Adelson was found guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a conspiracy in the shooting death of her former son-in-law, Daniel Markel.
See Phil Markel stands up against Donna Adelson after his conviction
Phil Markel asks Donna Adelson, “Was it worth it?” After her belief in Dan Marquell’s murder.
Florida grandmother was convicted of murder over 11 years ago in the shooting of her daughter’s ex-husband who was killed by a hitman during a fierce divorce and custody battle.
The ju judge was found guilty of a law professor at Florida State University being murdered in a driveway in Tallahassee on July 18, 2014, in the solicitation of Donna Adelson murder and conspiracy in the shooting death of 41-year-old Daniel Markel on Thursday, September 4th.
Adelson, 75, cried as his first conviction was read and other verdicts came. She continued to file lawsuits for Marquel’s parents to put her in viscerality and to sentence the judge to the greatest life in prison for killing her beloved son.
“I want her to live alone at 120 in her prison cell,” said Phil Markel, Markel, Markel’s father. “I hope every day of her days is thinking about the harm she caused so much.”
He then asked Adelson: “Was it worth it?”
His wife, Ruth Markel, said Adelson “faults foreigners for the curse on her family…but she has a curse.”
Here’s what you need to know about the incident:
Who is Donna Adelson?
Donna Adelson, 75, is the patriarch of a wealthy family in South Florida. She was accused of coordinating an elaborate plot to hire a hitman to kill her son-in-law, Daniel Markel, in the notorious case of Tallahassee and then later.
Prosecutors alleged that they wanted Marquel to be killed after Adelson divorced her daughter Wendy Adelson after the couple fought over the detention of their two children. Marquel was in the way of Wendy’s efforts to travel with her children to South Florida, more than 300 miles away, to get closer to Donna Adelson and the other families.
Adelson was accused of masterminding the plot and seeking the help of his own son, Charles Adelson, to carry it out. Charles Adelson has already been sentenced to life in prison in the case, as well as former girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, who set up the contract, and one of the hitmen Sigfredo Garcia. Another hitman, Louis Rivera, was sentenced to seven years in prison as part of a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony in the case.
The verdict will take place after a 12-day trial
Donna Adelson’s ju judge reached a quick decision just hours after lawyers on Thursday, September 4th, both sides held a closing discussion.
Prosecutor Georgia Capleman apologised to the ju judge in the lawsuit against Adelson, saying “there are no smoking guns.” “But she was too smart for that.”
She urged them to find Adelson guilty.
Listen to the closing argument at Donna Adelson trial
Donna Adelson has been accused of plotting to murder her former son-in-law Dan Markel, who was murdered in 2014.
Adelson’s lawyer, Jackie Fulford, told the ju judge that the prosecutor lacks much evidence and that Adelson is innocent.
She admitted that Adelson called Marquel a “ugly name,” but that didn’t mean she hated him, she said.
“That proves they wanted to kill him, are you serious?” Fulford said. “You’re calling someone a bad name. Does that mean you wanted to die?”
Details from Danmarckel’s parents
After Adelson was found guilty, Dan Markel’s parents told the court how much their lives were shattered by the death of their son, a scholar who studied at Harvard University and Hebrew University Jerusalem University and Emmanuel University in Cambridge.
“For 11 years, we have been forced to live a life filled with unimaginable pain and heartbreak,” Ruth Markel said of his son’s murder. “I am the most proud of Danny, a devoted father, for his two sons, Benjamin and Lincoln… Dan is a boy’s hero and they were forced to grow up without a father.”
She called murder an old and insensitive thing
“She planned, planned, paid for his murder,” she said. “At the heart of that, this was a handy murder so that her grandmother could live near her grandchildren. She killed her father and tore her children from the lives of other grandparents.”
Her husband Phil spoke about the “deeply irreparable damage” of everyone involved in the murder, especially Donna Adelson.
“It’s scary for everyone to commit such cold-blooded, unprovoked murder,” he said.
When will Donna Adelson be sentenced to prison?
Adelson returns to life in prison when Circuit Judge Leon Stephen Everett declares her. Her sentence is not scheduled, but Everett set up a case management hearing on October 14th.
Contributor: Christopher Kang, USA Today
