Dan Markel’s murder case has become a decade-long mystery and has resulted in five arrests. A prominent Florida professor and lawyer, Markel, was shot in his Tallahassee home on July 18, 2014. He died 14 hours later at a hospital, reported The New York Times. At the time, he was in the midst of a contentious custody battle with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson. The latter had petitioned to relocate with their two sons, but the judge had denied her demand.
The following investigation involved the FBI as well as the Tallahassee police, who learned that Markel’s death was a murder-for-hire. By mid-2015, authorities had two potential suspects – Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia. They announced first-degree murder charges against Rivera and Garcia in May 2016 for Dan Markel’s murder.
Investigators then established a link between one of the suspects and Wendi Adelson’s brother, Charlie Adelson. Eventually, they were able to implicate Charlie as well as his mother, Donna Adelson, in Markel’s murder. Charlie’s ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, was also involved in the plot, per ABC News.
Very recently, in November 2023, a jury convicted Charlie Adelson in Dan Markel’s murder case. That same month, authorities arrested Donna Adelson as she attempted to flee the country. She now faces several charges, including first-degree murder and other counts.
Dan Markel murder case: All updates from across the years & latest arrests
According to ABC News, on the day of Dan Markel’s murder, one of his neighbors had spotted a Prius speeding away from the scene. Police believed the car likely belonged to the shooter(s). They made a breakthrough using surveillance footage from Markel’s gym, a city bus, and street cameras from the day he died. The footage showed a green Toyota Prius following him as he went home.
Investigators then used the car’s toll records, leading them to a car rental agency in Miami. Records revealed that a man named Luis Rivera had rented the vehicle. The outlet reported that Rivera was the leader of the North Miami branch of the Latin Kings gang. The car’s rental contract mentioned a second phone number belonging to a man named Sigfredo Garcia, also of North Miami.
Tallahassee Democrat reported that police announced first-degree murder charges against Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia in May 2016. Investigators also discovered a personal connection between one of the suspects and Dan Markel’s ex-brother-in-law, Charlie Adelson. Charlie had dated a woman named Katie Magbanua between 2013 and 2015, who has two children with Garcia.
The investigation into Magbanua found that she collected regular paychecks from the Adelson family’s dental practice, Adelson Institute. The family’s matriarch, Donna Adelson, signed these checks. Authorities suspected that Donna and Charlie hired the hitmen to commit the crime to take him out so Wendi could relocate without complications.
In the meantime, Rivera, who was in prison on another charge, offered prosecutors information in exchange for a plea deal. The suspect agreed to accept his role in Dan Markel’s murder case and also testify against his co-conspirators in return for a reduced sentence.
ABC’s report mentioned that in October 2016, Luis Rivera made a statement to police alleging that Markel’s murder was a hit. He claimed that Garcia asked him to tag along for the crime. Rivera said, “I asked him [Gracia] who’s —– hiring me? He’s like, ‘Katie [Magbanua] told me this lady’s going to hire me, but I want you to go with me. I’ll give you $35,000.’ Katie’s the one in the middle doing everything. [Garcia] put it like that.”
Prosecutors also filed a first-degree murder charge against Katie Magbanua, and Rivera testified in her and Sigfredo Garcia’s trials. A jury convicted Garcia was convicted on October 11, 2019, of first-degree murder. He later received a life sentence without parole. However, the same jury failed to reach a verdict for Magbanua, causing a mistrial.
After a delay, Magbanua stood trial again, which resulted in a conviction on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation to commit murder in May 2022. She also received life in prison with two additional 30-year concurrent sentences.
Investigators had long suspected the involvement of the Adelson family in Dan Markel’s murder-for-hire. They had orchestrated a sting operation in 2016 to prove the same and acquired secret recordings between Charlie Adelson and his ex-girlfriend Katie Magbanua. The FBI and state police used these recordings to implicate Charlie in the crime.
Then, in April 2022, a Florida grand jury indicted Charlie Adelson on first-degree murder, among other charges, in Dan Markel’s murder case. He pleaded not guilty, and his trial began in October 2023. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder on November 6, 2023.
That same month, on November 13, authorities also arrested his mother, Donna Adelson, at the Miami International Airport. The 73-year-old and her husband, Harvey, were attempting to board a one-way flight to Vietnam.
ABC 15 News stated that Donna faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder. She had pleaded not guilty to all charges. On December 12, 2023, Charlie Adelson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dan Markel’s murder case has previously featured in true-crime shows such as Dateline NBC and ABC 20/20.
