Donna Adelson’s daughter took the stand Monday, in connection with the murder of Adelson’s former son-in-law, Dan Markel.
The defendant’s daughter, Wendi Adelson, is the ex-wife of slain Florida State University professor, Markel, who was found dead in his Tallahassee driveway, in July 2014. He had been shot in the head at point-blank range.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Adelson, 75, is accused of planning Markel’s murder. She’s facing first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation charges, for the contract killing.
The Tallahassee Democrat reports that Wendi testified “according to a state subpoena,” but planned to invoke her Fifth Amendment right, if necessary.
Markel and Wendi married in 2006 but by 2012, decided to separate. Wendi said Markel had used his Jewish faith to control her and was upset about the divorce.
Following the separation, Wendi, who worked as a clinical law professor at FSU, wanted a more stable life for her two children and wanted to relocate. She dealt with unstable employment since her work was grant-funded by the state.
Donna Adelson allegedly said her daughter was a”prisoner in Tallahassee,” where she had been living with Markel and the children, according to testimony.
According to COURT TV, Wendi admitted that her mother “micromanaged” her life.
Investigators previously said Wendi and Dan’s divorce settlement in 2013 provided for 50/50 custody, but the Adelson family, unhappy with the shared custody ruling, continued to push for the majority of custody.
Donna Adelason also pushed for Markel to move with the children from Tallahassee to Miami, where the Adelsons lived.
“My mom was really upset,” Wendi testified. “My mom thought my life in Tallahassee wasn’t good.”
A judge ruled that the children should remain in Tallahassee, which, according to prosecutors, prompted the defendant to enlist the help of her son, Charlie Adelson, to carry out a hit on Markel.
Charlie Adelson, along with his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, and hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, have been convicted in connection with the case.
Wendi also testified that Markel filed a motion four months before his death, asking a judge to prevent his children from visiting Donna Adelson.
The children reportedly told their father that, “Grandma says you’re stupid….because you’re trying to take her sunshines away from her.”
Markel was killed before the court date.
The defense argued last week that the state didn’t have enough evidence to link Donna Adelson to a murder plot. They pinned the blame on Charlie Adelson, who paid the hitmen to carry out the murder, and his three other convicted co-conspirators.
“It is truly outrageous,” defense lawyer Jackie Fulford said last week. “But what’s more outrageous is, without any evidence, only motive and theory, they put her at the top of this pyramid.”
“People who know Donna will tell you that she is not the person that the state is portraying her to be. She’s kind, caring, loving. She cares more about people than she does herself.”
Police arrested Donna Adelson in 2023, as she and her husband, Harvey, prepared to board one-way tickets to Vietnam via Dubai—two countries without extradition treaties with the US.
She previously told the court that she had been traumatized after her son’s arrest and needed “some peace, we need to catch our breath, we’re gonna go away somewhere.’”
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[Feature Photo: Dan Markel/FSU College of Law faculty biographies; Donna Adelson/AP]
