Charlie Adelson Charlie Adelson cross-examined by Georgia Cappleman on Nov. 3, 2023 (Law&Crime Network)
While Charlie Adelson began his Thursday testimony by acknowledging he was “really nervous” as his “whole life” hangs in the balance at his murder trial in the 2014 shooting death of law professor and former brother-in-law Dan Markel, the defendant was quick to punch back as the prosecution grilled him about his story that he, too, was a victim — a victim of extortion.
The defendant, a 47-year-old dentist charged as the mastermind behind the murder-for-hire of 41-year-old Dan Markel on July 18, 2014, denied yesterday that he ever asked his then-girlfriend and convicted murderer Katherine Magbanua, now 38, while the two were leaving a Halloween party in 2013 if she knew anyone who could do harm to Markel — his sister Wendi Adelson’s ex-husband and the father of Charlie’s two nephews.
The prosecution’s theory of the case is that Charlie Adelson took it upon himself, for the benefit of his sister and parents, to solve the “tight-knit” family’s “big problem” by orchestrating the Florida State University law professor’s Tallahassee murder through Magbanua’s violent Miami-based Latin Kings connections and making a lingering, heated child custody battle go away.
“This murder was set into motion because, back in 2014, the defendant’s family — the Adelson family — had a big problem. And that big problem was Dan Markel. And the solution to that problem was this defendant,” prosecutor Sarah Dugan said during opening statements. “This defendant was the solution to that problem because he had a girlfriend with connections to the type of people who were willing and capable of pointing a gun at at a complete stranger and pulling the trigger.”
Magbanua took the stand earlier in the week and claimed nothing had been promised her in connection with testimony implicating Charlie Adelson in the murder plot and implicating herself in perjury at both of her trials, the second of which led to her conviction and incarceration. She testified that she told the defendant she knew that Sigfredo Garcia, the father of her children and the convicted triggerman, could harm Dan Markel.
Katherine Magbanua, Charlie Adelson pictured on Oct. 30, 2023 at Adelson’s trial in the murder of Dan Markel (Law&Crime Network)
Charlie Adelson attempted to turn that testimony on its head by responding that, though he didn’t realize it or didn’t want to believe it at the time, Magbanua was trying to extort him and his family for hundreds of thousands of dollars to stay silent about Garcia and Latin Kings leader Luis Rivera’s role in the murder.
Adelson testified that he first learned about the shooting while he was at work and “in surgery.” His mother Donna Adelson told him that Wendi called and said “Dan had been shot, and that it was serious,” the defendant testified.
“I was shocked. I said ‘Is he okay, is he going to be okay?”” Adelson said.
Later that night, Adelson testified, Magbanua came over to his house, said “my friend killed Dan,” said Charlie better pay up a third of a million dollars to the hitmen within 48 hours, and warned him not to call the cops or else the hitmen “will kill you” too.
“I’m not extorting you, I’m trying to help you,” Magbanaua said, according to Adelson. She said got caught in the middle of it just like he did and that she regretted running her mouth to Garcia about Adelson’s parents’ willingness to make Dan Markel a “million-dollar offer” to move from Tallahassee to Miami, according the testimony.
After Adelson learned all of this, he let Magbanua sleep over at his place that night.
Charlie Adelson (left), Dan Markel (right) (Law&Crime Network)
Adelson claimed he allowed her to stay despite what he’d been told because he was “in a state of shock” and didn’t want to believe his then-girlfriend was involved.
Before Magbanua left the next morning, the defendant said, she begged him not to tell anyone.
“Can we just pretend like this never even happened?” Magbanua asked, according to Charlie Adelson.
Adelson said he thought about going to the police but never did under the belief that he would be killed.
Georgia Cappleman, Charlie Adelson pictured on Nov. 3, 2023 (Law&Crime Network)
On Friday morning, Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman of the 2nd Judicial Circuit began her grilling of Adelson by attempting to pick apart the extortion story as implausible.
“Doctor, have you ever heard of the saying that the simplest explanation is always the most likely?” Cappleman asked, seemingly referring to Occam’s razor.
“I’ve heard that theory before,” Adelson said.
“Was your explanation to the jury over the last little over a day the simplest explanation?” the prosecutor asked again.
“It was the truth,” the defendant answered.
Thus began the sparring between prosecutor and defendant during cross-examination, and that’s the way things largely went during the question-and-answer exercise.
Cappleman attempted to drill down on why he let Magbanua stay the night after Dan Markel was shot, after Adelson had been told his own life and the lives of his family members were under threat unless a third of a million dollars was paid in cash within 48 hours.
“In fact, she stayed the night with you, didn’t she?” Cappleman asked.
Adelson acknowledged that Magbanua did stay the night and left the next morning with $138,000 of stapled cash from Adelson’s safe.
The prosecutor went on to mock the idea that Adelson agreed to Magbanua’s suggestion to get on a “payment plan” with Latin Kings gang members to pay the rest of the money, this after the defendant acknowledged in Thursday testimony that the “one thing” he knows about extortion is that it “never ends.”
“This woman, the extortionist, is going to do you a solid by negotiating with the Latin Kings for you to get on a payment plan for the extortion, isn’t that what happened?” the prosecutor queried.
Cappelman: This woman, the extortionist is doing you a solid by getting you on a payment plan with a Latin Kings gang leader? #CharlieAdelson: Yes. pic.twitter.com/7GKsNtVmI2
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) November 3, 2023
“What you’re doing is you’re taking what we know in 2023 and trying to say this is what I knew in 2014,” Adelson shot back.
“Did she put you on a payment plan?” Cappleman asked.
“Yes, she said, because I didn’t have the money, asked me if I could pay $3,000 a month in 2014, and I said ‘Yes, I can,’” Adelson said, again attempting to draw a distinction between what he knows today and what he didn’t understand about what was happening immediately after the murder.
Perhaps the most compelling line of questioning came when Cappleman asked why the Latin Kings hitmen had to kill Dan Markel to extort Charlie Adelson.
Adelson says they killed #DanMarkel so they could extort him for life instead of one time robbing him. Cappleman – couldn’t Latin Kings members extort you for life either way? #CharlieAdelson
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) November 3, 2023
“Why did whoever did it need to kill someone to extort you?” the prosecutor asked.
“You gotta ask them,” Adelson deflected.
“Why couldn’t they just come put a gun to your head and say give me all of the money in your safe?” Cappleman asked again.
“Thank God they didn’t I would have gotten killed,” Adelson said.
“If [Sigfredo] Garcia hated you why would he drive to Tallahassee twice to kill someone you hated?” the prosecutor asked, getting closer to making her point.
“It sounds like he was part of the extortion or Katie [Magbanua] put him up to it,” Adelson speculated.
Cappleman said that this story and explanation didn’t make sense.
“I still don’t get how killing Dan Markel advances the ball for them to extort money out of you, do you?” she asked the defendant directly.
“Yeah, I have a theory. They could extort me for life and I don’t think they knew how much money I had in the safe. She knew I had a lot of money in the safe, but this way I can get extorted for life and that’s what happened,” Adelson answered. “And I start paying $3,000 dollars a month.”
“But you could have gotten extorted for life just by the threat of death-by-Latin King, couldn’t you doctor?” Cappleman followed up.
“This was as real a threat as you could get. These guys weren’t messing around,” the defendant said.
The at times colorful testimony from Friday included Charlie Adelson laughing when Cappleman quoted his mother Donna calling Dan Markel a “f—er.”
Charlie laughs when Cappelman quotes Donna calling #DanMarkel a “fu****”. Sorry, you made me laugh.
Cappelman: Well, that’s what I’m here for. #charlieadelson pic.twitter.com/Mmiy8zeJRK
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) November 3, 2023
Cappleman replied with sarcasm: “Well, that’s what I’m here for.”
“I did not pay for her boob job,” the defendant also said at one point, denying that he paid for the surgery Magbanua underwent months after Dan Markel’s murder.
Adelson even spoke about the meaning of a text he sent to Magbanua that said “I have a bonsai tree for you.”
“Can you get me some bud from Bud?” Magbanua had asked, according to Adelson, referring to a neighbor with marijuana who happened to be named Bud.
In another exchange, Charlie Adelson called it a “complete lie” that he hosted a “celebration dinner” after Dan Markel’s murder.
Both sides rested on Friday before noon, and the jury was sent home until Monday.
On Thursday, Adelson and his lawyer Daniel Rashbaum have attempted to explain the defendant’s various crass texts and statements by referring to him as a jokester who liked to talk too much.
For instance, the “complete joke” Adelson acknowledged Thursday that he repeatedly told about buying his sister Wendi a TV as a divorce present because it was cheaper than hiring a hitman.
“When I gave her the TV set as a divorce present — stupidest thing I ever said in my life — and I said, ‘I was gonna get you a hitman, but the TV set was a lot cheaper so I went with the TV set instead.’ I said it as a complete joke and it was stupid but I do that a lot,” Adelson testified when questioned by his attorney.
“Did you make that joke to others?” Rashbaum asked.
“Yes,” Adelson answered, noting that he told the same joke to Magbanua, whom he now identifies as an extortionist with the benefit of hindsight in 2023.
The defendant stated he “never” looked into hiring a hitman.
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