that. Dan was tenured in 2010 and promoted to associate professor. In 2012,

he was made full professor. It was well-liked. by students and faculty, and he was known for his kindness and generosity. So we're getting a picture of Dan here, right? Obviously, he's a very intelligent guy. Yeah. Went through, you know, some of the more prestigious schools in the world. And then kind of launches into this teaching career.

And it just seems like everybody thought he was a really good guy. Dan's articles and essays were displayed in top law reviews. He had opinion pieces published in the, New York Times and the Atlantic. Dan's work focused on retributive justice, which is the study of punishment in proportion to the crime. And I'm a big fan of that. Well, you and I talk about it so often, right, in the cases that we, that we do. Now, things have changed over the years. A lot of times when we're talking about cases from the 50s and 60s, we're kind of shocked at the sentences that people got or the the actual amount of time that they did.

But then I think you can also go to like the 80s and into the 90s where, you know, a lot of people were going to prison for like marijuana offenses. Yeah. You know, the whole three strikes and, and all of that. So yeah,

I just want the punishment to fit the crime. Yeah. I think that's exactly where we're at. And also, we know in some areas, sometimes the punishment was harsher on certain people. Absolutely. You know,

so I, I think when you get into the discussion of race, gender, and also economic status. Oh, of course, yeah. You know,

whether or not you had the money to hire a good attorney. Yeah, makes a difference. In 2009, Dan published a book titled, Privilege or Punish, criminal justice and the challenge of family ties. I used to love family times with the Keatins.

The Keatins. Yeah. Michael J. Fox. That was a great show. He also ran a law blog called Profs Blog, which he started around the time he joined FSU. It was meant to be a form for young law professors and academics. The blog was popular.

And professors from all over the U.S. contributed articles. Dan was married to Wendy Adelson, who was also a faculty member at FSU. they had two boys who were three and five at the time that Dan was murdered. They got married on February 26, 2006. Wendy, who was about six years younger than Dan, also earned her master's degree at Cambridge and was earning her law degree from the University of Miami in 2006. Some smart individuals there.

Yeah, kind of a power couple, right? She previously directed the human rights and immigration law project at FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. At the time of Dan's death, she was director of the medical legal partnership with the FSU College of Law Public Interest Law Center. So Wendy and Dan were married for six years, but she initiated a divorce in September of 2012.

Dan returned from a business trip and found Wendy, the children, and most of their belongings missing from their home. Wendy moved out with the help of her parents while he was away. He found divorce papers sitting on the bed. That's a pretty rough way to find out. You know, coming home, you know, when you're on the road, any trip. You just want to get home and get into your nice, comfortable bed at night.

Oh, I was going to say I can't wait to get home to see my family. Well, that too. You just want to get into your jammies. So it had to be shocking, right? even if the marriage was on the rocks and they'd been talking about it, still would be shocking to come home from a trip and just find everyone and almost everything gone. Yeah, and see those papers sitting on your bed. According to court documents filed by Dan,

Wendy took almost everything from the house, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and equities from their bank and investment accounts. Okay. That might be a little shocking as well. Yeah, I mean, if your savings and cash is all gone, you know, I mean, that could be a problem. The divorce was finalized on July 31, 2013. The agreement included 50-50 custody and shared parenting guidelines. Dan would have to pay Wendy over $800 a month in child support and a $120,000 lump sum payment. he kept the house and their accounts vehicles and other property were divided so the only question

I have is how do you divide the accounts when she's already rated them yeah I'm sure they did an accounting they must have of everything and said hey you know you you got to put that back in or we have to factor all this in I remember when I got divorced I mean you have to you have to put everything on those disclosure sheets because if you fell to, it does not bode well for you. Yeah. So you had to put your, your Rex West income in there. You know, your $1 bills. You had to add all them up to pull them out of your G-string. There's, there's $37. There's $37. Dan and Wendy continued having conflict over financial disclosures, family heirlooms, and the children's activities. and school.

And is that unusual? There are divorces that go fairly smoothly. It's what you would consider amicable. Right. And then there are others where it's not at all. And everything is contentious down to which CDs are mine and which are yours and which albums do I get, which photos, everything. And sometimes the other party wants those things just to spite you.

Sure. A month and a half before. the divorce was finalized, Wendy asked for permission to move with the children to Coral Springs in South Florida for familial support and so that she could accept a new job opportunity at a law firm. She wanted to have majority custody of the children and argued that Dan traveled often and was not their primary caretaker. So we just got done, you know, kind of talking about stuff, whether it was pictures, CDs, paintings, you know, furniture. That's one thing.

Right. But then when you have kids and you talk about custody, that's a completely separate issue. Yeah. I mean, one, you're cutting into my potential time with my kids, you know, looking at it from Dan's side, but it also can make a difference on the financial aspects, right? if you don't have your kids, 50-50. Now it's going to be more of the other spouse having them, then that could change what your child support payments are.

Wendy claimed that she was stuck in Tallahassee until Dan decided to leave and alleged that he made life difficult for her at FSU by telling her colleague she had mental health issues and stole money from him. So I used the word contentious. It still might apply, but we might be passing that point into maybe the area of nasty. Yeah. Things were getting a little nasty.

Dan challenged the motion arguing it was vague and filled with falsehood. A judge denied Wendy's request to move because she couldn't prove relocation was in the best interest of the children. Yeah, I think most courts prefer the kids to be in the area where both mom and dad are located. if both mom and dad can find reasonable work. Yeah, I can see why that would be, right? It's important to have both parents in a child's life. Dan started a new relationship about a year after Wendy initiated the divorce.

He was seeing a law professor at New York University. He visited the school often as part of his work. Dan and Wendy were still having conflicts over the divorce by 2014. In February of that year, Dan filed a motion to enforce the financial provisions of their marital settlement agreement. He claimed Wendy filed a false and misleading financial disclosure form that shorted her assets by more than $240,000. That's a problem if it can be proved. Well, it goes back to your point, right? You have to be accurate with these disclosures.

He said she took a diamond ring belonging to. to his great aunt and helped herself to over $600,000 in cash, liquid equities, and other assets upon separation. So this goes directly back to my question, right? If she did kind of raid some of the accounts prior to the settlement agreement, how was that factored in? And it's kind of sounding like maybe it wasn't. As reported by the Tallahassee Democrat, Dan argued that Wendy's parents paid her legal fees, which allowed her to take the most aggressive and unsubstantiated legal posture as possible. Wendy's attorney filed a request to dismiss the claim and told the judge that Dan only paid $50,000 of the $120,000 he owed her.

Don't you just love it when two attorneys are going after each other? Because they're going to have a hard time letting the other side win. Well, because the people paying them don't want the other side to win. Exactly. And, you know, when you get into an area of a contentious divorce, then you're going to have some savvy legal attorneys battling it out. I almost think as a divorce attorney, you probably don't like it when your client's an attorney because they probably feel like they know as much as you and how you should probably do it

instead of how you know it needs to be done. That's a great point. We really haven't discussed that. the fact that they're both attorneys and so I'm sure they're more involved than the normal person. Yeah. In March, Dan filed a motion to enforce the parenting rules stipulated in the divorce agreement. His motion stated that Wendy's mother, Donna Adelson, was the source of what he called parental alienation efforts. Dan claimed Wendy violated the agreement by letting Donna take care of the.

the boys without first asking if he could watch them. I've heard of that. I have not. And that, you know, seems strange to me. You would have to ask if the boys could spend time with their grandparents. Well, I think what he was saying,

you know, if, say you decided to go out of town for a long weekend, instead of letting your parents watch them, you should first come to me and say, hey, I'm going out of town. I'm going to have mom and dad watch the boys

or girls unless you want to. Yeah. I, okay, I see what you're saying now. On three occasions after the boys spend time with Donna, they told Dan, Grandma says you're stupid. When Dan asked why she said that, the boys told him, she says you're trying to take her sun shines from her. Well, little family drama.

You're going to have that. Well, and you're also going to have each side's parents taking their side. Sure. Because they're probably only hearing that one side, right? So the Edelson's are hearing windy side and nothing else. Dan wanted the court to prohibit Donna from having unsupervised time with the boy. I get it. Okay. She shouldn't say that you're stupid, but I do think it's a little rough to say that grandparents can't have unsupervised time. Yeah, unless they've proven in the past that they've done something wrong, I can't see why you would want to enforce that.

Besides the fact that you don't like the fact that they called you stupid. Yes. There's got to be more to it than that. Sure. A hearing was originally scheduled for May 15, 2014. But it was continued because of a request from Wendy. Dan was killed before the hearing took place. And you and I have done a number of cases kind of in this vein where it could be divorce,

it could be, you know, business, but there's a big hearing getting ready to happen. And a person ends up dead right before that hearing is set to take place. Oh, yeah. Timing is everything. Well, I sure think it definitely means something. I think when someone is killed right before a divorce hearing, it's really hard to think that that doesn't have something to do it. On July 18th, 2014, Dan was fatally shot in the head inside the garage of his Tallahassee home. He spent that morning running errands around 9 a.m.

He dropped his sons off at preschool. He seemed to be in a good mood and spoke to the staff briefly before he left. Afterwards, he went to the gym. Dan was shot at 11 a.m. The police report stated that his keys were still in his vehicle and the car was not locked. Dan left the gym at 10.38 a.m. He was talking on the phone as he returned home and abruptly told the caller someone he didn't recognize was in his driveway. His last words were, hold on a second. There's someone in my driveway that is unfamiliar to me. The person on the phone heard a loud grunt and muffled background conversation followed by labored breathing. One of Dan's neighbors heard the gunshots and called the police. The neighbor saw a suspicious vehicle, leaving Dan's home at the time of the shooting.

The caller saw the garage door open and thought Dan was going to pull out soon. He went to the house because he was curious due to recent break-ins in their neighborhood. He entered the garage and saw Dan sitting in his car, bleeding. from his head. Dan was moving, but not talking. The driver's side window was bashed out, according to the neighbor. He wasn't sure if someone shot Dan or he shot himself. What a scene to walk up to. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, right? Really grisly, nasty scene. And then it also sounds like there's some confusion because, you know, this guy doesn't really know what he's saying. is he looking at a person who's been murdered, shot in the head,

or is he looking at a person who decided to end their life and shot themselves in the head? Yeah, and you've got to take stock of the situation pretty quickly, right, to see, am I safe being here? And what I got to do about Dan? Yeah, got to get him help, right? Dan was rushed to the hospital and died around 1 a.m. the following day. on July 1st, the police issued a statement to quash speculation about the shooting and help neighbors feel safe. They announced that Dan was the intended victim of the shooting.

There was no evidence that the murder was connected to a random burglary or a robbery. Well, that's one way to quash it. Well, it's a way to try to quash it. I think as a resident of the neighborhood, you might, you know, you're still going to be a little scared, especially if you had had a lot of break-ins recently. But the other thing is how did they know that? It sounds like pretty quickly, right? Because this is three days later, they put it together that someone purposefully intended

to kill Dan. At this time, Wendy's attorney said she was cooperating with the police and was distraught, devastated, and scared to death. The police sought information on a silver or light green. compact car seen in the area of the shooting. The neighbor who reported the shooting described it as a newer Toyota Prius or similar vehicle. I'm just wondering if that's the right getaway vehicle.

It is because it's silence. It's very quiet. I'm thinking it is probably not the fastest getaway vehicle, but actually a lot of the electric cars are quick. Can't they get up and go? They can get up and go. The technology, I don't know. I don't know about a Prius, but I know the all electric.

some of the all electric vehicles are very fast from takeoff. But you remember the episode where Andy keeps it under five miles an hour and he sneaks up on Dwight in his Prius. That's true. Because it's silent. It's so quiet at that point. During the early stages of the investigation, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that it took an ambulance 19 minutes to arrive at Dan's home due to an error. The dispatcher filed the incident as priority three. Instead of priority one, as the dispatcher gathered more information, the priority was upgraded.

It was unknown if the slow response contributed to Dan's death. You know, 19 minutes is a long time. I mean. In a life or death situation. Sure. And could have contributed? Maybe. Maybe they could have stopped the bleeding, did something to save his life.

Safe his life a little. I don't know how you could ever know that for certain, but this is like the second dispatcher error that we've had in recent weeks. Again, I know it's a very tough job, but it's also a very important job. You think about making a mistake could be life or death. Yeah. I know we have great listeners that are dispatchers and dispatcher Lisa, I think of one. Absolutely.

And I'm sure she would say, yeah. timing is everything when we get these calls. Well, and accuracy and all that together. On July 31st, 2014, the consolidated dispatch agency admitted that human error contributed to delays in responding to the shooting. A report issued in September of that year found that technological errors played a role in the delay. The CDA eventually settled with Dan's family in August 2016 for 40,

thousand dollars. Months passed with no updates from the police. A year later on July 17th, 2015, the police released new information about the Toyota Prius seen at the crime scene. Surveillance photo showed it was a 2006 to 2009 model painted silver. The Tallahassee police said the vehicle may have been used by the shooter and then returned to the original owner. Wendy Adelson resigned from the FSU Law School in January 2015 and moved to the Miami area. So I said within a matter of three days, they somehow figured out that Dan was the intended target. But now we're a year on.

And no arrests have been made. So it kind of makes you wonder what they knew or what made them so confident. or were they just trying to reassure the public? Well, I think they would for sure try to reassure the public, but could they have known or felt pretty good about the case, but just didn't have everything they needed yet, and it's just going to take time. Yeah, that's absolutely true.

To pull it all in, wrap it all up, put a nice little bow on it. In December 2015, Wendy appeared on a podcast called Writing Class Studio, which features stories of students in a writing class. She said she wanted to tell her side of the story. She spoke about what happened after the murder and claimed she was interrogated by the police for eight hours. She also revealed that she never felt passionate love for Dan, but thought he would be a good father.

She claimed Dan did not view her as an equal in that he used to tell her he was the only one who saw that she was secretly a bad person. She also described how the media treated her like a suspect. Nothing like putting this all out on a recording, huh? Yeah, I did think it was a little strange that you would decide to go on a podcast. Now, I don't know how many people are listening to a podcast called Writing Class Studio. You know, I don't think it's in the top 10 or anything like that, but. But it's out there.

It's out there. And it's out there and of record. Exactly. And so, you know, is it smart to make statements that the police can go back and look at, analyze, you know, we'll have to see? It would be months before another major development in the case. On May 25th, 2016, 34-year-old Sigfrido Garcia was arrested for possession of cocaine in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Garcia pulled up to a pump at a gas station and was soon surrounded by at least 10 cars from the FBI, DEA, and Hallandale Beach police.

That's a lot of cars. That is a lot of cars. You're like, what? I just wanted to get some gas. You know, what's going on here? And, you know, from three different agencies, he was a main suspect in the Dan Markell shooting. Garcia was quickly charged with first degree murder. and the cocaine charge was dropped.

You know, cocaine charges are pretty serious, but not compared to first degree murder. Garcia had a lengthy criminal record. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, he was first arrested in April 1997 when he was 15 years old. He was arrested at least 21 more times after that. Most of his crimes were misdemeanors. Other charges included assaulting an officer, breaking into cars, or making or attempting to make an explosive device. Yeah, that's a lot of trouble to be in in a short period of time.

Yeah, it seems like it. Now, as an adult, his charges included trafficking, amphetamines, aggravated assault with a weapon, criminal mischief, and possession of cocaine and marijuana. But some of those charges were later dropped. But you can see, right, it seemed like as he got older, his offenses got. got bigger. Yeah, I think they escalated as, like you said, as he got older. Which is not unusual.

He was last arrested on October 9th, 2012 for robbery and resisting an officer with violence. He was sentenced on October 22nd, 2014. He received credit for time served and spent one extra day in jail. His co-defendant received an eight-year sentence. I really wanted to find out why the co-defendant got a little bit. a lot more time, but there wasn't much in the research about it. Sources close to the investigation told the Tallahassee Democrat that Garcia was part of a murder for higher plot and more arrests were expected.

Okay. If you're part of this murder for hire plot and you see this in the media or the paper on TV, you got to be worried. Oh, I think you're shaking. They're going to be knocking on my door any day now. After the arrest, Wendy Adelson sent an email to the Tallahassee Democrat saying, These past two years have been an extraordinarily difficult time for our family, although my children will always live with the tremendous loss of their father.

My hope is that these new developments will finally bring some closure. So is she really happy and that there might be some closure and the family can finally move on? Or is this just a smokescreen? Yeah, well, that's what we're. we're going to have to find out, right? Because the way she's writing this email is almost hopeful that, number one, they got this guy, but they're also about ready to get the other people involved. Then in early June, Wendy Adelson's family was implicated in the murder for higher plot.

The police announced that Garcia and accomplice Luis Rivera, a top member of the Latin king's gang, drove a rented Prius from. North Miami to Tallahassee on July 16th, 2014. And arrest warrant was drafted, but not yet served for Rivera, who was serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for racketeering. So they knew where he was at? Yeah, probably not a great sense of urgency there. Rivera, known as King Tato, was the head of the North Miami branch of the Latin Kings game,

which is based in Chicago and operates in third. 39 different states. The group distributes narcotics and commits crimes, including assault, robbery, burglary, and identity theft. Gang members have also committed witness tampering, murders, and kidnappings. It's a pretty big gang. It is. It also sounds like they're into just about a little bit of everything. Like Garcia, Rivera had a long criminal history and received five convictions in drug cases before he was even seven.

years old. His attorney in the racketeering case said his client was uneducated and illiterate and was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 10. The two alleged hitmen were linked to Catherine Magbenua, who was listed as an associate of Garcia. Catherine and Garcia have two children together. According to unsealed documents, Garcia called Catherine 2,700 times in the two and a half months, before and after Dan was killed. That's a lot of calls. I don't think. In fact, I know that I don't make 2,700 calls in a year to anyone.

I mean, to everyone, let alone one person. Even if you're in a relationship with that person, that just seems too much. I know my wife calls me every day on her way home from work. She doesn't work 365 days a year. Other than that, I mean, I call you sometimes. I call a few other friends, call my parents, but I know I'm not making or even having 2,700 calls in a whole year probably. I mean, you take that 75 days and divide it into this, what is that?

That's just a crazy amount of phone calls per day. Well, 10 calls per day would only be 750. Yeah. So you're in the area of like 30. 25 to 30 calls a day? I would be like, what now? Well, I say that anyway. When you call me, what do you want now?

Investigators learned that around the time of the murder, Catherine was in what they called a very personal relationship with Charles Adelson, who is Wendy Adelson's brother. You can make of that what you will. Very personal relationship. That could be they were boyfriend and girlfriend, that could be they were having, you know, rumpus room time. I mean, it could be all over the place.

Rumpus room time? Sure. Time spent in the rumpus room. Okay. Just want clarity. But let's go back and talk about this fight between Dan and Wendy over the custody of the kids. And we said it, right?

Wendy wanted to move the boys to South Florida to be closer to her family. But the judge wouldn't permit it. Emails showed that Wendy's parents, especially her mother, Donna, wanted her to coerce Dan into allowing the move. Charles Edelson disliked Dan and didn't get along with him. Charles was a cosmetic dentist and had his own practice. Donna worked with him. So I'm assuming he had some money. They were doing okay. Yeah. He had a little bit of money. Catherine Magbenua also worked at the practice and was the president. of Garcia's company S. Garcia Solutions, Inc.

Now, I don't know what kind of company that was. I mean, I guess if you're a hitman, I don't think you're going to incorporate, are you? Maybe you need to have some type of front to help wander some of the payments. That's true. That's true. According to the probable cause affidavit,

investigators believe the motive for this murder stem from the desperate desire of the Adelson family to relocate Wendy and the children to South Florida, along with the pending court hearing that might have impacted their access to the grandchildren. At a press conference, Tallahassee police chief Michael DeLayo did not call the family formal suspects, but said more arrests were expected. You know, if you are the family and you know your involvement in this, you've got to be scared. it. Yeah, I think every night, right? You're just sitting on the couch wondering, are they going to figure it out? When are they going to figure it out? The Tallahassee Democrat reported that in June 2014, a witness met Garcia and Rivera at a motel. The police did not locate their key witness until January 2015. This witness identified himself as a drug dealer and said he sold cocaine to Garcia. The witness said Rivera, had a silver short barrel revolver with him during the June meeting.

That same month, Rivera rented a 2008 Toyota Prius from July 15th to July 21st. His and Garcia's cell numbers were written on the contract. And when I saw that, I thought that was a little strange. If you were going to get paid to go kill someone, would you not buy a burner phone? Would you put your real cell phone number down on this contract? I mean, I guess you have to put your real name because you have to show an ID, unless you have a fake ID. I don't know if I'd even rent a car.

I would. Why not just steal one if you're going to murder someone, I guess? Yeah, I don't know. On July 16th, the two men left North Miami and traveled to Tallahassee. They arrived after midnight on July 17th. They checked into a hotel at 1 a.m. Later that day, Rivera called the witness they met in June. and had him book a hotel room for the night in his name.

The Prius was captured following Dan on the morning of July 18, 2014. It was seen in the parking lot of Premier Health and Fitness while Dan was there exercising. Garcia's phone was recorded near Premier Fitness and was used to call Catherine Magbenua. Garcia's second phone, which was being used by Rivera, was also detected. in the area. This is why you got to use those with fray bags or whatever where you put your phone in on airplane mode, seal it up. Yeah, I don't know what that is. That sounds like some Jason born type stuff. But again, if you're using your real phone, I mean, how much does a burner phone cost? I don't know. I've never bought one, but. Yeah, $39. Okay. I assume you've used them

quite a bit. But we're also in the area of technology. because this is, you know, not even 10 years ago. So cell phone technology was pretty good. They're able to track these people. The Prius was captured at a government building, a bank, and a store on Dan's morning errand route. And it was seen at an apartment complex behind Dan's home. So again, technology comes into play because you have all of this camera footage.

Right. surveillance-type footage that you wouldn't have had years prior. A witness at the apartment complex behind Dan's house saw Prius parked in the corner of the parking lot one morning. The witness saw men walking down a path that runs behind Dan's house along a stormwater drainage ditch. They returned 10 minutes later. One of the men was carrying something and was wet, as if he fell into the ditch.

So I think to police, this indicates. that the two men were scouting the area before the murder. Dan's neighbor also saw the Prius backing out of Dan's driveway after the shooting. We talked about that. I'm sure at the time, it meant very little to this guy. Number one, he didn't know Dan was shot in the head yet. No, he just heard a shot, though. Yes.

So I'm sure he, you know, he paid attention to it, but didn't understand the gravity of what he had seen. Now, later on, I'm sure he did. Garcia and Rivera's phones ceased activity at 10 a.m. on the morning of the shooting. Investigators believe they turned their phones off, killed Dan, and drove back to North Miami. Garcia's phone powered on at 1229 p.m. after the shooting, at 1230, he called Catherine Magnaua.

After July 19th, Garcia's phone was not used again. So I think, you know, like they thought they were being smart. Okay, the morning of the murders, before we do it, we're going to turn our phones off. That way they can't prove we were at the murder scene. Yeah. Yet they've been all around Tallahassee with these phones on. In a car that they run it with their telephone numbers on the rental contract. Yeah.

So again, they're criminals thinking that they're being smart, but not really fully understand. the capabilities of what law enforcement can do. The Tallahassee police believed the two men were hired to kill Dan and noted that there was a transaction in Rivera's checking account on the evening of the murder. And that never looks good. What, money coming into your account? After someone is murdered and you're thought to be the hitman. That's like the police witnessing you bringing me, you know, a whole bunch of cocaine.

and that night, I transfer a whole bunch of money into your account. Well, and it's Talcum powder. Okay. So it's just expensive talcum powder. Better be some really good stuff. On July 17th, 2016, a grand jury indicted Sigfrido Garcia and Luis Rivera for first degree murder. After his arrest, Garcia claimed he'd never been to Tallahassee and never made any trips

with Luis Rivera. And I'm sure when he was. made that statement, he didn't know all of the evidence that the police had against him. Yeah, I'm sure he's thinking, deny, deny, deny. Luis Rivera was first interviewed on May 24, 2016. And he too denied traveling to Tallahassee or having any knowledge of the crime. Investigators learned Rivera was not at work from July 16th to July 18th. Also makes it tough to be a hitman when you actually have a job.

It does because now you have to account for why weren't you at work? I just needed some time off. Yeah. But it wasn't to go to Tallahassee. He was interviewed again on May 27th. Once again, he denied traveling to Tallahassee. But this time, he was shown a picture of himself and Garcia at an ATM sitting in the Prius. So he admitted he was in the car and said that they did rent the car.

and did drive to Tallahassee, but it was to visit Florida State University. But never good when your story changes in a murder case. Or never good when you're caught in a flat-out lie. No, we did not travel to Tallahassee. Well, yeah, we did, because now you have a picture of us at an ATM. Oh, you met July 16, 17, 18th. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think that's when we did that tour of FSU.

Yeah, yeah, that's right. In late June, prosecutors revealed that Garcia and Rivera failed at an earlier attempt to kill Dan in June 2014. Their trip to Tallahassee was cut short because a Miami rental car company found out they left the area when the car was rented for local use on. They turned around and returned to Miami. It's the other thing. You know, some of these cars today when you rent them, they have tracking. Yeah. They know exactly where you are.

where you've gone, where you've been. It was reported that detectives began looking into the Adelson family within days of the murder, as well as Wendy's ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Lacos, who was a fellow FSU professor. Lacos was cleared a few days later. However, on August 12th, he contacted the police to tell them about texts between him and Wendy. They had plans to travel to California from July 11th to, July 17th, but she canceled on June 4th, two weeks before Garcia and Rivera traveled to Tallahassee for the first time. According to Lacos, about three weeks after the murder, Charlie Ailsson

asked Wendy and others to go out with him for a celebratory dinner. Wendy vomited during the dinner, which LaCassee found suspicions. As quoted by the Tallahassee Democrat, he believed Wendy was indirectly responsible for the murder. When he was told Wendy was not a suspect, he said, well, she should be. That's coming from her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend. Yeah. And he's a professor too, right?

So probably a smart guy, not making stuff up. Well, you wouldn't think so. Now, are there explanations why someone might vomit during dinner? Yeah, there are. You're sick. You don't realize how sick you are. but you can also understand why when put with everything else that's going on, this guy would find some of this stuff suspicious.

Yeah, I'm wondering if Jeffrey just didn't know a little bit more information, but wanted to be careful, but also make sure that they looked into her. No, and maybe he wasn't real happy. We don't know how that relationship ended. So maybe he wasn't a big fan of hers at this time. I don't know. Three days after the murder, investigators got,

of Warren for Wendy's phone and email records. They found keyword searches for Amy Adler, Dan's girlfriend at the time, Adler's ex-husband, and Adler's brother. You got to be careful with your keyword searches. Yeah, I got to probably throw my phone away now. I think most people would not be happy if their keyword searches were exposed. Could be a problem. It could be. I mean, not saying it's criminal, sometimes it could just be embarrassing. I mean, mine are all good. All philanthropic. Is that what you're telling me?

They're all about how to give your money to charitable organizations. Absolutely. On the day Dan was killed, Wendy told investigators that her brother joked about hiring a hitman. So always people joking about hiring a hitman. Have you ever once made a joke about hiring a hitman? No. I mean, you would probably just do it yourself. So, but I think the majority of people, it just doesn't seem like a joking matter, the right

subject matter to make a joke about. I'm really not sure how that would come up during a party. Just everyday conversation. Yeah. You know, by the way. I'm thinking about hiring a hit man. Yeah. A TV repairman came to Wendy's home on the morning of July 18th.

And her brother joked over the phone that buying a new TV was just. cheaper than hiring a hitman. She said in her interview that Charlie knew Dan treated her badly and it was always his joke. Okay, buying a new TV, I would assume is cheaper than hiring a hitman. My thought was buying a new TV nowadays is, I think, cheaper than having them repaired. I'm thinking if your hitman would be cheaper than a TV, you probably don't have the right hitman. Like in horrible bosses? Yeah.

When he looked up wet work. That's right. So you're telling me nobody wants to be peed on. That's what you're telling me. I'm saying that's not going to do the job. In response to the accusations, the Adelson family attorneys issued a statement saying, per the Tallahassee Democrat.

There is a reason that the police have not arrested any of the Adelson's. They weren't involved in Dan's death. Okay. Well, that's what you want your attorney to say. Yeah, I don't think your attorney is going to put a statement out that says, uh, they're all, uh, took part in this and, uh, we just haven't been arrested yet. Catherine Magbenua was arrested on October 1st, 2016 in charge with murder. Investigators considered Catherine the go-between for the Aedelson family.

Investigators couldn't link Dan Markell to Garcia and Rivera until they found Catherine. Three days before the murder, the rented Toyota Prius was in the same. the area of Catherine's condo near Miami. So again, I'm telling you, they knew where this car was. Yeah, they could track it. And it was a big part of the investigation. Now, whether that was through the cell phones of these two guys or through the, the Prius itself in some way, or just different cameras. Or the cameras that we talked about. In August 2016, prosecutor sought medical rights. records showing that Charles Edelson paid half the cost of a breast enhancement surgery for Catherine Magbenua in October 2014.

Family discount? Family. Family. Why don't think he did the breast enhancement surgery? He was a cosmetic dentist. I mean, maybe he took a shot at it, but it didn't say he did it for free. It said he paid half the cost. I got you. But if you're going to pay someone for a hit. Yeah. Instead of, you know, let's say dropping $5,000, $10,000 into their account, wiring it, writing a check. Well, what about paying for a large chunk of a surgery, a breast enhancement surgery? That's one way to go. You know, if that's something that she already planned to do. Yeah. And I don't know how they were able to figure out it

came from him, but obviously he needed to do a better job of paying his half. Yeah, I'm assuming he probably used a credit card or something like that because he probably never figured that this would all come back around. And even if it did, he would just say, you know, this person works for me. I wanted to do this for them. It was my gift to them. Yeah. After the murder, Rivera and Garcia purchased several cards. and motorcycle. And around this time, Catherine began receiving paychecks from the dental practice.

The checks were signed by Donna Adelson. I always remember that movie with De Niro. Goodfellas. Yeah, where they pull out that big heist. They say don't buy anything. Exactly. And there's a reason for that. I don't think these were wealthy individuals

who before this were able to go out and buy multiple cars. First of all, who buys multiple cars? These guys. Rich people, maybe. But yeah, once you start showing off, once you get flashy, when just prior to this, you had no means to be flashy whatsoever, you're just sending out, you know, the bat signal. Like, hey, come get me. Come get me. Come look at me. Put in that spotlight on you. And then you have Catherine receiving, you know, checks from the dental practice between July 2015 and November 2015, Catherine deposited over $56,000 into her bank account. That is a lot of money. No way in the world was she making that kind of money working legitimately with the Edelson's.

act at the practice. Yeah. It's no. Just not going to happen. Not going to happen. According to court records, there was a phone call system in place. Catherine typically called Charlie Adelson. He called his mother, Donna.

And Catherine called Garcia. The group continued exchanging calls on the night of the murder and the day of the murder. So they've got a call tree established, essentially. Yeah. Investigator said Charlie did everything he could to keep Catherine happy. She purchased a car belonging to Harvey Edelson, his father, for a bargain. In 2016, he offered to sell her his boat and offered her his range rover. Hey, I got a boat over here.

I'll sell it to you. You know what? I'll even throw in my range rover so you can pull it. Well, you know who you have to keep happy? Someone who knows you did something very, very. Bad. Yeah, I wonder if they think about that. Well, I think a lot of people incorrectly assume, you know, if you're involved in it with me, then you're going to keep your mouth shut. But we've seen in so many cases, that's not always how it worked. No, they extort you.

Yeah. Investigators also revealed that an undercover agent gave Donna Adelson a press release referring to the murder and tried to blackmail her for $5,000. Well, that seems like a pretty smart tactic to use. Yeah, because investigators then wired-tap the calls between the Adelson's and Catherine. On April 20th, Charles and Catherine talked about the blackmail. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Charles told her, paying someone off is not an admission of guilt. He said he would pay Catherine to call the blackmailer,

tell him she would donate to a charity, and ask him not to contact them again. Now, I would argue with the paying someone off is not an admission of guilt. Now, there are celebrities who ultimately pay people. Yeah. Because it's in their best interest, even though they may not have done whatever it is they're being blackmailed for. That's happened. I mean, you could argue it for sure, but.

Yeah, you can. I don't understand this. Call the blackmailer. Ask him not to contact them again. Oh, well, they've asked me not to contact. So I must stop doing whatever I'm doing. Since you asked me, I'm sorry for bugging you. Charlie said that if that person was not an officer,

you better kill him because he's going to be a big problem. He added, if you can't do it, I'll have someone else do it. Okay, the stuff before, not all that incriminating. This part, that doesn't look good. Catherine asked Garcia to track down the blackmailer. They argued when Garcia said he wouldn't do it. Well, no, he's already got his cars and motorcycles and he's good for a while. And maybe he had a sense that maybe the police were watching or part of this plot.

Well, and Charlie must have had that sense too because he said if that person was not an officer, then you better kill him. Donna eventually called the undercover agent and said she had nothing to do with the murder. On May 24th, the FBI attempted to speak to both Garcia and Catherine. Catherine never came out of her house. Later that day, Garcia told her he was questioned by law enforcement. They bought new phones at a Walmart. Oh, now they're buying new phones.

Yeah, you should have bought the new phones at a Walmart in the very beginning. On October 4th, 2016, Luis Rivera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a 19-year sentence that would only add 7,000, more years to his current sentence. He agreed to provide information about the murder. So, you know, really, if you think about it, it's a pretty good deal for him. It's a really good deal for him. He's already serving a federal sentence. They say, hey, if you cooperate, you only have to do seven more on top of what you already have as long as you provide us the information we need. In his October 4th interview, Rivera said he supported. He's supplied the gun and drove the car to the crime scene, but Sigfrido Garcia was the shooter.

Rivera claimed that when he traveled with Garcia in June 2014, he didn't know they were going to Tallahassee to commit murder until he got into the car and Garcia showed him a photo of Dan Markell. He thought they were going to commit a robbery. Now, for me, it's always a matter of, you know, do I believe what these people are saying or not. But there is this added component that he can pretty much say whatever he wants. Yeah, he has the deal. The deal's already in place. So does it mean he wouldn't try to soften up his role a little bit?

No, not absolutely. But there's really no need for him too. Garcia told him he was hired to kill Dan because of a custody dispute. Rivera said he didn't know the names of those who. hired him. Garcia told him they would be paid $100,000 in total with Garcia taking $40,000, Rivera taking $35,000, and the rest going to Garcia's on and off girlfriend, Catherine. One of the better pay days we've had for hit men in some of our episodes. It's quite a bit of money, right, $100,000, but let's break it down. Garcia, who was said to have been the shooter,

was going to get 40,000. Rivera is going to get 35,000 for what? Supplying the gun and driving the car? Yeah. And what the girlfriend's getting 25 just because she arranged it? Brokered the deal. The day before the murder, they were in the Prius and drove past Wendy walking with the kids. Garcia told him, Wendy came to make sure everything was all right.

Rivera was nervous about the way Wendy looked at their car. He asked Garcia to call Catherine and ask why she was there. Catherine told him over the phone that Wendy was there to make sure they were not lying and she wasn't paying him for nothing. So this really implicates Wendy. Sure does. Poles are right into it. Rivera was three to four feet away from Dan's car during the shooting.

They left immediately after and never spoke about it again. Garcia threw the gun off a bridge into the water when they fled. The next day, they arranged a meeting with Catherine Magbenua to get their money. Rivera told the police, Katie, was in the middle doing everything, per the Tallahassee Democrat. Brokering it. Yeah. So she not only set it up, she, you know, helped make the payments and transfer the money, all of that. Catherine Magbenua was indicted for first degree murder on November 29, 2016.

Well, she did make sure this happened the way it did. Yeah, she was a very big part of it, no doubt. In the following months, the defendant's scheduled trials were delayed. On February 7, 2018, Garcia and Magbenua were both charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder. In June 2018, a judge ruled that they would be tried together. Jury selection for their trial started on September 23rd. 2019. The defense sought to distance their respective clients from the crime. This is what I always

think is strange about, you know, when two people are tried at the same time. You know, most often they have two different defense attorney. Right. And not only are they fighting the state or the feds, but they're also kind of fighting each other. Well, now it's time to save their own ass. Right. according to the Tallahassee Democrat, Catherine's attorney said, the only thing she's guilty of is terrible taste in men. You know, basically saying she had nothing to do with it. Her boyfriend just happened to be a cold-blooded killer. Don't pay attention to the fact that she got paid and she brokered the deal because we have

proof of that. She got new fake boobs and, you know, that was part of the deal. Her defense argued there was no direct evidence of her involvement in the crime. Prosecutors alleged that the Adelson family paid $100,000 for the hit. They argued that Wendy viewed Dan as a problem. And Catherine was hired to solicit Sigfrato Garcia, who in turn solicited Luis Rivera to help kill Dan. Garcia's attorney told the jury that Luis Rivera's statements were inconsistent. Anne Rivera was the only one who could put Garcia at the scene of the murder. Wendy Adelson testified under immunity at Trump. She testified that she knew some of her family members

were angry with Dan, but she was not involved in the plot to kill Dan and had no knowledge of the conspiracy. Luis Rivera testified about how he was hired to participate in the murder. Wendy's ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Lacos testified that on July 13, 2014, she told him her brother Charlie looked to into hiring a hitman. He first looked into hiring a hitman in 2013 after Wendy was denied permission to move to South Florida. Lacos testified that this conversation occurred as they were breaking up. He didn't give it a lot of thought at the time.

And I get that. Right? People talk about all kinds of strange things. You know, they're in the process of breaking up. She's talking about something. Does he believe it or does he even care? Yeah.

But why even talk about it if you know that you're not going to be together? Well, that's all. Why would you talk about it anyway? Well, that's true. Even if you are together. The less people know, the better off you are. But that doesn't seem to be how people operate. Again, now, we're not talking about mastermind criminals here.

No, we're not. Catherine Magbenua also testified at trial and denied having anything to do with the murder. She did tell the court that she thought Charles Adelson was involved. So, again, you know, this is so funny. not in the context that somebody was murdered, obviously, but in the context of these people trying to save their own ass. Right. I mean, they'll do anything.

They'll say anything. Well, Charles Edison was involved. We know that. Sure, we do. But how are you going to get around the fact that he paid for half of your breast enhancement surgery just because he liked you? He was a good guy. You're the employee of the month.

How are you getting around this 56,000? dollars deposited into your account within a matter of, you know, four months or whatever it was. This new range rover, maybe you're driving, not driving. I don't know. The boat. The boat. In closing, Catherine's defense argued she should be acquitted because Rivera was an unreliable witness. And obviously, they have to discredit Luis Rivera, right? He is the one kind of tying everyone together.

As far as a witness, they have evidence that that's tying a lot of these people together. Garcia's defense told the jury that it was Luis who killed Dan Markell. They questioned why Garcia would go to the shooting if Rivera was the real killer. I kind of questioned why Rivera would go to the shooting. Now, according to him, he didn't know he was going to a shooting. I still don't know why you have to pay this guy $35,000. You can drive the Prius yourself. Take an Uber.

From Miami to Tata. I guess you could. That's another record, though. Keep it running, buddy. The prosecution reiterated that they believed the Aedelson family, hired the killers, and suggested Wendy planned her alibi. On October 11, 2019, Garcia was convicted of first-degree murder. Jurors deadlocked and a mistrust.

trial was declared for Catherine. On October 15th, the jury voted for life in prison, for Garcia, rather than the death penalty. And prosecutors confirmed they would retry Catherine Magbanua. The case moved slowly for the next year. It was kind of unclear, if or when anyone else would be arrested. Then on April 21st, 2002, Charlie Adelson was arrested, in charge with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder. It's a lot of serious charges. It is, but it's also kind of hard to believe that with what kind of came out, he wouldn't be arrested.

Now, maybe they just thought a lot of it was so circumstantial that they didn't know if they had enough because it was all circumstantial. A few months later, Catherine's retrial started on May 16th, 22. Once again, prosecutors argued Catherine was the middleman between the family and the killers. It's pretty much the same testimony at this trial. Catherine's attorneys argued she was being wrongfully prosecuted. Catherine testified about her son's disability, getting sick with COVID while awaiting trial, and her mother's death. And I get that those are all horrible things. They are. I don't really know what they have to do with being on trial for murder or, you know, solicitation of murder or being the go

between in a murder. The prosecution presented the wiretapped conversation where Catherine and Charlie discussed killing the undercover agent, the pattern of phone calls between the Edelson's, Catherine and Rivera and Garcia, and the payments made to the suspects after the murders. Doesn't look good. It doesn't. That's kind of what I was saying. saying, I get it, you know, Charlie was arrested, but it seemed like it took a long time. And to me, they had quite a bit of evidence. I don't know what they were waiting on. On May 27, 2002, Catherine Magbenua was found guilty of first degree murder. On July 29th, she was sentenced to life plus 60 years.

It's a hefty sentence. Yeah, she actually got more than Garcia. Well, you can make the case. saying if it wasn't for her, there would never have been Garcia. Yeah, that's true. I also don't know. Garcia's might have been life without parole and maybe she got life with parole, but plus 60 years.

It didn't actually say that, but that could be. Later that year, Catherine agreed to act as a state witness in the prosecution of Charlie Aedelson. And this is one of the things that I haven't talked about yet. I did kind of say, well, I wonder why they were waiting. But this is probably what. They were probably waiting for the resolution of Catherine's trial. Yeah, because now maybe they can offer her a reduction in sentence.

Or some incentive. Yeah. You know, ramen noodles, ding dons, whatever. A pack of smokes here and there. Jury selection for Charlie Adelson's trial started on October 23rd, 2003. Pretty recent. Yeah.

No, this is a very recent case, parts of it. In opening statements, Charlie's defense told the jury, he was innocent and he blamed Catherine and her associates for the murder. So I understand you have to say you're innocent and you have to blame somebody else. But here's my question, Gibbs. Why would Catherine Garcia and Rivera want Dan Markell dead? Where's the connection? Yeah, the only connection is.

The Edelson. Right. And Wendy. Defense attorney Daniel Rashbaum brought up the bad joke. Charlie made about buying his sister a TV because it was cheaper than a hitman. He also told the joke to Catherine, who was aware of the family's plan to pay Dan $1 million to move to Miami and commute to Tallahassee. This allegedly gave her ideas to plan the murder. So again, right, I said, what is the tie? between Catherine, Garcia, Rivera, and Dan Markell.

Well, Charlie's defense team is saying Catherine came up with, with this idea because we got a million dollars possibly floating around. But think about this family potentially offering Dan Markell a million dollars to move down to Miami and commute to Tallahassee. Do you know how far it is from Tallahassee to Miami? That's a long trip. Yeah. As we learn from Garcia taking the Prius from Miami. But if you have the option to pay somebody a million dollars or take him out for $100,000. By my math, you saved $900,000. Yeah. According to defense attorney Rashbaum, Catherine admitted to Charlie that a friend of her shot Dan. She claimed she had nothing to do with it, but talked too much. And her friend learned about the family's problems with Dan and the one million. dollar payment. She wouldn't give him any names, but told Charlie he needed to pay her friend within 48

hours or his family would be next. So here again is her diabolical plan. I'll have these guys shoot Dan and then force the family to pay us the money. Yeah. Not that the family wanted us to shoot Dan and then gave us the money. I recognize you had a problem. I took care of the problem. I took care of the problem. I know you have the money to pay us. So pay us. Or we're going to do you next. But if that's the case, you knew they had a million dollars. Why would you only ask for a hundred? Well, you don't want to be greedy. No, it's because it's already been established that that's how much money, you know, changed hand. Yeah. So, you know, if you're crafting a story, it has to align with the evidence. Prosecutors argued that Charles was the one who hired Garcia because the family wanted

Wendy to move. Wendy Adelson testified that her family had nothing to do with the murder, and she was surprised to learn at trial that her brother knew who the killer was. Catherine Magbenua testified she and Charlie went to a Halloween party in October 2013. Afterwards, Charlie asked her if she knew someone who could harm someone else. They didn't discuss it further at that time. He then started planting seeds in her head to do the job and became more adamant about it in the summer of 2014. Charlie testified that he had nothing to do with planning the murder and did not hire anyone to kill Dan Markell.

Again, what else are these people going to testify to? Well, of course, they're not going to say, yep, yep, I did this and that and you got me. I got so nervous on the stand I just admitted to it. He testified that Catherine was panicked after the murder and told him it was all her fault because she talked too much about the million dollar payment. He agreed to pay her friend and gave her all the cash he had in his safe, which was $138,000. He later told his mother about this, but never anyone else. He thought he would be killed if he went to the police.

So he's saying he paid the blackmiller off? Yeah, essentially. But he didn't have anything to do with the murder. He didn't pay to have Dan killed. He just paid because he was in front. of his life. On November 6th, 2002, Charlie Adelson was convicted of first-degree murder,

conspiracy, and solicitation. On November 13th, Donna Adelson was arrested for first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation. She and her husband Harvey were intercepted at the airport before they boarded the flight to Vietnam. They purchased one-way tickets after their son was convicted. It's interesting that they're going to Vietnam.

because the U.S. doesn't have an extradition treaty with Vietnam. So you have that. You also have the one-way tickets. Who buys one-way tickets to Vietnam? You're not staying there. Most people. Yeah. It's a place to visit, maybe for a little while,

and then, you know, you're coming back home. And the timing that this is all occurring after Charlie was convicted. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that in monitored jail phone calls with Charlie. Donna discussed trying to flee the country to a place with no extradition treaty. So they knew what they were doing. Oh, absolutely. Donna Edelson was indicted on these charges two days later. On December 12th, Charlie Edelson was sentenced to life in prison.

He filed a notice of appeal on December 31st, 2023. So, you know, as we wrap this one up, Gibbs, like you said, it is still pretty recent. that events have happened, there are still some events that are going on. The individuals who traveled to Tallahassee and killed Dan have been convicted and sentenced, but nine years later, this case is still ongoing. You have the recent arrest of Donna Adelson. It's possible that these charges could be dropped, maybe due to lack of evidence, or we may see another conviction in the coming.

months. You know, this family decided to take this action because they wanted to make sure their grandkids were in their lives. And now, some of them were not found guilty, but they're mixed up than this. And eventually these grandkids are going to be old enough to have a better understanding of what happened. I think it just ruins that relationship. How can you be involved with individuals that may or may not killed your dad? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Either way, right? So they're either going to spend so much time in prison that they'll never see their grandchildren. Right. Or they may go free, but be so implicated in everything that, you know, these kids wouldn't want to have anything to do with them or may not be allowed to have anything to do with them. I don't know. I think, you know, we have to go back to Wendy, though. And we haven't talked about Wendy much because she was never arrested.

I think when you look online, you have a lot of people questioning. What was Wendy's role in this whole thing? Did she know anything about it? Was she the catalyst for it? Or was it just her family that said, like you just mentioned, we have to do something in order to be able to see our grandchildren? children and took it upon themselves and took it upon themselves and where's Harvey and all this so don has been arrested but Harvey was fleeing with her to Vietnam he's not been arrested yet that's why

I think this case is a little bit far from over but as a grandchild when you get older when you want to know when you want to look at your grandfather if he's still alive and say I read all the transcripts I read all this stuff tell me what did you know about the murder of my dad. Yeah, if he's never charged or anything like that. Yeah. It's just a very, very interesting case. But it is one, unlike a lot of solved cases that we do,

this is one that you still have to keep an eye on. Oh, of course. Yeah. For sure. But that's it for our episode on the murder of Dan Markell. We've got some voicemails, Gibbs. You want to check those out? Yeah, see them.

Oh, hi, guys. It's Rhonda from Carson, Washington. And I'm just listening to the latest episode. And Mike, you said that if you went skiing, you would probably tear every ligament in your knee. Well, I actually did that in 2014. I've skied my entire life. And for some reason, on this particular day, it was not going my way. And I tore my ACL, my PCL, my MCL, my meniscus.

I did it all. So I haven't been back to the mountains since then. And sadly, we'll never do that again. but anyways, love you guys, keep your own time ticking. Yeah, I remember when that happened to me

and I had to take that roll duct tape out and just duck it. Just duck it. If you can't fix it, duck it. That's right. I think this is just

more fuel on the fire of my resistance. Why you'd ever go skiing? To do certain things. She mentioned it. She was an experienced skier. Yeah. I am not an experienced skier.

So the risk for me is even that much greater. And how bad must that have been for her to not ever go back again? Oh, yeah. That would be tough. It's kind of like me having to give up golf. Like I can't play golf anymore because of my shoulders. But how many CLs are there in the knee? She named off a lot.

Yeah. Didn't she? Yeah. There's a lot of them in there. And she tore every one. I think when you get past two, it sounds like your knee is pretty much. You're in big trouble. Yeah.

Hi, I'm Mike and Gibby. This is Tee. I am from Columbus, Ohio, long-time listener. I am listening to the Rob Matthews case, which is just absolutely fascinating. I'm listening to the part where we're listening to the people that are talking about Ritalin and the Ritalin and withdraw on how it can impact you. Now, I have been a special educator and working with students that specifically have challenges with ADHD and attention disorders or different orders,

as I like to call it. I'm also someone who has ADHD, and though it's not Ritalin, I take another form of stimulant to help with that, and I have students that take a number of different stimulants to help with their ADHD and attention issues, and I will say that the experts can't say definitively that from one person to the next, that there is or is not such a thing as this Ritalin come down or Ritalin rage, we call it Adderall Rage for people who take Adderall, because it's It absolutely can happen when I have been short on my meds because that is a big problem. You go a couple days and it can be catastrophic what happens to your body and your mind.

Whereas other people, sometimes they don't have that impact. And different brain chemicals interact differently with different medicines and what other medicines might be taking, food intake, all that. So, you know, while turning that justification for anyone to murder anyone, it can be a very, very real thing. Anyways, just wanted to add my two cents. Love the show. Love you guys. And keep you on time kicking. Yeah. Thanks for calling in, providing some information. I know there are certain drugs that I take that if I forget to take them one day, as the day goes on, I start to realize it because I feel different. You're talking about your blue pill? No. Not that. Not that. Just doctor prescribed stuff for my health. Oh, okay. No, not that.

But now you got me all flustered. I don't even know what to say. So let's end it on that. We had no mailbag. So that is it for another episode of true crime all the time. For Mike and Gibby. Stay safe and keep your own time ticking.